Old guys

[racewright]

I have of a question? Mostly for Pro,Alkies Guys. Seems that the love of Loopers,Konigs,HM made stuff flows in many a vein . But why are there so many who used to go to races and race not still going and putting someone in a rig.. Its not like your expertise is extinct. Lots of you guys really know how to make a boat go fast. So what hold them back??

Pat Wright

[John Schubert T*A*R*T]

I have of a question? Mostly for Pro,Alkies Guys. Seems that the love of Loopers,Konigs,HM made stuff flows in many a vein . But why are there so many who used to go to races and race not still going and putting someone in a rig.. Its not like your expertise is extinct. Lots of you guys really know how to make a boat go fast. So what hold them back??

Pat Wright

Pat, if I had your $'s I would. He He Nevertheless I still go, but primarily to see & talk to old friends but also to see the competition when there is.

[DeanFHobart]

I have of a question? Mostly for Pro,Alkies Guys. Seems that the love of Loopers,Konigs,HM made stuff flows in many a vein . But why are there so many who used to go to races and race not still going and putting someone in a rig.. Its not like your expertise is extinct. Lots of you guys really know how to make a boat go fast. So what hold them back??

Pat Wright

I do just that. I, as owner, and others put together a C-Mod Hydro (500 Mod Hydro) outfit together in 2014... With
J. Michael Kelly driving. Within 8 months, we had won the APBA Nationals, Set a World Record, Won the APBA High Point Championship, and got into the APBA Hall Of Champions. Not Bad !!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are still running this outfit........ But with J. Michael's Unlimited and Inboard schedule, we haven't run it as much this year.

Prior to that......... Several years before, J. Michael drove my SST 45 Tunnel boats. See avatar picture.

So yes, I do just what you have said........... Stay involved and have a younger driver do the honors.

Best To All,

Dean Hobart............................................ ...........................

[racewright]

Can't take it with Ya John Your support at races is very much appreciated. Just seems with how good the racing is with the USTS that more would put a team together. Might be the traveling as that is most difficult.

[ProHydroRacer]

Pat, from the Mid-west I think most of the Racers I raced against from 1966 - 2006 have died or are still involved racing, or pitting for someone. A few dropped out never to be seen again at a race. Like Clyde Queen, Tim Butts, Paul Keller. Most of the members of Outboard Club of Chicago are no more. As you know boat racing is difficult for most, it takes a lot of effort and time to be a winner. Some old Racers are not up to the task. The traveling part becomes expensive for us that have retired. I try to help Brad Barth with parts/repairs before the race season and willing to help others if asked. I dabble in boat construction, engine repair, and part making. With my recent heart valve rebuilt I hope to be around for a long time.
Bill

[oldalkydriver]

There is not one single answer, but several answers for several different people. A few of mine are; races are so far out of town, we don't get to race front of 15,000 spectators ( or prospects) any more. Alkies for me had the right tone or noise and for a long time, the more comfortable speeds. Tested on Saturdays, BBQ Saturday night and raced on Sundays. Leaving the lake or river around 4 or 5 PM, giving you time to drive home and get rested before work on Monday. Cost! And lastly (for me anyhow) moving to the Philippines.

[Steve Litzell]

I'm still involved but no longer drive. My last boat is for sale as a matter of fact. I work on many motors and supply parts and Tech advice. There are a couple that I help regularly especially Parker Thirlby as I really like the 125 class. Too bad he has no interest in a hydro, Health and age or just old bones has gotten to me but my love for the sport and people have not wained, Steve

[ProHydroRacer]

I'm still involved but no longer drive. My last boat is for sale as a matter of fact. I work on many motors and supply parts and Tech advice. There are a couple that I help regularly especially Parker Thirlby as I really like the 125 class. Too bad he has no interest in a hydro, Health and age or just old bones has gotten to me but my love for the sport and people have not wained, Steve

Steve you hit it right on the head. There is no better people than PRO Race people.
All my best friends living and dead have been involved with PRO Racing. How I miss competing and helping hand from a Homer Kincade, Bud Finkel, Dean Wilson, Ray Hardy, Larry Ladda, Mel Kirts, Tom Kirts, and a host of others those names long forgotten.
I miss terribly the help, advice, friendship, and long talks after mid-night on a Saturday night with Harry Pasturczak ie "ZAK". "ZAK" what a guy! Nicest guy you could ever meet.
I miss racing and pitting with Rod Walk. Long after he quit racing I could count of him to start my Konigs.
I miss the boat construction talks with Tim Butts and Art & Gary Pugh.
Most of all, I miss racing with my two sons Bill & Bob, and Brad Barth.
Boat Racing was one of the best thing I ever tried to do.
Bill

