Well, you know what Gary was like, one time, i even thought he had the hots for “Willabee” !!!Quote:
Originally Posted by willabee
Printable View
Well, you know what Gary was like, one time, i even thought he had the hots for “Willabee” !!!Quote:
Originally Posted by willabee
Fred's number 5, looks life a Shakespeare hull.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...6&d=1607522311
Pretty women in the pits at a boat race. And Gillian/Jillian Percival was one of the prettiest. And Cees’ sister-in-law Honey is also in that category. And James Beard’s girlfriend too (but those are other stories for later).Quote:
Originally Posted by willabee
We are at a race in Auronzo Italy,circa 1971 I do believe. I think it was for the European championship. So the local community had some festive activity in conjunction with the boat race,which if I remember included music and dancing.
So at this evening event before next day’s race, I and Honey, Bob, Tom,Jillian and others attended. Unbeknownst to the English speaking contingent,they were going to select a beauty queen that evening. Jillian and I am not sure how it transpired, but apparently became a contestant. A younger Italian girl was selected by the judge(s).
So I am just standing there not thinking much about the situation. And Jillian (maybe with a little disappointment about not winning) looked straight into my eyes, and asked “do you think I am pretty?” I am a teenager, and this beautiful blond woman asks me this. I am flabbergasted, and I retreat into a silent shyness. In my mind there is no doubt Jillian is pretty.
I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights. And thankfully Tom Percival must of saw my dilemma, and Tom said to Jillian, “of course you are pretty.” Thanks Tom and I will pay you back later between heat races, when I repair your malfunction kill-switch.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...8&d=1607718049
Dave Burgess was Shakeys carpenter/joiner/boatbuilder. After he died on Windermere. Freddie had Burgess build the Miles Boats, including one for me and Bill Brown (Venus) to house the Cosworth BDG.. Dave finally went on his own to build Burgess boats. Thats how come the Shakespeare and the Miles look alike———thats because they were !Quote:
Originally Posted by Lake X Kid
Same pretty lady...just another angle;
Attachment 478993
I always liked her in a life jacket and carrying the helmet. (Just kidding, There was nothing a/c d/c about either Tom Or Bob.). Both full bloodied , absolutely normal MEN !!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by peterse90
There was a lot of “ENTERTAINING” went on at the annual Earl’s Court boat show, most evenings were spent trying to chase up possible leads. If the prospective purchaser happened to be of the opposite gender then that was an added bonus.. after an evening of merriment with the consumption of much. Fodder and Liqueur, Tom would always give the conquered heroine a postcard sized photo of himself signed “fondest memories Tom.”. But that was back in the day, when men were men, and the word P.C. ( politically correct) had not even been invented,.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...3&d=1607825226...what make/brand of race jacket is that, gentex or?...
I always thought if yesteryear actors portrayed Tom Percival & Bob Spalding, then it would be David Niven & Gary Grant.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Tom seemed to me to have the mannerisms of David Niven.
And Bob had a charm about him, that women liked, just as they like Gary Grant.
When I first met Tom, I wondered but my dad later assured me he is "absolutely normal."
https://external-content.duckduckgo....6pid%3DApi&f=1
David Niven.
https://external-content.duckduckgo....6pid%3DApi&f=1
Cary Grant.
Uppsala Sweden the summer of 1971, is where things changed for Tom. I believe it was at that race, where word apparently got back to England, about a certain brunette. I vaguely remember what she looked like.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Hearsay — I do not remember who told me, but that episode is why Gillian from then on was at every race that Tom attended.
And every race that I attended until 1973, when Tom was there Gillian was next to him.
Years later I saw both of them at Havasu. Even very pretty woman, like Gillian, don't want their husband to go astray.
It's an old Oberg FujiQuote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
Tom and Bob were two loose canons on the worlds race circuit. After Chas went with them when the Hodges / Percival race was formed , he did his best to keep a touch of decorum , failed miserably !
Most of the tales that evolve around the pair are absolutely hilarious , not an ounce of malice in the pair of them . Both were family men and close friends . I have a book ful of stories, but, they have to remain untold.
Speaking of the book....hows it going?
