Hot Singles ! - Pictures

[FUJIMO]

...here ya go... (and there were others) https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/attachments/general-boating-discussion/192510d1139621227-save-old-race-boats-offshore-history0046a.jpg

[GENE LANHAM]

...here ya go... (and there were others) https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/attachments/general-boating-discussion/192510d1139621227-save-old-race-boats-offshore-history0046a.jpg

471496

I always thought RANDY could have something like that---Now tell me where they got TWO LONG SHAFT ---T1's----???????????????

[FUJIMO]

...same place randy got his previous one's...mercury. very few made. only for the offshore guys. no one else had any use for them. as you know gene, offshore destroyed stuff that no other racing could, in ways that were inconceivable. if mercury could build something that could take offshore, the part was good to go, for just about anything else.https://www.thehulltruth.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=949372&d=1504631729

[GENE LANHAM]

How about a half dozen MC1's?

I don't recall---an OFFSHORE boat with a T-1??471492

471544

How about-- A HALF DOZEN fishing motor LOWER UNITS?

By 1971 the SUPER BP lower unit was done--and I had used up ALL the spare PARTS:)

BUT----the DSH's--long and short---were still available--

AND----the ADAPTER was available---

AND ---the wonderful 1350 powerhead was available--

AND---someone at MERCURY had learned how to CR those LU's--LEGAL:confused:

[FUJIMO]

...yup, thats what i mentioned above, that many were using the standard/stock gearcases in offshore. the lefts were locked lefts via special gear in the front & carrier. the only alternative was the MC1 or adapt the BP. again, big props(non speedmaster) were needed is why. big heavy hulls that needed to stay on top of the rough stuff without loosing momentum. the standard gearcases lasted a while, but broke here & there. the locked lefts, if i remember correctly lasted longer than the shiftable rights. nobody counter rotated the powerheads in offshore, was accomplished with gearcases. this was the beginning of seeing the need for a real left-hand gearcase for both the public and racing offshore. I believe offshore needs in all those years, was the lightbulb, and the test ground, for many of the standard mercury features we take for granted today.

[FUJIMO]

...nice pic gene. those freak'n two blades worked good for they're day, but man o man did they destroy standard gearcases due to their imbalance. they would ALWAYS stretch out the housings enough for the spanner rings to loose their grip on the inside housings threads...and then everything exited the gearcase. propshaft, prop, carrier, ring, etc. and then of course your housing was scrap too.https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=471544&d=1597336903

[FUJIMO]

...hard to tell from the photo, but the props look like mercury's "offshore" series, or "elephant ear" props. same blade cross-section/design as the 12'' BP props, only 14" diameter. hard to say.

[GENE LANHAM]

...hard to tell from the photo, but the props look like mercury's "offshore" series, or "elephant ear" props. same blade cross-section/design as the 12'' BP props, only 14" diameter. hard to say.

Here is Schwebby working with those OFFSHORE props.---471545

444 triple 27' Magnum--

May 1968--the LH had a Mercury Part number back then--471546

[FUJIMO]

...yes gene, the locked left gearcase had a part number, and also available was a part number for a "kit" of left hand parts, thoughout the 70's, to convert a right...https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=471546&d=1597346054

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=471545&d=1597345948

[FUJIMO]

...as you know gene, offshore destroyed stuff that no other racing could, in ways that were inconceivable. if mercury could build something that could take offshore, the part was good to go, for just about anything else.
...was just thinking about this remark. what came to mind as an example, was the single ram V-6 clamp bracket assembly. mind bending what that part can do & has been through over the years & kept on ticking... that part came from offshore in 1978...

[WaterZebra]

...was just thinking about this remark. what came to mind as an example, was the single ram V-6 clamp bracket assembly. mind bending what that part can do & has been through over the years & kept on ticking... that part came from offshore in 1978...

Are you talking about the "thru transom" configuration?

[FUJIMO]

Are you talking about the "thru transom" configuration?
...no. this one. a transom bracket so well designed...that its been in continued use, on various consumer & racing large Mercury Outboards, for over 40 years...https://www.mercuryracing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ROS_Racing-Port_Side-Prof.jpg

[MN4V]

Fujmo, Do you have a photo of the new 4 stroke F1H2O F1 motor? Specs?
Mark N

[Lake X Kid]

Today I asked 2019 F1 H2O champion Shaun Torrente, about what it is like in today's F1 race boat.
The high G-loads cornering and the fast entry and exit corner speeds.

"Acceleration and cornering ability of an F1 boat is the greatest feeling in the world.. they still amaze me in the race. The rough water they will go over and turn in still amazes me today.. now with the improved aero helping the balance on our DAC, it is the best rig I have ever driven" said Shaun.

This is Shaun's DAC boat.

https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/s261x260/118033086_10158474123234932_6687497408779362762_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_sid=dbeb18&_nc_ohc=rqes1cnVPiEAX8iZILq&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&_nc_tp=7&oh=0aecc2721dc8e1b4b36e82dd4119831c&oe=5F5E9909

That is Shaun talking to Jeff Titus (I believe) in the blue jacket and hat. They are at the
Tavares Vintage Race last November 2019.

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https://www.facebook.com/shauntorrenteracing/videos/560041094446173/

[Lake X Kid]

I wonder if Art Kennedy first started out as a fisherman, before he grew up to be a boat racer.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s960x960/96276590_10158175148079337_5459803980483788800_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=f1mNW765N7cAX9ZeU7C&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&_nc_tp=7&oh=44dfee63e6c83ba1c74d201a9f899efa&oe=5F5DE76C

[FUJIMO]

Fujmo, Do you have a photo of the new 4 stroke F1H2O F1 motor? Specs?
Mark N...nope...

[Mark75H]

I wonder if Art Kennedy first started out as a fisherman, before he grew up to be a boat racer.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s960x960/96276590_10158175148079337_5459803980483788800_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=f1mNW765N7cAX9ZeU7C&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&_nc_tp=7&oh=44dfee63e6c83ba1c74d201a9f899efa&oe=5F5DE76C

The Art you are thinking of was Art Jr, Art Sr had been a championship level racer before him. Art Jr just followed in his father's footsteps.

Correct answer: Art was born a racer

[FUJIMO]

...kennedy sr. had a sheetmetal company that as jr. got older turned into a successful heating & cooling company in st. louis missouri...

[Lake X Kid]

Quotes and stories, that I found pertinent to racing people.
In the hope others will contribute situations more relevant to this site.

472178

[2us70]

Watch " Ford verses Ferrari". Racers will get it.

[Lake X Kid]

White (light colored) slacks are for riding in the boat.

Working on the boat and engine, I prefer darker pants. It does a better job of hiding the inevitable.

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=471546&d=1597346054

[GENE LANHAM]

472274That is almost what ROCKY said!!

Except he pronounced it----'charrenge'

[Lake X Kid]

That first mark, that's going to be tight," Bill Seebold said. "It's going to look like we're going to hit the seawall, but we won't."

The top came down, I grabbed onto the grab bar in front of me and we shot out of the dock like a rocket ship. Whoosh!
We reached the first mark, swerved around at a sharp angle that sent us skidding up the course to the second. Whoosh!

We careened around the next mark - and the next - twice around the course in all, taking each turn so tight that it didn't seem possible to keep the boat from spinning out. Each time, my body was thrown one way and my head another. It felt like the lower part of my face was stretching as we hit 140 mph.

Later Seebold told me we experienced about 2 Gs. In a race, he said, the G-force is between 4 and 4 1/2.

After the first couple of turns, I just relaxed and enjoyed the whole thing - riding with Bill, the precise turns, the blur of the spectators, the thrill of feeling airborne and the joy of pure speed.
It was all over in a few minutes. When I was back up on the pier, someone handed me a photograph of us in the boat. It was a golden day.
Would I do it again? In a New York minute - as long as Bill Seebold Jr. is driving.

Shirley Levy (The Blade) Toledo, Ohio July 2004.

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[FUJIMO]

...fun ride for anyone thats never been in a tunnel.:smiletest:

[willabee]

...fun ride for anyone thats never been in a tunnel.:smiletest:

I kinda doubt 'fun' would be the first word a novice to tunnel boats would utter upon returning to the dock after a ride like that .....
'Thank God!' would probably be heard most of the time. :D

[FUJIMO]

I kinda doubt 'fun' would be the first word a novice to tunnel boats would utter upon returning to the dock after a ride like that .....
'Thank God!' would probably be heard most of the time. :D
...lol...agreed...;)...and an underwear change for some...:smiletest:

[Lake X Kid]

A Jackie Wilson endorsement from his thread, Tricks Old Racers Get Up To After Retirement.

"I am still of the opinion that Willabee’s HOT SINGLES is the best thread ever to grace the S+F site."

[Lake X Kid]

Functionality determined the lifespan of this one particular trophy.

In the photo Roy Ridgell, my dad, is holding his winners trophy, first place overall for single outboard at Kissimmee. Dave Craig is holding his first place trophy for dual rigs.

Who knows what happen to my dad’s trophy. Like manner his other trophies did not seem to garner prominent space in our household. But one trophy he received in South Florida, did survive to be displayed in the living room at home. Because it was more than a display, it had purpose.
It told the time too.

My take away is a, trophy with household functionality, will be more receptive by your significant other. Maybe race organizers/promoters should bring back the likes of a Time Clock Trophy.

Bill Seebold receives the York trophy at Bristol, and Shane holds up the Gold Cup at Detroit.

With the Microsoft Paint tool, I did the best I could to replicate the Time Clock Trophy.

472686

[Lake X Kid]

Kissimmee Florida early 1960's boat race, near Mercury Lake X.

http://www.raveauboats.com/Kissimmee.jpg

[Mark Poole ModVP]

Pretty sure that is the Lake Toho main street water front. Like I mentioned before, there was a race in Kissimmee.