[racewright]

Well from what I see distance is the most difficult thing to over come (Philippines hard to make a drivers meeting) We have to travel about 1,000 miles to every race and yea in my Group I'm the only one who can take 3 or 4 days to travel Jim has to fly. Costly yes but if I think about costs I'll take up canasta (card game for anyone under 50). But I think every one who responded kinda has the same reasons for trying to still be involved,the People OMG the USTS is a very tight group as-side from some occasional bull**** everyone treats each other like FAMILY.

[ProHydroRacer]

In the Mid-west US Title Series saved PRO Racing. Outboard Club of Chicago had died out, The St Louis club was nearly dead as well as the PRO group in Minnesota, all club names I have forgotten a long time ago. Michigan Outboard where putting on fewer and fewer races. For a family just getting started my wife Joyce put up with me spending money we didn't have, going to far off races in Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. Races in Texas, Ohio, or New York were just too far to travel at the time.
When I started in 1966 I had more races then to go to locally ( Illinois & Michigan ) then the free time to go. At that time I could go to about 10 races a year all 100% PRO races. Later on I did teamed up with Rod Walk and Barry Anderson to go to a couple of Texas races. We also went to the PRO Nationals in Bakersfield California with Rod Walk, Brad Barth and my family, we called it the "trip to Hell".
Without USTS my PRO racing would have ended and I think PRO racing would have died out completely in the middle of the country or most of the states.
That's the reason I support USTS then and now.
Bill

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Don't want to go down the political road with this, but what did it for us in Texas was the Jimmy Carter presidency. Just to lay it out for our team and the demise of Lone Star Boat Racing Association I have to lay it down to Washington DC and both parties. In 1978 and 1979 the inflation was growing...it was huge. And the value of the dollar was plunging. Prices for Konig motors doubled as did parts. Not only was inflation increasing the price of food, lodging, rents and even the ability to buy a house or car, but there was a time where you could not even plan on going a long distance because gasoline was either not available, rationed, or stations were closed. New media fed stories about all types of racing wasting fuel they would have otherwise had to go back and forth to work or to go to the beach. That's when the media really started the war on oil companies, and it has continued to this day.

A lot of racers quit during these times because they could not afford to race because of inflated costs of living and not wanting to travel far to races. Then in 1986 President Reagan set out to collapse the Soviet economy with extremely low oil prices ($8 per barrel at its lowest) and a very deflated dollar...the USSR went bankrupt. It was a good thing, but it killed the Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana economies as well as states whose companies built and sold stuff to oilfield companies. That's when Lone Star went down. I had to quit racing in 1981 when my Dad's ex partner started a company to compete with Alice Specialty tapping four of the key officers and personnel to go with him, along with a dozen workers, and records and paperwork that disappeared. So the next couple of decades I had no way to get back in.

Several years ago I explored looking into getting my Son Andrew into racing. I knew there was no Pro racing less than 600 to 800 miles from us. I have no scheduled days off and haven't had for seventeen years. All I can do is hope to catch a weekend every so often, so I thought I could get him interested in OPC in Texas. He enjoyed watching the tri hulls racing in Corpus, and I even talked to John and Mike Schubert. But there was still not anything going on close enough to be able to get him interested. Now he works in the oilfield and has no time to do anything.

It's very hard with all the lakes being closed, families being pressed for time and money, and lesser opportunities. Thank God for USTS keeping the Alkies going.

And Bill is correct....it is the families and friends met during these years that are never forgotten and make up m the formative years for me, and as far as I know, all boat racers.

[racewright]

I can not disagree with one word,I also lived thru the Jimmy Carter Presidency had to relocate my business. The current presidency made me make a decision to retire also and leave Long Island My boys have had it ruff in the business I left them but thru hard work and tenacity they are pulling thru waiting for a new person to reverse all the bad decisions made in the last 6+ years. Luckily Myself and Jimmy and some times my other sons get to go racing. Thank god for the USTS as without them we too would be done. Travel as you talked about Wayne is most difficult but we make the best of it and with only 6 or so races we work hard to make them.

