Hot Singles ! - Pictures

The only time that Mercury was ever playing catch up was when the rotaries would show up and finish a race. Other than that, Strang was never given the freedom he wanted by the bean counters at OMC to let him build what he wanted during the factory team era. They built some specialty engines but were mainly used in Europe.

What I always thought OMC should have done was put a rotary on a 3 pointer and raise the world record. No doubt it could have gone 145+ mph. I am sure they were unwilling to do it because it was a prototype power plant. But, it would have had Mercury trying to figure out how to get the unlimited record back.

Even when Strang finally got what he wanted, the looper F1 V-8, Mr. Seebold would show up and out run them!

I've said this before, it wasn't so much engine as it was preparation. Merc would show up weeks ahead of time for St. Louis and test, test, test. Props, weight distribution even moving the pins to optimize lap times. All the while Molinari was doing the same with boats in Italy. OMC would bolt the engine to a boat and go race. Never in the 4 yrs. I was involved with the rotary did I see any weight distribution testing, fuel tank size or location. Hell it took an act of congress to use the snow mobile batteries instead of the cars size one; and the rotaries used 2 of them.

As CEO of OMC, I doubt someone else could dictate to Strang what money he could spend on racing. He bragged that on his tenure, OMC consistently returned a 16% ROI, a Wall Street record. He even used ROI16 as part of his email address.

Minimal spending on actual racing was always his scheme. He learned how much it cost Carl back when he was at Merc, and he avoided the emotional/ego trap that Kiekhaefer fell into over and over.

He did want more loopers but had to settle for 2 more cylinders on a V-4. They did not even want to produce a cross flow V-6, he had to pull teeth for that and ended up proving that they would sell. Certainly to his credit, the Super Strangler was pound for pound one of the best racing engines ever.

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Originally Posted by Mark75H

As CEO of OMC, I doubt someone else could dictate to Strang what money he could spend on racing. He bragged that on his tenure, OMC consistently returned a 16% ROI, a Wall Street record. He even used ROI16 as part of his email address.

Minimal spending on actual racing was always his scheme. He learned how much it cost Carl back when he was at Merc, and he avoided the emotional/ego trap that Kiekhaefer fell into over and over.

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And, his license plate was ROI 15%, but not 16%

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Originally Posted by Rotary John

I've said this before, it wasn't so much engine as it was preparation. Merc would show up weeks ahead of time for St. Louis and test, test, test. Props, weight distribution even moving the pins to optimize lap times. All the while Molinari was doing the same with boats in Italy. OMC would bolt the engine to a boat and go race. Never in the 4 yrs. I was involved with the rotary did I see any weight distribution testing, fuel tank size or location. Hell it took an act of congress to use the snow mobile batteries instead of the cars size one; and the rotaries used 2 of them.

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For some reason the computer is forcing me to write this in pieces, I'll need another half hour to finish this entry ......

Powerboat magazine interviewed Gary Garbrecht, Director of Racing - Mercury, Bill Seebold, Mercury Team Driver and Jack Leek, Director of Racing - OMC on this very subject. The following are quotes taken from the article:

Powerboat: What did you anticipate from the OMC Team?
Garbrecht: We thought that OMC would have a few new 150 cubic inch V-6's on hand and maybe some rotaries. I had more fear of the big rotaries since they produce an awful lot of horsepower and have a good chance of lasting through a twenty minute heat race. (Note from Willabee: Garbrecht was always good at disguising a dig as a compliment)
Powerboat: How did you prepare for St. Louis?
Garbrecht: We laid out a new duplicate of the St. Louis course at out own test facility. From there we just tested and tested until we felt we had the right prop and gear combination. ..... All I can say is that the harder we work, the better everything seems to turn out.

Powerboat: How do you feel about the success of your racing season with Mercury before the St. Louis race?
Seebold: I couldn't be happier with the Mercury T-3 and it's performance this year. We've been winning races because it's an even stronger engine this year than last, both faster and more reliable.
Powerboat: What were the most important factors contributing to your win?
Seebold: Instant starting off of the beach made everyone watch my transom. All that practice and preparation really paid off. After the first heat I knew the OMC drivers were hurting for power out of the corners and were slow leaving the beach. I was sure if I could just continue to make good starts, I would be hard to beat. (Note from Willabee: Seebold is hard to beat even if he doesn't get a good start)

The computer won't let me finish on this page, I'll have to go to the next ..... to be continued!

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Originally Posted by willabee

For some reason the computer is forcing me to write this in pieces, I'll need another half hour to finish this entry ......

Powerboat magazine interviewed Gary Garbrecht, Director of Racing - Mercury, Bill Seebold, Mercury Team Driver and Jack Leek, Director of Racing - OMC on this very subject. The following are quotes taken from the article:

Powerboat: What did you anticipate from the OMC Team?
Garbrecht: We thought that OMC would have a few new 150 cubic inch V-6's on hand and maybe some rotaries. I had more fear of the big rotaries since they produce an awful lot of horsepower and have a good chance of lasting through a twenty minute heat race. (Note from Willabee: Garbrecht was always good at disguising a dig as a compliment)
Powerboat: How did you prepare for St. Louis?
Garbrecht: We laid out a new duplicate of the St. Louis course at out own test facility. From there we just tested and tested until we felt we had the right prop and gear combination. ..... All I can say is that the harder we work, the better everything seems to turn out.

