Facts about Evinrude/Johnson racing outboards made my OMC

[STEVERINO]

Thanks powerabout and same to you and your family.

More Evinrude X-115. This is from Paris 6 hours 1968.
#45 Ted May & Ron Hill ended up third overall.

The first cat i drove was a Shultze 16ft sprint boat then i went and bought one ran it in one race only and i drove the 17ft version which is the same as the ones in the pictures above.I can tell you they were never a rough water boat those drivers that got to drive them in the Paris 6hr races deserved medals the main opposition at the time was the 18ft molinari boat which just loved rough water.

[lars strom]

Lars - I wanted to thank you for integrating this site. For so many years this site was predominately black power only. You have really opened a lot of eyes with all of your information on OMC and the European circuit. In our area there were no OMC dealers, but there were Merc dealers everywhere. I always assumed that OMC never pursued racing with the intensity of Merc. I had no idea how wrong I was. Thank you for sharing all of this information on this site.

There are so many great racers and people on this site with such a rich history. The color of an engine should never stand between anyone. After all....Mercs used to be white, too...!!

Merry Christmas to you and yours...!!

First Thank you very much for this post Bob V,
You are 100% correct and I started this thread after reading so much misinformation about OMC-Evinrude/Johnson outboard racing.
I read in the cyberworld things like OMC did not have a racing department, did not have qualified engineering for racing and just a little garage for racing engines.
OMC killed racers and destroyed boat racing etc. etc.
I purposely named this thread: Facts about larger racing engines made by OMC in the seventies and eighties.
Its about OMC racing only.
Well is everything in this thread about OMC 100% correct..?? probably not because sometimes I don't remember everything but its pretty close.
I don't know every detail about all the different OMC race engines and production engines but pretty good at everything around OMC during the high light of the sport I use to love.
Over the last 6 month many strange things have happen because of this thread but as long as its fun I am going to continue.
My first thinking was to reach 500,000 hits for this thread and hopefully one day S&F can nail this thread to the top as they done with all the Merc threads.
Over the years I have slowly learned how to survive at different forums.
I am a Moderator at a Swedish Boat forum called CyberMarine.se and in combination
with Boatlife.se forum and Svera.se I have threads adding up to 4.5 million hits..
No this is not bragging just facts.

Next post is going to be an example of two different ways of telling outboard racing history...

The picture is from yesterday. I was sitting in my Tiki thinking about all the good things OMC did for me.
Successful racing, probably the largest Evinrude dealer in the world and I made a lot of money being a loyal Evinrude racer/dealer.

[Instigator]

Funny too, I was recently thinking how tired I was after flying the OMC flag here for all those yrs , and all the crap Ive taken for it and decided to say, "screw OMC".
What have they ever done??

Then I remembered the end of my kneel down racing in the mid '80's and what that era gave us.
OMC had just given us a new 15 cu in A Stock motor to replace the ancient KG-4/MK 15 Mercs, the 45 SS to destroy Mercs 44 in D Stock motors and their new at the time 45 XS's.

During the same era, they gave us the 60 SST OPC motors, the Fomrula 100 V-4's and of course the F-1 V-8s.

Funny how the mind works.

Lars - I wanted to thank you for integrating this site. For so many years this site was predominately black power only. You have really opened a lot of eyes with all of your information on OMC and the European circuit. In our area there were no OMC dealers, but there were Merc dealers everywhere. I always assumed that OMC never pursued racing with the intensity of Merc. I had no idea how wrong I was. Thank you for sharing all of this information on this site.

There are so many great racers and people on this site with such a rich history. The color of an engine should never stand between anyone. After all....Mercs used to be white, too...!!

Merry Christmas to you and yours...!!

[Speedfab]

The picture is from yesterday. I was sitting in my Tiki thinking about all the good things OMC did for me.
Successful racing, probably the largest Evinrude dealer in the world and I made a lot of money being a loyal Evinrude racer/dealer.

Even as a die hard Merc guy, I find this impossible to argue with. I love hearing about the OMC stuff too, please continue.


PS Lars... My friend Jason worked on your Prevost coach about a year ago. Big blonde headed guy. He says "I met this crazy Swedish guy who ran SE boats and F1 V8s back in the 70s and 80s!" I laughed and said I have a pretty good idea who you're talking about.

[lars strom]

well of course, you would like the Bristol 1972 Lassie——- it was one of the few years OMC got a look in.
Seebold seven times ——- Jones——- Zamporelli———- all dressed in black. FACT LASSIE, NOTHING BUT A FACT

Here is my take on the OMC racing history in Bristol. Also called Embassy GP

The first year was 1972 and the overall winner was James Beard in his ON class #6 Cougar Evinrude V4 cross-flow.
OMC also won the OI class.



1974 Ceasare Scotti won in his ON class #7 Scotti-Craft/Evinrude V-6 2 liter cross flow.



1976 was the first year for the OZ class in Bristol and Hans Pelster won in his OZ class #22 Cougar/Evinrude V6 2.448 liter cross-flow.


