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  1. #841
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    Jackie............yup I've loaded lots of boats................I started racing with Dick S when he had a trailer with 4 C&D Hydros, 2 runabouts and 8 engines loaded.............PLEASE let us colonials in on your reasoning for loading the large one on top! It would seem awfully top heavy...............

    That boat in Amsterdam must've been gawdawful fast............any pics?

    Merc must've disowned you! Beating their best must've been almost as bad as painting it white!

    I recall a race in St Mary's Ohio (I think) where I led from the start and for a number of laps untill my lower unit blew and I of course also lost one of Rollas "best". "The boys" made a point of visiting to see what was going on..............didn't like our Miles boat either it seemed.
    Someone told me after Havasu in '72 that they would have given us a C6 for the single but gave it to someone else 'cause "they" figgered that Dick would then also want 2 for our Moly twin. Unbeknownst to them we had taken delivery of a new Miles pickle specifically for that set up.........awesome boat!

  2. #842
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    Venus in Holland (not from Milo)

    Hello Jackie ! This picture of Venus in the pit at Rotterdam 1974,
    small world: I had my boat next to you, you can spot my Miles Master/TIIx behind "Venus" . Sorry for the bad quality picture, all money was spent on fuel, not camera equipment. Please note 2nd picture too (Do you remember the other crazy Norwegians in the "lay down" ON cats and shortest TIIx's ever ?)
    Best regards
    Lyder
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 1974 Rotterdam Venus JW.jpg   1974 Rotterdam short TIIX.jpg  

  3. #843
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    Quote Originally Posted by BrianSmith View Post
    Jackie............yup I've loaded lots of boats................I started racing with Dick S when he had a trailer with 4 C&D Hydros, 2 runabouts and 8 engines loaded.............PLEASE let us colonials in on your reasoning for loading the large one on top! It would seem awfully top heavy...............

    That boat in Amsterdam must've been gawdawful fast............any pics?

    Merc must've disowned you! Beating their best must've been almost as bad as painting it white!

    I recall a race in St Mary's Ohio (I think) where I led from the start and for a number of laps untill my lower unit blew and I of course also lost one of Rollas "best". "The boys" made a point of visiting to see what was going on..............didn't like our Miles boat either it seemed.
    Someone told me after Havasu in '72 that they would have given us a C6 for the single but gave it to someone else 'cause "they" figgered that Dick would then also want 2 for our Moly twin. Unbeknownst to them we had taken delivery of a new Miles pickle specifically for that set up.........awesome boat!
    Just amazed nobody worked it out !!!!!!!!!!!! Enough already, here goes !!!!!
    I had done a deal with Jeramiah Cetti to buy the '64 Paris boat, the deal was ------i took a trailer down to Torriggia and he would build a wooden stollage and bolt it to the trailer, --SIMPLE.
    When i arrived at the factory, i fell in love with the most beautifully shaped , cold moulded 15' semi V bottom boat i had ever seen. Wasn't a boat but a cold and lonely lovely work of art.!!!!!!!! It just had to be bought------ so i did.------ We are now taking two boats home.
    He then showed me a four seater 16' smaller version of the tunnel boat,----love at first sight------another of those "mustav" items----- er-- tiny problem -----i now have 3 boats to transport 2,000 miles in the middle of winter---across the alps---- with a load far over the limit of a 1600lb trailer.
    . We put the big boat on the stollage Jeramiah had built for it and placed it on the trailer facing forward-------not good----the nose of the boat meant i could only drive in a straight line . Move the stollage further back and the rig is tail heavy, trying to lift the trailer off the truck.
    Turn the boat so it's bum is facing the back of the truck-------- much better-----but with a slight problem---- the trailer is fitted with indespension units that have a travel length of some 4-6"----the wheels are immediately below the sponsons with only 1" clearance. Another hour or two head scratching, before we realized, there was no way on gods earth was the big boat going to sit on that trailer ---on that stollage in that position ------what to do?????
    Jeramiah was a brilliant wielder of a welding kit and set to creating a masterpiece. --He blew lumps off and stitched pieces on and made the V bottom fit the trailer------nice-n-low. Then he created a metal platform that fitted the big boat over the top. The balance was perfect at the first attempt. The little cat was nailed to the roof of the old van, then we hitched the trailer on the back and had a journey of a lifetime back across Europe. Got to the Mont Blanc tunnel and found it was closed------back to the St Gothard- that was closed-----drove the coast road to St Trop. and hung a right and came back that way. It snowed for 2.000 miles. But that's a tale for later.

