Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[FUJIMO]

[FUJIMO]

[FUJIMO]

[FUJIMO]

[ron54]

There was a job vacancy in one of the comics for the role of “ Enrolment Officer” at the Samaritans a while back. Any names spring to mind?? Lol.

[WaterZebra]

omega man - charlton heston movie 1971, comes to mind...

Another one comes to mind...……...Andromeda Strain

[WaterZebra]

Government are chucking this “ FURLOUGH “ money about like confetti—— what the hell is that all about ???? It’s a FECKIN LOAN—— it’s not a gift—— it has to be paid back—— and because it’s the bloody government——- you go to jail if you don’t pay—— bit like they did to that naughty chap, Big Al?—Capone ??? Another 1,000 casualties forecast for today—— not to worry, government is on top of it.
Shudder to think what’ll happen if the actually admit to having Nocontrol.
Our big problem is, there is not a single minister ever ran a business—— knows what profits and loss mean? ——- They know nothing—- nor have they ever done anything ——- straight out of Oxbridge with reams of documents to say how bloody clever they are——-ability to tell you 1753 x 3958 = whatever doesn’t mean you’re fit to rule!
Im sure they think that firing up the printing press and printing more notes is a sure fire way of finding
all the money they need.

Sittin' in the boat making motor noises...…..that's probably what Memorial Day weekend will be like in the USA. Access to launch ramps are being gated up.in WA state. If Billy still has access to his CC be's one of the lucky ones. I have no idea what Seattle intends to do for opening day of boating season. Boaters who routinely cross the border to Canada will find all border crossings closed except for commercial truck traffic. Speaking of our neighbors to the north, Harry & Meghan have "disappeared" since this Covid19 really kicked into overdrive. Our secretary of the Navy recently fired for blowing $250K on a private Gulfstream flight to Guam to fire an aircraft carrier captain for a virus outbreak on the ship. I would assume that any nuclear subs at sea have been ordered to stay put at sea?

[WaterZebra]

Again—- we keep getting thrown “Red Herrings”—— three weeks isolation??? —— now, it could be three months!!!!——- We don’t have a vaccine——- now we just discovered a group of kids in Oxford just happen to have found one——-
Er sorry —— that’s a test kit they discovered that gives the result in twenty minutes instead of the usual three hours.
Sorry-we didn’t reach the target of 100.000 a day——- but we did manage one thousand yesterday?
We are winning the fight——- only 923 died today——-?.
Italy on a bad day never had that many——-Easter coming up, with a forecast of good weather—— it’ll be interesting to see if the lid stays on the powder keg?

NBC News USA reports that the Oxford experiment is failing with highly variable test results. I hope the Oxford scientists keep pounding away at it though because their test uses a skin-prick approach (like diabetes) rather than "snot-on-a-swab" sample like the Abbott Lab gizmo uses.

[FUJIMO]

...Speaking of our neighbors to the north, Harry & Meghan have "disappeared" since this Covid19 really kicked into overdrive.

...Harry and Meghan no longer live in the great white north. They moved to Los Angeles, you know...where she wanted to be the whole time. They bought a house there.

[WaterZebra]

[QUOTE=FUJIMO;3199992]...Harry and Meghan no longer live in the great white north. They moved to Los Angeles, you know...where she wanted to be the whole time.

They bought a massive palace on Vancouver Island. I think they own both places. Either way, we haven't heard much about them since this virus nightmare kicked in. I will speculate that the Vancouver Island location was too "remote" for her.

[jackiewilson]

NBC News USA reports that the Oxford experiment is failing with highly variable test results. I hope the Oxford scientists keep pounding away at it though because their test uses a skin-prick approach (like diabetes) rather than "snot-on-a-swab" sample like the Abbott Lab gizmo uses.

You couldn’t even make this stuff up—— miracle cures have been found using “Malaria and HIV medicine” Craperootle and Jolly hockey sticks—— why not give the poor buggers cod liver and malt or in the worst cases some honey and lemon!!
Bet my sainted mother could find a cure in no time flat——- doctors and surgeons used to ask HER what to do in emergencies.