[Mark Poole ModVP]

Bill Seebold will tell you that the Bristol race committee said that anyone who could win that trophy three years straight could keep it. I think they changed their minds on that because he did not get to keep it. Solid gold. Can you imagine what it would be worth today?

[FUJIMO]

Bill Seebold will tell you that the Bristol race committee said that anyone who could win that trophy three years straight could keep it. I think they changed their minds on that because he did not get to keep it. Solid gold. Can you imagine what it would be worth today?
...if that was true, i would have kept it...

[Lake X Kid]

Today on Labor Day Weekend, the summer of 2020 has come and is now leaving.
And a fine annual tradition has been cancelled, this year because of Covid 19.

The city of Long Beach, California has a long legacy of offshore racing, Catalina Ski race, and the
Long Beach Marine Stadium hosting circuit racing.
(And including the Grand Prix of Indy & F1 cars too).
And I have witnessed them all, and have been a volunteer a few times at the races.
But not this year of 2020. :(

This is unprecedented in my young (I use to be younger) life.
And so here are some of my lamentations.

472813

[Lake X Kid]

The K Boat class at Long Beach by default, require proper gear like ear plugs for me.

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[FUJIMO]

great pics. thx for sharing. regarding your first topic, i will post a youtube vid of what happened in palm beach county a few days ago. things are getting real...

[Lake X Kid]

The class of 2020 did not get to showcase at Long Beach, because of the race cancellation.

Here are some of my pictures of past participants.

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472824

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[Lake X Kid]

Grass roots racing (family affair) did not get to bond, at Long Beach this 2020 year.

Hopefully for the next generation of up and coming drivers, 2021 will be a banner year for racing.

Photos are the back ramp at Long Beach, California.


472826

[Dave S]

Shess…..People racing on the edge told to stand down for a Fake bug...….When will we wake up ?

[Lake X Kid]

Ladies & Gentlemen the new Hot Single Power — 360 APX.

Mercury Racing has gone 4-Stroke V8 power Outboards beginning this year 2020.
And as expected the motor sounds different (See Mercury's press release Youtube videos).

473616

[Lake X Kid]

Chris Fairchild touts the new racing 360 APX engine.


https://youtu.be/_Ip-CnvPnio

[Dave S]

Sounds good let the parts fall as they will...…...and see which one is more cost effective...…..over drive spur gears or sun planet gears?

[lars strom]

Renato

473914

[FUJIMO]

https://d2g6b83uc6acxk.cloudfront.net/nopproduct-895668-600-f.jpg

[Lake X Kid]

Sometimes tooling and machining are financial obstacles, to the dreams on paper.

Which might have applied to Chet Herbert's 1972 Havasu dream,
a Supercharged 3 cylinders with dual cranks and 6 pistons.

474026

[Lake X Kid]

I would not want to be strapped into the seat. That is what Roy Ridgell told me, years after he retired from racing. When he witnessed the trajectory of boat racing going toward better safety solutions.

I respect dad's old viewpoint, but the sports sensibilities had to progress. And the increased boat speeds necessitated positive changes, for the viability of the sports future. Future generations need the high probability, that they will be coming back to the dock alive.

*****

Unlike Roy, Chip Hanauer made the transition to safety capsules, and was proud of it.
Here is what Chip had to say about his contribution to safety in racing.

~~~
When I was hired to drive the new Atlas Van Lines, I was replacing perhaps the greatest hydroplane driver ever, Bill Muncey, after his death in Mexico. Although it was a new boat, it had no more safety advantages than the boat Bill died in.I am proud to say I played a role in changing how hydroplane racing approached safety.
After Dean Chenoweth’s death, less than a year after Bill's death, we made significant improvements to driver safety. No one had been belted into a race boat, but the Atlas team changed my boat, built a protective, rigid cockpit and belted me into it. That led the way to the completely encapsulated hydroplanes we see racing today.
At the time, there was opposition to my being belted in. They said I might drown. But, in my mind, if I drowned, we at least improved the situation. The way it was going at the time, the driver was killed on impact. I felt we were at least moving the peg up a notch that I survived the crash to drown. I’m proud of that contribution and proud of Jim Lucero and my Atlas team who designed the new cockpit.

Here is a photo of Roy Ridgell in B-300.

474528

[FUJIMO]

...really nice photo kid. you happen to know what brand of boat that was, and size?... you realize that the B-300 number on this boat, that the kiekhaefer chrysler race cars had on them in '56, had also been applied here.

[2us70]

Looks like a cut down North American. Mercury ran several of those boats in those days. Number is for the Gold Coast Marathon. The inboard classes started with letters the outboards with numbers.

[Dave S]

400 hp....2 cranks......phazed for better scavaging......blower on top.......just add DFI abd ya got a monster........I don't think a 105 chrysler lower is going to last tho

[GENE LANHAM]

Here is a photo of Roy Ridgell in B-300.

474528


474673

[Bob V]

474677

[Lake X Kid]

Boat 76 steering wheel is disengaged, high probability it happen with the ejection of the driver.

This is an unfortunate carnage of racing. I do not know who the participants are or where and when it happen.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/47/7f/26/477f2679ac84e49d6d79749e4ae41846.jpg

[peterse90]

Boat 76 steering wheel is disengaged, high probability it happen with the ejection of the driver.

This is an unfortunate carnage of racing. I do not know who the participants are or where and when it happen.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/47/7f/26/477f2679ac84e49d6d79749e4ae41846.jpg

This is a very famous 'often posted' picture. Boat #76 is Reggie Fountain and his steering wheel is doing what it is designed to do with break-away steering system;
475282

[2us70]

76 was indeed Reggie,575 was Harry Kerslake and 486 was Danny Piggot. Harry's boat was a Baja originally intended to run as a SJ boat. This boat generated way too much lift at U class speeds hence the tunnel flaps in the picture. Harry told me to run into any wind took full down on the flaps and even then the boat would lift straight up level and loose contact with the water. I knew Harry because his own personal ride was an SD boat and we raced many times. I always thought it was funny that Harry ran those two classes at the same time.
I witnessed this accident up close from the rail just past the clock at the Marine Stadium. As the field came down for the start it was pretty plain that something was likely to go wrong. Most of them had got the timing on the clock pretty good and it got pretty crowded. This was the result.

[Mark75H]

3 things happened:

all but one of the boats came up early and slowed down

the main/front group of boats assumed they were ALL together and no one was at the back correctly running to the clock as they slowed and bunched up

the guy at the back expected everyone to maintain lanes as he came up intending to shoot thru the crowd

[WaterZebra]

76 was indeed Reggie,575 was Harry Kerslake and 486 was Danny Piggot. Harry's boat was a Baja originally intended to run as a SJ boat. This boat generated way too much lift at U class speeds hence the tunnel flaps in the picture. Harry told me to run into any wind took full down on the flaps and even then the boat would lift straight up level and loose contact with the water. I knew Harry because his own personal ride was an SD boat and we raced many times. I always thought it was funny that Harry ran those two classes at the same time.
I witnessed this accident up close from the rail just past the clock at the Marine Stadium. As the field came down for the start it was pretty plain that something was likely to go wrong. Most of them had got the timing on the clock pretty good and it got pretty crowded. This was the result.

Result of what? Crossed lanes? Drove over the back of somebody? Bump? One blew and sucked the other two with him? Sounds to me like they were almost trading paint before it happened? This is the only blow over accident that I know of that was distributed thru the Associated Press system.

Break away steering was a middle step towards safety capsules which maybe prevented injury (Reggie) but didn't stop fatalities. I blew over with one of these steering rigs and managed to get my index finger snagged on the trim switch on the way out/down. Snapped it like a twig. Still a bit twisted to this day. Steering didn't "break away" but the drum shaft bent like a wet noodle.........

[2us70]

The Marine Stadium was basically my home race course. I ran countless laps there both in races and testing. If you look at a picture of the Stadium stands you will see that they form a sideways V. The prevailing wind at the Stadium is about a 45 degrees left headwind on the front straight. This causes a pretty big vortex to form in front of the stands. I first witnessed this when red smoke flares were used to stop the 9 Hour race when Hank Bowman was killed. Over the years I noticed most blowovers happened right in front of the stands. I also noticed when I had a boat trimmed just right it would get real light passing the stands especially if you were out in the middle of the lane. Not so bad along the buoys.
In this incident as the boats came down to the start they were close together and swapping air and shuffling sideways even before they got to the stands. It didn't take much in that situation to start the action from there. Harry was the first to go since his boat was already running faster than designed. Then the other two.

[Mark75H]

Result of what? Crossed lanes? Drove over the back of somebody? Bump? One blew and sucked the other two with him? Sounds to me like they were almost trading paint before it happened?

Yes 3 boats touched and became a super wing and they all took off. No one crossed lanes, but Reggie did come into a lane that disappeared when he arrived; no one realized he was back there at full throttle.

[2us70]

That's about right from my vantage point. When tunnel boats first came on the scene power trim was not legal in many classes. The other common blowover point at the Stadium was the entry to turn 1. When you turned in to ! you went from a quartering head wind to dead on the bow. This caught out more than a few drivers. My own McCall tunnel tried to bite me several times here. I had to run it way aired out to try to keep up and if I didn't get it down going in to 1 it either wouldn't turn or it would try to blow over. I was fortunate to have only blown over once in that boat in testing.

[Lake X Kid]

Circa 1974 - 1975 the changing of the guard.
The new Merc V6 came to challenge the inline 6 for top dog.

475366

[WaterZebra]

The Marine Stadium was basically my home race course. I ran countless laps there both in races and testing. If you look at a picture of the Stadium stands you will see that they form a sideways V. The prevailing wind at the Stadium is about a 45 degrees left headwind on the front straight. This causes a pretty big vortex to form in front of the stands. I first witnessed this when red smoke flares were used to stop the 9 Hour race when Hank Bowman was killed. Over the years I noticed most blowovers happened right in front of the stands. I also noticed when I had a boat trimmed just right it would get real light passing the stands especially if you were out in the middle of the lane. Not so bad along the buoys.
In this incident as the boats came down to the start they were close together and swapping air and shuffling sideways even before they got to the stands. It didn't take much in that situation to start the action from there. Harry was the first to go since his boat was already running faster than designed. Then the other two.

I'm surprised they didn't mark this area with some special buoys or relocate the start/finish line? Never did understand why the start/finish had to be mid point on the long straights? I think the thing that we learned over the years was OPC tunnel boats could NEVER be raced like the way open wheel or stock cars could.:rolleyes:

[2us70]

Full disclosure. The "vortex theory" is my own. I arrived at it from observation of several episodes where smoke flares were deployed from the start/finish area of the stands and from running a lot of laps there. I am not an aeronautical engineer. I don't even play one on TV.

[FUJIMO]

...great photo kid...:thumbsup:

[WaterZebra]

76 was indeed Reggie,575 was Harry Kerslake and 486 was Danny Piggot. Harry's boat was a Baja originally intended to run as a SJ boat. This boat generated way too much lift at U class speeds hence the tunnel flaps in the picture. Harry told me to run into any wind took full down on the flaps and even then the boat would lift straight up level and loose contact with the water. I knew Harry because his own personal ride was an SD boat and we raced many times. I always thought it was funny that Harry ran those two classes at the same time.
I witnessed this accident up close from the rail just past the clock at the Marine Stadium. As the field came down for the start it was pretty plain that something was likely to go wrong. Most of them had got the timing on the clock pretty good and it got pretty crowded. This was the result.

The Baja's ability to lift and stay level "in flight" sounds really frightening. Once you lose lateral stability by the absence of prop thrust or skeg contact? Wow! Sounds like this boat had equal potential to "stuff"?
Spooked me enough to have my boats "crab" to the left or right and it had nothing to do with what I was doing to steer. Absolutely hated clock starts and sprint racing and liked 10 lappers of marathon stuff better where you could work things out rather than deciding the whole thing in turn 1.

I once heard the story of a guy running an SJ at Havasu or Parker who blew over, rotated and landed flat clean and kept on going. Kill switch didn't activate because he never left his seat (pre-capsule days). I also had a guy barrel roll in a turn one complete revolution and kept on going (Capsule boats) He swears it never happened but I watched the whole thing because I was right on his tail and getting ready to pass on the exit pin on the inside lane.

[2us70]

John McCall and I were testing my v-bottom boat and a customers boat at St Petersburg. John was lapping the customers boat and several times it just tried to turn sideways. Happened in both directions. I was behind him and saw it happen. When we got back on our trailers he asked me if I saw what the boat did? I said that I had seen it so he then asked me what I thought caused it? I said I couldn't begin to guess why that happened. Tunnel boat design in those days was still more art than science.

[peterse90]

Never did understand why the start/finish had to be mid point on the long straights? :rolleyes:

When I raced in the 70's pretty much all our starts were by the clock and personally I much preferred clock starts as IMO it took more skill.
Most start/finish lines were indeed about 1/2 between the corners on an oval course.
On big courses like Valleyfield & Picton there was quite a good run to turn #1...at least that is how it felt in an SE boat of course the S-class & later the MOD U's got to turn #1 much faster.
Pretty much here in Canada by the 80's clock starts were replaced by beach/dock starts and the run to turn #1 was much longer.

[Donzi222]

475390

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=475390&d=1603134292

[Lake X Kid]

...
I also had a guy barrel roll in a turn one complete revolution and kept on going (Capsule boats) He swears it never happened but I watched the whole thing because I was right on his tail and getting ready to pass on the exit pin on the inside lane.

How comfortable would you be racing next to a guy, who barrel rolls but didn't realize he had done it?
I would be a little apprehensive racing side by side with that driver.

It reminds me of the last time, I went deer hunting with my dad, uncle and other guys in their hunting club. A buck and a couple of does run between me and this other dude (around 100 yards from me), and he starts shooting his rifle in my direction at the buck. I never went hunting again, because of trigger-happy dudes.

Boat racing & hunting are apple and oranges comparisons, but they are life lessons.

[GENE LANHAM]

475793
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=475390&d=1603134292

[FUJIMO]

...call me crazy, but i think i recognize that waterway intersection from back in the day...:smiletest:...nice 19'/20' donzi hornet pic gene...https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=475793&d=1603657646

[GENE LANHAM]

...call me crazy, but i think i recognize that waterway intersection from back in the day...:smiletest:...nice 19'/20' donzi hornet pic gene...https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=475793&d=1603657646

You ain't crazy---the ICW and 188th--

---and you recognize Billy Mc from NE 17th---

[peterse90]

From my 1970 Donzi brochure collection (looks like the same Hornet 19 that Gene posted above);

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[peterse90]

Some more 1970 Donzi's (I hope these are OK here in Willabee's HOT SINGLES ?);

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IMO the Donzi 21 GT is a perfect example of timeless beauty...and for $12,000 with a 400hp Holman & Moody I think I could even afford one (in today's Canadian $$'s !!!)

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476001&d=1603920629

[Lake X Kid]

Lars photo of Cesare Scotti in boat 23, and Renato Molinari's boat 22 at a South Africa race in the winter of 1969 - 1970.

And then in 1971, things are different and beginning the new rival.
Cesare is building is own Scotti Tunnel race boats.
Renato is now a Mercury Factory driver.

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=475880&d=1603812314

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476002&d=1603920653

[Lake X Kid]

The "Outboard Marine Corporation" readily admits to spending 1% of it's "gross outboard sales" on it's racing team, and rumours were that Kiekhaefer, maker of Mercury engines, invests as much as $3,000,000 dollars a year to attend Havasu, Parker,Lake Tahoe, Lake Elsinore, Miami, St. Louis, Paris, Bristol, Berlin, etc. for the season!

