In 2003 when I retired from the Fire Department I thought about returning to boat racing. I investigated this class of boats pretty well and decided to pass.
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In 2003 when I retired from the Fire Department I thought about returning to boat racing. I investigated this class of boats pretty well and decided to pass.
After BRP took over Evinrude from OMC there was no more..Go Racing..
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...0&d=1703885745
Best racing powerhead ever..OMC FR-31M
https://svera.se/blogg/the-omc-fr-31...e-engine-1988/
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...3&d=1703897491
Late December 1973 (50 years ago) I asked my neighbors wife to help me write a letter to Jim Wagner the OMC European racing boss in Brugge, Belgium.
She was a teacher and the letter turned out pretty good in my opinion.
Remember going to the post office in Saltsjo-Boo, Sweden to post it.
I asked them to make sure the post stamp showed the date/year.
For some reason I wanted it to be 1973 not 1974.
Well..a few weeks later I got an answer from Jim Wagner at OMC.
OMC was going to help the Swedish Evinrude distributor Huzells with support for my racing.
That was great but I was also hoping for a seat in one of the OMC factory boats..but did not happened 1974.
My racing deal with Huzells was great and I remember Billy..the owner of Huzells told me there was a plan for me to be an Evinrude dealer when I was ready.
Started thinking and looking for the right place/location for a exclusive Evinrude dealership.
We left Sweden early 1974 by car and an empty trailer for Formigara, Italy to pick up my brand new yellow #99 Clerici for the UIM SE class.
On the way back we stopped at OMC in Belgium to met Jim Wagner and pick up the new design Evinrude 70HP built for UIM SE class racing.
15 inch mid section, built in powertrim, stiff rubber mounts, aluminum steering bars and the very best..the new smaller gear case later nicknamed Nitro..(Yes..the Evinrude 70HP 1974 with 15 shaft for UIM SE class racing did already have the Nitro gearcase 1974)
I also got plenty of new propellers for the new gearcase.. (Now right hand instead of 1973..when we used left hand propellers)
1974 turned out great..won all the big races in the UIM SE class racing.
Happy New Year
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Best wishes for the new year Lasse and Carina
The home of Cathy & Jimbo McConnell..https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/e....5/16/2764.png
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...2&d=1703971468
Well..this is the New Years party 1973-74 at my granddaddy's summer house in the Stockholm Archipelago.
Looks like I was celebrating a successful 1973 racing season pretty hard.. :cheers:..:cheers:
Maybe was trying Zumba already back then..:):)
Enjoy your New Years Evening party tonight..!!
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...6&d=1704035016
Starting 2024 with a few new FB members.
We are now close the 19 000..!!
Evinrude - Johnson outboards. Facts, history, racing and OMC.
18.6K members
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...0&d=1704123841
Rick Huntrods
Family friend's backyard built boat with my dad's new V4 50hp Johnson at Salton Sea in 1958.
Nice Ford Ranch Wagon also.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...2&d=1704126403
Roger Hinsdale shared a memory.
Timeless.......just a couple of Molinari / CCC/RS powered tunnel hulls
Thanks RH
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...0&d=1704150901
I think its a French fiberglass tunnel with an Evinrude XP V6 2.6
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...9&d=1704204182
PTE/Johnson V6
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...0&d=1704204726
Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
FX TheBlue
Same year (1985), same race (Rouen 24 hours), same hull builder but with a Johnson 2.6 GT.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...1&d=1704213730
Very cool but cant get the 3D to work here.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...7&d=1704234210
Not sure where and when but its Cees Van Der Velden, OMC's Ric McChesney and the Champion Spark Plug promoter in Europe.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...8&d=1704239909
The 1985 UIM F1-V8 World Champion Bob Spalding/Hodges/Evinrude team.
From the left, Bertil Wik, the 1985 World Champ Bob Spalding and the team-owner/boat-builder Chris Hodges.