[jackiewilson]

Sad to report the demise of Tullio Abbate—— prominent boat builder—— racer and friend !
Raced against him many times in the sixties——- he was quite good in his time—— his tunnel boats just weren’t as quick as the Scotti and Molinari’s.
But he did make a lot more exciting boats than either of the others——- most of the inboard hydros you only see in museums——— those with the beautiful finish were built by him.
He supplied a bunch of boats every year for the F1 car drivers —— most were based at the Villa-D-Este
the most wonderful hotel on the bottom end of Lake Como.
They raced against each other in the boats provided by Tullio.
I once persuaded Jackie Stewart to visit the Molinari factory at Torriggia——- he turned up in an ABBATE.
WORLD ON Championships were held in Rabondages on a beautiful hydro electric site in 1971.
I had the little black sprint Molinari with a great 1000 BP on its bum—— it was untouchable, knew I only had to finish and the title was mine———- first Englishman to win a world title in modern times!
Miles in the lead —— coming in to the top turn——- sun was low in the water, reflections were blinding, damned near ran over a guy in the water—— I just never saw him—— he was a long way from his boat. Turned out it was Tullio !
Turned my boat around and stuck it between him and the chasing pack ( it’s what you did back in those days) rescue boat came, I took off after the pack——- finished second to Giorgio.
Georgio is still a good friend—- has been for over fifty years.
Looking back, over the years I’ve known some pretty wonderful characters—— their children and wives—- mechanics—— and helpers.
Ive laughed with them when they won——- cried with them when we lost someone—— all in all I can’t think of anything I’d rather have done!
Nothing comes even close to the boat racing fraternity——- Thank you God !

[willabee]

Sad to report the demise of Tullio Abbate—— prominent boat builder—— racer and friend !
Raced against him many times in the sixties——- he was quite good in his time—— his tunnel boats just weren’t as quick as the Scotti and Molinari’s.
But he did make a lot more exciting boats than either of the others——- most of the inboard hydros you only see in museums——— those with the beautiful finish were built by him.
He supplied a bunch of boats every year for the F1 car drivers —— most were based at the Villa-D-Este
the most wonderful hotel on the bottom end of Lake Como.
They raced against each other in the boats provided by Tullio.

I never met the man, but did admire his work. First time I saw an Abbate was at the Como 100 Mile Race. Wicked looking boats, I wondered if they ran as good as they looked. I remember several occasions having lunch at 'John's' on Lake Como interrupted by an Abbate shooting past the window. First you'd hear a deep sound and as it got louder you recognized it was open headers roaring on the lake. Then someone in the restaurant would shout 'ab-bat-te', and sure enough, one of the big hydros could be seen through the window ..... Beautiful sight & sound.

[AZMIDLYF]

This video catches that very well...

[jackiewilson]

I never met the man, but did admire his work. First time I saw an Abbate was at the Como 100 Mile Race. Wicked looking boats, I wondered if they ran as good as they looked. I remember several occasions having lunch at 'John's' on Lake Como interrupted by an Abbate shooting past the window. First you'd hear a deep sound and as it got louder you recognized it was open headers roaring on the lake. Then someone in the restaurant would shout 'ab-bat-te', and sure enough, one of the big hydros could be seen through the window ..... Beautiful sight & sound.

Im quite sure that Tullio and Scotti used to love to wind Renato up—— he always had a pair of bins round his neck—— or close at hand—— he would sprint upstairs to the showroom the minute there was a “Howl” coming from the lake !
Do you ever “ Reminisce “ Bill ?——- Twas Gene that started me off with his comment I THOUGHT THOSE DAYS WOULD NEVER END———Afraid I was one of those ——- I got to thinking about all the great people that were around back then, guys I knew, laughed and drank with——- they’re not there any more! Garbrecht—-Mert—- SIROIS——Shakey Bill—— Scotti—- Salabert—- Inward—-Pruett——- Percival—Spalding. in the early seventies we lost seven drivers in one season.
Fatalities were the norm——- before Hodges and the safety cell !
Glad times and sad times—— we had ‘em all.
Most of my happy and sad times were centred around BOATRACING——- what about you William?