Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[jackiewilson]

----Mr. T.----and some other OLD RETIRED RACERS

Fifty plus years later--

Vacationing in FloridaAttachment 483727

You know what’s remarkable about this picture—- they are all my friends , plus ,i have never fallen out with any of them !!!!

[jackiewilson]

My littleist sister Jan used to save all the comic reports from my younger days. She sent me this as a reminder !!!!
Somebody lately asked when my last race was . There you go , this is it. I never raced a boat again.
Jenks, Percy and Robert were forever asking when i was going back racing. None of them believed i had finally retired .
Maybe as well i did, Jenks and me are just two of the few that made it past the chequered flag to actually enjoy retirement.

[FUJIMO]

...tavares or mount dora or?

[FUJIMO]

[FUJIMO]

[jackiewilson]

GRASS HAD ITS FIRST HAIRCUT OF THE YEAR. Finally completed on the house deal. It’s ours from the 22nd March. Have all the builders in place to conjure up „“SUPERSHED“—- new kitchen and bathroom . Seems designs have changed a tad since the days of the outside toilet and emptying the sh-t bucket into the runner bean trench !!!
Upshot is — we move in on the 12th APRIL . SHOULD HAVE ALL THE NEW MACHINERY INSTALLED BY THEN . Not that anyone really gives a flying fart when or even if i move .
Been reflecting on the past , drivers i used to know. Thing that comes out on top is the simple fact that —there are a lot more of them DEADED than there are living !!!!
Just goes to show, i did sometimes make the right decision ???????

[FUJIMO]

...interesting factoid regarding these larger zincs/trim tabs on elevated inline six gearcases on JP or SJ boats back in the day. they were out of the water/slipstream anyways right? so why have one on the motor? normally most guys would completely remove them & replace them with a flat(cut off) zinc under the cavitation plate. in an attempt to constantly retain water pressure to go higher(or not)...and look for that elusive additional mile per hour...we installed one of these slightly larger full finned zincs with a slight notch taken out for prop clearance, and ran the boat. our marginal water pressure, that was thought to be steaming our upper block cylinders, went away...and we gained one to one & one half mph. the only thing we could think of, is that we surmised that the propwash pressure to the zinc straigthened out our mild gearcase crabbing to improve things. it was a weird little discovery for us at the time. the other racers looked at it and just scratched their heads...

[2us70]

I just got it as straight as possible and corrected for prop torque using a bungee on the left side steering. Mostly driving one handed getting the compensation right was pretty important. Especially in endurance events.

[GENE LANHAM]

I just got it as straight --------. Especially in endurance events.

Especially in endurance events---

[2us70]

Those boats always looked uncomfortable to me. That said ,I would have jumped at the chance to race one.

[jackiewilson]

Especially in endurance events---

Have to tell you Gene that when Don Ross and i went to Havasu in 1970- we were both of the opinion the Molinari design would make the Wing obsolete.
Back in those days, anything that could support a motor and float was accepted . We had only seen these boats in the comics, but here we are looking at them first hand .
Lasting impressions were of just how quick the single engined Jones Pickle could blow over without showing signs it was going to.
James beard built „“VOLARE“ after seeing the wings !!!!! Although he always denied it and sent me a solicitor‘s letter warning me not to talk about it .
Other noticeable thing was how little difference there was between a quick single — a Dually, {in any form} and a triple .
Writing was on the wall- it equated to just running singles in the outboard section . Plus the quick ST‘s were going to have to go to tunnels .
We both thought ART KENNEDY in the Jones single pickle was going to be on the rostrum until he blew it over without warning.
Was the start of my friendship with a lot of American drivers ——- believe it or not , I’m still friends with them today. {at least, the ones still living ?????}

Always seemed like the wings were Bob-Bob- Bobbing along —— bit like a pied wagtail——— no Offenes meant to anyone—- just saying. Damn, but you have to be careful these days if you have an opinion. Just realised i mentioned ART KENNEDY ——- IS THAT PC. AND ALLOWED ?????

[FUJIMO]

...art was an exception in his day, as a black man in boat racing for sure. great guy. great family. great competitor...

[jackiewilson]

...art was an exception in his day, as a black man in boat racing for sure. great guy. great family. great competitor...

was always there with his dad—- i think his name was something like „“Linus“? Pair of them were always laughing . Colour was of absolutely no relevance . He was a racer, just like me !!

[jackiewilson]

Murray Walker was a commentator of the highest order . Best known for his F1 Car racing exploits . Not a lot of people knew he also loved boat racing. Commentated on Bristol . We took him to South Africa with us to commentate on the Loch Vaal race as part of the FONDA series . He kept himself fit and active —- was 97 before he “COPPED HIS CLOGS”.
Was simply one of those great human beings that you sometimes meet on the heater skelter that is life!
Another old racing friend Wilf Gregory died yesterday, Jesus wept but we are getting a bit thin on the ground ?????

[FUJIMO]

...wilf...