This was also the first year the UIM F1 Champ raced a safety cockpit boat all season.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...9&d=1704242200
#12 Bertil Wik drove one of the first Hodges/Evinrude F1-V8 powered boats 1985 with the new safety cell. Probably saved his life in a bizarre accident in the Minneapolis race same year.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...0&d=1704246159
The die-cast 1/9th scale V8s are available from Alterscale.
I have seen the Revell model kits on ebay.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...1&d=1704306007
Renato Molinari a few years ago..Sorry Italian only but respect..!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8u2ecym88s&t=1s
.."move on up to an Evinrude"...with Renato Molinari..the F1 Champ 1983.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...5&d=1142256669
Three great ones..the Johnson racing V6 200 - Cees Van Der Velden & OMC's Ziggy..https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/e....5/16/2764.png
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...7&d=1704377013
Tuff Marine is in Canada.
Looking into 2024 lots of exciting projects coming together!!!
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...8&d=1704383330
Today I received this fantastic picture..!!
Wow..I have to go Off Topic..
This is probably one of the greatest memories from my racing years..!!
As many already know...late 1976 I did have a major fall out with OMC and the European racing boss..and switched to Volvo Penta racing built by Dieter Konig 1977 in the UIM OE class.
The swede Gert Lowisin was great to work with and he helped me to get to know Dieter Konig.
There was no one more in to boat racing like Dieter and I spent lots of time in West Berlin..( yes, back then West Berlin was an "island" within the European eastern block)
After some time I got a really good relationship with Dieter..Did lot of testing in the narrow canal outside Dieters Konig factory.
Dieter taught me lots of great racing stuff and he asked me to race in Tegel, West Berlin as a test before Paris 6 Hours.
My black UIM OE class Molinari was extremely fast after Dieter and me developed the 3 cylinder VPK in to mega power..Of course using Methanol..like most Konig race engines.
This never seen before picture makes me smile but also tears me up..
When testing a few new things with Dieter in the narrow canal..I had some issues..Dieter jumped onboard and he figure the problem out in a very high speed test in the rear of my Molinari..!!
Yes..Its Dieter himself in the rear of my Molinari..
No other racing boss could never match Dieter's enthusiasm..
Sadly we lost Dieter many years later in a ultra light plane crash.
R.I.P my great friend.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...0&d=1704410454
Another never seen before "picture"..
Brodenbach, Germany 1977..You can see the black #40 UIM OE class Molinari/König power with the swede behind the wheel..:)
Great memories.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...3&d=1704506407
Looks like a bunch of Pent's. Who won the race with what engine?
HeeHee great question and I quote from my racing stories..Quote:
Originally Posted by Rotary John
"The Sprint UIM World OE Championship race that year was in Brodenbach, Germany.
OMC was not very happy with me racing a Volvo and Roger Jenkins racing the Archimedes. (Same thing)
Michael Werner was the home town favorite with Mercury’s "secret F3 engine" with fuel injection.
OMC at that time did not have the speed, and where using the “Gas in a bottle” ( laughing gas), to make it better.
The German officials of the race said it was not legal, so OMC never raced and filed a UIM protest. (three boats from OMC)
I was fighting hard with Werner and won one heat, he the next etc. and it was down to the final heat
I had to win on a better time and I did, but then the German race officials said that my heat was 2/10 of a second slower than Werner’s so he was now the World Champ. (at that time they used stop watches)
I don’t know if it was right or wrong, but sometime later UIM made a decision about the OMC protest.
OMC won the UIM protest meaning the race was not an official World Championship race anymore."
@Rotary John
The correct answer is None...:)
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That's very interesting, OMC was playing around with nitrous back then as a booster? How did they implement it? Driver activated?
-BL
OMC used nitrous with the rotaries at St. Louis in 1974. Driver pushed a button on the steering wheel. It activated a solenoid to inject the nitrous and additional fuel; 30% increase in power. Problem was the additional weight of the bottle and it only lased 15 min.Quote:
Originally Posted by BLisBack!
@BLisBack!
