Bill Holland

[Master Oil Racing Team]

He was running on the edge, actually on a 2" by 12 " pad at the extreme aft of the "Unlimited" bass boat. Approaching the end of the run at an estimated 119 mph the nose lifted slightly. He just touched the trim button and instantly the whole atmosphere changed as the boat launched skyward. Going from a feeling of exhilaration and relief of almost being there to a feeling of "no way out"....this is going to hurt! As the boat gained altitude, his mind was racing. Racing so fast that everything going on around him seemed in slow motion. No longer a wind tearing at his face and cheeks, but a silent, eerie feeling; the wind now blocked by the hull going forward and up until somewhere around 30 to 40 feet its flight was done and it became earthbound.

He skipped and tumbled along a surface like wet concrete with hands. Grabbing, tearing, and pulling until finally he skidded to a stop. There, laying within reach was one of his shoes....floating upside down. He started to grab the shoe, then thought better of it. Maybe a foot might still be in it. It was still too soon for the pain to set in and he had to take stock of himself. He had worn his lucky shirt that day. He still had it on. Barely. The collar was still around his neck, but the rest was hanging out the backside of his life jacket. He ended up with no broken bones, but every ligament, every muscle, every joint was pulled, twisted, torn or stretched. It was thirty days before he could get out of bed without pain.

It was 17 years after Bill Holland quit racing alkies that he took that spill. He had made a couple of successful runs the day before in the production bass boat, and that day he was going for an ulimited bass boat record. The night before he had stripped all the unneccessary items and rebalanced it for the unlimited run. When they had wired the boat, the trim switch was backwards, but Bill figured that he would be able to remember just trim it in reverse. When the boat seemed to be trimmed right and he was nearing the end of the run, he just automatically touched the trim as he normally would when the nose came up.

Bill Holland actually started racing in 1950, but he got hooked the summer before when he raced and beat some other boats with his fishing rig. Like quite a few boat racers, he was instantly drawn to speed on the water when he was out fishing one day and saw a racing boat. He beat some of them that summer with his fishing boat, and the next year he had a race boat and won his first race. It was estimated that during his racing career from 1950 to 1965 Bill won more than 500 races.

This is but one of many stories of Bill Holland's boat racing.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Ted Williams was hired by Sears to help with merchandising it's sports products. After a while, Ted realized that he needed help in sports that he was not sufficiently involved in to make the highest recommendations. He put together a team that served as an advisory board. Look Magazine did a story on this team, as well as Reader's Digest. Needless to say, Bill Holland felt very proud to have served with the caliber of people that were chosen for the advisory panel.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Bill Holland started racing in the midget class. He won all the races he entered in his first year. After continuing to dominate that class for awhile, he quit racing in it and moved up to the next class. That's the pattern he set for the rest of his racing career. After his successes in a class led to continous strings of victories, he would move up. The hydro in the photo was taken at the Lake Worth races in June 1952.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I asked Bill about his driving style and what he thought contributed so much to his success. He said his strategy was to get the the turn first. "They would play hell getting around me.", he replied. Of course everyone knows that is the greatest advantage to have in circle racing boats. But remember, the whole field is thinking that way and knows it. So why was he so often the one that pulled it off? One thing Bill did was take a stopwatch out on the course when he was testing and got the time it took from certain identifiable spots around the course. At any given time he knew how long it took to get to the start/finish line.

Bill also spent a lot of time testing. Just about all the wheels were stainless steel, except for the Martin motor. Only brass was available. He would go down to the river with Louis Baumann, Sr. and they would spend a half day testing props and setups. Louis would have his pitch blocks with him and they would make adjustments and try each out until they were satisfied they had worked out the best combination of speed and acceleration for racing. He had quite a few props, but generally ended up with two or three he would take racing for each motor that would work best.

Bill preferred starting on the outside. He figured if he could get to the turn first, he had a good line and speed from the outside that no one could get around that way, and he had an advantage on the inside boats. He wouldn't chop them off, but he could hemm them in so that he could exit the turn faster, then he would be gone. His mechanical ability was such that early in racing so many drivers were coming to him for help that he started an outboard mechanic shop at his house. So if he came out of the turn first, the win was his. Unless he had mechanical trouble, no one could catch him.

