Life at Lake X in the '60s

**lilabner** · 12-04-2009, 10:48 AM

When I had to do an extended road test, I would go by Bobby Moores and Popeyes..I watched Bobby rig that boat..Beautiful job as always..When I saw the engines I thought they were a masterpiece, until I saw the intake and exhaust ports in the head..It looked to me like an airflow nightmare..Bobby agreed.. I guess someone thought that a sewer pipe would flow more air, hence more power..I was not surprised that the performance wasn't there..But the boat was beautiful..

**T2x** · 12-04-2009, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by lilabner

When I had to do an extended road test, I would go by Bobby Moores and Popeyes..I watched Bobby rig that boat..Beautiful job as always..When I saw the engines I thought they were a masterpiece, until I saw the intake and exhaust ports in the head..It looked to me like an airflow nightmare..Bobby agreed.. I guess someone thought that a sewer pipe would flow more air, hence more power..I was not surprised that the performance wasn't there..But the boat was beautiful..

Thanks for the compliments.

The motors were the result of what happens when you try to do a 30 million dollar, ground up, engine development project...... for 3-4 million dollars. We pleaded for Mercruiser's 1000 SC's, but Marce Lavin felt snubbed by Mercury when we went out for some meetings at Oshkosh and the then head of racing, Armon Wiegert, didn't "have time" to attend. Marce then went to Cyril Batten, a guy who did the design and development work on the Oldsmobile Quad 4. Oddly enough, Cyril, later wound up working for Mercruiser in Oklahoma. If the SC motors were put in that boat, it would have set the racing world on its ear. That boat handled rough water better than anything I have seen before or since....and it should have run well over 150 in racing trim.

T2x

**lilabner** · 12-04-2009, 01:29 PM

I agree with you 100%..I think Batten was the guy that developed the Crane 4 valve small block heads in the 70's..They were also a work of art, but too expensive at the time..I don't think they set the world on fire either.. But he was an artist in the looks and wow dept..

**AirRide** · 12-04-2009, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by lilabner

When I had to do an extended road test, I would go by Bobby Moores and Popeyes..I watched Bobby rig that boat..Beautiful job as always..When I saw the engines I thought they were a masterpiece, until I saw the intake and exhaust ports in the head..It looked to me like an airflow nightmare..Bobby agreed.. I guess someone thought that a sewer pipe would flow more air, hence more power..I was not surprised that the performance wasn't there..But the boat was beautiful..

I agree Butch. The boat had potential, but the more Bobby tried, the worse it seemed to perform. His words, not mine. Ben Kramer's Porsche 928 ran perfectly after your extended road tests. It better have, right?, lol. He went with the best garage in South Florida.

**lilabner** · 12-04-2009, 02:05 PM

Ben had the fastest 928S4 Automatic we ever worked on..and it was stock..
I miss all those guys..don't condone what they did, but they were fun to be around..add to that the loss of Powerboat Row and Don A.. Those WERE the GOOD OLD DAYS..

**lilabner** · 12-04-2009, 02:09 PM

Didn't you take out the Battens and put in Lambo's?..I seem to remember some in the shop about that time..

**T2x** · 12-04-2009, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by lilabner

Didn't you take out the Battens and put in Lambo's?..I seem to remember some in the shop about that time..

No, we put Lambo's in Jean Pierre Fruitier's 39' Conquest, "Rocky", a few years earlier. That boat won Cowes-Torquay one year, I believe. If there were Lambo's in Bobby's shop at that time, they were probably for Nuri Subunja's(sp) Cougar, "Chairman of the Board".

Bobby's tests with the 48 footer were minimal at best, as the engines never held oil pressure across the board up to full throttle. As you accelerated 4 tach's would start to climb, then one oil pressure gauge would start to drop, and two motors would slow down (they were connected in tandems through the gearboxes), and the boat would begin to hesitate. The best the boat ever ran was in Traverse City, Michigan and Sarasota, where it took off in occasional bursts of speed...but you could never, under any circumstances open it up.

The last time it ran was at the Atlantic City World's. Of course Air Ride knows more about every topic in the universe than I do so squeeze his head for more details....

T2x

**seeroy** · 12-05-2009, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by ledfoot

You're welcome T2x, and thank you for all the great stories and especially for the series of DVD's that you made, I bought them last year and me and my 6 year old son watch them quite often. Just can't get enough video of those boats from the 70's & 80's running so hard. We only got to see them once a year, but I feel lucky that my father would bring us out in his 18' Chris Craft with a small block every year to watch the races. Thanks for the clarification on the Conquest. I am an industrial designer (cars, boats) and that is one sweet looking boat. Wasn't there a Chris Cat line earlier? I want to say they were 30' or so. In Sarasota at the 10th st. ramp we used to see SO much testing activity, what with Chris Craft, Donzi, Wellcraft, etc... all located here at the time.

