Hot Singles ! - Pictures

[willabee]

Are those outboards or inboards?

I was sure they were outboards until you asked that question. Soooo, I looked at the film again but couldn't see anything that was different from the picture. The one under cover does appear to have a Merc top cowl appearing above the boat cowl. All I can say is that I don't recall seeing any inboard hulls while I was there. However, this was about 38 years ago.....I'm quite happy that I still remember it was Molinari's shop.....somewhere in Italy.....maybe on a lake, hummm

With these pictures, I'm just trying to show the top floor of the shop. The hydos sat against the east wall, there were a couple more boats between them and the OI boat in the 2nd shot. The 3rd shows that same wall from the outside patio. You got an absolutely beautiful view of Lake Como and a few of the surrounding villages from that patio.

[willabee]

Looking at the film caused a couple of the ol' light bulbs to turn back on.....I always like it when that happens . We have talked about the 16' Molinari sprints and specifically the steering on the one that Olegator campaigned for a year. Now I remember the sequence of events.

The three 16'ers came over with cable steering. Jim Merten got the orange one (that eventually went to Olegator) and it first ran at the Miami 225 in February, 1970. It won that race and then came back to Florida to run in the Nationals in "U" and "S" classes. Bill Sirois drove it in "S" and set a World Record in the process. Next it went to a marathon in St. Marys, Ohio. Merten was leading that race when the steering failed. Almost all of the components used for that steering came from Molinari and I think the tubular bar itself broke, almost flipping the boat.

The boat was scheduled to run in the Paris 6 Hour that year and there was not much confidence in that steering system. Ride-guide was installed and Merc would eventually get to work on developing their own steering system. The final test pieces for that flat aluminum plate system ran at Parker in 1972.

Post #17 shows that the boat ran at the 225 in February with cable steering and the pictures below show it with ride-guide as it is prepared to go back to Italy in September. The 1st shot shows the big box that was built to ship it back. In the 2nd I tried to get a close-up of the steering and hopefully you can see the 187 number. The 3rd is the boat back at Molinari's shop. It has been uncrated and hoisted down to the top floor. It is on the south end of the patio you saw in the previous pictures.

Hey Jackie.....how did they get the boats down from the 3rd floor? The hoist used to get them from the 1st floor to the water also got them to the 2nd floor.....then what?

[willabee]

Going through another film, saw some racing I believe to be the Regional Championships in Merrill, Wisconsin in 1971. There were several heat races featuring the "FJ", "SJ", "UI", "U", "S" & "T" classes as well as a marathon for all. Figure this to be 71 because Mike Downard runs a W/I stacker on what appears to be the Molinari/Wilson extended transom Paris boat from the 1970 race. Bob Hering is running a C6 on what looks like the Tom Stickle/Don Clark Paris boat and the "U" class Mercs are Twisters.

Around this time frame, Merc was having a number of different boat builders build single engine prototypes for Racing to test to see if they could be competitive with Molinari. I believe the hull in the 1st shot is what DeSilva shipped to Oshkosh. If Stickle says it's a Sidewinder, I'd have to go with that....but I'm pretty sure it is a DeSilva. That is Hering driving it in the "U" class heat races.....it ran pretty good, but the Molinari's with the same power ran better. It is a one of a kind hull.

I took the 2nd shot in hopes you could see the McCall driver, in the center, almost coming out of that boat. I don't remember who this is, but he could really drive that thing. His OMC led the first couple of laps.....in front of the Merc Team Molinari's!

The 3rd shot is Jimbo McConnell in what I think they called a Goatboat/Stinger. He must have over propped that thing because it porpoised wildly coming out of the turns. As you can see, once he got it to lay down, it ran quite well. In the film, I can see several Mercury outboard engine decals on the boats nose. He and Ted May used to enjoy applying a decal like that to their boat any time they beat a Merc . He ran this in the marathon and was lapped by Downard, Hering and Stickle because he couldn't get off of the turns.....wonder if he removed a decal every time a Merc beat him .

[MN4V]

I'll bet the McCall driver is Art Kennedy!
Mark N

[jackie wilson]

Looking at the film caused a couple of the ol' light bulbs to turn back on.....I always like it when that happens . We have talked about the 16' Molinari sprints and specifically the steering on the one that Olegator campaigned for a year. Now I remember the sequence of events.

The three 16'ers came over with cable steering. Jim Merten got the orange one (that eventually went to Olegator) and it first ran at the Miami 225 in February, 1970. It won that race and then came back to Florida to run in the Nationals in "U" and "S" classes. Bill Sirois drove it in "S" and set a World Record in the process. Next it went to a marathon in St. Marys, Ohio. Merten was leading that race when the steering failed. Almost all of the components used for that steering came from Molinari and I think the tubular bar itself broke, almost flipping the boat.

The boat was scheduled to run in the Paris 6 Hour that year and there was not much confidence in that steering system. Ride-guide was installed and Merc would eventually get to work on developing their own steering system. The final test pieces for that flat aluminum plate system ran at Parker in 1972.

Post #17 shows that the boat ran at the 225 in February with cable steering and the pictures below show it with ride-guide as it is prepared to go back to Italy in September. The 1st shot shows the big box that was built to ship it back. In the 2nd I tried to get a close-up of the steering and hopefully you can see the 187 number. The 3rd is the boat back at Molinari's shop. It has been uncrated and hoisted down to the top floor. It is on the south end of the patio you saw in the previous pictures.