[Thumper]

I recently found and purchased, Bill Holland's record boat ......I am currently interested in finding any and all Pics,articles,film etc.... related to Bill Holland and this Record Boat....Please help if you can and enjoy my photos......Boat was found in a barn in Texas....Many Thanks to Albert and John Snell for letting me take this piece of History that they have had for so many years tucked away ..... to a new home.....

Photo of Mcculloch 590 found/purchased in Knoxville,Tn.... where Hollands record run took place

[Mark75H]

A great find!

[tahawk]

you may want to call bowden marine in houston tx. bills daughter work there.she may be able to help out. .try calling 281 636 2011

[Gene East]

A great find!

The boat is in amazing condition.
For obvious reasons the throttle caught my eye.
Notice how it's mounted flat on the bottom of the cockpit. No way to squeeze it. Must have just pushed it with his palm and then cupped his fingertips over the grip.Clearly not the way it was designed, but obviously it worked!
Truely a piece of history.
How many more jewels do the Snells have tucked away down in Texas?

[Thumper]

The Snell brothers had some neat stuff.......Nothing for sale tho.......Even parting with the Holland boat was very hard for them......They are fun old Gents and are full of Stories......True collectors and Racing enthusiasts .........Making a CLEAN spot in the old barn was damn tuff for them.......

This was not a sale in the normal sense of the word........This was handing over a piece of History to be looked after like a child needs to be cared for.

Even at 80 years old .They helped me load the boat, strap it down,and were worried about it not getting wet or damaged on the way home..

Brad K

[calvin]

How many records did the boat hold?

[Tim Weber]

Do you know who built the boat?

I do.

Tim

[Master Oil Racing Team]

That is indeed a great find. I had no idea the Snell brothers had it. I have talked with John and Albert over the years, but they always talked about green mercs and letting me know when Alex was coming up, and never mentioned Bill's boat. I just knew they had a personal museum in the works and were always looking for old stuff. I'm glad to see it about in public again.

I started a thread about Bill Holland several years ago here at BRF, but never finished it. There was so much about Bill in the Roostertail, I was trying to compile it in chronological order for some of the pics he let me copy. You can find some info you might be looking for there. I can't remember how far along I got, but I will find it and check it out. His wife Dorothy probably has the photo albums I copied from, but one this Bill didn't let me take to copy was his portfolio of this boat. There were something like eight, ten, maybe a dozen or more pen and ink sketches of this boat and a dual engine boat(that was never built to my knowledge. They were very interesting, and if you could get copies of these, it would greatly enhance the historical collection you have. Dorothy probably still has these or knows where they are.

Bill Hollland told Joe Rome and I about his historical runs with this record setting boat at the Lone Star Reunion in 2005. I don't think this boat set many records Calvin, but it was innovative and captured the attention of a lot of people. I have to check my notes, but I believe that Bill said the picture on the cover of Roostertail was a photo op, and that in the record attempts, he did not have the plexiglass shiel in place. I will have to double check that. One thing I remember though is that he never could achieve the higher speed the boat was capable of because as the speed increased, the hull would lift horizontally higher off the water causing a loss of water pickup at the lower unit, and the boat would settle down. Then it would pick up speed as the motor cooled down, only to have this process repeated several times on the straights during the runs.

Bill Holland was one of those classic gentlemen boat racers. He was a very accomplished racer with a class act.

[Mark75H]

I think it held a NOA class record. 92mph maybe.

[Thumper]

I have info taken from past threads posted...

Holland----F Hydro Knoxville Tn 93.750 mph 7-13-63 but not certain if it was this boat....

