Facts about Evinrude/Johnson racing outboards made my OMC

The Marlboro Man.

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The Marlboro Man.

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The Marlboro Man/World Champ

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This is the Marlboro Man's first really nice design. The #11 UIM ON class Marlboro/Velden Racing/Johnson V6 RS 2 liter from 1976.
The picture is from the ON World Championship race in Auronzo, Italy 1976.
Cees was by far the fastest boat and won the first heat. In the second heat Cees was on the way to lap Zoppi, an Italian back-marker..instead of just letting Cees lap him, Zoppi run over him on purpose and took a large part out of this beautiful #11 Marlboro/Velden Racing tunnel boat out.
I was standing on the shoreline watching and could not believe what I just saw..
Sometimes this was part of racing in Italy..(sorry my Italian friends..just another fact)

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September 11 is a date with mixed feelings for most of us.

The terrorist attack in New York is always the first memory.
It is also the day when the famous Swedish F1 driver Ronnie Peterson died after the very bad accident at the Monza F1 race in Italy September 10 1978.
I was racing my first UIM F1 race at Idroscalo/Milan/Italy only a few miles away from Monza the same Sunday.
After my very successful race in the #29 Saffa/Molinari/Johnson V6 RS I got the news of the Monza accident.
Ronnie passed away the day after.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Peterson

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by lars strom

This is the Marlboro Man's first really nice design. The #11 UIM ON class Marlboro/Velden Racing/Johnson V6 RS 2 liter from 1976.
The picture is from the ON World Championship race in Auronzo, Italy 1976.
Cees was by far the fastest boat and won the first heat. In the second heat Cees was on the way to lap Zoppi, an Italian back-marker..instead of just letting Cees lap him, Zoppi run over him on purpose and took a large part out of this beautiful #11 Marlboro/Velden Racing tunnel boat out.
I was standing on the shoreline watching and could not believe what I just saw..
Sometimes this was part of racing in Italy..(sorry my Italian friends..just another fact)

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I always liked the lines of Velden's boats. They just got better with time up til when the V8's started running in the USA. When Velden was running with the Kool tobacco sponsorship they had just integrated their safety cells with their new hulls. Their white boats with green accents were beautiful. Saw Mostert get in a racing accident in Sacramento CA and the hull was deemed unrepairable. Decision was made to cut the hull up with chainsaws and put the cell in the truck for the trip home. I guess they didn't want the hull lines to be copied or cloned? Veldens hulls were definitely better than what Hodges had at the time. However, team NAUI had USA built Furnels (sp?) that still ran faster than Veldens (Robertson /. Thibideau).

I am sticking to my own thread and love Mr. Bill.
Not sure when & where but he is swimming..!!

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Originally Posted by lars strom

Swedish F1 driver Ronnie Peterson died after the very bad accident at the Monza F1 race in Italy September 10 1978.
I was racing my first UIM F1 race at Idroscalo/Milan/Italy only a few miles away from Monza the same Sunday.
After my very successful race in the #29 Saffa/Molinari/Johnson V6 RS I got the news of the Monza accident.
Ronnie passed away the day after.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Peterson

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Lars did you also identify with champions from a neighboring country — Finland ?

https://external-content.duckduckgo....6pid%3DApi&f=1

https://external-content.duckduckgo....6pid%3DApi&f=1

https://external-content.duckduckgo....6pid%3DApi&f=1

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Originally Posted by Lake X Kid

Lars did you also identify with champions from a neighboring country — Finland ?

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Arno Hakkinen of Finland in his #17 Velden Racing/Johnson F1-V8 3.5 liter 2 stroke looper.
Yes he is related to the F1 car racer Mika Hakkinen.


https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...6&d=1517792922

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Originally Posted by WaterZebra

I always liked the lines of Velden's boats. They just got better with time up til when the V8's started running in the USA. When Velden was running with the Kool tobacco sponsorship they had just integrated their safety cells with their new hulls. Their white boats with green accents were beautiful. Saw Mostert get in a racing accident in Sacramento CA and the hull was deemed unrepairable. Decision was made to cut the hull up with chainsaws and put the cell in the truck for the trip home. I guess they didn't want the hull lines to be copied or cloned? Veldens hulls were definitely better than what Hodges had at the time. However, team NAUI had USA built Furnels (sp?) that still ran faster than Veldens (Robertson /. Thibideau).

