Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[FUJIMO]

There were “mitigating circumstances” as to how I flipped at Havasu.

...do tell... ...(this should be good)...

[willabee]

Don’t forget Galveston

If he did another at Galveston, I have forgotten. Please prod my memory, what year and boat?

[2us70]

I must admit to about 6 or 7 accidents of various kinds. I found that when you are a little bit down on speed to the competition and overdrive the boat stuff happens.

[willabee]

...do tell... ...(this should be good)...

I'd like the honor of responding for Jackie. He told the story of 'mitigating circumstances' on 'Hot Singles' (post #397) back in 2007 and it was a classic!


Below is one of my all-time favorite posts, I laugh out loud every time I read it ....

Dear Willa , You Certainly Know How To Hit Below The Belt When A Guy Is Old ,feak And Weable. Blew Over Twice In My Life, Once A Full 360 In Front Of Garbrecht And Ridgell. Carried On And Won The Heat, So That Don't Count. And The One You Keep Harping On About. Coming From "flipper" Welch I Think It's A Bit Rich !!!!!!!! Nqw I Will Tell You The Real Story Behind The Havasu Flip.
You Remember I Told You I Lent The Boat To Pruett For The Paris 6 Hours, Well He Decided To Do A Number Of Mods On The Hull. 1st He Put Dual Ride Guide Steering [ Thats When Everyone Was Getting Paranoid About Leg Injuries In An Accident ], Which Meant You Had Absolutely No Feedback Whatsoever From The Boat, And Second He Changed The Trim Buttons Around. Then He Made The Out Button Which Was Done By The Left Footpedal Into Another Foot Throttle So He Could Rest His Overworked Right Foot. This Configuration Could Have Fooled Anybody But Him. On Top Of That He Had Bust My Best Prop In Paris. So I Had Rolla Ship Me Another Direct To Oshkosh. This Was A 4 Blader That Rolla Was Developing And You Could Hang The Boat A Foot Above The Water With These. The Prop Went Missing And Gg, Didn't Give It To Me Till After The Race. I Would Love To Know Who Ran My Prop, 'cos It Wasn't Me And I Know Damn Well It Was In Oskosh In Plenty Of Time For The Race???????? Maybe Mercs Crew Chief Who We All Know And Love But Shall Remain Nameless Would Care To Comment ?????? Funny How Mercury Went From 2 Blade To 3 And Then Suddenly The Team Went To Four Blades.
So , Not Very Far Into The Race, I Got Really Cold And Lost A Lot Of Concentration And I Went To Back Off The Throttle With My Right Foot But Forgot About The Left, So The Boat Took Off For The Moon With The Pedal To The Metal. Leaving Havasu Far Below Me, I Reached For The Stars And The Molinari Tumbled Back To The Waters Of The Colarado, The Laws Of Gravity Then Took Over, And Sure As God Made Little Green Apples, What Goes Up Has To Come Down.!!!!! I Did The Most Perfect Dive, Head First Through The Deck Of The Boat, First Thought I Had Was Jeezus I Got A Terrible Bachache, Came Up And Saw The Rescue Boys Right There, Boy But This Damn River Has Cold Water, Stuck My Tongue Out And There ;s Something There That Didn't Oughta Be, Yeah It Was My Nose. I Thought ,that's Not Possible , So Did A Blow. And Two Gynormous Red Bubbles Burst Into My Eyes, Just For A Moment I Thought I Had Blown My Brains Out. Then I Saw The Funny Side Of Things And Started Laughing, The Rescue Team Thought I 'd Gone Mad And Refused To Lift Me Out Of The Water. I Threatened Them With Certan Death If They Didn't Pull Me Out Nowwwww! !!!! Took Me Straight To The Heli Pad And Got Air Lifted To Needles On The Bloody Outside Of The Chopper , It Was Freezing, Got To The Hospital And There's Joe Fielder In A Terrible State. Much Worse Than Me, After A While When They Checked That We Had The Neccessary Insurance [ Mercury Did Pay For The Tapestry Job ] The Doc Stitched It All Back Together And From The Handsome Lad I Was Then I Turned Into The Even Better Looking Chap I Am Today. What I Am Trying To Tell You Is---------there Were Mitigating Cicumstances To Me Wetting Your Dearly Beloved Cowbell, Keep Taking The Tablets Willa.!!!!

[jackiewilson]

What William isn’t telling you is the fact that he was famous for blowing boats over. I seen to remember GG blowing over after telling Willabee it wasnt possible!
C’mon Bill, just how many blow overs did you have?

[willabee]

What William isn’t telling you is the fact that he was famous for blowing boats over. I seen to remember GG blowing over after telling Willabee it wasnt possible!
C’mon Bill, just how many blow overs did you have?

That was actually me telling Pruett that there was 'no f'n way' that I was was ever going to blow over! That conversation took place a couple of days before I blew over .....

[jackiewilson]

That was actually me telling Pruett that there was 'no f'n way' that I was was ever going to blow over! That conversation took place a couple of days before I blew over .....

To be brutally honest, my first three races in the Torriggia were great, i thought it was impossible to blow it over, i lifted it up as high as it would go on the transom and still get get up on plane ! I pegged it out to the fourth hole until It was actually Floating round the racecourse on a carpet of air . Wouldnt go round corners worth a lick, but it was bloody Quick in 1965.
I felt invincible . Wasnt until i finally. Did blow it over in front of Roy Ridgell and Joe Swift That i learned different.
Roy came up to me afterwards and said, i just knew you were going to blow over, ive been there and done that. I just wenthome nursing a dented pride.

[FUJIMO]

...I just went home nursing a dented pride.

...so this is where the dent collection started......

[Lake X Kid]

Just answer the question.
Its. Simple enough——— how many times did Seebold flip ????

The question might not have been accurately answered yet.
But who else on this blue planet, doesn't get his hair wet when in the brink.
Here Bill is with a sinking JPS (John Player Special) boat, and you can see Tom Percival name on it too.
I would, with confidence say this happen at a race in Europe.

My speculation why Bill Seebold's hair is not wet, is the boat has a hole in one of the sponsons. And he did not flip or barrel roll the boat. But then if he did flip or barrel roll and did not get his hair wet, then I want his guardian angel with me too.

[peterse90]

And I think Bill & Fred Hauenstein touched and both 'flipped' maybe mid/late 70's.

Maybe not a 'blow over' but I think this would count as a 'flip' !!!!
Eufaula, Alabama 1978.

[FUJIMO]

[Lake X Kid]

Maybe not a 'blow over' but I think this would count as a 'flip' !!!!
Eufaula, Alabama 1978.

[Lake X Kid]

The above Eufaula photo reminds me of San Diego.
I have only witnessed two boats flip at the same time.
And it was Unlimited Thunder boats at San Diego.

The boats were on the back stretch heading towards the pit area turn buoy.
I was standing in this area, when the boats came towards us, and witnessed the tandem flip over.

[jackiewilson]

Was once watching a race in Karlsruhe With Garbrecht. Bobby Hering took out Andre Dierx and Cees Van Der Velden in a three boat flip spectacular. Maybe WILLABEE was there?

[jackiewilson]

No point in Ringing seebold on a Sunday, He Plays golf all day and has Sunday lunch at the clubhouses .Doesnt take calls .