Also received a call from a fella that he has an old NOA stat book showing the F class record was made by Holland in a Jones boat.....I was always under the impression that Bill Built this Boat himself

Info is starting to trickle in .... Thanks Guys ... keep the info comin
Bradob1@aol.com or 715-401-0910 call anytime I am at my winter home near Atlanta till April

[MN1]

I thought I had seen this boat in advertising for Desilva Boats. But not sure.
Mark N

[Mark75H]

I spoke to Bill on the phone and he sent me a couple letters. I'm pretty certain it was this boat. I do recall that he said he could not use the hatch and just ran without it.

It looks like someone modified the hatch for helmet clearance ... ala Dan Guerney & the GT-40.

[Mark75H]

I thought I had seen this boat in advertising for Desilva Boats. But not sure.
Mark N

That's why it would be great to borrow that collection and scan it :)

[Thumper]

Another photo of Holland

[David_L6]

Also received a call from a fella that he has an old NOA stat book showing the F class record was made by Holland in a Jones boat.....I was always under the impression that Bill Built this Boat himself



I don't believe that is a Jones.

[Darneille Boats]

The laydown boat was built by the Desilvas. The kneeler resembles a Jones except for the afterplane and transom. Ron Sr. built quite a few variations of his designs.

[Tim Weber]

According to Ralph, the boat was just shy of the APBA record. He thinks it went a 106 and the record was around 108. He told me it was very close but it did hold the NOA record.

Tim

[Ron Hill]

Dave Bryan is coming up to the show tomorrow. We will give Ralph DeSilva a call. The boat looks like quite a few DeSilva Hydros. There was "Top Secret" projects in the old days.

I know that Pep Hubbell and the DeSilvas were very close. I know that Pep was Vice-President of the NOA for many years. I also know that McCullough and Hubbell worked together on projects.

The prop appears to be a Litten Cleaver. I know the handles on this boat were DeSilva handles. Ernie Dawe has th patterns for them today. But, there could have been other handle companies...

Cool pictures!

[Mark75H]

Littons were the standard props supplied on the McCulloch race motors

[Thumper]

I have been in touch with Bills daughter, Danielle today......She was very excited to hear that the Record Boat survived and it will be restored........She will be sending me all the info,photos etc she can find in the near future related to this Hydro

Many thanks Danielle, your info will aid in my restoration


Brad K

[tahawk]

Glad to here that you were able to contact her.if i can help another way please let me know

[Ron Hill]

Dave Bryan and I called Ralph today. He was eating lunch. He'd been working on a new C Service Runabout. I asked Ralph about Bill Holland's McCullough Hydro.

Ralph said he built this boat for McCullough. Bill Holland worked for McCullough Outboards. When McCullough moved to Havasu City, Bill went back to Texas.

Ralph spoke very highly of Bill. Ralph said, "Bill was a smart person and hard worker." Ralph was pretty sure Bill had gone through the kilo at 106 MPH , at the time, it was the outboard world speed record.

He said they'd built the boat in the early 1960's.

[Thumper]

Ron
I have One old color photo of the Holland Boat and Written on the back it reads
Holland boat 106 Mph Claud Fox Knoxville Tn.

additional info

Boat is 14.4 feet long and 6 feet wide at the sponsons ...stern is 4.6 feet wide... Drivers area is 20inch wide and 17 inch tall floor to roof add another 3 inched for the helmet bubble...Evidence shows Mcculloch 590 was mounted on transom.& only 2 height adjustments were ever made
Has Kainer Wheel and quincy throttle

Three different colors were found while stripping White ...cream and Red

[Thumper]

Got a chance to drive to Ralphs house today to discuss the Holland Boat.....Ralph spent about 3 hours talking about Boats..... .....Hollands Boat is the only one DeSilva ever built like that....Ralph told me the serial number is underneath the floor.....Ralph is currently looking for more photos and old NOA books to help me out....Learning that the Boat was built by Desilva was great info
I learned that several different canopies were built during testing and When Holland ran in Knoxville he had to run without the front portion canopy....Ralph told me that When Bill tucked his head down too look thru the windshield he was virtually running blind during the run...
The engine cowling was made by Bill with a gain of about 2 or 3 Mph.....Desilva never saw the Boat run but Holland was constantly communicating with him during testing....
Desilva delivered the Boat to Holland bare wood and Holland did the final finish work

Desilva told me the Boat always performed well but the 590 was not the perfect choice outboard but enough for an F class record

Many Thanks to Tim Weber

[Mark75H]

When Holland ran in Knoxville he had to run without the front portion canopy....Ralph told me that When Bill tucked his head down too look thru the windshield he was virtually running blind during the run...

