Hot Singles ! - Pictures

[willabee]

Dave Packer #48,

Thanks for that, like I said, I didn't know that boat went to Dave. How did it run compared to it's #190/TII days?

[lilabner]

I'm sure it wasn't a picklefork, I think lilabner was just trying to show us a Jones hydro that he is fortunate enough to have or wishes he still did .

Well, yeah, who wouldn't want one..even just to hang from your living room ceiling..
This was a new Jones Skip Talbot had received just after he was hurt..They ran it a few times and Skip told me he gave all his stuff back to Mercury when he quit..that would be around 1968-69..It was a drag boat..I was just wondering if this could be the boat Willabee mentioned..I could see Mertens didn't look like it was a fork..but stranger things have happened..

[T2x]

I only remember running against it in Athens NY (picture).
It did not run good but I never did know why. When he showed up with it my first thought was, that is going to be tough to beat. When we took off from the start dock I was first to the turn and never saw him again. Bill we both know he must have had a sick engine. But then again I was faster than hell !!

That's the same boat (Twister Craft) that we had in Canada in '85 or so, I think. I had a choice of that or "Big Red", Oley Berkis' old Molinari. I tested them both and took the Moli. Oley wound up with the Twister Craft and he couldn't do a thing with it on the choppy Canadian courses.

T2x

[willabee]

I must be suffering from part-timers (I don't have all-timers yet ), because I can't remember what I told Garbrecht about the powerhead. Whatever I did say, he had to have been okay with it because he wanted to know how quickly it could be shipped. I wanted Bill Allan to finish the grinding and do the assembly.....he was very good and could be very fast if necessary (and it was necessary). We dicussed the project, made final decisions on detail and he put that thing together. After this NED was shipped, things reverted back to the way they had been.....I was kept out of the direct loop (maybe not kept out, just not brought in ).

I think Bill was sent out to help with the testing since he knew what the powerhead was all about. Then I heard that they were running consistantly above the record and I think that's when Dick Lanpheer and a couple more engineers were let in on the project. I believe that they also went out west to see what they could do to modify the powerhead to try and get more out of it so that the record could be set in the 140's (they really wanted to go 150). They installed the "button " flywheel for rope starting which eliminated some of the hardware we had installed, they may have done some carb work, they tried a single pipe exhaust system and fabbed the cowl to give it Merc indentification. I don't know what else they may have done, but it wasn't opened up.

They must have been satisfied with their runs, because they came home and set dates for the attempt at Kaukauna. When the big day came, I wasn't invited to attend.....I had to "watch the plant" or something like that . As they say, the rest is history.....136.381 average, with the fastest run being 138.085.

The "other" great thing that happened that day was that I must have watched the plant real good ..... it never got away and was right there, in the same place, when the boys returned (regretfully, that achievement didn't make Powerboat).

Unless it's my part-timers again, I don't recall anyone saying anything to me about that NED engine.....not a "thank you" or a "where did that come from" or even a "kiss mine"! I heard there was a lot of handshaking and backslapping taking place by those in attendance for the run, I wonder how some of the questions about that engine were answered. It's always been a bittersweet memory for me /.

Here are some shots from Powerboat .......that's Bill Allan on the far right, doin' the rope pullin'.....

[Watermark]

That's the same boat (Twister Craft) that we had in Canada in '85 or so, I think. I had a choice of that or "Big Red", Oley Berkis' old Molinari. I tested them both and took the Moli. Oley wound up with the Twister Craft and he couldn't do a thing with it on the choppy Canadian courses.

T2x

T2x, as I recall, there were two Twister Crafts, Little and Big Red. I remember Bob Spalding driving Little Red in Peterborough 'around '72 or 73. Oley ended up with Big Red ( the longer Twister Craft ) and blew it over twice - in testing.. He also drove the marathon red Molinari picklefork in 1974. ( I've attached both shots ).

Check out the price on the magazine back then... 75 Cents.. Now, rather than wait for you to comment, I'll respond for you.. " 75 cents Canadian? Isn't that the equivalent to "Free" in U.S. dollars ?

[T2x]

T2x, as I recall, there were two Twister Crafts, Little and Big Red. I remember Bob Spalding driving Little Red in Peterborough 'around '72 or 73. Oley ended up with Big Red ( the longer Twister Craft ) and blew it over twice - in testing.. He also drove the marathon red Molinari picklefork in 1974. ( I've attached both shots ).

Check out the price on the magazine back then... 75 Cents.. Now, rather than wait for you to comment, I'll respond for you.. " 75 cents Canadian? Isn't that the equivalent to "Free" in U.S. dollars ?

Mark:

You may remember I wound up with the marathon red Molinari T2x..... in 1975 (See below). (We took the boat back to NJ and put breakaway steering in it for that season). I also had a little sprint Molinari full tunnel T2x, and I was scheduled to drive Bert's sprint Moli ( I forget why, exactly) at the World's in Toronto. That was the year that "Little Red" came back to Canada...and Oley and I tested it, and he drove it for that season, or at least part of it. That was also one of two years (75-76) that you drove a white Molinari sprint boat with red stripes...as I recall. The next year I had the black, ex Herring, Sprint Moli T2x/T3...that I finagled out from under Reggie's clutches in Oshkosh, and was burned by an arsonist the day before we were supposed to leave for Saint Louis.

But of course my memory may have some glitches and I will bow to your corrections...because as we all know..."The nose knows!"

T2x

[Watermark]

That was also one of two years (75-76) that you drove a white Molinari sprint boat with red stripes...as I recall. The next year I had the black, ex Herring, Sprint Moli T2x/T3...
But of course my memory may have some glitches and I will bow to your corrections...because as we all know..."The nose knows!"