~~~
That quote above is from the Title Drive link, about the 1969 era of Mercury versus OMC.
I wonder how much money, in USA dollars, is the 1% of OMC gross sales?
And did Mercury spend 3 million dollars a year supporting boat racing?

Title Drive link:

https://www.gosee.tv/boatracing/2010/07/title-drive-1969-omc-promotional-video.html

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476004&d=1603920988

[peterse90]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476004&d=1603920988


Easy to tell the original 16 Donzi called a Ski Sporter from the later 16's called Sweet 16...original had helm on the port - the Sweet 16's the helm moved over to starboard. Actually if you look most of the Donzi's of this era had port side helms.

[FUJIMO]

Easy to tell the original 16 Donzi called a Ski Sporter from the later 16's called Sweet 16...original had helm on the port - the Sweet 16's the helm moved over to starboard. Actually if you look most of the Donzi's of this era had port side helms....do you know what year the helms were moved to starboard & why?...

[peterse90]

...do you know what year the helms were moved to starboard & why?...

As far as starboard helms go I always thought it was to 'counter' the effect of right-hand prop rotation trying to 'lift' the starboard side of the boat that was very noticeable back in the day of smaller boats.

I know by the late 80's when OMC owned Donzi by then the helms were starboard side...so somewhere between 1970 and 1989.
I would say that's not much help at all !!

Maybe if I go back thru some of my 70' and 80's Powerboats but I don't think Donzi were a big advertiser in that time frame with Powerboat.

[GENE LANHAM]

...do you know what year the helms were moved to starboard & why?...

as far as starboard helms go i always thought it was to 'counter' the effect of right-hand prop rotation trying to 'lift' the starboard side of the boat that was very noticeable back in the day of smaller boats.

I know by the late 80's when omc owned donzi by then the helms were starboard side...so somewhere between 1970 and 1989.
I would say that's not much help at all !!

Maybe if i go back thru some of my 70' and 80's powerboats but i don't think donzi were a big advertiser in that time frame with powerboat.



ask freddie!!476263

[peterse90]

...do you know what year the helms were moved to starboard & why?...

A little research time and this is what I have found so far;

1972's were still port side helms (and mostly Volvo outdrives from what I see)
1979's were starboard side helms...now Mercruiser powered.

Fujimo, surely from your photo collection we can narrow this 7 year gap down even further !!

[FUJIMO]

...do you know what year the helms were moved to starboard & why?...
...1976, the helms were moved to the starboard side. On the 18 Donzi & up boats, MerCruiser TRS drives, with the standard right hand rotation propellers that they come with, were installed with either small-block or big-block(330) MerCruiser engines. The reason being, on smaller single engine inboard boats, a right-hand rotation propellers torque from an inboard, will slightly lift the starboard side of the boat, from half throttle on up while underway, giving the driver a better ride quality. the portside passengers ride quality suffers a bit, due to that side of the boat breaking the oncoming waves first, while the drivers side is up in the air a bit, enjoying a better ride quality. On both the 16's & 18's, anything with a Volvo sterndrive, which were all left-hand rotation drives(no matter the engine in front of it), had the helm on the port side of the cockpit, for like reasons. Left-hand rotation Volvo drive/engine packages, I believe were rigged in the 16's for a couple extra years than the 18's, if my memory is correct, then the 16 was discontinued being made for quite a while...

[FUJIMO]

...all of this info was purely from memory and personal experience, as i owned a few of these when i was younger, as did a few friends. you can probably get more accurate info on the donzi website, which I have never been on...