@Rotary John
Well..As far as I know OMC in Europe only used nitrous in the UIM OE/F3 class 1977.
The European racing boss was doing everything he could to keep up with me and Roger Jenkins with the extremely fast Volvo Penta/Konig engine that year.
Rotary John is correct it did not last long but my friend Bo Nilsson
( boat #6 picture) was one of the three drivers in Brodenbach not allowed to race. The other two was Hering and Renato.
Bo did bring a larger bottle nitrous to the local races in Sweden and refilled the little one onboard between the heat races.
Still not fast enough to beat my Molinari/Konig..but the Konig did have lots of "reliability issues" and you have to get the the checkered flag to win the race..
It was a pretty easy power boost..OMC made a small pipe in front of the carburetors..red line (first picture) and sprayed it straight in to the carburetors when needed.
This was really in the gray zone in the UIM OE/F3 class rule book.
1978 OMC came out with the better UIM OE/F3 powerhead with pressed in sleeves and nitrous was not needed.
I did never try nitrous during all my years in the UIM OE/F3 class.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...9&d=1704559292
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When OMC won the UIM protest after the race in Brodenbach I got revenge on OMC's home turf at a popular race in Holland.
Beating the OMC's European racing boss favorite driver Willy Permann big time when he used the nitrous and other tricks in the book..also Micheal Werner was in the race.
I think it is Permann having some issues in one of the pictures..
My 1977 UIM OE/F3 season was full of controversy but it was an extremely fun year..
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...3&d=1704564922
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More from the home of Dieter König..I think this is from Lake Tegel, (West) Berlin 1977.
A beautiful lake for boat racing.
Again my black UIM F3/OE Molinari #40 with the powerful König in Volvo Penta colors.
This weekend stared great but ended bad..for me..:)
Thanks Carl Lowisin for the pictures..PS..More is coming.
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So, using the nitrous on the rotary brings up a question. Holding the button too long will melt the tops of pistons. Thinking...a rotary might tolerate it better? Since there are three different sides of the rotor, each in different phases of the cycle.
Swedish media 1977..This is a report after the race in Brodenbach, Germany.
Very interesting..but in Swedish only..sorry.
The black #40 Molinari/Volvo Penta by König.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...9&d=1704639980
Change to English ... subtitles to read.
Attachment 528566
"You made a mistake I won 18 World Championships not 17," said Renato Molinari.
Renato knows English (maybe not has good as his younger brother Giorgio) but Renato prefers speaking in his native Italian language.
https://youtu.be/j8u2ecym88s
and also, was the system activated by the driver? Solenoids and switches or other ways to keep it simple?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Poole ModVP
-BL
I am not so sure the rotaries used nitrous in St. Louis 1974..I think it was OMC's piston powered outboards in the race..Let's see what Rotary John's answer is..Quote:
Originally Posted by BLisBack!
..but I know for sure in the UIM OE class my friend Bo Nilsson had a button in the steering wheel..(type powertrim button)..he clicked on quickly a few times when he was up to speed to increase speed..worked pretty good.
He could not hold the button in very long..no good..lost speed.
The rotaries did indeed use nitrous at St. Louis. Each boat had a big bottle that would last a total of 15Min. With 4 15 Min heats, it couldn't last full time for all 4 heats. The driver were told to use it to accelerate out of the corners only. You can figure how long that lasted. If you watched the first heat you could see the fumes lofting out of the top of the shroud. It was wired with the primer as using nitrous required more fuel. Nitrous is only an oxidizer and does nothing by itself. There was a separate toggle switch for the primer only for starting. There was a separate button on the steering wheel that activated both the nitrous and the primer at the same time. I don't know how long the bottle actually lased as it was demolition derby for that race. Nitrous was never used before or after on the rotaries. I don't recall any engine failure that race, only boat destruction caused by Merc..Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
Wow..Thanks @Rotary John
Great info..I did see OMC using nitrous in the 1976 UIM ON class World Championship race in Auronzo, Italy 1976.
Only in the ON class..not OE.