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Not sure but those Velden boats was very fast and great looking.


https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...8&d=1530449643

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...7&d=1530134741

Johnnie Sanders and the Evinrude V6 Super Strangler. Pretty sure its outside OMC racing in Brugge, Belgium.

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OMC

Nice picture..just sad so many are not with us anymore.

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Fred Hauenstein/Ron Hill Molinari/Evinrude V4 Starflite SS
2nd place at the Parker 9 Hour, 1971.

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Originally Posted by lars strom

OMCnt row.
Nice picture..just sad so many are not with us anymore.


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Jack Leek- Jim Wagner front row. Far left -Ward Cox gearcase man.
Far right Mouse- Ziggy. I don't recognize the others. Maybe Mike Gualtny can help out.

Thank you Swedish Powerboat Federation for this picture.
1977 was the year and three names is very important
Rutger Friberg offered me the extremely good deal to switch to Volvo Penta/Konig.
Dieter Konig and Gert Lowisin built the engine and helped me to many good racing memories.
Molinari/VP/Konig.

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Picture by Randy Vance.

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One more Randy

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Cruising the lake in 23/24 MPH. The Sea Ray 460 is a very nice ride.

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Originally Posted by lars strom

Something is not working right.

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You're right, a bunch of Mercury's just got posted in the OMC thread! :)

Test.

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OMC released the second generation UIM F1-V8 engines 1985.
(The first one came 1981).
The second generation was still a 3.5 liter 2 stroke looper with fuel injection, a 6 inch mid section. Powertrim/lift and over 400 HP from start.
35 years later Mercury is trying to make headlines of a new UIM F1-V8 engine with a 12 inch mid section and a boring 360 HP 4 stroke...!!
Think about that..!!..:)

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What was the weight on that unit?

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Originally Posted by nitro_rat

What was the weight on that unit?

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405 pounds.

Bringing this very interesting racing story by Charlie Strang up again.

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Originally Posted by lars strom

OMC F1-V8 racing by Charlie Strang

USF1 United States Formula One

The when, where, who and why of the V-8 racing circuit will all be found in the following story.

When we at OMC were developing a V-8 "fishing motor", circa 1980, we decided to build a racing version of it to replace our Wankel outboards which had been barred from most European races.

Since there were few places to race a 3-1/2 liter outboard in the USA at that time (other than enduros) we decided to race them primarily in Europe. In UIM, the 3-1/2 liters put the V-8 into class OZ (unlimited displacement). At a meeting in Europe the UIM decided OZ would henceforth be known as Formula One. In 1981 the John Player tobacco company of England sponsored the John Player World Championship series for Formula One. There were 10 V-8s running there in 1981, plus a number of Merc V-6 engines.

In the fall of 1982 Bob Spalding realized that the V-8s were running faster in competition than the Class X outboard hydro record---so he ran a Kilo on Lake Windermere in his tunnel boat at 139.66 mph. Not long after, Rick Frost---also of England---ran a Kilo in his F-1 tunnel boat at 144.16.

In those days tunnel boat design had not kept up with the available power and we had 4 deaths in 4 months. This led to the development of the safety cockpit---financially sponsored by both OMC and Mercury---which did a fantastic job of reducing risk.

During 1985 OMC's European operation had a problem with a race promoter who spent ridiculous sums on F-1---about 3.2 million in one summer! As a result, I pulled the plug on F-1 in Europe for 1986.

This incident, plus all we had spent on racing in the factory battles of the 1970s and early 1980s, convinced me we were not getting our money's worth out of the sport---with top-notch factory teams holding great races in remote locations---and the publicity was zilch.

We then decided to concentrate on racing the V-8s in the USA---where most large outboards were sold---and to try to fund it with sponsor money. In other words, to use other companies' money to promote our product through racing.