[Mark75H]

This is the answer I expected

[FUJIMO]

...the first year of the donzi 16's, in 1964, were all eaton outdrives with 4 cylinders, or small ford solid lifter v-8's...https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476263&d=1604163523

[peterse90]

A little more research. A lot to do with Jim Wynne.
Jim Wynne was a big part of Donzi in the early years and of course was the pioneer of the Volvo sterndrive and thus all early Donzis had Volvo outdrives that were all left-hand rotation.
About 1976 Donzis started using right-hand rotation MerCruisers and Donzi made both port & starboard helm boats.

Getting back to OUTBOARDS and RACING HISTORY and Willabee's HOT SINGLES I thought I would post a few of my favourite tunnel outboard pictures;
476295 476296 476297 476298

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476296&d=1604189250

[peterse90]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476296&d=1604189250

Bob Spalding, Peterborough, Ontario 1973. Photo borrowed from Mark Rotharmel's collection.

[bernie]

Bernie Bergen, Fond du Lac Wisconsin. During Mikey's rerigging of LilRed!476351
By the way, the original plans for this boat have been copied - another boat could be made!

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=476351&d=1604279695

[Lake X Kid]

Since we were talking about a flying boat, I went back to the film of the 1970 Paris 6 Hour to try to get some frames of the boys as they were just trying to get down the backstretch. As you watch the race from the shore, you really don't get an appreciation for some of the things these guys are going through.....it happens so fast that the extremes sometimes just aren't captured in the mind.

These aren't nice, clear pictures, but I hope you can still get a sensation of the wild ride these guys were enjoying :). Wing pilots move over, there are other drivers that know how to fly!

Here are a couple of Renato as he drives under the last bridge before the pit turn.....notice how flat the boat remains while airborne. :cool:.

Photos are from Post# 641 to 651.

476741

[FUJIMO]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0c/87/c4/0c87c49a1b7c5e4f52708947af655a3a.jpg

[FUJIMO]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/25/10/bf/2510bf4dcdf9fb16d3cca04c5df701d5.jpg

[FUJIMO]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5e/f5/78/5ef5781c0e3bd74db4d2cc4f54030850.jpg

[Lake X Kid]

Team Jaco driver Bill McClain of Lawrenceburg, TN, driving a Mercury Racing 200XS OptiMax outboard-powered Allison XB 2002 bass boat, set a new 102.099 mph Pro Stock Bass 200 outboard world kilo speed record November 2002 on the Tennessee River.
The records, governed on-site by American Power Boat Association (APBA) officials, require back-to-back speed runs over a straight-line, one kilometer course. The record is the average of two consecutive speed runs.

And then three years later David Shook in a kilo run does 116.594 mph.
~~~
I remember in 1971, that F1 tunnel boats were running in race trim around 116 mph.

Does anyone remember when, outboard powered Vees & Mod-Vees were able to achieve 100 mph in circuit racing?


477060

[Lake X Kid]

What do these Formula One Boat names have in common with, the disagreement between
Enzo Ferrari and the younger Ferruccio Lamborghini.

I will start to explain the link on the next post.

477160

[Lake X Kid]

At the OFF meeting in Tavares, November 2019 for the Vintage Regatta, I was fortunate to seat next to, hall of fame, Bill Seebold. And Bill among several race topics, revealed to me, his inception into why he entered into the production of building F1 tunnel boats. And hear it is a year later, as I remember the conversation from Mr. Bill in November 2019.

Build a Havasu Boat. Around 1975 that is the proposition Gary Garbretch. approached with Bill Seebold. And why did Bill begin a new career trajectory building F1 tunnel boats? Bill estimated that approximately 450 Seebold tunnel boats were, built throughout the Seebold Racing production run. (One wonders how many of the vintage 450 boats, are still floating today, my guess not many).

Bill informed me, the why started with a division (my interruption - a power struggle) between Gary G. and Renato Molinari, at an Auronzo Italy race, Renato had his boat sequestered under a canopy tent. And Gary went to enter Renato’s roped-off section, and Renato’s crew refused Gary’s entrance into Renato’s private pit area.

Gary later remarked to Bill that he (Mercury) was paying Renato good money in acquiring Molinari F1 tunnel race boats. And yet Gary, Mercury Race Manager, gets denied access to Renato’s pit area. And thus later an upset Gary G approaches Bill S, with a suggestion, can you build a F1 tunnel race boat.

[Here I have to enter my caveat, of two main factors in the timeline, which probably tipped the scales and of why Renato created a wider gulf (than was previously there) between him and Gary].

To be continued...

~~~
In the photos below is Gary G and Roy Ridgell in the mid 1960's coming to Como Italy to begin the partnership with the Molinari family. I beleive the winners photo is when Roy helped Renato and his co-driver Giovanni Pellolio win the 1969 Paris 6 Hour. The photo I think was taken afterward at Giovanni's restaurant on Lago di Como. The photo of Roy in his tie, was taken in the Como race shop preceding his 1974 departure back to the USA.

477166

[Lake X Kid]

Can you and will you build a Havasu boat?

And therein begins the birth seed, toward formation of constructing Seebold F1 race boats. With
Gary Garbretch’s proposal, Bill then had to look for a carpenter, to build his wooden race boats. And a new contract marriage begins with Mercury Racing and Seebold Boats. A rival to the Molinari hull, in hindsight started in Molinari’s own home country of Italy at Auronzo. Not only a USA rival. But also in conjunction, the saw & hammer was taken up by a European rival too —the birth of the Velden Boats.

[Here I have to enter my caveat, of two main factors in the timeline, which probably tipped the scales and of why Renato Molinari created a wider gulf (than was previously there) between him and Gary].

1st) Roy Ridgell, Mercury European race manager, in 1974 returned back to the states. The pacifying liaison Roy brought, between the two titans, Gary and Renato, was no longer there to mitigate the differencing circumstances.

The second major factor was the fatal race accident of Cesare Scotti at the 1974 Paris 6 Hour. That started the demise of the Scotti craft, and left a void of race boat suppliers. Albeit with his cousin Scotti and Roy gone, Renato probably realized the potential to sell boats to both, OMC and Merc racing camps. And of course this is conjecture on my part, with no one supplying me evidence to my assumptions.

Bill Seebold Jr. said, he was going to supply the North American customers, and
Cees vander Velden will supply the European market. Both new upstart enterprises were getting the green light & greenbacks support, of Gary G, and from Mercury Racing money backing the yet unproven product.