    The moral of this story is Next time you see a trailer that you don't think is quite right-----stop-----think and analyze , Put brain in gear-----there just may be a valid reason for it-----specially if you happen to be a cranky, ageing old wit with bum fluff on the top lip.

  4. #844
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    We beleived we were hot (singles)

    From the golden years of racing and mustaches,
    My Miles Master was a great boat ! Please note boat no. 84 (Birger Halsaa) and the cockpit, no safety cell this time, I get "goosebumps" when I think about safety on this one, this ON boat was a "cab over", driver down on stomach, three similar boats were made and the TIIx's were custom shortened radically, rig as far as I can recall appprox 5 inch.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 1975 Miles in Drammen.jpg   1975 me and my Miles, Birgers laydown cat.jpg  

  5. #845
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    The boat was just so stable and true, you never felt like you were going fast-it felt like everyone else was not performing. It had no vices, and the prop suited it perfectly. The boat was quite long and it suited the sloppy Amstel water. Chas was one hell of a spanner man and Tom and Bob tried for years to get him as their crew chief. Willa has pictures of the rig. I only bought it 'cos i was pissed at Bill Brown and i needed to walk all over him, which i did until he gave up racing.
    Must say, a lot of the fun went out of racing when he retired.
    He became a big wig in the U.I.M. as a commisioner, and i was president of FONDA. so we used to get into a few arguments. He never did the sport much good !!!!!!
    Mercury helped a lot when i started Fonda. just got into it far too deep and they chucked in $500 towards the phone bills. At one time it was just Parkinson and me against OMC, ---I HAD A DREAM !!!!!! To keep F1 2 litres. [another story completely]
    Sorry Brian, i get carried away when i start remembering, and right now i have too much time on my hands.

  6. #846
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lyder von Tangen View Post
    From the golden years of racing and mustaches,
    My Miles Master was a great boat ! Please note boat no. 84 (Birger Halsaa) and the cockpit, no safety cell this time, I get "goosebumps" when I think about safety on this one, this ON boat was a "cab over", driver down on stomach, three similar boats were made and the TIIx's were custom shortened radically, rig as far as I can recall appprox 5 inch.
    Hi, I remember Berger coming to Paris in that flyaway lay down boat that beat the crap out of him. We drank a lot and he used to smuggle booze back to Sweden, or Norway to make enough money to tide him over for the next forage into Europe. The last i heard of him he was skipper on a huge Ferretti down in Miami. Great character but could never keep his fly zipped.
    Freddy Miles never got the recognition he deserved. He was a works Suzuki driver in the early days, and went on to design and build boats, He was tied at the hip to Shakespeare , then built the Miles Master range of boats [Miles Master was an aircraft builder down at Shoreham]. Before he and Dave Burgess got together.
    Fred was the guy who realised drivers legs were getting badly damaged during an accident [ Dick Somerfelds accident prompted this ] because the steering wire was fixed behind the dashboard. So he put a long steering column in and placed the pulley on the end.
    Mercury may say they did it first with their ride guide system, but he did it before them, and the ride guide was totally useless--it gave no feedback whatsoever.
    He also invented the thrust block, that saved the top shocks from destroying themselves.

    He should be remembered somewhere, but like a lot of other geniuses of his time, he will just fade into history-------unless this bunch of folk on our beloved SCREAM N FLY can do something about it

  7. #847
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    "ON" or "KT" or "ET" or "Hot Single" - Pictures.....

    Quote Originally Posted by jackie wilson View Post
    The boat was just so stable and true, you never felt like you were going fast-it felt like everyone else was not performing. It had no vices, and the prop suited it perfectly. The boat was quite long and it suited the sloppy Amstel water...... Willa has pictures of the rig.
    Here's what I've got. Jackie, you will have to do the pontificating (how unusual that will be ). I think the first two are the same boat, with and without the wing. The next two are a different rig.

    I notice in the color picture that Merc is promoting this package, so you guys must have made up by then. I also notice that the fans have hung a banner, apparently in my honor on the seawall. I always enjoyed it when they did that.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails CosworthET 001.jpg   Percival - Wilson.jpg   ON - Mercruiser Hodges 1976.jpg   Oulton Broad.jpg  