That agrees with what Bill told me

[Thumper]

Just a few more Photos of Bill Holland

[Mark75H]

Awesome stuff!

I have not forgotten your spray shield pics, I'll get them to you soon

[Master Oil Racing Team]

That's part of the sketches I mentioned. That is some great stuff you are putting together. I don't know why I never knew that that boat was a DeSilva. That makes it even more interesting.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Hard to believe it's been almost five years since I started this thread. I decided to bring it back up due the the interest in Thumper's acquisition of Bill's straightaway boat. I will try to get more of Bill's story here and photos on Thumper's thread. I will need to fire up the computer in the boat racing/music room though, because that's where the pictures are.

BTW, it is a little hard to identify some of the people in the Look Magazine spread. Bill is a the 9:00 position. I didn't have polorizing equipment when I took the photo so there is a little glare and it might he hard to recognize the McCullough motor on a stand.

[Ron Hill]

I thought the encyclopedia was the best place for this super thread.

I'm so "Blown Away" reading about Bill and the NOA!!! WOW! So great racing in those days...

I never knew KOA had J Runabout and Hydro...I don't think APBA had J hydro until the 70's.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Way to go Ron.:cool:

One of the interesting things Bill told me was that he started in J and became so dominant, he quit and moved to A. He did the same thing in all the classes. As far as I can remember, as he moved up in classes, he did not just add more classes. He quit racing the classes he became predominant in and just moved higher. In the F hydro class, he was winning big with the Mercs, but had to quit running the most successful brand because he started representing McCulloch and could not run the Merc. I will have to find my notes to confirm this, but I believe he turned his rig over to or helped OB Aylor to win several championships with the Merc.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I am sending this from the boat racing/music room and have found all the Bill Holland photos I scanned. Since I first did that so many years back, I have learned more about using these programs and renamed the three files so I can find them without having to open everything.:) The bad news is that I don't find any pictures of the DeSilva. There may be some, but it looks unlikely at this point.

[Jerry Peterson]

I had the opportunity to drive Bill's boat at the APBA kilos in Norristown,Pa. in the fall of 1970.
Bill introduced himself at Alexandria,La. that year after we had bumped the NOA F hydro
record up a couple of mph.He asked me to run my 6 cyl.Quincy looper on his boat for the APBA record..When he said that DeSilva's had built the boat I agreed.
Bill was a great guy and we worked hard that weekend but water conditions were poor.
It was an honor to have known Bill Holland.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Thanks very much for the post Jerry. I know you don't post very much, but when you do, it's from someone who has been there and knows what he's talking about. It's good to hear you add to some history that would have been lost without your input.

[jrome]

Jerry , You are right about Bill Holland he made you fell good . He treated people with respect. Bill was a super star in Texas ,but never acted like he was special. I feel just like Jerry. Bill could teach you what real man does in life. He was big time hero.

[Thumper]

Just a few Photos of a restoration process well underway......Holland Hydro will be in the Bodyshop for final prep and paint on Monday Mar 5 2012 ........Will post More photos when the Boat is complete. So far Approximately 200 hours have been spent on the project..Boat was completely stripped of all the old paint

Ralph Desilva, sent me the Serial number from his records FCH 3655....Original number is under the floor which was glassed in and could not be easily gotten too..

photos>>>.... shows the transom Repair ....transom is now back at its original Height..
also shows Cockpit reconstruction prep and paint

Bottom of hull is in excellent shape ....not much work to do underneath Last phots shows Boat at Bodyshop

Thanks for lookin
Brad K

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Here is a copy of Bill in the DeSilva that appeared on the March 1966 cover of Roostertail. Sorry for the doodling, it's my only copy.. It stated inside the cover that Bill had been clocked at nearly 106 mph.