To be continued ...

~~~
In this photo Bill is showing me all the things, which I taught him on his journey to being a
Hall of Fame member. Okay truth be told, that is Hyperbole by me, the Lake X Kid trying to be relevant.
Photo taken November 2019 at Tavares, Florida.

477193

[Lake X Kid]

Previous racing co-drivers Bill Seebold and Cees vander Velden (at the Paris 6 Hour and also among other race events) become boat builders, and collaborate on boat design and manufacturing in the pursuit of replacing Molinari hulls on the race circuits. And the irony, Renato Molinari was instrumental (and maybe initially unbeknownst to him) in being the impetus of Two New Rival Competitors, for the limited resources of F1 tunnel race-boat sales.

Bill and Cees stepped up to the supply platform (Seebold Racing and Velden Racing respectively), and Renato risked reducing the demand for his product. This is a real business case-study, of the sifting tide for supply and demand. And it was not the displeasure in the product’s quality and performance (of Molinari boats), but the sour business relationships at the human level, that gave origin to contract cancellation.

Likewise it echoes the same scenario of Lamborghini versus Ferrari. Mr. Lamborghini owned a few Ferrari vehicles himself, but he thought that the clutch and after-sales service were lacking. When he made his dissatisfaction known to
Enzo Ferrari, the latter dismissed the younger Lambo. Ferruccio Lamborghini then created his automobile brand in 1963, because he thought he could create a better car than Enzo Ferrari.

My conclusion:
Burn a bridge, and you might create a rival, whom then might build a bridge upstream from you.
History repeats itself sometimes.

477194

[Mark75H]

Very well put

[lars strom]

Drammen GP in Norway 1975.
Percival & Spalding JPS.
Thanks Paal R. Hansen.


477283

[Lake X Kid]

Tom you hold the two boats together, while I hold onto the tree limb (Bob is probably thinking).

The guy in the water is thinking ... this cannot be the starting dock/position.

477486

[Lake X Kid]

Hot Single, hall of fame driver, and two seats.


https://youtu.be/egiYvCyHVcI

[FUJIMO]

...jeremy always cracks me up...:)

[Lake X Kid]

477795

[peterse90]

A great example of a real HOT SINGLE;

478596

From the cover of July 1982 Powerboat and Waterskiing;

478597

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=478597&d=1607299615

[willabee]

A great example of a real HOT SINGLE;

478596

From the cover of July 1982 Powerboat and Waterskiing;

478597


Seebold's sly smile made me think that he may be humming a song as he idles by the pit area ..... an early Beatles number ..... Listen, do you want to know a secret? ..... would have been very appropriate. :thumbsup:

[Lake X Kid]

https://youtu.be/uRQ7ecvU56k

[bernie]

Don't remember if it was Bristol or Paris, some big race in Europe. Strang hands Alex an envelope - in it is a blueprint of the Mercury 3.4 cylinder block. Seems ECK Foundry sent it back to the wrong company! Reminds me of another story - we were packing up after a dealer meeting in North Carolina - OMC had been displaying a lost foam of I think a four cylinder block. A Mercury big wheel had made the comment about getting our hands on it - a certain Merc field rep had overheard it, and kept his eye on the OMC boxed up part. At the loading dock he managed to swtich that package over to our pile of stuff being returned to FDL.

[FUJIMO]

Don't remember if it was Bristol or Paris, some big race in Europe. Strang hands Alex an envelope - in it is a blueprint of the Mercury 3.4 cylinder block. Seems ECK Foundry sent it back to the wrong company! Reminds me of another story - we were packing up after a dealer meeting in North Carolina - OMC had been displaying a lost foam of I think a four cylinder block. A Mercury big wheel had made the comment about getting our hands on it - a certain Merc field rep had overheard it, and kept his eye on the OMC boxed up part. At the loading dock he managed to swtich that package over to our pile of stuff being returned to FDL.
...heck, they probably didn't even notice it was gone...;) ...shows are a lot of work, but can be a lot of fun too. quite a bit of competitive "rearranging" going on amoungst each others business "friends" & booths...

[Lake X Kid]

In the early 1970's the prestigious Paris 6 Hour race, was a battle between OMC and Mercury.
I witnessed a couple of those races then, and it had a memorable atmosphere.

478688

[Mark75H]

Don't remember if it was Bristol or Paris, some big race in Europe. Strang hands Alex an envelope - in it is a blueprint of the Mercury 3.4 cylinder block. Seems ECK Foundry sent it back to the wrong company! Reminds me of another story - we were packing up after a dealer meeting in North Carolina - OMC had been displaying a lost foam of I think a four cylinder block. A Mercury big wheel had made the comment about getting our hands on it - a certain Merc field rep had overheard it, and kept his eye on the OMC boxed up part. At the loading dock he managed to swtich that package over to our pile of stuff being returned to FDL.

Industrial espionage at its best

[FUJIMO]

...your secrets safe with us bjb...;)

[bernie]

...your secrets safe with us bjb...;)
The one good thing about working dealer meetings - being the OEM tech guy, I was usually on site several days before the sales dudes, and our show stuff would come in by truck and I would get the stuff to the booth space. This means I had access to the boxes of t shirts and hats! I could do more PR with a box of hats at a boat builder than sales could do with a $3000 dinner! I made sure the working class got a hat or shirt at the show, not just the dealers.

[Vulture27]

Isn't that the truth, when traveling Europe had to give the border guards going into Spain a box of shirts and hats to cross.

[JFL]

...your secrets safe with us bjb...;)
BJB? i thought it was BFB

[Lake X Kid]

Speed trials on a Kilo run, is self-explanatory.

But how is a 5 mile speed run generated?
Like do you circle a 1 1/4 mile course 4 times, to achieve a 5 mile speed run?


478957

[Mark75H]

Correct, or 1 mile 5 laps.

[GENE LANHAM]

correct, or 1 mile 5 laps.

1+2/3 mile course

three laps--

[2us70]

That SE 5 mile record only lasted a little while. It was broken twice at Nationals that summer. Once in each heat of the finals.

[2us70]

Notice how slow the FS records were. The weight and engine height rules really made a huge difference. Those boats also had a very nasty blowout problem due to trying to ram that club foot through the water.

[Lake X Kid]

"We are a combination of an Indy Car, an airplane, and a supercross bike." Chris Fairchild.

<font size="3">
https://youtu.be/IPFEJlo0vkA

[Lake X Kid]

Hot Singles:
Inboard V8 versus F1 Tunnel Outboard.
The V8 has an acceleration advantage, and the F1 has higher cornering speeds. Who will win.

Parker Enduro in 2020 might be the only race in the USA, where you would see dissimilar boats like these racing against each other head to head.


https://youtu.be/pbZHr_l1Ev4

[Lake X Kid]

I believe there were mainly Two Milestones in Outboard Tunnel boat racing.

The first major turning point was Power-Trim, mated to an outboard on a tunnel boat. Faster acceleration and cornering speeds, and attaining optimum top-end speed were power-trims benefits.

I am not certain of the year, when the racing fraternity knew, from this day on that you needed power-trim to compete for a race win. But in 1973, I did witness the game-changer in increased outboard power, due to different engine configurations. And those engines (listed below) were the new powerplants which from then on dominated Formula One racing. Replacing the stalwart Merc inline 6, and OMC V4 as the new leaders of the pack. And building a winning legacy from 1973 to 2020.

Mercury V6, OMC V6 and OMC’s rotary engine, all three debuted in race trim at three different race sites in 1973.

1973 timeline a Milestone year.

OMC, 2 liters, “Wankle” four-rotor engine debuted at Parker 9 Hour Enduro in April.

Mercury T3, fuel injected V6 debuted in late summer at Koblenz Germany. Bob Spalding drove the first and only T3 at that race.

OMC V6, debuted at the Paris 6 Hour race in October.

~~~
Lars and Rotary John verified the OMC debut races, and I transported the T-3 Merc from Como Italy to Koblenz and back.

Jimbo McConnel in boat 191.

In the T-3 photo at Koblenz, you can see the extended boat cowling, to hide the T-3 protruding cowling that shrouds the intake nozzle.

479156

[lars strom]

Renato Molinari’s #14 boat in Paris 6 Hours 1974.
Bob Hering was his co-pilot.

479807

[peterse90]

Renato Molinari’s #14 boat in Paris 6 Hours 1974.
Bob Hering was his co-pilot.

479807


Great picture Lars.
Why would the USA flag be backwards & does the starboard side of the front cowling look damaged?

[lars strom]

I don’t remember or have any more info. Renato & Bob finished 6th..50 laps after/less than the winning sister boat of Velden/Mr. Bill.

[willabee]

Great picture Lars.
Why would the USA flag be backwards & does the starboard side of the front cowling look damaged?

I'm pretty sure the flag is not backward, that is the proper way to display the flag on the starboard (right) side of a boat or vehicle. Both teams installed several of those flag decals improperly before finally figuring out what was correct. The union (blue area) should be displayed as it would appear if a flag was on the boat and the boat was moving forward.

These flag decals should have been placed on the other side of the boat .....

479823

479826

[peterse90]

I just knew there would be a logical explanation.
I noticed the flag orientation on Bob Spalding's #6 / T-3 above (#4628) and just had to ask the question !!

[WaterZebra]

I'm pretty sure the flag is not backward, that is the proper way to display the flag on the starboard (right) side of a boat or vehicle. Both teams installed several of those flag decals improperly before finally figuring out what was correct. The union (blue area) should be displayed as it would appear if a flag was on the boat and the boat was moving forward.

These flag decals should have been placed on the other side of the boat .....

479823

479826

LOL this is old news to anyone who owns airplanes..........Chances are these were aviation decals anyway.

[WaterZebra]

Speed trials on a Kilo run, is self-explanatory.

But how is a 5 mile speed run generated?
Like do you circle a 1 1/4 mile course 4 times, to achieve a 5 mile speed run?


478957
Wow..........lugging around that extra cylinder in SG (Merc 850) didn't make this class much faster than SE.

[2us70]

Could be that they only had decals printed left to right and so they would be backwards on the right side of the boat?

[willabee]

LOL this is old news to anyone who owns airplanes..........

This was 1970, we couldn't find anybody in the pits that owned an airplane. :D

[willabee]

Could be that they only had decals printed left to right and so they would be backwards on the right side of the boat?

No, we had them for both sides ..... Just weren't up to speed on flag etiquette. :o

479830

479831

[WaterZebra]

No, we had them for both sides ..... Just weren't up to speed on flag etiquette. :o

479830

479831

LOL.......the Italians didn't have the same problem the Americans did. Their flag was easy to flip from LH to RH.

[2us70]

Ride Guide steering always looks wrong to me on a Molinari.

[FUJIMO]

Could be that they only had decals printed left to right and so they would be backwards on the right side of the boat?
...everyone knows the negative was just upside down...:rolleyes:

[peterse90]

In hind-site they could have just used this flag - it works well on both sides;
479882

[GENE LANHAM]

479890
No, we had them for both sides ..... Just weren't up to speed on flag etiquette. :o

479830




When you want ony the best----

[willabee]

LOL.......the Italians didn't have the same problem the Americans did. Their flag was easy to flip from LH to RH.

In the early seventies, Renato painted the Italian colors (red, white, green) on the tail of the cowl. This was done to any boat they raced in Europe as well as any they shipped to the US to be driven by an Italian. When the boat was reassigned to another driver, we painted the green stripe blue (red, white, blue).

Look at the picture of the Merc Team on the ramp at Miami in 1972, you can see what I'm trying to describe. The 457 was Renato's in a previous race. At Miami it was assigned to Bob Hering and the green stripe has been painted blue.
The 251 and the 554 were brand new boats for this race. The 251 was to be driven by Mike Downard and has no cowl stripes. The 554 was for Renato and carries the Italian colors on the cowl.
The 730 was driven by Renato at Havasu 71. Now assigned to Bill Allen, the green stripe is painted blue.

479929

Just a little trivia from Willabee's book of worthless facts. :D

[FUJIMO]

...the backwards flag is actually a part of the united states flag code. it should always be presented so the star field faces forward, or to the flags own right. the flag should always be positioned to look like it is flying forward, so its really all about prospective...

[peterse90]

Thank you to Willabee, Fujimo and the others for expertly explaining my flag query.

Now onto my next 'let's get a discussion going' / 'thinking out-loud' subject of possible debate;
Who would win? The OMC 3.5 litre V8's of the 1980's OR the current Merc powered F1H2O's.
The V8's for sure had more displacement and were reportedly about 400hp.
The current F1 boats are far more sophisticated and I have to believe the current Merc racing engines are way over 300hp.
So on say a 1 1/4 or 1 1/3 mile oval with say 3-pin corners what would we see ????
Too bad there are no current F1H2O drivers that also drove the V8's :confused:
480020 480021

Also, Happy New Year to all. Be healthy, wealthy & wise.

[FUJIMO]

...lets see...hmmm...? with a time machine and billy seebold...there's nothing to ponder...lol...;)... go get a mug of your best ale & cheer in the new year! :cheers:...happy new year everybody!:thumbsup:

[willabee]

. ..... Who would win? The OMC 3.5 litre V8's of the 1980's OR the current Merc powered F1H2O's.

