Top Five Tunnel Boat Drivers of All Time

[f.panzera]

Tks...

[Mark75H]

Very interesting Fillipo. Thank you for posting! Any pictures of the Carnitis?

[f.panzera]

No, I'm looking to find some pics of that engine and of the first SICILGEREMIA tunnel boat (nicknamed BATMAN...)

[AngelsFanMomma]

(it's me, Val, on Brad's machine)

Yes, Beaver.

Before that Parker wreck, Ted had a prior nasty crash with a ModVP that tore the most of the deck of Scotti craft "Hell cat" apart. It was then pieced together, with a large flat nose where the square deck bow used to be. The boat was then over 16 years old, and everyone was bugging Ted to give up the Old Scotti and drive a newer boat.

So at Parker, he was driving a "newer" hull (cant remember what type of hull it was, but it was far from being 'new' -- JJ's dad owned it I think - he can fill us in)

Ted crashed it while I was scoring for Red. My friend Trisha was scoring for Ted a few seats away. When I saw a white bow bobbing nose up in the water up river, The driver was being rushed in and I looked at Trish - I yelled "Is that TED????". Trish wouldnt answer. She knew it was bad and didnt want to tell me.

Ted was about 67-69 years old then (we never knew his age for sure, and he always gave us different answers). I freaked out. He went through the deck with his face. Had some missing teeth and broken facial bones and ribs and was care-flighted to Phoenix --

But he was back to racing his old "Hell Cat" by Havasu - vowing never to drive those 'new fangled' boats again. At Havasu, even Brad spent some time working on the Hell Cat in the Pioneer Parking lot, to try and keep it together for at least one more race.

I remember that day, when he crashed at Parker like it was yesterday. We came home and Butch was on the porch. Said Ted had been an accident and it wasnt good. Butch, Pat and myself ( i think i was 7 or 8) rushed to Phoenix. I couldnt even recognize him. I remember one of the nurses asking if that was my Grandpa and I got so angry!

I forgot who flew him home. It was someone who had a plane in the boat racing community. He came home on my birthday. That was his last race. The Hell Cat just sat in the back of the house mangled. I remember i drew a picture of my the boat flipping upside down, as it had been described to me. Some kids draw butterflies and rainbows, i drew tunnel boats flying through the air.

[Joe]

Bob Armstrong was the pilot who flew Ted home. Val, it was my dad's Del-Craft that he flipped.

Joe

[jackie wilson]

Got to know Ted through Pruett and various members of the "Tart Team" ,and Johnny Sanders and Jimbo and Ron Hill. One of my fondest memories of him was Leaning on the pit wall in Paris wearing a pair of cookie sunglasses with windscreen wipers switched ON. Had that picture for years, don't know what happened to it. One of the true "CHARACTERS" that made racing history. J.

[AngelsFanMomma]

Im sorry to say, and its hard to still accept. But Ted passed away on June 19th of this year. Its still hard for me. He was an amazing father. I was another one of Pat's, how can I say this, rescues. You would never know it that Ted wasnt my real father. Hell, even i didnt know until 3 years ago. I am a lot like him. Ted never once treated me like i wasn't his real daughter. And even though him and Pat were separated, he still took me fishing, and we had our Sunday outings of the swap meet, then off to miniature golf, then rushed off to The Prospector to make breakfast before they stopped serving it at 2pm.

The Prospector is also a dive bar as well as a restaurant. And my friends and I went there last night and I well, i lost it. It was hard being there knowing i had spent so many weekends in there having breakfast with my Dad.

I miss him A LOT! And they say it gets easier everyday that passes. But I've yet to experience that. Any pictures anyone has of my papa racing if you could post them, that would be great! Pat hoarded all that stuff, so i am without them.

Thank you for all the wonderful stories everyone has. I used to swear "Goddammit" was his favorite word.

I will also answer any questions anybody may have about him and about his whereabouts and his life after he stopped racing and how he spent his last days.

[velox]

One of the things I found out when racing boats was, how hard it is to win.
Alot of of the time the best boat does not win due to something happening, like breakdowns, flips, and other unforeseen stuff happening.
Overall its about preparation, driving skills, luck and driving smart.
Who had the best percentage of wins compared to starts?
Odell Lewis raced for Carl K and had an amazing run of wins.
It was something like 20 starts 16 wins, a couple of seconds a third and maybe a DNF.
I can remember a number of times I had the fastest boat only to end up losing due to one of the above.
From the 60's I remember guys that knew how to win such as Herbie Reeves (E class OPC) and Steve Malone (unlimited OPC)
I am sure "Lil Abner" (Butch Stokes) can add to this list.
While I was not around during that time , everytime I watched racing TV, Billy Seebold seemed to win. I feel some people just know how to win and some like me, can jerk defeat right out of the jaws of victory.

[Lake X Kid]

Roy Ridgell a Mercury factory driver in the 1960s, told me that Bill Sirois and Odell Lewis were the fast guys. He also admired John Bakos on and off the race course. I was in Europe during the 1971 & 1973 racing seasons, and the Maestro Renato was the driver everyone wanted to beat. In my observation Bill Seebold is Renato Molinari equal.

I believe that more racing seat-time is a strong factor in being the Best of the Best.

Honorable Mention to the late Bob Spaulding and Tom Percival. I treasure knowing Bob on & off the race course during the early 1970s. A fine Brit to hang-out with.

Scotti and Cees during this era in Europe were contenders to be reckon with.

[velox]

Okay..........
Here's the counterpoint.........

Billy Seebold was more successful than any of the rest in single engine tunnels,........ so he gets a "1" rank in singles.

I don't recall Cesar Scotti doing anything with multi's...... so Seebold beats him in that regard....or at least ties him.

For that matter Jimbo didn't exactly set the world on fire in multi's either.....

To my knowledge Gene Thibodeaux, Mike Seebold, Tim Seebold and Benny never ran a multi engine tunnel
The final question to ponder.........

Are these "tunnels"? 'Cause that would add a whole new dimension to this post.

I think the best driver ever was the guy in the Powercat, but I might be a little biased!
most would say totally biased!

[velox]

Back in the 60s Johnny Bakos was the guy to beat. He was a real gentleman and was Carls top driver. He got first choice of all the Lake X boats. Then Odel came around. Not only was he a great driver he was the toughest guy I ever met. Odel pulled a Miami Nassau Win out of his grit and determination. Right after that win he got severely injured in the Around Miami Beach race. He led the race on a super calm day for the Atlantic Ocean. The 25’ Bertram
did a freak forward roll and got sucked way down. When it came out it went nose high throwing Odel up in the air like a rag doll. He came down face first almost tearing his jaw off his face.luclky he was taken to Mercy hospital where some of the best facial Surgeons in the world put him back together. I saw him that evening and he told me that was going to be the end of boat racing for him. What he didn’t know was that was the beginning. In his next 20 races he won almost every one. He raced and won the outboard class 9 hour endurance race and drove the entire 9 hour race by himself. He was one of the best driver for sure, but was the toughest driver going away!