[Thumper]

Well I have an interesting Question..

On Page one it States, Bill Holland ..F class ... Straight away Record Knoxville TN. 93.750 mph 7-13-63

Desilva, sent me Info that States, "The White Record Boat" serial number FCH365 and Is the Boat I now own was not Built until 1965 ..."The Boat was turned over to Bill at the Culver City California Shop in March of 65" ....... according to Desilva Records

Here is my question....

What Boat was Holland in when he ran Fclass Record in Knoxville in 1963 ????

I was told that it was a "Jones Boat" but I have never seen the Old NOA record Books to verify.

[Mark75H]

If someone has a 1964 NOA rulebook they should be able to answer that question.

I only have 63 and 66 rulebooks in that time frame

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I don't have a 1964 rulebook either, but Bill's record was still in the books in 1965.

FH 93.750 7/13/63 Knoxville, Tennessee Bill Holland Scott/Jones

[Mark75H]

Thanks, Wayne ... a Jones it is then.

The boat Holland took the record from was also a Jones.

Arlen Crouch 90.9 in 1959 with a Merc (I think we can be pretty certain it was a Quincy built Merc)


Holland lost the record to Jerry Waldman driving one of the Entrop/MacDonald boats at 106.8 in 1965 again with a Merc

[Thumper]

Sam & Wayne ....Great info


1968 Dick Austin F class 107.143mph took the record from Waldmans F 106.825 mph

[Mark75H]

That is the way I understand it.

[Thumper]

It certainly all fits and makes Sense..

I wonder if The 1970 Jerry Peterson attempt using the Holland/Desilva Boat was the last run in the Holland Boat



Brad K

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I would copy an article for you if there were one Brad, but unfortunately there wasn't, only a brief caption on the inside.

ADD: A list of Bill Holland's records compiled by himself is on post 3 of this thread, and a brief account of Bill's record attempt with the DeSilva is found on post 11. In a photo you can see the lower unit coming out of the water. Bill is positive he would have set a record had he not been losing water pickup several times down the straightaway. He ran it with the cover off as in the black and white photo at speed, and not completely enclosed as in the cover photo.

[Smokin' Joe]

Littons were the standard props supplied on the McCulloch race motors

Louis Baumann and Bill went weekends to the Baytown Boat Club to test props in the late 1960s. Louis worked the two Littons that Bill had. He said bill was running about 114 mph
and had two turbo-charged 590s, but I haven't found any supporting evidence for turbo chargers. Louis said he played with progressive pitch on the two Littons.

[Smokin' Joe]

According to Martin collector Louis Rothermel Bill was the Martin Rep and raced Martins in the early 1950s. When Martin went under then the local Martin dealer became a Scott-Atwater dealer and Bill became the rep. He then raced Scotts. Later, he took over the Scott dealership. That was the Crawford St. store in downtown Houston where he sold Mercury when I appeared on the Tx. racing scene in 1977. He sponsored a tunnel with a Mercury V-6 at least in 1983, Gene Thibodeaux drove for him.




He was running on the edge, actually on a 2" by 12 " pad at the extreme aft of the "Unlimited" bass boat. Approaching the end of the run at an estimated 119 mph the nose lifted slightly. He just touched the trim button and instantly the whole atmosphere changed as the boat launched skyward. Going from a feeling of exhilaration and relief of almost being there to a feeling of "no way out"....this is going to hurt! As the boat gained altitude, his mind was racing. Racing so fast that everything going on around him seemed in slow motion. No longer a wind tearing at his face and cheeks, but a silent, eerie feeling; the wind now blocked by the hull going forward and up until somewhere around 30 to 40 feet its flight was done and it became earthbound.