100,000 words and 150 pictures up to now. Half way Mark i would suggest. Next job is to get it edited . Fortunate enough to have a couple of kids. bright enough to help me prepare it for publishing. Then all i have to do is find a publisher , daft enough to print it !
hardest thing you will ever do--Jackie--:mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Might just leave it then Gene. Let somebody else go to the trouble ,and expense, and disappointment, and heartache , and criticism, .Quote:
Originally Posted by GENE LANHAM
Told you before , theres. not many folk in the racing world i Haven't fallen out with over the years , might be fun to fall out with the rest, but long after I’ve copped my clogs.
I’ll sleep on it !
Did get another chapter in over the weekend. the TOM AND BOB bit with Patsy and Gilly thrown in for good measure . Patsy was a very private person, but hells teeth, dont ever get into an arm wrestling match with her. Even the HULK would lose. she was never in the spotlight, but Bob owed her more than he ever knew. Enough, its bedtime , and i turn grouchy around midnight .
Attachment 479104
My eldest grandson with a couple of my 15 great grandchildren, Max and Nicholas.
I might YET be a GREAT,GREAT GRANDFATHER.
...yup. can see the resemblance...its as strong as a locomotive...:thumbsup:https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...4&d=1608015753
If a publisher does not accept your manuscript, then there at least two other options. And within those two options are a lot of companies to choose from.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
1) Self publishing.
2) Print on Demand.
You know what Roy, writing a book about something you have loved all your life comes easy. I only wrote about the people and places i knew personally. None of it is here say, its all true. plus, i only write when i feel like it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lake X Kid
Im not an accomplished author, just a guy with a lot of friends, with the same interests which happens to be power boat racing. Mainly closed course circuit racing at the highest level, along with the best in the business from all five continents. Constructors , drivers , their families and the lives they lead .
I have a big mouth and a strange sense of loyalty that i dont really understand myself. If i see a wrong then ill try and put it right. If someone or something pisse me off , i have a go at them. Fallen out at one time or another with most commodores of race clubs. UIM officials in particular. Drivers in particular, if they were driving like a twat, i told em so.
Point I’m trying to make is this. I started on a book, mainly about me and my experiences. I have taken my time. Never needed to hurry. It wasnt urgent or important. Wont ever be a best seller , though theres more drama and romance in it than any Tom Clancy, David Baldacci or Stephen King novels. So you can see where im coming from when i tell you i dont give a flying fart when or who or even if it ever gets published . A bit like a river. Comes out of the ground and gradually grows , gets a bit faster, and eventually rolls out into the sea in its own sweet time, one way or another .
Good thing is, my youngest daughter Sam just bought me an all singing and dancing , state of the art APPLE I PAD, with a magical keyboard or some such thing. Even i can punch out a thousand words a day in between making concepts , moving house, dodging COVID . Plus FUJIMO can always help me out with piccies if i get short. Or , on a bad day i can call on Willabee for the odd caustic comment now and again.
My kids and grandkids dont push me to publish (they all know better than that) but without exception they always ask, hey dad/grandad, hows the book coming along. Always tell em the same thing JES FINE , BY JR.
Jackie, if you have a chapter about Bob & Tom (or a separate chapter for each) here is a picture of Tom & Chris you may want to include.
Do I ever wish I could have been privy to their conversation.
I do know that you knew all of them quite well - both on and off the water.
Attachment 479136
Seen that picture quite a few times before Pilgrim. Taken just after OMC started throwing money about like confetti. Hodges got enough dinero out of the old firm to equip a workshop with all brand fire new machinery ,plus a new carriage for hauling boats , and a double decker trailer. Add to this Bob and Percy and a talented but unpredictable Swede . Add the cash together that OMC paid them as individuals, you have the makings of a very presentable race team, which is what the Hodges/Percival race team was.
Tom died, a week after after a freak accident with Bocca, on the river in the town of liege .
Bob died as a direct result from injuries received at the race In Seville. He never fully recovered, was never the same man again.
Hodges continued to build boats , draw up new designs , got married (AGAIN), and retired to raise quarter horses in florida. Had another nipper , a girl again. Really dropped off the roller coaster for a while . Got divorced and moved to Australia. Occasionally surfaces, but rarely.
Last i heard ,he and Brownie were going to get together again. Last time they did was at cougars some forty/fifty years ago ! So endeth todays bit of nostalgic nonsense.
:thumbsup:Jackie, if your book is half as well written (and humorous) as your S&F posts and replies, it’ll be "Oprah's Pick of the Month” in no time! Keep it coming!Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
bugger, should have started here, slip of consecration????Quote:
Originally Posted by Watermark
Pretty sure it is from one of my 'old' Powerboat & Waterskiing magazines.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Funny how it 'magically' appeared on another thread about 2 hours after I posted it here late last night at about 11pm (Toronto, Ontario time).
