Hot Multi's - Pictures

[GENE LANHAM]

Who was he and how did he get a hold of a wing? I thought Mercury controlled all of those wood wings. I do not recall that guy being around when I started driving in 1964.

I’m sure he was a friend of Dave C

I bet Butch knows—-

[GENE LANHAM]

Rees Schmidt--Miss Bonadettes---

1963---

[FUJIMO]

[2us70]

A lot of familiar names on that list.

[GENE LANHAM]

As I remember the way things went, there were only five wood wings. Then came the fire. Dave Craig had three, but drove them all, and totaled the 7000 Boat. Mr K wanted him to try to turn it as fast as he could, it tripped up and threw him through the side. He was hurt pretty bad.. Wasn't the first hurt either.. He is a tough guy.
The numbers were changed often, so it's hard to distinguish them at times. I am pretty sure wing 2 is the one they made the mold from using it as a plug. Wing 5 was my favorite and the best looking.. Now my favorite is Rich's Rocket Wing.

1962 APBA Kilo at Miami Beach--

[lilabner]

I never knew about that or I would have gone.. I guess my internet was down. Don Pearson and I worked on and got Little Treasure running about 65, for a Kilo run upstate. This was a week after the Six Hour at Lake X ..The weather was so bad we didn't go. It was called off anyway. I must have been at Dade Marine then, because Dave would have told me about it.

[lilabner]

I’m sure he was a friend of Dave C

I bet Butch knows—-

I have a newspaper picture of him somewhere, but can't find it. Wasn't he called Whistler also?

[FUJIMO]

[GENE LANHAM]

I have a newspaper picture of him somewhere, but can't find it. Wasn't he called Whistler also?

In 1955--Whistler finished 7th--doubt that was --REES?

[FUJIMO]

[Lake X Kid]

What sales at the dealerships, I think are what the engine manufactures will support on race weekends. When I was young it seemed to me at the time, that outboards in the marine industry were considered the underdog. Later in life I appreciated the ease to which you could get to the engine, the power to weight ratio, and the engineering simplicity compared to a V8 pushing valves.

In 1975 I witnessed the convergence of BASS tournaments, Ranger boats, and Merc 150 hp engines. I was working at a Mercury dealership in Memphis and our showroom was mostly fast bass boats. I surmised that the weekend fisherman thought he had, a chance to make some money at the local bass fishing tournaments. Dealerships (especially in the south) kept there doors open and made good money selling new bass rigs then.

Fast forward two and a half decades later I, was on vacation in south Florida. After me and my lady friend went snorkeling in the Keys, I told her I wanted to stop and rest at a public boat ramp. {I learned later from my brother, that our dad also liked going to busy boat ramps and watch all the activity). So we head up to an area south of Miami.

We pulled into the park about two hours before sunset. And yes go fast outboards dominated the scene. As I recall every rig (center console) had two or three outboards clamped to the transom. I was impressed with how many outboard boats there was at the ramp. That is when I became aware, that go-fast sport fishermen found big outboards to their liking. These guys don’t have time to waste charting a diesel powered 20 knot boat, and drink beer for two hours before you get to the desired fishing spot.

And now courtesy of social media, I see the third industry wave of outboard application. The big lakes, rivers and offshore outboard rigs are now competing with V8 I/O for market share in the 21^st century. Fishermen latched on the outboard first, but now their pleasure boat buddies are purchasing multiple big outboards to go fast too.

Looking back at the industry, I think races like Havasu, Paris 6 Hour, and other races demonstrated to the public, a perception that outboard power has endurance and dependability.
Go Fast Outboards are here to stay.

[Lake X Kid]

Standing in 20th place overall is Rosemary Young. I will assume the guys did not take her lightly, because on one run she came in 13th place.

I know a few of those guys listed, and my dad being one of them. I met for the first time Jeff Titus and his son at the November 2019 vintage race in Travares. In the race results listed J. Titus finished 29th, ahead of the 30th place guy. One of the guys I wanted to meet in person. But Gene Lanham maybe our paths will connect in the future.

[2us70]

I knew 13 of those folks fairly well and several others in passing. #24 on the list is the only other woman, Helen Campbell. She and her husband Jim shared driving duties in a H class Raveau. #17 Mike and #34 Richard were the sons of #48 Tom Bennett. #14 and #15 Brooke and Ronny Russell got me started in opc racing. I co-drove the 66 9hour with them and #21 Ron Cherry. Good memories.

[willabee]

Having been chastised by an unnamed ol' wing pilot () for talking about some multi motored rigs on 'Hot Singles', thought I'd try to continue the chat here.


As I had mentioned, prior to and just after we started hiring drivers at Merc OPC Racing in Oshkosh, I got to do most of the test driving. I know it's hard to believe that someone was actually willing to pay a person to spend their day out in the bright sunshine, running a triple engine Jones boat across the lake, but they did! I remember that the quickest and all time best cure I ever found for a mild hangover was to fire up a stacker and run it down the river in full song early in the morning ..... guaranteed to make you feel ready for a new and exciting day.

I mentioned on 'Hot singles' that one of the boats I got to play with was the 21' Molinari twin that Bill Sirois made famous .....

It was a fun boat to drive, much more forgiving than the 18' singles of the day. If memory serves, it was an 88/90 mile per hour boat with BP lower units and it picked up about 7/8 mph when running speedmasters.

[willabee]

..... I know it's hard to believe that someone was actually willing to pay a person to spend their day out in the bright sunshine, running a triple engine Jones boat across the lake, but they did! .....

Yes they did. They didn't pay much, but I wasn't complainin' .

I believe the 9' x 22' triple Jones made it's debut at the 7th running of the Parker 9 Hour in 1969. Merc entered two of them, one driven by Broadway Joe Habay and the other by some rough looking stranger by the name of Pruett. Pretty sure this was his first race for the Merc Team. The boats were kept secret until they appeared at Parker, I had no idea that they existed until I saw them. I don't know who rigged them, who built the motors and don't recall who hauled the to Parker. I don't think Merc or Ron Jones really knew if they would even float until they were launched at Parker.

In my opinion, at the time, the triple Jones was as impressive as an outboard race boat could look. A big pickle fork, sitting canted on the trailer, was just power personified. It sure turned heads when you drove it down the road or pulled it through the pits.

a couple of triples from the Valachovic collection .....

The two Parker triples ended up in Oshkosh after the 9 Hour. The first test driving I did was in the yellow boat. The more I drove it, the less I trusted it. At some point that summer I started using the blue triple for the tests and it was a total pleasure to drive. They were supposed to be the same, but I sure as heck didn't think they were.

When one was assigned to Merten for the 1970 Parker race, he picked the yellow one. Back in Oshkosh sometime after the race, a few of us were having a beer at a joint called Judy's Gin Mill. Mert commented that he just couldn't get the yellow triple to run the way he thought it should. I shared my experience with the two boats and we decided to stage a little 'test' the following day. We went out on lake looking for some choppy water. I could run circles around him and since he was the better driver, we knew it had to be the boat. He switched to the blue triple and won Galveston!

Mert in the yellow triple at Parker .....

Article from the local paper with me in the blue triple, getting towed back to the plant. By this time, the city had requested that we not run the stackers down the river. They asked that we only run them out in the lake .... guess they thought they were a little noisy