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  1. #181
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    Wow !!! thats the boat he brought out to South Africa ! And Brian Smith drove a Miles boat if my memory serves me.

  2. #182
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    This is the boat !!! Thanks for posting the pics !!!! Yip, Brian Smith drove the single Miles boat. I can remember clearly sitting on the banks of a narrow section of river (where the race was gong to take place the following day) andd these two stunning perfectly trimmed boats came round the long bend in perfect formation. They got the crowds attention thats for sure.

  3. #183
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    Wow ! just look at that old Gentex life jacket.

  4. #184
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    Cappellini and Scott Gillmour?

  5. #185
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    Some time later we were lucky enough to see Johnnie Sanders and Jimbo McConnell at an endurance event out in South Africa. Johnnie, from what I can remember ran an Evenrude V6 and Mcconnell ran a Scotti with a Johnson Rotary motor. Super fast and very stylish as well.

  6. #186
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    Quote Originally Posted by impala View Post
    Some time later we were lucky enough to see Johnnie Sanders and Jimbo McConnell at an endurance event out in South Africa. Johnnie, from what I can remember ran an Evenrude V6 and Mcconnell ran a Scotti with a Johnson Rotary motor. Super fast and very stylish as well.
    Sanders won the race in the Johnson Rotary. The V-6 wasn't available at that time, so Jimbo had to run a V-4 Evinrude.

  7. #187
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    Ok... perfect, thank you. Im not sure if those motors went back to the States. I do remember a few Scotti boats that were sold to South African pilots Plus a Glastron twin Molinari (yellow/black) that eventually broke in half in an off-shore race. And the strangest example was a Switzer tunnel boat. I never saw it run but it lived at a place called Pier 39. They were the OMC importers at the time.

  8. #188
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    Quote Originally Posted by jackie wilson View Post
    Fairly sure in my own mind it was November 1970, i had chucked the boat over at Havasu and chopped the snotter clean off. Some neat patchwork and some 120 stitches later,curtesy of Needles Hospital and a sh-t hot surgeon, the aforementioned probiscus was back in place. Charlie Alexander had a fair bit of clout in those days and asked Freddy and myself if we would like to hitch a ride back to Oshkosh in the company plane. GG and Bill Steele were on it i believe. We were saying what a useless piece of kit the ride guide system was on a tunnel boat as it had no "feel" whatsoever. ( and was one of the mitigating circumstances of my try to fly episodes.)
    Freddy asked for a pen and paper and drew the first steering wheel on a stick with a double pulley on the end ( became known as breakaway steering ) Charlie was well impressed and took the sketches with him. That was the system used for the next 20 years on all tunnel hulls.
    Fred was instrumental in many devices used in outboard racing ,i.e., solid shock mounts and thrust blocks, but thats another story.
    Okay...now I'm really confused. Miles designed breakaway in 1970 and my hull which he built in 1973...didn't have it..? The first breakaway steering I recall seeing was in 1975 or so... by the way, as you can see from the second photo below...I could have used breakaway.


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    Last edited by T2x; 01-27-2014 at 11:11 AM.
    20 Foot Switzer Wing 2 X S3000 (Dust'n the Wind II)
    !6 foot Wood Eltro Vee (2X Merc 1500's) (Dust'n the Wind IV)
    15 foot Powercat 15C (2 X Merc 1500) (Dust'n the Wind III)
    (Single engine boats are lacking something)
    15’ Wooden Switzer Shooting Star...
    16 foot Lee Craft Merc S 3000-(Gold Dust II)
    (The exception proves the rule)
    Obsolete and Proud of it

  9. #189
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    Could someone explain the differences in the steering? Cables below drivers legs? Breakaway? I understand to a limited extent, but a rundown how the system evolved and specifically what changed would help me a lot.
    Thanks
    Conrad
    L6fan57-88

  10. #190
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    Quote Originally Posted by milkdud View Post
    Could someone explain the differences in the steering? Cables below drivers legs? Breakaway? I understand to a limited extent, but a rundown how the system evolved and specifically what changed would help me a lot.
    Thanks
    Conrad
    Originally the tunnel hulls used dual Ride guide mechanical steering which required two thick push pull cables to be routed from the rack and pinions behind the dash board around the cockpit and back to the pivot tubes on the engines. The next evolution saw the mechanical system replaced with cable and pulleys which were controlled by a drum on the steering wheel shaft from behind (or in some cases in front of) the dash and around the cockpit back to wing plates on the engines. This system was lighter, quicker, and more direct than Ride Guide, but both of these systems created ballistic contact with driver's mid sections during accident scenarios. especially if the transom broke and the engines pulled back on the steering cables. The "Breakaway" concept lengthened the steering shaft (usually a chrome moly tube) and placed the steering drum beyond the driver's feet. At the same time the dashboard was removed completely and all that remained was a light fibreglass cowl from the driver's seat to the nose of the boat. in the event of a flip the driver's body could exit the cockpit without hitting the steering cables and , in most cases, would drag the wheel along part way, leaving it sticking through the cowl at an odd angle. (been there done that). Breakaway steering took a little getting used to since the steering shaft was unsupported from the driver's feet to his hands and was a tad wobbly, but well worth it for the safety features it presented.