[ProHydroRacer]

Jimmy Carter was the worst thing that hit this this country until the current president came on board. In Carter's age, gasoline went from 15-20 cents per gallon to a $1.00 per gallon, if you could find some place to sell it to you. Long lines at the gas pumps, very shorten gas station operating hours, the worst it was happening in the winter. Then there was wage freeze, over a three year period I was in line for 3 or 4 raises but never got any of them. The only way to up your pay was to get another job. Inflation was 16 - 20%.
The next year of racing there must of been a 50% gas stations closing. Walk and myself traveled to Louisiana for a race. We where on a two lane highway in the middle of nowhere, we had Rod's Camper and my big trailer, probably getting 10 miles to the gallon, we where running out of gas. Came to this general store with two pumps. They had a sign outside "5 Gallon Limit". These people where so kind to us, they allowed to fill up. During that time period we never travel on two lane again. Wayne is correct, this was the start of end of boat racing as we knew it.
Bill

[smittythewelder]

Bill, are you an old guy, like me? You're remembering wrong. OPEC and rapidly rising gas prices and shortages started before Carter got in. I remember taking a racing-related trip down the coast to southern California in late-'73 when things were actually getting a little tense, and carrying a sawed-off shotgun in the truck, just in case. Pretty sad deal when the thing was supposed to be about boatracing. And inflation got going long before Carter (this is not to say I had any fondness for him); remember Gerald Ford on TV holding up a little lapel button that said "WIN" for "Whip Inflation Now"? But that all got going when LBJ kept deficit-spending while paying for, or rather NOT paying for, a war, a real bad idea repeated with emphasis by Dubya forty years later. Master Oil got it right when he said, "both parties." My bald-headed opinion is that Ike, and the Dems who worked with him, were about the last ones to get things mostly right. But thinking about politics is depressing!!

So . . .

Seems to me the best partial answer to the malign effects of expensive fuel and high travel costs is for tech-savvy racers to start thinking like the fellows on the high-mpg websites, such as www.ecomodder.com . As you'll see, these guys are often a lot more enthusiastic than knowledgeable, and many go to weird extremes of what they imagine are suitable aerodynamics and "hypermiling" driving tactics. But at least they aren't just complaining! A boatracing trailer, either open with a box or enclosed, is shaped like a brick, and worse has draggy open wheelwells. Probably most guys are carrying more weight (the vehicle and trailer, not the guy) than really necessary. There are lots of well-known engine and transmission mods and tweaks that can add up to real mpg savings, especially on older (simpler!!!) vehicles. You can do this "hot-rodding-for-mileage" with full rebuilds, or just with add-ons from outfits like Gale Banks.

I have an ancient 2/3-boat single axle trailer chassis rusting and gathering dust out back. The sharp-cornered plywood box it used to have rotted, so I tore it off. In between doing everything but what I WANT to do in my old age, I've thought about how I could rebuild it to be somewhat less draggy, with rounded corners and a semi-teardrop shape (with a greatly truncated tail). Instead of the usual fenders over the tires, a pair of those rounded fenders as were seen on cars of the Forties, and fender skirts. Cleverly done, some diversion of the air that goes under the tow-van and trailer could help.

Remember the Hundred Pound Rule of Racing? This started with auto racers, and states, "There is no place you can take a hundred pounds out of the car; but there might be a hundred places you can take out one pound." This law of incremental improvements adding up applies throughout life, and it certainly applies to improving the fuel-burn of your race-towing outfit. Guys who sniff at any particular single upgrade do not understand the Hundred Pound Rule.

Could there be enough interest in "MPG-Modding Your Race-Towing Rig" to make it stand-alone topic, Ron? If the cost of racing travel is really deterring numbers of people from entering or staying in racing, maybe thinking about some sort of pro-active approach to the problem could help a little. In any case, there are other sites on the internet that could be of use to those who become interested. As for my little old trailer, that will have to wait; I have to build ONE motor and set up ONE boat, and cartop it to the lake and see if I really can drive one of these things anymore, before I worry about multiple boats/motors. As I said, too many dang chores (and less available energy) get in the way of doing the fun stuff (but it's easy to write about, duhhh).

[smittythewelder]

FWIW, here's a known-to-aerodynamicists tip for streamlining the FRONT of a box. Contrary to the eager fellows on ecomodder.com, you don't have to make a fully-rounded front end. But contrary to some owners of new enclosed trailers that have the angular shape (it continues the shape of the trailer tongue up to the top of the box), that shape isn't very aero either, though it's better than a flat plate. What aero experts tell us is to round the front corners of the box, using a radius on each of 1/4 of the total width of the box. So if the box is 6' wide, build it with top and side corner radii of about 18". This will give you most of the advantage of a fully half-round entry. Of course what you do aft of the front end of the box is also very important, but this is a start, and pretty simple.