1977 Renato Molinari won the OZ class in his #2 Molinari/Saffa/Evinrude V6 2.448 liter cross-flow.
Renato also won the OE class.

http://www.screamandfly.com/showthre...34#post2966934

1979 Bob Spalding won the OZ class in his #11 Velden Racing/Johnson V6 3 liter looper with fuel injection.

1980 Renato Molinari won the Duke of York trophy and the headline was: No Gold at Mercury’s Final Rally.. Evinrude/Molinari wins in Bristol 1980
Seebold breaks down in last lap forfeiting win to Molinari.

http://www.screamandfly.com/showthre...83#post2966083


1981 After lots of pressure from Mercury the Bristol race did not invite the OZ class and the OMC/Merc feud was in full force. Mercury pulled the plug on the T4 racing and the OZ class after Bristol 1980. Merc was only racing in the ON class when the rumors was out 1980 about the OMC V8 for the OZ class for the 1981 season.

1982 OMC was back in Bristol in the OZ class again. Now with the V8. This was early and the boats was not yet designed correct for the very tricky Bristol race course. The 12 inch V8 mid sections was not helping.
Renatos aluminum boat #165 was the only boat running good and Renato was leading when he broke down.
Billy Seebold won in his smaller 2 liter V6 and Mercury was happy that day.

OMC changed to the London GP for the F1-V8 race 1983 and OMC never raced in Bristol anymore.
Bristol was a 100 % Merc race after 1982.
The records for OMC's 10 years of racing in Bristol is pretty darn good..



My former OE class and F1-V8 friend/racing buddy Francois Salabert was racing the F1-V8 series and he raced in Bristol 1982. Boat # 12 above.
Salabert raced the F1-V8 series very successfully from 1981 to 1989 in Europe and the USA. Boat #3 below.





Late 1989 OMC cut back on the F1-V8 racing and Salabert went back to Mercury and raced the ON 2 liter series 1990..but tragedy in Bristol 1990 and Salabert crashed and we lost him.
See attached video 1.20 in you see when Salabert hit the Bristol wall..

[Groucho]

That's a Mirage Jaguar...

[Groucho]

This is what REAL racing what s all about. Remember going to local TCPBA races here in MN plus all over( started when I was just in my teens.) I watched my heroes in their tunnels and V-bottom's run, Evinrudes ( Hustlers, Stranglers,), Johnsons, Mercs, and stuff I couldn't even identify...it is was fun..and inspired me to start race at age 17 until this day. Baker's, Lentzkow, Bill Foner, " BOB KOTTMANN", Kip Campbell, Marv Jorgengson, , and many others

[lars strom]

Another OMC F1-V8 racing friend was Ken Stevenson. I meet him at the races many times and we raced together in the F1-V8 Pittsburgh GP 1983.
Later same year (1983) Ken went to Bahamas to race the Mercury 2 liter V6 class. Sadly Ken crashed during the race and lost his life.
I was in the Bahamas watching the race invited by the "Flying Farmer" Nick Cripps.

First picture is from Pittsburgh GP 1983 and Ken was racing the Big Johnson V8.
The second picture from Bahamas 1983






Peter Inward also lost his life 1983 driving in the Merc V6 2 liter class.

[lars strom]

1984 was a sad year for OMC racing. We lost two drivers during racing Tom Percival & Luigi Valdano.
Gérard Barthelemy of France was testing before his first F1-V8 race in Paris. I was watching him testing and he was not driving the boat right. Flipped and it was over.
Roberto Saviero was testing by him self in Italy and flipped without a rescue boat and he lost his life.
This was the start for F1-V8 safety cells and 1985 Velden Racing and Hodges Racing was using safety cells.

[Groucho]

I forgot about another GREAT racer ( Mod-VP) and boat builder/ designer. Ricky Comer who died while racing MOD-VP in his " Vision- Craft". A hard-charging competitor and even nicer and class act. The beginning of the end of that class. ( No Capsules then either....he was run over...sad day for all)

[lars strom]

Paris 6 Hours 1968.
James Beard/Clive Curtis and the Hummingbird.
Johnson GT 115

[lars strom]

My friend Bo Lindstrom to the left..the driver of the Offshore boat with 2 X Evinrude X-115 in Sweden 1967/68.
Check the remote control..(throttle and shift level)

[lars strom]

Evinrude X-115.

[powerabout]

I wonder how that front half would work on a later 99ci v4?

[STEVERINO]

Paris 6 Hours 1968.James Beard/Clive Curtis and the Hummingbird. Johnson GT 115

Hummingbird was a 16ft Levi V hull used at the beginning of a Cougar marine Hodges made his own rear cowl and decks for this hull at this Paris 6hr race was the start of the 99cu in engines from OMC because these hulls had a tendancy to submarine and this boat was running a 99cu in engine Curtis had some angled deflector plates fitted on either side of the hulls nose you can see the support struts in these pictures Curtis thought this may stop the boat from submarining.