Also, Happy New Year to all. Be healthy, wealthy & wise.

The Winner would be this guy, no matter what he was drivin'..... :thumbsup:

480040

[FUJIMO]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Wy63fxYcAU8/maxresdefault.jpg

[Lake X Kid]

Does anyone know the backstory of MercRover?

Was she rigged and tested at Lake X, before running in the Paris 6 Hour race 1966?

Who was the driver?
I saw the photos in the Yachting & Boating magazine.

480386
480387

[Lake X Kid]

Historical clarification, thanks to Odell Lewis.

I contacted Terri (Odell's oldest daughter) and asked her to ask Odell about MercRover.
And this is Terri's response to my question.

"Dad drove the MercRover in Paris 1966. Johnny Bakos was to drive after him,
but dad ran over something in the water and it put a hole in the side of the boat.
Dad got it to the sea wall, jumped out and the boat sank.

It was never at Lake X, it was in Fond du Lac. It had a “Rover” turbine.
That’s Odell with his back to the camera in the picture you posted."


480484

[Lake X Kid]

I believe there were mainly Two Milestones in Outboard Tunnel boat racing.

The first major turning point was Power-Trim, mated to an outboard on a tunnel boat. Faster acceleration and cornering speeds, and attaining optimum top-end speed were power-trims benefits.

I am not certain of the year, when the racing fraternity knew, from this day on that you needed power-trim to compete for a race win.


Many of you remember times like this. Hard to get on plane, especially with a full fuel tank.

Thank you Power Trim, for eliminating the old school way.

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/138877672_3375899372520847_3984369415642690723_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=2&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=bnM9CGZjcGIAX8gbBy7&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=42b60c76faf702763016b6aef5283338&oe=60258DB3

[Lake X Kid]

The new kid on the block, apparently is going to eventually replace the race circuit engines we grew-up with.

I assembled a generational family portrait.

480977

[willabee]

Well, since it's pretty quiet on S&F, now might be a good time to make your wives and girlfriends happy. One sure way to accomplish that is to share some of these pics of boat racing's 'Robert Redford' with them ..... :D

481000

481001

481002

" Those were the days my friend!" :cheers:

[jackiewilson]

Well, since it's pretty quiet on S&F, now might be a good time to make your wives and girlfriends happy. One sure way to accomplish that is to share some of these pics of boat racing's 'Robert Redford' with them ..... :D

481000

481001

481002

" Those were the days my friend!" :cheers:

ROBERT FECKIN REDFORD ????????? YOU ARE HAVING A LAUGH AREN’T YOU. WILLIAM ???
DON AMECHE AT BEST ——- GROUCHO MARX MORE LIKE IT. You always had the hots for Peacocks girlfriend MEGS ????? SCHUNKS always kept you out of any real trouble .

[FUJIMO]

...think he has any pics of her jack?...;)

[2us70]

Be careful about racers wives and/or girlfriends. You never know how that might have turned out.

[jackiewilson]

Be careful about racers wives and/or girlfriends. You never know how that might have turned out.

​Ha! Tell me about it.?????????????

[willabee]

ROBERT FECKIN REDFORD ????????? YOU ARE HAVING A LAUGH AREN’T YOU. WILLIAM ???
.

That was the intention.Thought a few might jump in and take a shot, kinda lighten up the day. Oh well ...... :D

[jackiewilson]

That was the intention.Thought a few might jump in and take a shot, kinda lighten up the day. Oh well ...... :D
works for me William !!!!

[FUJIMO]

...redford? naw. rock hudson. mcmillan & wife...http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYl7NyHMWgM/T7R1WCwOVQI/AAAAAAAAkW0/F8tx3HEDOcI/s1600/Susan+Saint+James+and+Rock+Hudson+in+McMillan+and+Wife.2-2.jpg

[FUJIMO]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RQNfM3oh2hM/T7R1MUqrlGI/AAAAAAAAkVs/yjmppb89CW8/s1600/Happy-in-her-role-Rock-Hudson-and-Susan-St-James-305x368.jpghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2k4JonOz_jI/T7R1NkxQZUI/AAAAAAAAkV0/WhppD5iidJI/s1600/MCMILLAN-SEASON-2.jpg

[Lake X Kid]

The real Robert Redford in one of his best movies - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

https://kinoimages.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/17_paul-newman-katharine-ross-and-robert-redford-for-butch-cassidy-and-sundance-kid-1968-photograph-by-douglas-kirkland.jpg?w=660

[FUJIMO]

...good movie in its day...

[Lake X Kid]

Well, since it's pretty quiet on S&F, now might be a good time to make your wives and girlfriends happy. One sure way to accomplish that is to share some of these pics of boat racing's 'Robert Redford' with them ..... :D

481000

" Those were the days my friend!" :cheers:

Paul Newman played alongside Robert Redford in a couple of buddy movies. And being Willabee Redford has suggested himself an equivalent to Robert, on the shores of outboard racing, I would like to put forward some cohort names.

Here are some honorable mention guys, which would represent outboard racing, visually favorably, on Hollywood’s big screen as film buddies with Redford.

481270

[Lake X Kid]

Being as Willabee added a little levity to the site, I will add those gents who open Hot Singles on water to a Larger Audience.

Elvis, Burt Reynolds and Don Johnson to name a few of the contributors of showcasing Hot Singles.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-na.ssl-images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51bCDHuVH8L.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F236x%2F7d%2Ff2%2F71%2F7df271536b006fca61d5e62c6be4886c--theater-posters-movie-theater.jpg&f=1&nofb=1https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F84%2F4c%2F1d%2F844c1df03dc250481082e2ecb85e5e39.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-8hXrXowZ-10%2FVZ7mRUp-aDI%2FAAAAAAAAPMg%2FLeWOJFdtpAM%2Fs1600%2Fclambake2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

[Lake X Kid]

I think the Hollywood guy who caught the most public attention and movie goers imagination, was
007 Bond, James Bond.

Especially Roger Moore in his boat chasing/escape/jumping scenes.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.pennlive.com%2Fhome%2Fpenn-media%2Fwidth620%2Fimg%2Fpa-sportsman%2Fphoto%2Fbond-boatjpg-8f3f0206b862f469.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.SdMcQ1thezpYcCef8X2sUQHaDt%26pid%3DApi&f=1

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fuploads.boatshowavenue.com%2Fnews%2FN016022014%2Fpreview%2Fpreview-1456508275bond.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.z-2vH-_0bdDdiZUhioH-YwHaFG%26pid%3DApi&f=1

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.pbHaTga_o-uKH3DI2PCuugHaFG%26pid%3DApi&f=1

[willabee]

:eek: ... We definitely need to get back to race boats! :D

Here's a Hot Single from Havasu 1970 ..... Checkmate driven by Gordon Downard running a C6 .....

481294


The C6 on it's tail .....

481295

That's a lotta motor for that little boat!

[willabee]

This pic of the Sunday start reveals that Denis Berghauer was also running a single pipe C6 at Havasu in 1970. He's the red Jones between the 998 and the 254 .....

481297

[jackiewilson]

So sorry William—only just realised both your memory and eyesight is completely shot!!!!!!!
Suppose it may come my way one day—— but im still too young for it to affect me .

[willabee]

So sorry William—only just realised both your memory and eyesight is completely shot!!!!!!!
Suppose it may come my way one day—— but im still too young for it to affect me .

Hey Jackie, I have absolutely no problem conceding that my memory and eyesight are pretty much ........................................ (sorry, forgot what I was going to type) ............... impaired. What did I mess up? :confused:

[Zonkercraft]

Denis is running a Jones with twins. Tom Stickle is running a Molinari with a single pipe C6. Was Bill Petty's boat a Glastron Molinari with twins? My memory is getting just as bad...I think. Nope...I'm wrong...can't quite get the boat to motor count right...need better glasses. Let's see...Petty, Sirios, Berghauer, Stickle....damn

[jackiewilson]

Suddenly i feel so much better—— thanks for my birthday wishes Mr Welch ?????????
JUst FECKIN wait till its yours !!!!!!!!!!!!

[jackiewilson]

​ i forgot !!!!!!!!!!!

[FUJIMO]

https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/p720x720/37877664_10155391871071573_9079230885701615616_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=TunfuWwUKzoAX8CrTs3&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&tp=6&oh=470bb92050e77b6a7129ba7a81e5db32&oe=603D09E8

[FUJIMO]

https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p640x640/37930268_10155391864781573_8496124478961483776_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=TnhSq3gqzJ8AX_Evxyi&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&tp=6&oh=54666f991599a3c2b32f234c14b08b8f&oe=603E5F5A

[willabee]

https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p640x640/37930268_10155391864781573_8496124478961483776_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=TnhSq3gqzJ8AX_Evxyi&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&tp=6&oh=54666f991599a3c2b32f234c14b08b8f&oe=603E5F5A


OK, I give up ..... ?

[Lake X Kid]

The guy (Gary G.) with the white pants on overlooking the team, with all that hardware & manpower costs, better bring home to the Mercury Brass some good race results.

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=481297&d=1612043552

[willabee]

The guy (Gary G.) with the white pants on overlooking the team, with all that hardware & manpower costs, better bring home to the Mercury Brass some good race results.

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=481297&d=1612043552


When it was over, he got promoted.

[willabee]

Talking about Berghauer running a single pipe C6 on a Jones, this might be the first single Jones built for Mercury .....
481380
1250 SBP doin' the pushin' ? ......

