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  1. #16
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    Freddy Miles...


    Found one of a boat most people have not seen ( only because they are too young ), it's Fred himself in his own design, a Milesmaster. A good rough water boat, but not as fast as a Molinari. This is Havasu 70, with a Cowbell doing the pushing. I think this boat was used to launch Zonkercraft.....Mr T or T2X could probably confirm or correct that statement. Note how close to the nose you sit in one of those things.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Racing on the Edge 034.jpg  
    Last edited by willabee; 10-05-2019 at 05:00 PM.

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by willabee
    Freddy Miles...


    Found one of a boat most people have not seen ( only because they are too young ), it's Fred himself in his own design, a Milesmaster. A good rough water boat, but not as fast as a Molinari. This is Havasu, 68 or 69, with a BP doing the pushing. I think this boat was used to launch Zonkercraft.....Mr T or TIIX could probably confirm or correct that statement. Note how close to the nose you sit in one of those things.

    Fred Miles' designs were the source for Zonker Craft, Scorpions, and Kitson's... among others. The problem with the driver sitting so far forward was that it required excessive trim to balance the forward weight....until you reached the "snap flip" point.....and never knew what hit you.

    T2x
    20 Foot Switzer Wing 2 X S3000 (Dust'n the Wind II)
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    15’ Wooden Switzer Shooting Star...
    16 foot Lee Craft Merc S 3000-(Gold Dust II)
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  3. #18
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    Which one of these two statements is coming from your "voice of experience"..... the one about a Milesmaster "requires extra trim to balance the excessive forward weight" or the "never knew what hit you"

    What I was thinking, was that this particular boat was the one that went to Al Martin's shop in Miami to start Zonkercraft. Do you know if that is the case?

    Quote Originally Posted by T2x
    it required excessive trim to balance the forward weight....until you reached the "snap flip" point.....and never knew what hit you.

    T2x
    Last edited by willabee; 12-13-2005 at 01:03 PM.

  4. #19
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    It may have been early, my mind was saying it happened in the last hour, but that could have been a different team boat ( we lost several )...... It would have been fun to sit on that plane just behind you guys and listen to you tell Billy Don how happy you were with him

    Quote Originally Posted by OLEGATOR
    Bill Was Driving When The Boat Blew Over. For Some Reason I Was Thinking It Was Soon After The Start. He Had Just Passed Me. There Was A Canyon Coming Down To The River And The Wind Was Real Tough Right There. I Know I Had To Really Get On The Down Button When I Went Through There. Pruett And I Stopped By The Hospital To See Bill Before We Caught The Plane Home.

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by willabee
    Which one of these two statements is coming from your "voice of experience"..... the one about a Milesmaster "requires extra trim to balance the excessive forward weight" or the "never knew what hit you"

    What I was thinking, was that this particular boat was the one that went to Al Martin's shop in Miami to start Zonkercraft. Do you know if that is the case?
    Actually I watched two brand new full tunnel Kitson/Miles with Rookie drivers do exactly the same thing (snap flip).....my Miles "experience" was in a wooden pickle fork which I managed to back flip and later barrel roll, all in a 4 week period. I'm just not cut out to drive English tunnel boats.........

    I believe you are correct about the boat in the picture becoming the "prototype" for the Zonker.

    T2x
    20 Foot Switzer Wing 2 X S3000 (Dust'n the Wind II)
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  6. #21
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    if memory serves 1970 miami race was won by mertin followed closely by don clark & bill sirois was in a jones boat that he barrel rolled but i was just a punk kid then.mike it was dons last year so it could have been 71 my dad says don got hurt in 70 but when he was injured in paris he was running a twister not a stacker
    Last edited by mike farmer; 12-14-2005 at 07:48 AM.
    "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."

  7. #22
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    Freddy Miles

    We drove Freddys (Miles) boats out of Canada. As for the "Snap-over" maneuver, these were reserved for the glass copies I'm afraid.
    Yes, the earlier Milesmaster was a tad touchy, however easily managed with your right foot!
    Over a period with 3 vintages of his boats; I managed two Canadian Nationals championships, a Kilo record, two region 2 championships and many other victories.
    Lots of Molys, Scotties and many others fell by the wayside to accomplish this.
    These pics are from two of our boats.

    Brian
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Brian Smith - Havasu.JPG   Brian Smith 988 Schenectady.JPG  

  8. #23
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    Part of your memory is still serving - Don Clark was driving a 18' Molinari marathon with the same type engine, a 1350 stacker, that Merten and Sirois had on their 16' sprints. Don's boat got through the rough stuff out in the bay much better than the sprints, but they probably had 10 mph on him inside of the stadium. He did lead for 15 laps and finished 2nd, the only boat on the same lap as Merten. As I mentioned, Sirois was in a Molinari and finished 10th. This race was in 1970.
    I believe 1970 was the year Don got hurt in Paris driving a new 17' Molinari sprint with Twister power. If that year isn't correct, I'll let you know.