Wait, what was this thread about??? (Ron, feel free to move any of this or delete it as you think appropriate; remember, I have a good excuse, I'm an Old Guy)

[ProHydroRacer]

smittythewelder, yea, I'm an old guy like you, 72 in 13 days. 13 my lucky number. Let me say My current reasoning is that both parties suck!!!!
You are probable correct that gas prices and inflation started before Carter, but Carters wage freeze and that stupid 55 mph speed limit, pisses me off then as now.
And smitty how in the hell do you expect me to remember all the details from 45 years ago.
Bil

Do you remember there was a gas shortage at that time, we were running out of oil. That is until the price got to buck a gallon and then no shortage. In my area it went from 25 cents to $1 per gal.

[DeanFHobart]

In the Mid-west US Title Series saved PRO Racing. Outboard Club of Chicago had died out, The St Louis club was nearly dead as well as the PRO group in Minnesota, all club names I have forgotten a long time ago. Michigan Outboard where putting on fewer and fewer races. For a family just getting started my wife Joyce put up with me spending money we didn't have, going to far off races in Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. Races in Texas, Ohio, or New York were just too far to travel at the time.
When I started in 1966 I had more races then to go to locally ( Illinois & Michigan ) then the free time to go. At that time I could go to about 10 races a year all 100% PRO races. Later on I did teamed up with Rod Walk and Barry Anderson to go to a couple of Texas races. We also went to the PRO Nationals in Bakersfield California with Rod Walk, Brad Barth and my family, we called it the "trip to Hell".
Without USTS my PRO racing would have ended and I think PRO racing would have died out completely in the middle of the country or most of the states.
That's the reason I support USTS then and now.
Bill

Bill,

When was that Trip to Bakersfield? And, I think all of us would like to read about that "Trip To Hell".

Bob Wartinger and I went to the Modesto Kilos in February of 1974 with SIX, 5 Gallon cans of gas in the cockpits of our boats, on the top of his car with the Double Rack. We lucked out on the way down, but had to use ALL of the cans on the way home. Most of the Gas Stations had short hours or were closed or had a limit as to how many gallons you could buy.

Thanks,

Dean Hobart

[ProHydroRacer]

The Trip To Hell.......

Someone smarter than me, knows the year that the PRO National where scheduled at Bakersfield California. Must of been sometime in the 70's.

We had already raced at DePue for club and Nationals Races. There where always a lot of fans at Depue and that's is what I expected at all PRO Nationals.

Rod Walk was and still in my heart a dear friend, he had the nicest parents, but Rod could be an *** even by my standards.

In the year of the Bakersfield PRO Nationals, Rod and I decided to go. I had a new Dodge cargo van, with no side windows, that I equipped with two seats behind the driver and passenger seats and two seats in the rear of the van that became a bed. I towed a open trailer at the time that was about 20 feet long and could carry up to 4 or 5 boats. The willing participants for this adventure, where me, my wife Joyce, my two sons Bill & Bob, Rod Walk and his cousin Brad Barth, for a total of 6 people and all of their gear for the trip. After we loaded our gear into the van, you couldn't find the floor.

We started the trip from Rod's place in Depue with 6 people, all their gear, 5 boats, 6 or 7 Konigs, two set of tools, and 60 or 80 gallons of racing fuel. We left DePue and took I-80 west towards Denver. The trip started well, I drove to I-76 and headed for Denver, we where making great time, doing the speed limit and then some. We arrived at Denver around midnight and stop at a gas station to fill our tank. We headed out on I-70 to Vegas and then to Bakersfield. I had never been to Denver before, I didn't know about the mountain pass. After we left the gas station on I-70 our troubles began.

No more than a mile out, the road takes a bend and heads for the sky. I didn't know we where headed to a 12,000 foot mountain pass. We went from running the speed limit to only 5 miles per hour! My only choice is to turn around at the next exit. What are we to do next?

I changed our course from a direct course to Vegas and headed South on I-25 to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Strike 1.