He skipped and tumbled along a surface like wet concrete with hands. Grabbing, tearing, and pulling until finally he skidded to a stop. There, laying within reach was one of his shoes....floating upside down. He started to grab the shoe, then thought better of it. Maybe a foot might still be in it. It was still too soon for the pain to set in and he had to take stock of himself. He had worn his lucky shirt that day. He still had it on. Barely. The collar was still around his neck, but the rest was hanging out the backside of his life jacket. He ended up with no broken bones, but every ligament, every muscle, every joint was pulled, twisted, torn or stretched. It was thirty days before he could get out of bed without pain.

It was 17 years after Bill Holland quit racing alkies that he took that spill. He had made a couple of successful runs the day before in the production bass boat, and that day he was going for an ulimited bass boat record. The night before he had stripped all the unneccessary items and rebalanced it for the unlimited run. When they had wired the boat, the trim switch was backwards, but Bill figured that he would be able to remember just trim it in reverse. When the boat seemed to be trimmed right and he was nearing the end of the run, he just automatically touched the trim as he normally would when the nose came up.

Bill Holland actually started racing in 1950, but he got hooked the summer before when he raced and beat some other boats with his fishing rig. Like quite a few boat racers, he was instantly drawn to speed on the water when he was out fishing one day and saw a racing boat. He beat some of them that summer with his fishing boat, and the next year he had a race boat and won his first race. It was estimated that during his racing career from 1950 to 1965 Bill won more than 500 races.

This is but one of many stories of Bill Holland's boat racing.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

.Steve DeSouza also had some great success driving for Bill, Joe. They were sponsored by a boat trailer manufacturer EZ Tilt or something like that. I have all that stuff in a folder, just need to take time to scan it.

[Thumper]

Louis Baumann and Bill went weekends to the Baytown Boat Club to test props in the late 1960s. Louis worked the two Littons that Bill had. He said bill was running about 114 mph
and had two turbo-charged 590s, but I haven't found any supporting evidence for turbo chargers. Louis said he played with progressive pitch on the two Littons.

The Belt driven Rotary induction behind the Carbs on the 590/630 at first glance, does kinda look like it could be mistaken for a type of supercharger and the Fact that Mcculloch started Paxton superchargers all ads to a Turbocharger Mystery

Probably just the rotary and the way it looked caused all the speculation and the Fact that these outboards were so Rare to see even back in the day

[Thumper]

Photos taken By Bill Davis at Tics Marine Knoxville Boat club 1966
Clocked at 105mph by Claude Fox 1966

Above info written on back of photos

[Thumper]

This Note was sent to me by Ralph Desilva proving that The 1962 NOA F-class record by Holland was not accomplished in this Hydro

[Smokin' Joe]

Photos taken By Bill Davis at Tics Marine Knoxville Boat club 1966
Clocked at 105mph by Claude Fox 1966

Above info written on back of photos

Nice post! I knew Tic, he raced NOA when I did. He had a Mercury dealership in downtown Knoxville in 1976, I bought rings for my 850 there.

[Thumper]

Pics of Holland Hydro Restoration photos......Currently waiting on the Vinyl Graphics for the hydro. Motor and Trailer are in the shop and should be done soon

Thanks for lookin

Brad K
Rhinelander Wi

[Smokin' Joe]

Very nice!


Pics of Holland Hydro Restoration photos......Currently waiting on the Vinyl Graphics for the hydro. Motor and Trailer are in the shop and should be done soon

Thanks for lookin

Brad K
Rhinelander Wi

[Thumper]

Very nice!

Thanks Joe please make a few copies and give them to Louis Baumann

[Thumper]

Enjoy the latest restoration photos of the Bill Holland Hydroplane built by Desilva. I completed the Hydro (summer 2012......Test runs should happen summer 2013 ......

If you have any old photos of Bill Holland .....Please send them to me or post them here

(Black and White photo is Bill Holland at speed)

Thanks Brad K

[Smokin' Joe]

I raced against Tic Davis as teenager in NOA 40=50 class. We both ran Mercury Mark 58As.
He later had a Mercury dealership in Knoxville.


Photos taken By Bill Davis at Tics Marine Knoxville Boat club 1966
Clocked at 105mph by Claude Fox 1966

Above info written on back of photos