    Quote Originally Posted by mike farmer
    if memory serves 1970 miami race was won by mertin followed closely by don clark & bill sirois was in a jones boat that he barrel rolled but i was just a punk kid then.mike it was dons last year so it could have been 71 my dad says don got hurt in 70 but when he was injured in paris he was running a twister not a stacker
    Last edited by willabee; 03-04-2008 at 12:33 PM.

  9. #24
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    Willabee Best I remember that Milesmaster was the prototype for the first zonkercraft. But I believe it was Havasu 1970. That was a joint venture between Chick Gagen and Gary PeacockMike Farmer Don did get hurt in 1970 in Paris 6hr. He and I were co-drivers. Happend about 1hr. 20min. into the race. He was driving 1st and last 2hrs. and myself middle 2hrs. Next was Berlin and we were going to do the oposite. I then drove Berlin with Carlos Rascine a tiemaker and banker from Italy good freind of Renatos. Wemust have run T1s because Stackers were not allowed in Europe due to noise

  10. #25
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    The driver in the lower half of the second picture must have had two left feet because he sure didn't "easily" manage the "Snap-over" maneuver with his right

    Quote Originally Posted by BrianSmith
    As for the "Snap-over" maneuver, these were reserved for the glass copies I'm afraid.
    Yes, the earlier Milesmaster was a tad touchy, however easily managed with your right foot!

  11. #26
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    i wish i would have had a video at the [motel] at lake x before the 1970 miami race when roy [ridgle?] put the gator in bed with joe habie cause all joe had to say as he was runnig away was ttttttddttddddtt. what a prankster
    "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."

  12. #27
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    Mike A video would have been something to have that nite I was rooming with Joe. I think I was as scared as Joe . He slept nude and he came up out of that bed screaming and grabing the sheets stutering. He looked like CASPER the ghost

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by willabee
    The driver in the lower half of the second picture must have had two left feet because he sure didn't "easily" manage the "Snap-over" maneuver with his right
    LOL..........! What happened was that, the guy we had rebuild the sponsons after my "Road excursion" earlier in the fall, took some rocker out therefore making the boat run flatter, without adding extra support at the fronts. The hard pounding punched holes in the front of both and it took a lap to figure out why I was having to use so much trim coming off a corner. Havasau water sure was cold!

  14. #29
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    Roy Ridgell and his gators

    Joe Habay even woke me up that night, and I was at least two rooms away......what I heard sounded more like a verbal version of Morse code than any spoken language that I was familar with

    Ridgell pulled that stunt on me also. Story time........We were almost done testing for a Miami race and I was on a golf cart by the timing tower recording the last boats times. I think it was Bob "traitor" Hetzel that was driving the cart. As we drove back to the shop, I was still writing. When it stopped, I looked up and saw all of the guys standing in a semi-circle, but didn't think anything of it and continued to write. I didn't even notice Bob slip out of the cart. The thing that broke my concentration was a sound unfamilar to me....it was like a hissing noise, but I knew it wasn't Bob

    The guys tell me that when I saw the gator sitting in Bob's place, I went straight up about 3 or 4 feet ( not much of an unusual achievement ). However, they say that at the peak of my jump, I turned left, began kicking my legs and went another 3 or 4 feet horizontally. I was still kicking when my feet hit the floor, smoke came off of my sneakers and I was gone !

    For at least a year after that , whenever I would run into Ridgell, he'd stick his paw out to say hello and have to pull it back and hold his stomach because he'd get to laughing so hard...............like I said before, we had a lot of fun


    Quote Originally Posted by Mr.T
    he came up out of that bed screaming and grabing the sheets stutering.
    Last edited by willabee; 12-16-2005 at 04:22 PM.

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  16. #30
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    I looked for a shot of Art Kennedy, but so far no luck. The closest I could come is a couple of the type boat he made his reputation in .....a GW ( George Wolridge ) Invader with a 1000 BP. In my opinion, nobody made that boat run the way he did!

    These are from a Merc photo shoot to advertise the 1000 BP. In the 1st one, I was told to run on plane tight to the camera so they could get a clean shot of the engine ( I did and it came out pretty dorky, but I think they used it ) - the 2nd one is close to how the boat should look, but not enough engine for advertising use. The things that Art could make that boat do were just amazing. It was an absolute delight to watch him perform

    Quote Originally Posted by specboatops
    I remember guy's like Art Kennedy
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Hot Singles 005.jpg   Hot Singles 004.jpg  
    Last edited by willabee; 12-17-2005 at 01:23 PM.

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