Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[Rotary John]

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I used to sell quite a lot of Mercury Outboards and the odd stern drive or two.
i believe that picture is on the cover of ROZ Knotts Powerboat magazine in which I advertised extensively ( at my own cost)
Believe it or not Johnno———- to get an alpha stern package, I had to buy the full package. Couldn’t even get boat builders deal on it.
In the end it was cheaper for me to fly out to Oshberg———- stay at the Best Western and screw a deal out of GG on a Ron Kones/Keith Black, KT boat and trailer, fully rigged and ship it back to England .
Never was able to buy a stern drive out of the importers SWMF. Having said that, Dennis Stacey, their service manager always managed to find me the odd part or two at an advantageous price.

So in answer to your question——- that’s not a Merc ad. It’s a Jackie Wilson bought and paid for ad.

Why then does it say "Mercrucier" instead of "Jackie Wilson's new toy" or "some where to use a cosworth engine" now that its no longer competitive in car racing?

[Rotary John]

Right, now I understand Lassie, it’s SIZE OF COMPANY ,! Nothing to do with two stroke, four stroke, Rotory , diesel, paraffin or steam power.
I did realise that advances had been made in four strokes and diesels out there in the marine world.
Is it because their large V 8 car engines are used by Volvo ——- or because Yamaha or Honda make them ?
I only asked how come it was ok to call some car engines “OUTBOARDS “ and for others to be damned to eternity?

Jackie: Back in the day, APBA in the states said an Outboard was a single vertical crankshaft with a powerhead that was designed for outboard use. By that definition the 627 would not be considered an outboard. I'm not sure how APBA would have ruled on todays Hondas, Yamahas or Suzuki's that are auto engines converted for use in a vertical position. Is my memory but wasn't the original ON class run what you brung. I recall racing ON in Galveston with the rotaries. U class was for the 100ci class. It wasn't till the Merc 2 l came out that it was limited to 2l and OZ was created for outboard larger that 2l. Who knows and who cares today. That was 45 yrs ago.

[powerabout]

Volvo will develop a 5.0 litre version of its Yamaha-designed 4.4 litre V8 engine for the V8 Supercar campaign, which has previously been available in the in the S80 and XC90 production models.


5.0ltr v8 630hp ish Volvo ( the only thing volvo is the engine and the badge at the front)
https://www.grmotorsport.com.au/grm-Bathurst_Friday_2014.php

[jackiewilson]

Jackie: Back in the day, APBA in the states said an Outboard was a single vertical crankshaft with a powerhead that was designed for outboard use. By that definition the 627 would not be considered an outboard. I'm not sure how APBA would have ruled on todays Hondas, Yamahas or Suzuki's that are auto engines converted for use in a vertical position. Is my memory but wasn't the original ON class run what you brung. I recall racing ON in Galveston with the rotaries. U class was for the 100ci class. It wasn't till the Merc 2 l came out that it was limited to 2l and OZ was created for outboard larger that 2l. Who knows and who cares today. That was 45 yrs ago.

All the O classes were originally hydroplane classes.
They were simply controlled by capacity.
OE——— 850cc
ON———-2000cc
OZ———-infinity
In later years it switched to F1, F2, F3 and F4.
The idea was to simplify things.

[jackiewilson]

You are usually good at blowing your own trumpet Jackie but you forgot to mention the OZ record at Windemere.I am sure you finished in 4th place in the 1978 OZ world championship race at Chasewater.

Another case of me not being on top of the game——- there were most of the best drivers of the day there, Boat ran competitively, but I made mistakes all day, I let Bob wet me down in the first heat and he ran me ragged, all over the course. Think I jumped the start in one heat, no excuses, I ballsed up one way or another———— none of the family spoke to me on the long drive home.

[Bob V]

The Earlier Days....

4 days and counting.....

This message was sent from the confines of the naughty step.

[jackiewilson]

Thats is the latest shot of great grandson Broderick sitting astride Timmy Seebold’s composite Champ boat built by WCC IN florida.

[jackiewilson]

A few more more shots of the new Seebold composite Champ boat.