We hired the top sports promotion company in the USA---or maybe the world---to find sponsors for outboard racing. Four months and $600,000 in fees later they told us that outboard racing was of no interest to the public and sponsorship was not to be had.

We decided to try it anyway, following where possible the example set by car racing. OMC's VP for Marketing, Ron Ingram, and I decided on a USA Formula One circuit with the following points in mind:

1. We would have a series of 6 to 8 races in the USA, open to drivers from all over the world.
2. It would be an F-1 series with the only limitation being that the engines must be available to anyone on the open market---to avoid the expensive and promotionally useless factory competition of the past. I think we set the required number of engines produced at 50. (This led to an interesting and even amusing lawsuit with Mercury.)
3. Our races would only be held at metropolitan locations with good press facilities.
4. The race would always be held in conjunction with existing major waterfront shows or events to insure a maximum crowd on race days.
5. We would have large prize purses, never before seen in boat racing, to excite the media---and the teams.
We then met with representatives of ABC, NBC and CBS to determine the ideal format. The networks designed a one-hour format for ideal TV coverage. This was the source of the 45 minute feature event---still used today at times.

We found a great series sponsor in Champion Spark Plug who regularly brought their distributors and dealers to the races and who also promoted the F-1 races in their ads. OMC also put much money into each race to make it a top-notch event worthy of media attention.

If I remember rightly, we started the US F-1 series in 1986---with over $600,000 in prize money for 7 races. We had plenty of European teams and plenty of US entrants. Probably the top event each year was Pittsburgh---where the police had a real job keeping the huge crowds in safe viewing areas.

The US F-1 series went on for about 4 years with all the top US and European F-1 drivers involved. There were always a few Mercs in the field, but only Bill Seebold was ever competitive---particularly on the shorter courses where the big V-8 boats had a bit more difficulty on the turns. The speeds were high---on the 1-1/2 mile course at Beaumont, Texas, Ben Robertson set a lap speed record of 141.33 mph. They were great races.

We thought it was a great series---as did the teams and the boating press---but the public interest did not warrant the cost. The TV networks finally told us that the F-1 events were great---but that boat racing simply could not draw enough attention to create adequate advertising income for the networks. As I recall, they commented that car racing could attract huge followings because, at that time, about 150 million Americans had cars and could relate to them---while only about 10 million Americans had boats.

At any rate, it became very clear that what was probably the best outboard racing circuit of all time could not justify its cost in terms of promotion, publicity and sales.

So - in 1990 I pulled the plug on the OMC F-1 circuit and we went to putting the money into grass-roots racing by producing the 2, 3 and 4 cylinder engines for OPC and sponsoring activity for those classes.

Now you know why I smile sadly when I hear a would-be promoter telling how he will make millions by turning some boat-racing class into the "next NASCAR"!

The V-8 Johnsons and Evinrudes are long gone. About all that remains on the record books is Bob Wartinger's 176.586 mph speed record of 1989---with a V-8 on a three-point hydro.

So who did all this? As I recall, from the technical side, Jim Nerstrom handled the racing version of the V-8 in OMC Marine Engineering, where Edgar Rose was OMC's VP. Gary Garbrecht and Les Calhoun did a great deal of development work and boat testing at Gary's Second Effort operation in Florida. Jack Leek, OMC's race boss had a finger in everything every where.

Bob DeGrenier was the guy who actually set up and ran the events. OMC Marketing guy, Barry Caris, oversaw OMC's PR and promotional activity and co-ordinated the race setup with DeGrenier.

Charlie Strang

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...2&d=1538924247

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To quote Mr. Strang: "The only limitation being that the engines must be available to anyone on the open market---to avoid the expensive and promotionally useless factory competition of the past."

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History repeats itself when we do not learn from the past. RIP Charlie Strang...

20 years after OMC's demise, Mercury is still going strong. On the recreational side, if OMC had made engines as reliable as Yamaha's, they might still be in business.

Congrats on 500 pages! I've enjoyed them all. Thanks Lars!

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Originally Posted by V pads

Congrats on 500 pages! I've enjoyed them all. Thanks Lars!