Mid day we arrived west of Albuquerque at some cafe that looks to be from the 1800's. Rod had been bitchen for some time that he had to eat. We stopped. We all walked into the cafe and it is filled with the meanest looking bad guys that you could imagine. Rod was complaining to the waitress he had to eat. Rod was a type 1 Diabetic. We all ordered our food. Everything came out after a long time except for Rod's food. We all ate and completed our meals before Rod's food ever came out. We had to stay an extra hour waiting for Rod to finish his meal. Rod bitched for hours about the cafe. Strike 2.

Took forever to get to the middle of Arizona. There was a heavy rain storm flooding the roads. We had to stop for the rain to quit and to drain the water out of Rod's runabout. More Rod bitchen. Strike 3.

We are driving thru a desert, somewhere in the west end of Arizona on I-40 it dam hot outside, the A/C quits working. Everybody is bitchen. Strike 4.

After driving most of the way myself, we pull into Bakersfield at the motel late at night. We find out the next morning, the motel is a ***** house. Find new motel. Strike 5.

It's summer time, I'm expecting Bakersfield to be green and pleasant. The Race Course is in a fenced in lake. The area is another desert. Strike 6.

The Race Course looks fast, but we ended up without a single race fan, nothing like DePue. Strike 7.

Rod and now my son Bill are both bitchen. Strike 8.

I will be running 500cc and 700cc on the same laydown Kurps hydro. First heat of 500, I get a super start and goes into turn one right behind the leader. This putts on my inside, crashes into me from the inside, his sponson lands on my back. We go thru turn one at full throttle, right behind the leader, with this putts on my back. As I come out of turn one, I'm thru with this clown. I brace myself against the floor and lift my body up. The putts gets air under his boat and flies off. Now I can get down to bossiness, except my steering bar is bent like a pretzel, that old style Kong steering bar was very weak. As I remember I finished 2nd. Next heat not so good, I don't even remember if I ran because of the bent steering bar. The putts never said anything to me.....***. Strike 9.

Sunday I ran 700. Coming up to the start in a good position and hot, my goggle started to slip. So like I did many times before, I left go of the wheel to adjust the goggles. Turned the boat over coming out of turn two! I went under water and came back inside my boat. After feeling around inside the boat I finally figured out how to get out. I was under for some time. By the way I don't swim. Strike 10.

I had told Rod that I would buy his A (250) hydro for my son Bill.

We traveled back home on I-40 thru Oklahoma, again I did most of the driving. Rod and my son Bill bitched all the way back. Rod kept bitchen he wanted to stop to buy Coors beer. Never did stop! In Oklahoma we stopped at a gas station to fill up. Out to the west, I seen 100's of funny looking formations. I asked the station attendant what they where. Tornadoes! That night we where the only vehicle on the interstate. Oklahoma City got hit big time after we drove thru it. Strike 11.

By the time we got back to Rod's home no one was talking, I was so pissed I didn't buy Rod's A hydro. We didn't talk for about a year or so. Strike 12.

Rod and I got together again, I miss his friendship to this day.

The only funny thing that happen on the trip, we shared adjoining motel rooms. My family in one room and Rod & Brad in the other. Brad is Rod's younger cousin. Rod bossed Brad around. Rod took a shower and told Brad to get him his shorts. He must of done this in the past. Brad was ready for him. Brad handed Rod a pair of shorts for a 400 pound woman. We all got a good chuckle from the joke.

It was some time we ever traveled together again. Looking back it was the best of times.
Bill

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

Bill:

It was 1982 I believe.

I also had a memorable trip. Phil Howard and I were racing together at the time. Eileen and Jeanie(Phi's wife) drove out together in 3 days I think it was. The memorable thing about the drive was Jeanie drove all the way and Eileen held the dog (PJ) in her lap. She had an aversion to dogs for several years after. I had just started back racing in the RB class after blowing one of Billy Seebolds tunnel boats over while testing. They had a very screwy clock there or possibly it was the lake, but I could not make a start for the life of me. I was either way back late on the clock, or the officials said I jumped the gun. I did not think so as there were boats ahead of me across the line that were legal, but yet I was thrown out for being over. I swore right then I would never come to California again to race. They were using a VCR on the starting line and would not let me or anyone else see the tape. I tried to tell them that the tape was NOT a continuous picture of the start, but merely a series of still photos just like a movie film, and there was space between the pictures,but they would not listen. So much for using the latest technology to start a race.

In addition Phil and I flew out on different airplanes and I got there first and was supposed to meet him at his gate. His airplane was abour 4-5 hours after mine and it was 11:00PM then plus the time difference between the Midwest and California, so I rented a car and was going to take a nap in the parking lot. Long story short, I went to sleep in the car, missed his flight, and he rented a car and drove on up to Bakersfield.