[John Schubert]

A few more more shots of the new Seebold composite Champ boat.

Jackie,
Is this a boat to be campaigned this year. You said a champ boat but I believe they call them F1 as in Europe & other UIM venues

[ron54]

A few more more shots of the new Seebold composite Champ boat.

Jackie.. how many sections in that? separate sponsons? or 2 halves like a LOTUS Esprit..

[jackiewilson]

Mark worked closely with Bob Wartinger and the UIM on the safety cell ———It has full certification.
The lay up had to be done to strict specifications.
Check with Mark and the UIM and The Seebold’s if you don’t think anything’s quite right Lassie, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled by your input.
One of the reasons for doing the project was the fact that not one safety cell anywhere in the world met the required UIM standard.

[techteam]

Hee Hee, been waiting for this one to kick off, never thought it would be the tricks thread. I've wondered for a while how American advisors to the UIM safety cockpit committee can introduce things like crash boxes and 4" head clearance because current cockpits are unsafe yet the majority of American boats still don't even have airbags. Jackie I'm sure Marks cockpit complies with regards to structural layup but doesn't seem to comply to new UIM head clearance and crash box regulations, it does seem to have provision for the rather nice Seebold airbag system. However, if it is only intended to race in the US then maybe its ok. I would however like to be the first to point out a more glaring issue..... it's going to be a bugger to see out of.

[jackiewilson]

Hee Hee, been waiting for this one to kick off, never thought it would be the tricks thread. I've wondered for a while how American advisors to the UIM safety cockpit committee can introduce things like crash boxes and 4" head clearance because current cockpits are unsafe yet the majority of American boats still don't even have airbags. Jackie I'm sure Marks cockpit complies with regards to structural layup but doesn't seem to comply to new UIM head clearance and crash box regulations, it does seem to have provision for the rather nice Seebold airbag system. However, if it is only intended to race in the US then maybe its ok. I would however like to be the first to point out a more glaring issue..... it's going to be a bugger to see out of.

Believe me, all sorts of nonsense kicks off on the tricks site Techie,
Mark and Craig have been involved in powerboats for many years, As a family we often sit round the dinner table and talk driver safety in both circuit and offshore. Mark was heavily involved with Hodges in the construction of the first safety cell,
My son in law Gary Stray is head honcho and team boss at “Gieco” After the terrible accidents in racing last year, the subject of cells has been talked about long and often.
Mark contacted Bob Wartinger at the UIM and decided he would delve further into the issue and start making inroads into the problem——————— hell of a lot of people are very good at telling you what’s NOT ALLOWED.————- very few ( if any ) know what is allowed.
Fact remains, folk keep getting killed and maimed with very little being done about it.
One of the main issues was constructers-not adhering to the strict lay up rules.
Mark and Craig and a couple of the worlds cleverest composite people got together and have already produced off shore cells for the clever people to tell them what’s wrong with them .
Its going to be a tough one, but they have ambition, and they’re good enough to do it.
Dear oh dear oh dear, only in the USA————- I believe that the idea is to cut out a little looksee window, unless the pilot uses the new breed of Xenon ZXF see through carbon goggles, available at all good Walmart Stores every other Thursday .

[Bob V]

3 days and counting.....

This message was sent from the confines of the naughty step.

[jackiewilson]

3 days and counting.....

This message was sent from the confines of the naughty step.

you know what Bob, I’m damned if right about then wasn’t the very best time to buy a tunnel boat!
Dont matter, whether it’s a Molinari, Seebold, Burgess, Hodges or even a Velden, you didnt the just buy a boat, you bought a work of art that was constructed by craftsmen ——— with love and care and attention to detail. It had the very latest updates that were being done on almost a daily basis.
I still believe to this day, that no two wooden boats were ever built the same, no matter who the builder was, they were FECKIN beautiful creations.
It was only when Tunnel boats came out of a bucket that you got two boats that looked alike———— even then, they never ran the same!
Anyone else got any views on this matter——— or is it the ramblings of a madman who lost the plot long ago?