    I hope this helps.
    Last edited by T2x; 01-27-2014 at 05:03 PM.
    20 Foot Switzer Wing 2 X S3000 (Dust'n the Wind II)
    !6 foot Wood Eltro Vee (2X Merc 1500's) (Dust'n the Wind IV)
    15 foot Powercat 15C (2 X Merc 1500) (Dust'n the Wind III)
    (Single engine boats are lacking something)
    15’ Wooden Switzer Shooting Star...
    16 foot Lee Craft Merc S 3000-(Gold Dust II)
    (The exception proves the rule)
    Obsolete and Proud of it

  11. #191
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    Rich, all the early tunnel boats i had had regular twin drum steering pulley on the end of a short steering wheel hub.
    Lent my boat to Pruett for the 1970 Paris race and he made several mods to it including ride guide and twin accelerator pedals.
    The first time i ever tried the Mercury system was Havasu, failed the test miserably and wound up wounded,pride and body wise.
    Joe fielder was in the next bed to me in the Needles Hospital------Charley Alexander came to see me in there and offered me the ride back to Oshkosh.
    Why the hell it took so long to get from a drawing in 1970 to your boat not having it 'till 1975, i cannot explain.
    I know i'm getting on a bit ,but i would bet money the time frame is spot on.

  12. #192
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    Thank you Rich and Jackie for the explanation. That helps. I had a general idea but that brings it together for me.

    I have a tunnel I am going to be starting on soon and the steering was gone and cockpit is in sorry shape. It looks as tho it had a flush mount on the dash system. If anyone has pictures inside there boats that illustrates this better. Not many boats running a Nydahl system around here to inspect.

    Rich, never gave any thought of the motor leaving town and bringing its family with it. That would be a bad day. One more reason to put a safety belt around the motor to keep it with the boat if possible in that event.

    Jackie, explain the purpose of "twin accelerator pedals"?

    Thanks
    Conrad
    L6fan57-88

  13. #193
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    OH YEAH, the twin accelerator pedals------one for each foot-----Pruett told me for the 6 hour race his left leg never ached , whereas his right one got tired after an hour or so-----so in his disjointed logic---that Pruett was the only guy in the world to have (twisted reasoning ) he figured a pedal for each leg was the way to go.
    That was OK for him-----problem was, Mercury shipped the boat to Havasu and i was used to the left pedal as the kick out trim button, Had done for the previous 2 seasons -----think i might have been stupid enough to get things a tad screwed at Havasu.

  14. #194
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    The worst flip that I can remember was in 1971 at the ON World Championship (Renato won) in Auronzo Italy, Mike Downard flipped and broke both his legs when his knees took out the dashboard. A freak accident at the start of the first heat inadvertently orchestrated by a Team from Yugoslavia, who had a boat with an older model Mercury engine. As the start clock was counting down, the Yugoslavian boat was a tad to fast to the starting line. As he approached the starting line he was all by himself and once he realized that he was early, he just shut down trying not to cross the starting line early. When his boat came off plane it created a very large wake that Mr. Downard hit. In his Molinari, just like everyone elses, the steering cables were behind the dash and right above the driver's knees.

  15. #195
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    Quote Originally Posted by milkdud View Post
    Could someone explain the differences in the steering? Cables below drivers legs? Breakaway? I understand to a limited extent, but a rundown how the system evolved and specifically what changed would help me a lot.
    Thanks
    Conrad
    T2x's explanation above is right-on.
    Here are 2 pictures I have borrowed from Mike Butler's excellent Twistercraft Restoration thread that give a good illustration of breakaway steering with the pulley system below the feet and the long steering shaft.
    The last picture is from my SE Seebold boat that had breakaway steering and shows as T2X mentions there is no dashboard.
    Whoever designed this system I owe a big thank you to as well. When I barrel rolled in Valleyfield I went right out the starboard side and it felt like I took the steering wheel with me - this was back in the day before capsules and if you were going to get thrown out you did not want to get stuck on something!!

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    Last edited by peterse90; 01-28-2014 at 08:53 PM. Reason: correction

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