To this day I always say that was the lousiest boat racing trip I ever took along with the stubbornest officials. If you are going to use the latest technology, at least learn how it works before you depend on it to decide whether someone is legal or not on a start.

The only good thing about the trip was Phil and I got to fly home after it was over, and the girls drove back. I caught hell about that for several years. I certainly wish Phil and Jeanie were still here. As I have said before, he was the most determined person I have ever met. He had the talent to be a National champ several time, but his stub (hand) held him back when driving a boat, although he would never admit it. If you want to know more about his accident, and how he overcame it use the search function and type in "Phil Howard".

[ProHydroRacer]

Bill you are right about the officials, I didn't plan on saying anything about that.
At this time Rod was not married, his soon to be second wife Rose, had planned to fly out to Bakersfield to watch Rod race. She was to be there on Saturday I believe. The race committee stonewalled Rod to let him believe they would run A Hydro on Saturday instead of Friday. But at the last minute, they ran A hydro on Friday.
I had got the feeling they California guys didn't think the guys from the mid-west would come to Bakersfield and it would be easier for them to be champions. I might have been wrong, but that the feeling I and Rod got.
Remember Wally World? We went to Magic Mountain while we there, that is Wally World from the movie. That was fun.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

Talking about officials, I don't believe I ever say one that could "parse" the rule book to find something wrong like Henry Wagner. The fact he just happened to be from California blends into the following story. Forgive me if you have heard it before but it is typical of someone like Henry. Don't get me wrong, I am sure he has his cheering section but some of the things he used to do never ceased to amaze me.

I am sure you remember "Dirty Ernie" LaRose from the St. Louis area. Poor Ernie was so crippled up he could hardly get in and out of his boats, much less do much on the race course. This was until Bill Seebold Sr. built him a C Service Mercury. You have to have lived thru that time to understand the bad feeling between the Speeditwin guys and the Mercury people.

Anyway the Merc Bill Sr. built for Ernie was a real goer and Ernie put everything together at DePue one year in the 70's and either won or placed high enough that he made the finals and had to be inspected. As you can imagine, Henry being a Speeditwin guy, he inspected Ernies motor with a fine tooth comb and he found something that disqualified Ernie. If you can imagine the prop nut on one of the Speeditwin lower units comes to a point on the back end, with a gentle taper from the shaft where it goes on to the tip, and there was a dimension to that length in the rule book.
When it was measured by Henry he found it to be a 1/4 inch too short and he threw Ernie out. Probably the first time Ernie had ever made the field at a Nationals in his life.

I would be eternally grateful if someone could tell me just what kind of speed advantage this would provide to someone who could not hardly get in and out of his boat as he was so disabled, that disqualification was necessary. To Ernie's credit he never said a word, but you could tell he was terribly hurt and disappointed. This is where an inspector, or any other official for that matter has to be able to use a little common sense and judgement.

BUT HEY, IT WAS C SERVICE.

The only time I ever saw Henry proved wrong was on of the Ackworth Nationals in the early 80's, where he threw Eddie Thrilby out of either the C Service Hydro or Runabout class for a measurement on an opening in the Speeditwin crankcase. If you measure it one way (diagonally) it measured one dimension, and another way, (side to side of the opening) another dimension. I seem to remember it was from opposite corner to corner one way and vertical side to vertical side the other. Anyway I have never seen Ed Thrilby so upset and hot. He was going to go after Henry, not so much because he threw them out, but because he just would not listen to Ed's explanation of the dimension. Ed protested and was found to be correct, but I would have hated to be inspected by him (Henry) after that, especially if I was the one proved right, and him wrong.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I always got along with Henry, but I know how he was. I think it was probably at the convention at Las Vegas at the Pro commission meeting when there was some argument about something in a grey area that was going on. Could have been to do with aerodynamics, or some new ideas or something like that. Maybe could consult my notes to remember. Anyway, it ended up that Henry Wagner and my Dad were on opposing sides and my Dad told this story often amongst gatherings of boat racers. He told them "Henry says if it's not in the rulebook...you can't do it.......and I told him that if it's not in the rulebook you CAN do it." Then everyone laughed. And I think that probably Henry's philosophy cost a lot of racers dearly. Because if it not in the rulebook and someone does it and it's cool, and not protested.....then we have progress. If it's not in the rulebook and it's determined by one individual that it's illegal.....then you have suppression by one man rule.