Powerboat: How do you feel about the success of your racing season with Mercury before the St. Louis race?
Seebold: I couldn't be happier with the Mercury T-3 and it's performance this year. We've been winning races because it's an even stronger engine this year than last, both faster and more reliable.
Powerboat: What were the most important factors contributing to your win?
Seebold: Instant starting off of the beach made everyone watch my transom. All that practice and preparation really paid off. After the first heat I knew the OMC drivers were hurting for power out of the corners and were slow leaving the beach. I was sure if I could just continue to make good starts, I would be hard to beat. (Note from Willabee: Seebold is hard to beat even if he doesn't get a good start)

The computer won't let me finish on this page, I'll have to go to the next ..... to be continued!

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Powerboat: How did you prepare for St. Louis?
Leek: As I said, our testing was greatly limited with our new 150 cubic inchers since production of these engines was a little behind schedule. We felt our engine displacement advantage would allow us to run against the Mercurys in near stock form and still be competitive. What we really missed was a big selection of props and gear ratio changes for the new motor.
Powerboat: How did the actual race unfold?
Leek: Obviously things didn't go as well as we had hoped. We ran into an unexpected carburetor problem which hindered our quickness in leaving the beach on those dead water starts.

Thanks for posting. It's like being there all over again. One small correction. Barry Woods lead to the first pin for all 4 heats with the rotary. He would have won if Homer hadn't disqualified him for one heat and he hadn't barreled rolled it in another.
This is pretty much the story on OMC racing while I was involved. Merc cam prepared, OMC did not.

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Originally Posted by Rotary John

Thanks for posting. It's like being there all over again. One small correction. Barry Woods lead to the first pin for all 4 heats with the rotary. He would have won if Homer hadn't disqualified him for one heat and he hadn't barreled rolled it in another.
This is pretty much the story on OMC racing while I was involved. Merc cam prepared, OMC did not.

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You're thinking about all the wild and crazy stuff that happened in 1974. The comments from Garbrecht, Seebold and Leek came after the 1975 race when OMC only ran their new 150 cubic inch V-6.

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Originally Posted by willabee

You're thinking about all the wild and crazy stuff that happened in 1974. The comments from Garbrecht, Seebold and Leek came after the 1975 race when OMC only ran their new 150 cubic inch V-6.

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You're right. I don't believe the rotaries ran in '75

" our testing was greatly limited with our new 150 cubic inchers since production of these engines was a little behind schedule" Interesting comment as the 150 raced at PeWaukee in the spring of "75; long before St. Louis. "Carburetor problem" was a std answer for the race group when they got their clock cleaned. Leek had 8/10 guys working full time on race engines only. In addition Heinrich on props, Ward Cox on gear cases and Scotti and Nagoati on boats. As I said "Preparation". Testing for OMC was which prop did you want to run.

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Originally Posted by Mark75H

As CEO of OMC, I doubt someone else could dictate to Strang what money he could spend on racing. He bragged that on his tenure, OMC consistently returned a 16% ROI, a Wall Street record. He even used ROI16 as part of his email address.

Minimal spending on actual racing was always his scheme. He learned how much it cost Carl back when he was at Merc, and he avoided the emotional/ego trap that Kiekhaefer fell into over and over.

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Hmmm. Is that why they went out of business?��

Saw a couple more pics that mbd29 posted om a different thread, just think they belong on Hot Singles.

Jim Merten in a 16' Molinari sprint at the Miami 225 in 1970 .....
Attachment 416632

This sprint was one of three that came from Molinari's shop in 1970.This boat was driven by several guys including Merten, Sirois and Stickle and had a pretty successful life, especially compared to the other two. It won the Miami 225 in what I think was it's first race. It set a couple of records while winning the Miami Nationals in SJ and S classes. Was leading the St. Mary's Enduro when the steering broke. It was shipped back to Europe to compete in the Paris and Berlin 6 Hour events. It finished 5th in Paris and was leading Berlin when it had some kind of mechanical problem. It finished 3rd in the Parker 9 Hour, was sold and went on to win a number of races driven by Jim Hunt.

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Originally Posted by willabee

Saw a couple more pics that mbd29 posted om a different thread, just think they belong on Hot Singles.

Jim Merten in a 16' Molinari sprint at the Miami 225 in 1970 .....
Attachment 416632

This sprint was one of three that came from Molinari's shop in 1970.This boat was driven by several guys including Merten, Sirois and Stickle and had a pretty successful life, especially compared to the other two. It won the Miami 225 in what I think was it's first race. It set a couple of records while winning the Miami Nationals in SJ and S classes. Was leading the St. Mary's Enduro when the steering broke. It was shipped back to Europe to compete in the Paris and Berlin 6 Hour events. It finished 5th in Paris and was leading Berlin when it had some kind of mechanical problem. It finished 3rd in the Parker 9 Hour, was sold and went on to win a number of races driven by Jim Hunt.

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i drove it for 7 hours, bill petty drove 1 3/4 hours and one of the berghauer's drove 1 lap at parker 71. harold bartee bought boat after parker i put a 1250 sbp/staker for a few races then put the cowbell on it.

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Originally Posted by OLEGATOR

i drove it for 7 hours, bill petty drove 1 3/4 hours and one of the berghauer's drove 1 lap at parker 71. harold bartee bought boat after parker i put a 1250 sbp/staker for a few races then put the cowbell on it.

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Jim - Is that the boat that you ran in the Clearwater Fun 'n Sun with a cowbell that put such a hurting on Duff Daily and his Hemi powered "Oh Mona" GN boat?