Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[jackiewilson]

Not so my English friend. The rotaries were going 120+ and they weren't pickle forks.

Where and when Johnno,? Downard took the length of the straight at Windermere to get by me in a
Mollie that had a 1000 BP strapped to its bum, never did get that to run 100 mph.

i think the rotary had two speeds-------the one it actually had------and the one you wished it had, even you have to admit that even on a good day with a tail wind , there was very little difference between the performance of the big motors from all directions.
Q

[jackiewilson]

When I first started racing with a glass 12' Derry boat and a 450 Mercury------it had a top speed of 45mph------never got it to run any faster--------next boat was a 16' Derry with a 700 Mercury-------that ran 48 mph------grandson Craig has a 21' pontoon boat with a 150 Yamaha-----guess what ? Just under 50 mph.
long time ago, a boat racer reached 30 mph and was fool enough to say he reached nearly 40------it's been going on ever since.!

[Rotary John]

Stuart, Fl march 1973; Jimbo driving the black and white Scotti; 121 prop testing for Parker. Parker 1973. Ahead of 7 l hydro going 140; Jimbo and Posey both in Non pickle fork Scotti with 50 lbs extra paint.

[jackiewilson]

Stuart, Fl march 1973; Jimbo driving the black and white Scotti; 121 prop testing for Parker. Parker 1973. Ahead of 7 l hydro going 140; Jimbo and Posey both in Non pickle fork Scotti with 50 lbs extra paint.

OK, Johnno, Stuart was test centre for OMC, shed loads of dinero was being thrown at the ROTORY project -------you had to come up with some sort of figures to justify its very existence----- so why not exaggerate a little (or a lot) and keep the hierarchy happy.
one and only time the ROTORY impressed was Parker-------the pair of them way out in front on the first lap--------second lap-------only one of came by--------two laps later they were no more, dead , departed, expired, finished, morte, terminally ill.
There never ever was a full tunnel capable of running 140 + -------the rotories were quick, of that there was no doubt, they may have come round that first lap in front of a 7 litre hydro "CAPABLE" of 140 mph, but I think on that particular day he was full of gas and a tad off colour and running around the hundred.
First rule of racing------you have to finish to win it, rotories have a notoriously short lifespan-------only one time did just one finish a three hour race, and that finished sick as a parrot, Downard told Me that,

Wankels, rotories, call 'em what you will, have a basic design fault, a fatal flaw------engineers have been trying for 120 years to find out what it is-----just don't hold your breath------it ain't never going to happen

Johnno, we've been down this well trodden path before-----LIQUID NIRVANA was going to beat the crap out of me next time we met, it hasn't happened yet!

We had our "High Noon" -------duel in the dust moment at "Caddy's" place, saw each other and fell about laughing, threw our arms about each other and have been great friends ever since, a friendship I will treasure to my dying day.

You still owe me a bottle of malt whisky Johnno, still love you.

[jackiewilson]

...Or Don Simonson. Course he likes to hang out at Chef Michaels, (as well as Lorelei.)

Will try and get to both "Lorelie's" and "chef Michaels" today. It's my last day down here in the Keys (or Cays). Very enjoyable, used to think it was just Key West (Boats and Duval) and Key Largo ( Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet, Lauren Bacall for glamour).
i actually once met and talked with Lauren Bacall in the lounge at Heathrow airport, a very nice lady.

[jackiewilson]

Wedding dinner, some of my family, nearly all of them involved in high speed boating industry. One way or another.

Last day down in the keys, leave crack-o-sparrow Sunday.

Chef Michael doesn't open its doors 'till 5:00 pm, will trundle up the road to see if I can catch up with any of the old Mercury guys------LOREALIE is first port of call, then I'll take it from there!
If I remember right, Garbrecht had a son Allan who owned a boat shop in Islamarada -----but that was hell of a long time ago.
Did the fish market this morning-----got a bunch of stone crab claws, lobster tails and great big feck off shrimp for lunch------living down in the cays must be a stone bitch. ,

[FUJIMO]

If I remember right, Garbrecht had a son Allan who owned a boat shop in Islamarada -----but that was hell of a long time ago.

It "was" a long time ago... His business went to s h i t after that... www.Handy-Can.com ...Yes, he's the owner.