  8. #848
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    It's not often you get it TOTALLY wrong William, but i have to tell you in all honesty--NONE of the boats in any of the pictures is the one i raced in Amsterdam. everybody say AHHHHH-SHAME. POOR OLD WILLA ------
    The first pic is the Cosworth DFV. first heat in Bristol. Wing became dislodged after the chequered flag, and i ran the next 2 heats without it.
    Second pic is a picture of Percy and me having a tussle, again at Bristol in the final heat.
    3 rd is a picture of IT'S A DUESEY TWO at Bristol the year previous. Welch was a well known van hire and second hand car firm.[ didn't know you were related ]
    Fourth is a picture of Duesey2 at Oulton Broad mixing it with Tom Percival and Nelly Gregg. Used to love going up to Oulton Broad and piddling on Bob and Toms parade. It was their home ground and they had works engines and boats. Races were held on a Thursday evening whenever the tide was right. Great memories !!!!!!!!
    Question is Willa------where's the pics of the Scimitar from Amsterdam??clue no 1--it was a pale blue boat.
    Never did get a spare leg out of Mercury and the original one i bought complete was the same one on the Cosworth DFV. [you think i had money to burn ???]

  9. #849
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    Second pic is a picture of Percy and me having a tussle, again at Bristol in the final heat.
    Very cool picture....who won the tussle ??

  10. #850
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    Percy was on a high and had figured in the top three in the first two heats, I had spun out and lost a lot of places in the first heat, Percy Had to finish ahead of me but was slow off the line it was a 12 lap heat, i stayed in front for 11 laps, finished behind the number 10, [This will make Willa chuckle]. The only time in my life i let anyone through on the inside.
    At that particular race Murray Walker the commentator had been given a list of all the drivers who were likely to do well, Seebold----Velden----Salabere---Bentz--Jenkins---Molinari---Sanders--Percival----Spalding----and a host of other factory drivers. When i shot off in front poor old Murray just uttered those immortal words-----AH-AH-AH-SOMEBODY IS IN THE LEAD-------- That day i was elevated from a nobody to being a somebody. I kept on reminding him of that gaffe for the next twenty years. But the answer to your question is Percy finished in front.

  11. #851
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lyder von Tangen View Post
    Hello Jackie ! This picture of Venus in the pit at Rotterdam 1974,
    small world: I had my boat next to you, you can spot my Miles Master/TIIx behind "Venus" . Sorry for the bad quality picture, all money was spent on fuel, not camera equipment. Please note 2nd picture too (Do you remember the other crazy Norwegians in the "lay down" ON cats and shortest TIIx's ever ?)
    Best regards
    Lyder
    Hey Lyder, you were lucky------you had -A- camera AND fuel.
    That picture takes me back [35 years to be exact]. After one and a half hrs racing Bill Brown was actually in the lead. Both OMC and MERC had a factory contingent there including Velden and Molinari.
    Only Bill could have dropped the boat off the crane and smashed all the engine mounts. He had cobbled together some bits of string for the slings and tied a loop round the nose. The boat just slid out of the slings and dropped nose first on the deck. That was the day we parted company for good.

    Can't recall the names of the crazy Norwegians, but they had big balls to lay down in those widowmakers.

  12. #852
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    Great stories Jackie! Didn't know about your "ticker" 'tho.
    I agree with you about Freddie Miles. Dick of course met him on "your side of the pond" and developed a good relationship with both Fred and Phil Rolla.
    Other folks on here have bemoaned about their Miles boats; however we had great success with all we had. I do believe one of the important keys was Phils' props. We tried enumerable Merc (and other) props and the the boats were totally unmanageable with them.
    We used various rakes, cupping and diameters depending on the circumstances and had safe comfortable FAST rides always.
    I had 2 region 2 championships, 2 Canadian National Championships and did 113 MPH in our sprint boat at John Valcovics "Flying 1/4".
    Awesome boats!
    I noted in your pics that the cosworth boat seemed about the same size as the singles of the time. Most KT's as I recall were converted twins (or triples) and were 21 ft plus. Our T boat was a 20 ft with the engines set apart....similar to what Renato had at Havasu and was later campained by Bill Petty.
    How's about some info on the engine and details about the boat(s).
    Regards

    Brian

  13. #853
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lyder von Tangen View Post
    From the golden years of racing and mustaches,
    My Miles Master was a great boat ! Please note boat no. 84 (Birger Halsaa) and the cockpit, no safety cell this time, I get "goosebumps" when I think about safety on this one, this ON boat was a "cab over", driver down on stomach, three similar boats were made and the TIIx's were custom shortened radically, rig as far as I can recall appprox 5 inch.
    I can't imagine venturing into one of those things!!!!!!!!!!!!! I watched a guy stuff an F alky once, and he went straight out the front and skidded over the water on his stomach!

