Powerboat Magazine Marathon of Champions

[Ron Hill]

July 1971, Powerboat Magazine. Bob Nordskog sponsored this Marathon at Long Beach...We as racers thought it would have over flowing crowds....Well, we had a few people tha actually paid....but the Flat Bottom Races drew way more than us "OUTBOARD" guys....It was fun to race 15 minuted form home though...

[Ron Hill]

Did you read that Billy Seebold was Tom Stickles's co-driver???

Evinrude tried to build sales from racing...

A 225 mile race...70 MPH average...No wonder it was fun racding...the speeds were nice....That boat 35 is a HILL TUNNEL!!!!

[Mark Poole]

Great pics Ron! The no. 30 boat was designed by Jack Leek and built by a guy named MacDonald I believe. Those were high flying fast boats with racing V-4's. Earl Bentz used to kick butt with one of those boats here in the Southeast before he joined Mercury racing. Also check out the boat that Alan Stinson drove, the old Allison Craft tunnel with the wing on the back and moveable flap between the forks. And Dick Sherrer driving the Glastron/Molinari. Those were the days!

[Mark75H]

A guy named MacDonald ..... maybe Wilbur MacDonald? :)

[Ron Hill]

Mac (Wilbur McDonald), Mouse... maybe Bruce Summers, stayed up all nigh long repairing my Glastron..at Havasu 1967... There were 128 boats that strated that race, I knocked a hole in my boat at the two hour mark, but kept running.

Mac and Mouse ran an electronic heater all night on my boat to "Set" the figerglass off...I won $8,500 the next day for winning "T" Class....As much "Static" that I cought from my OMC friends... I always felt they liked me...Mouse, Rich McKindley, Bruce Summers, Ray Nydahl... Jay Root...

As I told MOUSE.... You guys can't make these motors strong enough that I can't break them....

ADD: Wilbur Mc Donald was quite a "Wood butcher" ..he had "MAGIC" when it came to working with with wood...