[mister h]

Where and when Johnno,? Downard took the length of the straight at Windermere to get by me in a
Mollie that had a 1000 BP strapped to its bum, never did get that to run 100 mph.

i think the rotary had two speeds-------the one it actually had------and the one you wished it had, even you have to admit that even on a good day with a tail wind , there was very little difference between the performance of the big motors from all directions.
Q

Hi Jackie spent all sat morning trying to post this is the third time I have tried I am glad to see you are enjoying yourself say hi to Mark and family from me and i do hope you get to ride in the GEICO boat next week send us some piccis.Back to Rotary John when you ran the 1000SPB IN 1971 at Windemere and won your class that was the same engine Ridgell built for GEORGIO MOLINARI to race 89cu in with a silo and Georgio won his class with the same engine in the Paris race 2 weeks before Windemere.When the Rotaries ran in 1973 the ON class MercuryV6 and the OMC V6 outfits were doing around 105 mph at that time i would say the Rotaries may have been doing around 110mph. Best wishes Stevi P

[jackiewilson]

I agree with you Steve, D'Accord as the French say, 110 is about right any more and your entering cloud cuckoo land, I was in one or two races with the rotories and five would get you ten, three out of the four pewked before the finish------they did have a damn good driver line up for the things.
Roy was a lovely guy but could not put a motor together the same way Ritchie Powers or Dave Biers could or even Willabee.

[jackiewilson]

Never got up to ISLAMADORA yesterday, family activities and Canadian Club got in the way of any ambitions I may have had on bar crawling, seeking Mercury men to travel down memory lane,stone cold sober this morning so will call into Lorelie's on the way back.
Had a great time, but it's time to move on, family just expanded yet again, Jesse and Lucca are a great addition to a rapidly expanding Wilson clan!

[jackiewilson]

I only went and did it--------pulled into Lorelie's about noon------- hey, any of you guys know a Don Simonson------yeah, he just pulled his boat out and headed off home about twenty minutes ago !
Aw----Sh-t and corruption, so close yet so far.
Around 1:30 we headed back to the truck with the pontoon boat on it, at that exact moment a socking great big black Caddie Escalade pulls up and a bearded, grissly faced individual hopped out of the passenger seat, Mark walked straight up to him and said--------You know a guy called Don Simonson?
He just pointed his thumb at the driver, then a voice yelled "Who wants to know"-----I leaned in and said -----I do. " I'm Simonsson"--------that's how the whole thing started.
Its dinner time, so you have to wait until tonight for the rest.

[jackiewilson]

Sorry, absolutely bushed, need shuteye.
Its a goodly tale, so tomorrow I'll drag it out for you.
Bernie, Dons going to ring you tomorrow.

[jackiewilson]

"Worked out of Canada for Mercury for over thirty years" --------you know Mark Rathermell?------"know him, !!! I practically raised him, me and his mum and dad were like this" raising middle finger over index
Told him I went to Valleyfield in 1976-------I was there, been there most years!,,,
You know Summerfeldt? --------do I know Summerfeldt?---------for ever!!!!
You ever heard of Rich Luhrs--------I knew Richie when he was racing for "Elbe Hockentos", he was his very first sponsor.
Wonder if I go back far enough I can blind him with a few of the old names.
I had a friend called Dick Snieder------------do I know Dick? He was in High Perf for a while, great guy,

How about Hamberger---------you mean "Ham"------best friends for years, around the time of Bill Steele------before Garbrecht-------he was caught with his hand in the till!
How about Dave Biers, Richie Powers, ------" heard of 'em, once knew a Rick Welch! , he was friend of Alex who was a dentist out of Canada and worked on motors etc, etc etc.
And so it went on------could see why Mercury employed him------pure All American old time salesman through and through-------customers never had a chance to say no.
All too soon the time came to say goodbye and head back up the road to Stuart,
Hell , I tried to buy the OMC facility in Stuart but nobody ever knew who owned what and they were impossible to deal with!

Have to go, I'm late already, more of this meeting later! J.

[bernie]

Sorry, absolutely bushed, need shuteye.
Its a goodly tale, so tomorrow I'll drag it out for you.
Bernie, Dons going to ring you tomorrow.

Yeah, probably wring my neck for suggesting this meeting - but I think not. Don is one of the originals, I worked for him back in the day, first as a technical writer, and later as a Product Application Engineer for the SE OEM market. Only see him at car shows and the like here in FDL - maybe he's staying in the Keys full time - I wouldn't come back here either!

[jackiewilson]

No Bernie, he leaves the Keys for Wisconsin today-------just lives down there for 6 months of the year to get away from Wisconsin weather.! Goes out fishing at 6 am every morning, goes home around noon and sits at the tiki bar drinking beer on the dot at 5 pm. Bitch of a life, but somebody has to do it.
We certainly crammed a quart into a pint pot in the hour or two we spent together-----they just don't make em like that anymore. Told me he would call you before he left for home.i