    Don Pruet once told us that to drive and S boat you carried your Balls around in a "tabaca can"............to drive an unlimited you needed a wheelbarrow! There isn't anything large enough for the guys that drove those things..............

  14. #854
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    Quote Originally Posted by BrianSmith View Post
    Great stories Jackie! Didn't know about your "ticker" 'tho.
    I agree with you about Freddie Miles. Dick of course met him on "your side of the pond" and developed a good relationship with both Fred and Phil Rolla.
    Other folks on here have bemoaned about their Miles boats; however we had great success with all we had. I do believe one of the important keys was Phils' props. We tried enumerable Merc (and other) props and the the boats were totally unmanageable with them.
    We used various rakes, cupping and diameters depending on the circumstances and had safe comfortable FAST rides always.
    I had 2 region 2 championships, 2 Canadian National Championships and did 113 MPH in our sprint boat at John Valcovics "Flying 1/4".
    Awesome boats!
    I noted in your pics that the cosworth boat seemed about the same size as the singles of the time. Most KT's as I recall were converted twins (or triples) and were 21 ft plus. Our T boat was a 20 ft with the engines set apart....similar to what Renato had at Havasu and was later campained by Bill Petty.
    How's about some info on the engine and details about the boat(s).
    Regards

    Brian
    I believe Rolla to be the most comprehensive walking Thesaurus on powerboating history anywhere on earth. He knows more about propuls ion -- on water---and people connected with same than anyone i know.
    My son worked for him for 10 years in Switzerland before joining Twin Disc [Arneson] in the states,10 years ago.

    The first Miles [ Venus ] was 17', as were most of the subsequent 2 litres-----2 Hodges.-------The Scimitar was over 18' and the Crescent front Hodges a tad over 16'. The Cosworth DFV was over 19'.
    Bill had full access to all the most up to date developments at Cosworth and so we had the highest spec for the 2 litre 16 valve iron block "KENT" engine.
    Bill told me it had 300 hp but he was prone to a good imagination, probably closer to 250..fuel injection and amazing reliability
    Bill got hold of an all alloy block 2 liter and fitted it in the rivetted boat, but the main bearings on the crank waggled about and went oval with disastrous
    consequences .
    Considering the weight we were carrying with the outdrive and the iron block and the way we mixed it with the factory drivers, we were right on the pace from the outset. I still believe if we had pulled together instead of going our separate ways, we could have pulled off one or two major surprises. I knew how to set up a rig and drive it, and Bill could get the best out of a lump.
    I was well past 45 and self preservation was predominant, i did not take chances anymore, so with a wife and 5 kids and a business to run i drove well within the limits.
    The chance encounter with Keith Duckworth and a few pints of Tetleys bitter changed the way i was heading and a new era was about to begin.

  15. #855
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    Quote Originally Posted by BrianSmith View Post
    Great stories Jackie! Didn't know about your "ticker" 'tho.
    I agree with you about Freddie Miles. Dick of course met him on "your side of the pond" and developed a good relationship with both Fred and Phil Rolla.
    Other folks on here have bemoaned about their Miles boats; however we had great success with all we had. I do believe one of the important keys was Phils' props. We tried enumerable Merc (and other) props and the the boats were totally unmanageable with them.
    We used various rakes, cupping and diameters depending on the circumstances and had safe comfortable FAST rides always.
    I had 2 region 2 championships, 2 Canadian National Championships and did 113 MPH in our sprint boat at John Valcovics "Flying 1/4".
    Awesome boats!
    I noted in your pics that the cosworth boat seemed about the same size as the singles of the time. Most KT's as I recall were converted twins (or triples) and were 21 ft plus. Our T boat was a 20 ft with the engines set apart....similar to what Renato had at Havasu and was later campained by Bill Petty.
    How's about some info on the engine and details about the boat(s).
    Regards

    Brian
    The big problem was the fact there was no room to negotiate with a dodgy throbber. If you couldn't pass the medical, you could not get a superlicence. End of story--------- So only my family and closest friends ever knew about it, My mechanic Chas Shooter was under threat of extinction if told anyone. Just because i had - had a bit of a hiccup did not mean i was about to retire, so set about conning the system. I should have never sat in a boat after september '76, but why let a little thing like a heart attack stop you. Chas took me everywhere on the back of a little 50cc Honda scooter,[so i did not exert myself]. Nobody ever found out and i enjoyed another 3 years of wonderful times, racing against the worlds best.
    Duckworth had the same problem -the same year- and was not allowed to fly his beloved HUEY 500. so he got his pilot to take him up and then Keith took over. Rules were meant to be bent. !!!!!!!!

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