[Lake X Kid]

What is the horsepower increase on the Twister II ...

with Pulse Tuning?
with Tuned Exhaust Pipes?
with Megaphone Expansion Chambers?

~~~~~
The aerobic exercise of a 2 stroke engine.

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20621&d=1043444894

[Mark75H]

Customer motors were 165-170ish for the T2 and 15 more for the X. 201hp was probably Merten's speed record motor

[Mark Poole ModVP]

The guy driving the single Jones looks like he could have played linebacker for any pro football team.

[Rotary John]

Customer motors were 165-170ish for the T2 and 15 more for the X. 201hp was probably Merten's speed record motorProp shaft or crankshaft?

[FUJIMO]

...you/they didn't specify propshaft horsepower back then john... or did you?

[WaterZebra]

The guy driving the single Jones looks like he could have played linebacker for any pro football team.

Yeah, if the racing was so weight-critical, I couldn't figure out why it didn't evolve into horse racing specs where all of the drivers (jockeys) were under 150 lbs and stood no higher than 5" 6"? :rolleyes:

[peterse90]

The guy driving the single Jones looks like he could have played linebacker for any pro football team.

I think the Lifeline jackets of that era made everyone look big.

[2us70]

Pruett was not a small guy as I recall.

[2us70]

I tried a Lifeline jacket once but it was just to bulky in a small kneel down boat. Does anyone know why GenTex jackets went away? i really liked them especially after having one of the old APCO jackets fail on me.
I think the Lifeline jackets of that era made everyone look big.

[Rotary John]

...you/they didn't specify propshaft horsepower back then john... or did you?All of the HP figures related by me on the rotaries were prop shaft. The OMC 15/17 racing gearcase absorbed 15 HP @ 7000 RPM.

[WaterZebra]

I tried a Lifeline jacket once but it was just to bulky in a small kneel down boat. Does anyone know why GenTex jackets went away? i really liked them especially after having one of the old APCO jackets fail on me.

The APBA safety committee (whatever that was?) had a requirement that a life jacket must have floatation what would float an unconscious driver face up in the water. Hence the fat belly look. GenTex jackets failed to do that and went out of production. Ironically, the stock outboard category allowed their drivers to continue to use them as long as their condition met race inspectors approval. As far as I know, Lifeline and Security were the only brands sold to racers. Simpson made jackets for a brief period of years and then stopped. APCO pre-dates me and I'm pretty old? When we started strapping into reinforced cockpits, the lifejacket morphed into a farmer John's extraction suit. Floatation per se was a fraction of what it used to be.

[WaterZebra]

I tried a Lifeline jacket once but it was just to bulky in a small kneel down boat. Does anyone know why GenTex jackets went away? i really liked them especially after having one of the old APCO jackets fail on me.<br><br>The APBA safety committee (whatever that was?) had a requirement that a life jacket must have floatation what would float an unconscious driver face up in the water. Hence the fat belly look. GenTex jackets failed to do that and went out of production. Ironically, the stock outboard category allowed their drivers to continue to use them as long as their condition met race inspectors approval. As far as I know, Lifeline and Security were the only brands sold to racers. Simpson made jackets for a brief period of years and then stopped. APCO pre-dates me and I'm pretty old? When we started strapping into reinforced cockpits, the lifejacket morphed into a farmer John's extraction suit. Floatation per se was a fraction of what it used to be.<br>
<br>

[2us70]

The APCO jackets were the low budget alternative to the Gentex when I started out. Made of cotton fabric with Kapok filling and cotton web straps.481912481913 Looked like this.

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=481912&d=1612584232

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=481913&d=1549145302

[WaterZebra]

The APCO jackets were the low budget alternative to the Gentex when I started out. Made of cotton fabric with Kapok filling and cotton web straps.481912481913 Looked like this.

LOL........that APCO setup looks like a ski vest!

[willabee]

Talking about Berghauer running a single pipe C6 on a Jones, this might be the first single Jones built for Mercury .....
481380
1250 SBP doin' the pushin' ? ......

481957

For the record, the boat pictured above is not the first Ron Jones single built for Merc. The first was more of a sprint, a little narrower, a little longer and a little lighter than the boat pictured. It was very fast but totally uncontrollable at speed. Tom Stickle tried to race it at Miami Marine stadium and managed two barrel rolls and one tremendous flip in just two days! I don't recall Merc trying to run it again after that performance.

The boat above is probably the first of the design change for the single Jones. Merc bought about four of these. Short story is, no matter what was tried, they could not run with the Molinari of the day.

Here's another of this style, Joe Habay testing at Lake X .....
481955

..... and the Berghauer Jones, also at the Lake .....
481956

[WaterZebra]

481957

For the record, the boat pictured above is not the first Ron Jones single built for Merc. The first was more of a sprint, a little narrower, a little longer and a little lighter than the boat pictured. It was very fast but totally uncontrollable at speed. Tom Stickle tried to race it at Miami Marine stadium and managed two barrel rolls and one tremendous flip in just two days! I don't recall Merc trying to run it again after that performance.

The boat above is probably the first of the design change for the single Jones. Merc bought about four of these. Short story is, no matter what was tried, they could not run with the Molinari of the day.

Here's another of this style, Joe Habay testing at Lake X .....
481955

..... and the Berghauer Jones, also at the Lake .....
481956?

I don't know how much Merc paid Jones for these hulls but the cowlings were definitely adapted from one of Jones' inboard hydro designs. Funky look to say the least?

[Dave S]

We used to call them hoky pokys......APCOs... life jackets....mine 1972 before.

482009

[Dave S]

The next pix is me after flipping over a small wake.

482010

[Dave S]

Here is what a 10 foot B boat with a 44 cid merc looks like.

482011

[OLEGATOR]

481957

For the record, the boat pictured above is not the first Ron Jones single built for Merc. The first was more of a sprint, a little narrower, a little longer and a little lighter than the boat pictured. It was very fast but totally uncontrollable at speed. Tom Stickle tried to race it at Miami Marine stadium and managed two barrel rolls and one tremendous flip in just two days! I don't recall Merc trying to run it again after that performance.

The boat above is probably the first of the design change for the single Jones. Merc bought about four of these. Short story is, no matter what was tried, they could not run with the Molinari of the day.

Here's another of this style, Joe Habay testing at Lake X .....
481955

..... and the Berghauer Jones, also at the Lake .....
481956

stickle has or had a photo of him flippin a jones at miami. i took the photo and gave him a copy. that flip seemed to last forever. i was sittin in the stadium and my camera was sittin in the seat next to me. i had time to grab my camera and get the shot with him very high in the air. i thought i gave you or gg a copy too.

[2us70]

The problem with the APCOs was durability. When new they were ok but they didn't hold up to hard use. If you got spit out going fast in an older one it might not stay together.
The GenTex also offered some protection for the back. I saw a friend of mine get tossed on to an exposed flywheel and his GenTex kept him from being hurt much worse than he did. That flywheel still took a pretty good chunk out of his butt. Better than a kidney.

[willabee]

.... I don't know how much Merc paid Jones for these hulls but the cowlings were definitely adapted from one of Jones' inboard hydro designs. Funky look to say the least?

That style cowling was what he used for all of the boats we received ..... singles, duals, triples and KT's .....

482039

482040

482041

[willabee]

stickle has or had a photo of him flippin a jones at miami. i took the photo and gave him a copy. that flip seemed to last forever. i was sittin in the stadium and my camera was sittin in the seat next to me. i had time to grab my camera and get the shot with him very high in the air. i thought i gave you or gg a copy too.

If you had sent it to me, I'm sure I'd still have it. However, I seem to recall seeing that pic. I'll ask Tom if he still has it. If so, maybe I can get it posted here? The only pic I have of that boat was posted on this thread a long time ago. I saved it to my folder, but it won't expand. Maybe one of the guys with the sophisticated equipment can enlarge it.

482076482077

[2us70]

I was mostly running SE class when the Jones tunnels were being used. From my perspective as an interested observer it looked like Jones was having trouble making the transition from 3 point hydros to outboard tunnels. But as I have said before everybody was just guessing and Molinari guessed better.

[Bob V]

If you had sent it to me, I'm sure I'd still have it. However, I seem to recall seeing that pic. I'll ask Tom if he still has it. If so, maybe I can get it posted here? The only pic I have of that boat was posted on this thread a long time ago. I saved it to my folder, but it won't expand. Maybe one of the guys with the sophisticated equipment can enlarge it.

482076482077

I tried to enlarge it, but the resolution is very low and when you blow it up, get gets real fuzzy. Maybe Fuji will have better luck.

[FUJIMO]

...yeah...no. same problem here...

[WaterZebra]

I was mostly running SE class when the Jones tunnels were being used. From my perspective as an interested observer it looked like Jones was having trouble making the transition from 3 point hydros to outboard tunnels. But as I have said before everybody was just guessing and Molinari guessed better.

Jones never made it out of the 3 point world............

[MN4V]

482579
Mark N

[MN4V]

482580

Mark N

[MN4V]

Bill Seebold
482588
Mark N

[Dave S]

What boat is that hydro w/ big 6 ?

[MN4V]

It's a Ron Jones hydro. He's just about ready to set a Kilo record and almost blow over doing it.
Mark N

[Dave S]

Must be a special boat.......to float the Merc.......More info if you will.:)

[FUJIMO]

...great pics...:thumbsup:

[MN4V]

Must be a special boat.......to float the Merc.......More info if you will.:)

From what Jim Merten Jr. told me it was built for two engines and modified by his dad. Maybe Mercury had something to do with it also.
It looks like the drag boats that Ron Jones built. But Jim's may have been a round nose that was changed to a pickle fork.