Cmon Guys , good pictures will always be copied ——-ya know what they say about copying . Sincerest form of flattery and all that Jazz !!Quote:
Originally Posted by peterse90
Well they weren’t talking about safety cells, they only came after Toms demise, Hodges invented them. He did a lot of the construction of the drivers pod for MACLAREN. In their F1 race cars, so he was way ahead of any other boat constructor.
OK, here goes, i could wind up spending the rest of my life in the pokey for what i am about to say. might not even get published, all depends on Greg and „“THE COMMITTEE“‘ I am sick to my armpits of listening to all the crap thats being spouted under the guise of BLM !!!!! BLACK LIVES MATTER.
“ No doubt about it , black lives do matter, same as white lives , Chinks and Pinks. So its an undisputed fact that ALL lives matter.
So heres my beef. What in the name of all thats holy does tearing down statues THAT HAVE BEEN STANDING HUNDREDS OF YEARS , have to do with anything. What purpose does it achieve? All happened long before any of us here today were born.
Same as i was born white , Lewis Hamilton wasn’t—-so what? Sod all either of us could do about it, grow up, get on with life, instead of bitching and moaning „Nobody likes me Cos I’s black‘. Its nonsense , .
You managed to scare the crap out of the heads of the entertainment business with demands of not enough Black people compared to white. Well
by my reckoning there are far more blacks on my TV screen than whites. Dont matter whether its the soaps or the weather, newscasters or chefs, whites are now in the minority, thats because of all this PC nonsense .
ACTING AND ABILITY NO LONGER COMES INTO THE EQUATION. Its a case of he who protestath loudest !!!
Hamilton protests that there are no black drivers, wonder if it ever occurred to him that the reason could be that none of them are good enough???
Same with swimmers— theres no black swimmers — i have no idea why, doesn't matter anyway. Its a fact.
SIMPLE EVERYDAY FOLK LIKE ME SHOULD NOT BE BEATEN INTO SUBMISSION, SIMPLY BECAUSE WE DONT AGREE.
Time all these BLM idiots who are inciting riots , tearing down statues and discontented with their own lives were brought to task, same as i would be , even though im a „“PRIVILEGED WHITE“ person.
Lewis, You did a good job, not because of your colour, but because of your ability. At the minute
, all this knee bending businesses isn’t doing you any favours at all. But you are doing a good job of alienating yourself from the paying public.
Here endeth todays sermon.
Interesting to note, 12 hours down the line and not a sigle comment. Even Pilgrim lost his voice !!!!!!Never thought the old farts would remain silent. Can it be that everyones afraid of this politically correct crap ???????
Jackie..Do you remember the “Rivers of Blood” speech from 1968?
Jackie what antics or un-sportsman like conduct would other drivers do on water, that you felt you needed to reprimand them on?Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
The only time I saw a riff between Tom and Bob, was at race in Auronzo. Where Bob Spalding told Tom Percival his displeasure. At they race, during the heats, they were both competing against each other for 4th place overall.
Mercury Lake X.
Bill, Jackie and Gene.
https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...99&oe=6002F684
Shouldn’t need to explain to you Roy the reason i would complain about silly or bad driving, you’ve been round enough.
In my opinion only—— Bob was the better driver of the pair. Tom did have his good days and was good. Bob was consistently good . If Percy had „“A LAPSE OF CONCENTRATION „. Bob would be sure to let him know, friend or not.
do you mean dear old Enoch???? Offered to pay the air fare to all coloured immigrants to go back home. Warned of “rivers of blood”— but of course, he was laughed out of parliament as a racist!!Quote:
Originally Posted by ron54
Attachment 479267Attachment 479268Attachment 479269
Bought a new lathe today . chap had a couple very interesting motor cars.
First is an Al CApone 1930 Packard straight eight .
Second is a 1932 CADDILAC V8 in superb ORIGINAL condition. has never been touched or restored . low mileage . Must be the only one in the world still totally untouched and the same as when it was sold 89 years ago .
Attachment 479270
Was attacked by Murphy our pet pussy. 2;30 am , she suddenly launched herself at me, caught me full in the face whilst asleep and ripped into my face. I was never a ‚pretty boy“ . Murph has not improved my chances .
what did I post?Quote:
Originally Posted by peterse90