Any more Sarasota Mercury testing stuff or Sarasota Offshore Grand Prix stories/photos would be greatly appreciated. The night they closed The Boathouse bar at the Hyatt I went down to see if I could score any of the photos off the walls, they had one picture of the most memorable Sarasota race when it was too rough in the Gulf so they ran in through New Pass bridge. The roostertails shot straight up through the drawbridge grid and that bridge was packed with people. Unforgettable for a 13 year old kid. Popeye's is hands down the boat I remember most from that era, we had never seen such a display of power. We could run our little 18 footer right out through New Pass just 20 feet from that 3000 hp machine.

Ledfoot Jeff - This would be what you are referring to. My brother Bill was the Popeyes Team Manager as well as Throttleman with Al Copeland for 7 years. He always loved to come home to Sarasota to race. The race officials told him to NOT wash down the New Pass bridge. He said, "OK" and then did it anyway. Best Regards From An Old SHS Sailor Class Of '62 - Steve Sirois.

**ledfoot** · 12-05-2009, 11:16 AM

Thanks Steve, you just made my day!
From a fellow SHS grad class of '89.
-led

**MagicFloat** · 12-05-2009, 12:55 PM

I did not know they closed the Boathouse Bar. Karen and I spent lots of time there (and bought lots of food and drinks) over the years during races and dealer meetings.Haven't been down in years.Why did it close? Is the Hotel still there? Guess I'm getting old and can't keep up.

**T2x** · 12-06-2009, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by MagicFloat

I did not know they closed the Boathouse Bar. Karen and I spent lots of time there (and bought lots of food and drinks) over the years during races and dealer meetings.Haven't been down in years.Why did it close? Is the Hotel still there? Guess I'm getting old and can't keep up.

They also closed and tore down The Quay...for no reason that I can see. Right now it's a giant vacant lot next to the Hyatt canal.

**ledfoot** · 12-07-2009, 12:12 PM

This is the story I heard from the bartender at the Boathouse the last night they were open: when they tore down the Quay, which was apparently invested with rats, the vermin needed a new home and they settled in at the Boathouse. The problem got so bad they had to close the kitchen a couple of times. Also, it had some structural problems, being built on pilings out over the water. So, now they host hotel events & banquets there but the kitchen is now inside the hotel. There is a new bar inside as well but I have not been there yet.

**AirRide** · 12-07-2009, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by ledfoot

This is the story I heard from the bartender at the Boathouse the last night they were open: when they tore down the Quay, which was apparently invested with rats, the vermin needed a new home and they settled in at the Boathouse. The problem got so bad they had to close the kitchen a couple of times. Also, it had some structural problems, being built on pilings out over the water. So, now they host hotel events & banquets there but the kitchen is now inside the hotel. There is a new bar inside as well but I have not been there yet.

Sounds like a good enough reason to me. That place was a dump anyway. Much better places in town I'd rather frequent, in the past, or before they tore it down.

**dcfrench1560** · 01-05-2010, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by seeroy

I just found this photo in my filing cabinet. I had forgotten that I even had it. This boat will be very familiar to many of you, however not the number or name. 50' aluminum (aluminium for Jackie) Cougar catamaran, 4 inboards on 4 outdrives. My brother Bill, Al Copeland, and Stan Ware dominated offshore for a couple of years with this machine. Initially it was named "Popeyes Pepsi Special" with #19. After winning national championship the number changed to #1. Also Popeyes Chicken restaurants changed from Pepsi products to Coke products, the name was changed to "Popeyes Diet Coke. I was with Bill when he took possesion of the boat from Brownie. Brownie told me, "Steve, this boat is going to make your brother famous". I rode in the boat once in Sarasota when it was in race rig, and saw 118mph on the speedo. I think it eventually ran around 130mph in straightaway rig. Not too bad for the mid 1980's. Bill and Al are both gone now, but Stan Ware is still very actively racing offshore. I don't remember, or never did know, as much about the boat as I would like to have known about it. Hopefully Stan will come aboard and add details. As to the picture, note the flat attitude with bottom and props well out of the water. Bill told me they would pull up next to a 30-40 foot boat and look over at the guys getting the snot beat out of themselves while he was running along as smooth as silk. - Steve Sirois

Back in 1983 I was a flight instructor/ demo pilot/ferry pilot for Lake Aircraft up in Laconia, NH. I spent four or five days with a Plastic Surgeon from Orlando Florida starting in New Hampshire and ending up down in Florida. My older brother used to run a 15'Checkmate with a Merc 135 up on a block. Lake X was the fabled Shangri-La of Performance Outboards. The Doctor had ties there and we landed on the airport (Not allowed on the water) walked in and spent some time with his buddies. I remember walking in and looking over Popeye. Massive aluminum Tunnel hull with plenty of 1" rivets. 2 of 750 hp I/O's in each hull with drives. What a beautiful rig. For that type of hull, it just looked right.