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:iagree::iagree::iagree:

Yes, 500 is very noteworthy. There are only two threads with more pages. The leader is Fuji's, which lately has lost it's way and become the fishing thread, with 1285 pages. But here is where it gets interesting. You have 500 pages, but you also have 1,066,345 views. Fuji has 1285 pages with 1,189,465 views. This shows that you have more than twice the audience of the leading thread. You must be doing something right...:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Bob V

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

Yes, 500 is very noteworthy. There are only two threads with more pages. The leader is Fuji's, which lately has lost it's way and become the fishing thread, with 1285 pages. But here is where it gets interesting. You have 500 pages, but you also have 1,066,345 views. Fuji has 1285 pages with 1,189,465 views. This shows that you have more than twice the audience of the leading thread. You must be doing something right...:thumbsup:

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Wow.. Bob V..Thanks
Not sure why but I love to save the OMC / Evinrude / Johnson racing history.
I don't have all the facts but telling it the way I remember things.
My memory is still pretty good but I don't have all the OMC inside stories. As a racer myself I was around at most overseas races in the seventies & eighties.
All the big ones like Paris, Amsterdam, Rouen, Como, Idroscalo, Bristol, London, Nottingham, Stockholm, Berlin, Rotterdam, Liege, Drammen, Chasewater, South Africa, Vishy, Cardiff, Brodenbach, Bahamas, Miami Marine Stadium, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and many more.
Outboards was also my main business during the same time. I still love the outboard business but don't have a horse in the race anymore.
When OMC "took the sign down" I completely lost interest in boat racing.
BRP did not change that and I think BRP was not in the Evinrude production business for the long run. ( now we know that was correct)
It is what it is..as long as I can add something to this thread I am going to do so.
Thanks for clicking in here.

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Originally Posted by lars strom

Wow.. Bob V..Thanks
Not sure why but I love to save the OMC / Evinrude / Johnson racing history.
I don't have all the facts but telling it the way I remember things.
My memory is still pretty good but I don't have all the OMC inside stories. As a racer myself I was around at most overseas races in the seventies & eighties.
All the big ones like Paris, Amsterdam, Rouen, Como, Idroscalo, Bristol, London, Nottingham, Stockholm, Berlin, Rotterdam, Liege, Drammen, Chasewater, South Africa, Miami Marine Stadium, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and many more.
Outboards was also my main business during the same time. I still love the outboard business but don't have a horse in the race anymore.
When OMC "took the sign down" I completely lost interest in boat racing.
BRP did not change that and I think BRP was not in the Evinrude production business for the long run. ( now we know that was correct)
It is what it is..as long as I can add something to this thread I am going to do so.
Thanks for clicking in here.

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No need to thank me...the thanks go to you and all your viewers for making your thread the #1 read thread on S&F. Sure, Fuji's thread has more total views, but his thread has been around for 18 months longer than yours. If we do the math, you will see that you are #1 on Scream & Fly.

Currently Fuji has 1,189,527 views for his 57 months on S&F = 20.869 views per month.

You currently have 1,066,414 views for 39 months on S&F = 27,343 views per month.

It is not even close. You are clearly are the most read thread on Scream & Fly Outboard Racing History:thumbsup:

A piece of your past for sale...

https://www.ahlstrandmarine.com/prod...1929-2000.html

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Originally Posted by Mark Poole ModVP

20 years after OMC's demise, Mercury is still going strong. On the recreational side, if OMC had made engines as reliable as Yamaha's, they might still be in business.

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On the recreational side, if OMC (Merc)had made engines as reliable as Yamaha's, they might still be in the (recreational ) business.[/QUOTE]
Does Yam sell like 20 engines to every Merc, seems like it?

The Marlboro Man and ON World Champ 1975
The #1 Marlboro/Velden Racing/ Johnson V6 GP

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Dual spark plug cylinder heads for the OMC F1-V8 was available for anyone to purchase.

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The powerhead on the right use twin plugs cyl. heads.

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We are ready for the Trump Boat Parade at Lake of the Ozarks today.

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