T2x

Your memory is solid. I did drive the boat you mentioned.. here it is at St. Louis ( SST ). Gerry Guinn to port, "T2x" to starboard (yes, those are your pickles)..

Hey.. be kind, would you? Those custom visor extensions needed for my helmet cost what you contribute each year to your 401K!

[mercpunk]

My best guess is that your boat is a Kobercat

that looks like a scat craft pickle fork but not

[willabee]

THAT NEXT TO LAST PARAGRAPH SOUNDS LIKE A COMMENT FROM ME AFTER A RACE AT PARKER. SOMEONE EXPLAINED TO ME THAT GARBRECT DIDN'T HAND OUT COMPLIMENTS IN THESE SITUATIONS. HE EXPECTED THESE RESULTS, SO COMPLIMENTS WERE UNCALLED FOR. BY THE WAY, WASN'T IT YOU THAT EXPLAINED THAT TO ME?

Yep, it does sound a little like your Parker sentiments.......but, there is one difference, I wasn't part of the initial plan. However, I did expect him and some of the others to make some kind of positive comment and was sort of disappointed when they didn't. I guess that puts you and me in the same boat (no pun intended), we both put in an extra effort but no one seemed to notice.

BTW....I didn't say "uncalled for", I just said it wasn't his style. Also didn't say that I agreed with that style, just learned to live with it.

[willabee]

1973 continued to be a strange year. Now we head for St. Louis, but the OMC Team says "If we can't run our rotarys, we don't want to play". Merc of course was saying "If they run those big illegal engines, you have lost our support". So, like Merc at Parker, OMC doesn't show up except for Jimbo, Barry Woods, Tom Posey and Johnny Sanders all running their own equipment, not the factorys.....ya, sure .

They run time trials for starting positions on Saturday and the results sure read like a factory race.....Fountain, Hering, Bob Spalding, McConnell, Woods and Posey are the fastest six. Jimbo got to the fist turn ahead of the thirty boat field and was chased by Spalding and Fountain. Kenny Kitson was running 4th overall and 1st "U"class powered by the "U" class TII.

Bill Seebold never made the start in his hometown race, what a shame for him and the locals . Fountain, Hering, Dave Potter and Denis Berghauer were all out by the halfway mark. The race was really between Jimbo and Spalding with the lead changing a few times between them. I don't know who had the better boat, Spalding did pass Jimbo on the course, but Jimbo knew he would make one less pit stop than Bob and he knows how to play the waiting game.....he can be very patient. In the end, Jimbo does what any non-factory OMC guy can do, he beats team Merc.....that guy is good . Some other names that finished in the top ten included Bill Schumacher, Bert Serra, Dick Sherrer, Gordon Downard, Bill Wiles and Art Kennedy.

Here's a shot of the first three finishers..... Jimbo, Spalding and Posey in his trade mark hat . Also one of Jimbo in his "Goat Boat" (note the number of Merc "kill decals" on the nose .....and one of Kitson in his "U" class winning and 5th overall Kitson (or Kitson/Miles, I'm not sure). I think the Twistercraft Lil Red, was Merc's answer to OMC's Goat boat.

[bigbore]

I been hanging aroung jimmy johnson some lately,he's another runner from rockford.you had leatherby,johnson,englebrits,my dad helped englebrits (when he ran in rockford).he blew over under the jefferson st. bridge,(i think it was jefferson)it was one of the three downtown.

[peterse90]

[quote=Watermark;1054080]T2x, as I recall, there were two Twister Crafts, Little and Big Red. I remember Bob Spalding driving Little Red in Peterborough 'around '72 or 73. Oley ended up with Big Red ( the longer Twister Craft ) and blew it over twice - in testing..

Mark;
I remember Bob Spalding driving "Little Red" in Peterborough. Bob Hering won the race in one of the first pickle-fork Molinaris with Jimbo in the small Goat Boat coming in second.I think it was the first time we got to see the T-II's in Canada...would that make it 1973??
Here is another picture of "Big Red" that Oley ran in 1978.
I brought the Seebold cowlings back from St. Louis for Oley and Fred Wolf in April of 1978, then John Scythes fitted them onto the Twistercraft and after that most people never knew what the boat was.

[peterse90]

[quote=willabee;792810]Thank you......here's a couple more

#457 - Bobby Hering - 17' Molinari pickle fork sprint - TII - maybe the Kaukauna record run - 118 mph - laid out about as perfect as can be done

Willabee;
Wish you would write a book!!!
Not sure if this attached picture and caption (if you can read it?) has appeared before.
It's about how this radically new "pickle-forked" boat was secretly brought to Dayton, Ohio on June 17, 1972.
Was this the first sighting of a pickle-forked boat in North America?
Please elaborate on this secret mission.

[T2x]

Was this the first sighting of a pickle-forked boat in North America?
.

Absolutely not...there had been pickle forked boats for years before that one..... (Jones, Stylecraft, Switzer, Sidewinder, etc, etc)...but that was the first pickle forked MOLINARI I ever saw.

T2x

[peterse90]

Absolutely not...there had been pickle forked boats for years before that one..... (Jones, Stylecraft, Switzer, Sidewinder, etc, etc)...but that was the first pickle forked MOLINARI I ever saw.

T2x

T2x;
Thanks for correcting me ( my excuse is it was after 10pm and I wasn't thinking straight)...I did mean first Molinari and if I recall Scotti didn't make a pickle-fork for quite a while after Molinari ?