Hey Jackie.....how did they get the boats down from the 3rd floor? The hoist used to get them from the 1st floor to the water also got them to the 2nd floor.....then what?

Hey Willa , Nice to have you back and in good form, Been visiting old gits for the last couple of weeks,most of them don't know their asse from their elbow, and think "The Net" is something the old lady puts over her head at bedtime.
Each of the etages, [floors] at Torriggia had an extension to the outside, facing the cliff. Above the building, and level with the road was a huge crane. This could even lift boats out of the water, clear to the road, or shift boats from floor to floor.
After testing, you had to drive the boat under the building and someone would press a button and the floor would slide back and you would be hoisted out onto a 4 wheel showroom dolly, then to the outside platform and hoisted up to the road, where you would shove your road trailer underneath and presto,you were in business.
The top floor had a huge patio that would take 2-3 boats, they could be lowered or raised at will.
Anyway, i claim the fifth as it is 38 years since and anything i may remember is entirely coincidental and may not be used against me by members of the more knowledgeable sects.

[willabee]

I'll bet the McCall driver is Art Kennedy!
Mark N

Now that you've said it, I think you're right. When I was watching the "UI" race on the film, I saw a Mercury powered beige looking G.W. Invader. My mind went immediately to Kennedy.....when it came to V bottoms, it didn't get any better than watching him with his 1000 BP and Johnny Sanders in an Allison .

What I wasn't thinking about was the date. Art ran the Invader in 68/69, this race was 1971. He got his first tunnel drive at Havasu in 68 and I think he ran some tunnel races for Merc in 69. Then he ran on his own for a while before he got a full OMC ride in 1971....I remember that he ran for them at Long Beach that year. He may have run this Merrill race with one of their engines and, as a result of his performance, they moved him into a "S" rig.

[willabee]

A couple more I enjoyed from the Regionals in Merrill. Don't know who this is, but pretty sure it's a Scat Craft with a Johnson GT115. That sure doesn't look like much wood for that powerplant ..... this guy is really loose. This being 1971, what class would he be running in?

[Mark Poole ModVP]

I don't think that is Jimbo but looking at how big the guy is and the fact that Jimbo always had on a tinted bubble face sheild it sure looks a lot like him!
Whoever it is they have no fear of hanging that thing in the wind.

[willabee]

Hey Willa , Nice to have you back..... After testing, you had to drive the boat under the building and someone would press a button and the floor would slide back and you would be hoisted out onto a 4 wheel showroom dolly,

Thank you ..... I don't remember the crane being there all of the time. However, I do recall the moving floor. It took "people power", not push buttons to move it. You would brace yourself against a pillar and start a stationary walk, the floor would start rolling away.

Story time.....
I remember making my first trip to Lugano, Switzerland. Had a great time, stopped in a number of little cafes on the way back to Tavernola. I had consumed enough wine to make me think I could speak Italian.....hell, maybe I thought that I was Italian. I chatted and drank with the locals at every stop. Remember buying a bottle or two and pouring it in peoples glasses as I walked around the clubs, just a babbling away.....they had to think I was a real idiot.

Got pretty sick that night and had a humongous headache the next morning. We went to Molinari's shop and I had to go outside on the little dock to get some fresh air. While heading back inside, someone started rolling that damn floor away.....I saw the floor moving, my head started spinning and I went back out to feed the fish. Wine, man.....that was the worst hangover I've ever had. Don't think I've had more than one glass of that stuff since.

[willabee]

Looking at the film of us getting ready to go to Europe, saw this 18' Molinari sitting in the rig shop. There is nothing unusual about the boat, what is unusual is the engine that's sitting on it.

This is probably August, 1970 and that is a C6. We had been racing Twisters and stackers at that time.....the 6 carb engine had not been invented yet. I bet that you are looking at the very first C6 to get water tested! It's not a good picture, but it's good enough to count carbs .

Something else I see in this photo is our complete lack of security.....I can assure you, that ain't the way we normally operated. The overhead door is wide open, the engine cowl is off. This building is right next to the sidewalk on Wisconsin street. All anyone interested had to do was take a picture from the sidewalk and everyone would have known exactly what we were up to.....Mr. Kiekhaefer would have gone wild if he had seen that engine exposed like that.

[peterse90]

[quote=willabee;1518090]Looking at the film of us getting ready to go to Europe, saw this 18' Molinari sitting in the rig shop. There is nothing unusual about the boat, what is unusual is the engine that's sitting on it.


Hey Willabee, a little hard to tell but it looks like a 'rocker bottom'...bet a C6 on a rocker would be a bit of a hand-full????

[willabee]

.....it looks like a 'rocker bottom'.....

bet a C6 on a rocker would be a bit of a hand-full????

It is.....

It was.....

[SCT]

Somebody mentioned Marty Oneil awhile back. Here he is in a Cmate tunnel. Anyone know what was the name on the boat? Irish......? Looks like it was a cold day!

[T2x]

Irish Princess ?

It might have been Irish Madness......

That is the boat that cost him his spleen. He flipped it while testing (maybe that day?).....no rescue boat.....etc, etc.

Marty had a tough life....... and died way too young.

God Speed buddy..
..

T2x

[willabee]

I'll leave you for the Holiday with what I use for a screen saver at the office. A while back I posted it on another thread, but it really belongs here.....all of them were Hot Singles

Happy Thanksgiving.......