482595
Mark N

[MN4V]

Line 95 on this screen shot shows his record.

Mark N482596

[Lake X Kid]

Merc powered Black Tunnel raced first.

483570

[Lake X Kid]

Hot Single (with single pipe) when she starts.

I do not know who is doing the rope exercise.

485237

[Lake X Kid]

Does Chip Hanauer (unlimited hydro driver) look comfortable seating in Cees' F1 Tunnel?

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/171789553_3608487822595333_6888454813259311523_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=Szoe8sJM1EwAX80jTki&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=1391e068e9203224de7ff15b7650bda2&oe=6093A020

[jackiewilson]

Hot Single (with single pipe) when she starts.

I do not know who is doing the rope exercise.

485237

BILL ALLEN hauled my MOLINARI , from Oshkosh to HAVASU. I SAT BESIDE HIM ALL THE WAY.
we stopped off at Nashville and bought two country and western tapes . One was a SWEETWATER REVIVAL—- the other was a CROSBY , STILLS AND NASH.
RIDGELL left 20 minutes before us hauling the refuelling rig —— we never did catch him up over the next 3000 miles .
BILL ALLEN was one of the nicest guys i ever met in my life.

[Lake X Kid]

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/170798817_4574004992626266_3249007763036822995_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=dbeb18&_nc_ohc=IHlpUH5dk5gAX_DzVFE&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=7a2e2605e73c5e814530e4f7ee878a29&oe=6097E180

[jackiewilson]

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/170798817_4574004992626266_3249007763036822995_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=dbeb18&_nc_ohc=IHlpUH5dk5gAX_DzVFE&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=7a2e2605e73c5e814530e4f7ee878a29&oe=6097E180

Asse is quite definitely WILLABEE ———KUBE’S in the Merc jacket—— FLASH BUTLER—- usual laconic self ———- i did think it might be Mert, both had the same left hand love me gently quiff. But that was around the time Butler started with the company . Wasn’t me that called Mike,— ‘’BUTLER’. That was GG——- Cameraman with tripod could be anyone of a number—— all mercury personnel were good at multi-tasking.
Kid could have been any one of a number ——- Jims——Roys—Merts. — dont think Bobby was around until later. Whitebeard and camera was probably out of Joe Swifts office ! And SPECKY LEAVING TRUCK, COULD HAVE BEEN BECKY. SOMEBODY TELL ME WHO GOT WRONG ??????

[willabee]

Asse is quite definitely WILLABEE ———KUBE’S in the Merc jacket—— FLASH BUTLER—- usual laconic self ———- i did think it might be Mert, both had the same left hand love me gently quiff. But that was around the time Butler started with the company . Wasn’t me that called Mike,— ‘’BUTLER’. That was GG——- Cameraman with tripod could be anyone of a number—— all mercury personnel were good at multi-tasking.
Kid could have been any one of a number ——- Jims——Roys—Merts. — dont think Bobby was around until later. Whitebeard and camera was probably out of Joe Swifts office ! And SPECKY LEAVING TRUCK, COULD HAVE BEEN BECKY. SOMEBODY TELL ME WHO GOT WRONG ??????

I think the only one you got right was Kubasta ..... these are most of the Mercury folks that were there
485332
So I'd say .....
485334

Kubasta in white jacket, Gene Treichel bent over in trailer (I wasn't there), Bill Allan is the head above Kubasta (Butler hadn't joined Merc yet), don't remember the name of the guy getting out of the truck, he worked in the stockroom (a good friend of Bob Geary's), the guy manning the tripod is probably Dick Klawitter (hard to be sure when there's no head), don't know who the other cameraman is, seems like I should know the kid by Jimmy, but not sure (Hetzel with hair? :D)

[WaterZebra]

I think the only one you got right was Kubasta ..... these are most of the Mercury folks that were there
485332
So I'd say .....
485334

Kubasta in white jacket, Gene Treichel bent over in trailer (I wasn't there), Bill Allan is the head above Kubasta (Butler hadn't joined Merc yet), don't remember the name of the guy getting out of the truck, he worked in the stockroom (a good friend of Bob Geary's), the guy manning the tripod is probably Dick Klawitter (hard to be sure when there's no head), don't know who the other cameraman is, seems like I should know the kid by Jimmy, but not sure (Hetzel with hair? :D)

Always seems to be the same problem with photos. You have the image but the info to go with it has to be explained by someone? Doesn't matter if its a shot taken in the 1940s or a digital one taken with a smart phone. I have scrapbooks full of family photos taken prior to WWII and don't have the slightest clue who these people were or the activity going on. I wish somebody would write some software where you could embed an audio description with an image? Worse yet, cases full of Kodak slides with tiny cryptic notes written on the border (if at all?).

[jackiewilson]

Always seems to be the same problem with photos. You have the image but the info to go with it has to be explained by someone? Doesn't matter if its a shot taken in the 1940s or a digital one taken with a smart phone. I have scrapbooks full of family photos taken prior to WWII and don't have the slightest clue who these people were or the activity going on. I wish somebody would write some software where you could embed an audio description with an image? Worse yet, cases full of Kodak slides with tiny cryptic notes written on the border (if at all?).

TWO OUTA SIX IS NOT BAD FOR ME WILLIAM——— told you years ago,—- memory’s shot.

[2us70]

The boat on the trailer in the background looks like it could be a McCall.

[GENE LANHAM]

Always seems to be the same problem with photos. You have the image but the info to go with it has to be explained by someone? Doesn't matter if its a shot taken in the 1940s or a digital one taken with a smart phone. I have scrapbooks full of family photos taken prior to WWII and don't have the slightest clue who these people were or the activity going on. I wish somebody would write some software where you could embed an audio description with an image? Worse yet, cases full of Kodak slides with tiny cryptic notes written on the border (if at all?).

?????

485350

[Bob V]

?????

485350

Gene Lanham... You are one of a very few people whose pictures really do not need any explanation. If the lightning bolts on the deck don't tell the story, then "Old Blue" does. You can run, but you cannot hide...!!

[Mark75H]

The boat on the trailer in the background looks like it could be a McCall.

It has those lines, but the hydro on top of the van looks like stock/mod/alky and there were a few Stock/Mod runabouts with those lines too.

[2us70]

Early Molinari. Pelican Harbor boat ramp. Tested there many times. That is Gene holding the rope. Gene, did you ever race that boat?
Gene Lanham... You are one of a very few people whose pictures really do not need any explanation. If the lightning bolts on the deck don't tell the story, then "Old Blue" does. You can run, but you cannot hide...!!

[Bob V]

Gene Lanham's Traveling Road Show

485387

[GENE LANHAM]

Early Molinari. Pelican Harbor boat ramp. Tested there many times. That is Gene holding the rope. Gene, did you ever race that boat?

That was Lonnie Todd's favorite boat--probably the first Molinari seen in South Florida??. I rigged it with a stock 1250 with power trim--

My TOTAL Molinari seat time is less than two hours---

485416

[FUJIMO]

...nice early moli...https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ec/11/bf/ec11bf9bf915cf9c938397b47ae19e3f.jpg

[FUJIMO]

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.aZ3LxH55-9sBEZOODl1i5wHaFz?pid=ImgDet&rs=1

[2us70]

Miami Outboard Club. Only race I ever did there was Around Miami Beach. Tested there once.485456
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.aZ3LxH55-9sBEZOODl1i5wHaFz?pid=ImgDet&rs=1

[GENE LANHAM]

[QUOTE=Bob V;3275389]Gene Lanham... You are one of a very few people whose pictures really do not need any explanation. If the lightning bolts on the deck don't tell the story, then "Old Blue" does. You can run, but you cannot hide...!![/QUOTE

Bob---"Old Blue" still 'RUNS'----after 53 years and HALF A MILION MILES!!!!


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[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=485488&d=1618334721

[willabee]

Since you're talking about old rusty things, thought I'd give you a Stickle update.

Heard from Tom yesterday, he's finally back home. :cheers: He said he is doing better, but not fully recovered. My guess is now that Nurse Marcia is in charge of things, he'll improve rapidly ..... she doesn't take any prisoners. :D

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[willabee]

Trying to send this pic via email, it needs to be enlarged. This is as large as I can make it. Would one of you picture wizards see if it can be further enhanced .....

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[Bob V]

Trying to send this pic via email, it needs to be enlarged. This is as large as I can make it. Would one of you picture wizards see if it can be further enhanced .....

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[Lake X Kid]

Original post# 4725.

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[jackiewilson]

Original post# 4725.

485573. Recognise most of you—- there is a picture of me and Pruett and Leo in the frame at the same bar—- is that not Judy’s ????

[willabee]

. Recognise most of you—- there is a picture of me and Pruett and Leo in the frame at the same bar—- is that not Judy’s ????

No, that's not the infamous Judy's Gin Mill, it's a bar/restaurant in Kaukauna. Look at the beverages on the bar, all you see is Pepsi or Coke ..... that would never happen at Judy's. :D

[OLEGATOR]

No, that's not the infamous Judy's Gin Mill, it's a bar/restaurant in Kaukauna. Look at the beverages on the bar, all you see is Pepsi or Coke ..... that would never happen at Judy's. :D

must have been the nite before the record. certainly not the nite after. lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[peterse90]

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Parker late 70's. Merc factory team with experimental exhaust. Seebold, Fountain & Bentz - not sure who is in the Seebold second from left, maybe Velden (?).

[willabee]

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Parker late 70's. Merc factory team with experimental exhaust. Seebold, Fountain & Bentz - not sure who is in the Seebold second from left, maybe Velden (?).

My 'guess' would be L/R ..... ​Seebold, Fountain, Sutter, Bentz

[WaterZebra]

My 'guess' would be L/R ..... ​Seebold, Fountain, Sutter, Bentz

Pretty sure Fountain is in the white boat. Seebold and Bentz never ran white factory entries, only Fountain did.

[Lake X Kid]

I see Bentz name on boat 241.

Second boat (from L to R) the driver looks like he is going for a Sunday drive, with his left-elbow out of the cockpit.

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=485868&d=1619125447