An Amazing Story [Archive] - Boat Racing Facts Forums

Master Oil Racing Team

07-28-2006, 06:09 PM

But Ron.....you know what I think about almost every day? You know the butterflies while you're sitting on the side of the cockpit, looking toward the judges stand waiting and watching for the three minute ball to drop. Then setlling in on your knees, grasping the steering wheel, advancing the throttle a little and looking back at the pit crew as they lift the transom. Squirt two doses of gas into the carbuerator and the strongest arm grits his teeth and with a half a wrap of the rope snaps that 700cc brute into action. Back off the throttle as the pit crew eases the prop into the water and shoves the hydro away then goose it. Not too much, but to get on a plane quickly. Look over the left shoulder to check the traffic, then head toward the milling area. Just before I would turn left to head toward the milling area I would punch my "D" Koning and get the feel of the instant power. Get speed up and the wind in my face cleared all the butterflies away and I was ready for racing. How can you do all that to clear the butterflies in an enclosed cockpit?:D

Ron Hill

07-28-2006, 06:28 PM

For whatever reason, and you may consider it BULL, but I only had "Butterflys" once at DePue....They were playing "Oh say can you see...and A Racing Runabout was first uip...I had set top QUAILFYING TIME and had been leading ARR the year before when a rod broke and spilled me....

I had the new LONG RODS, so that wasn't a worry...I was driving Max McPeeks AU....30 inch bottom, 9-M was the number.....and there was this young Sweetie I'd met in Michigan, about two weeks earlier, and she was there...She'd never seen a boat race and I was so "UP TIGHT" I didn't think they ever stop singing "Oh say..."...

As it turned out, Jerry Simison (spelled wrong) won and I got second.....

I usually started the engines myself.....and once the engine lit, I knew what my plan was....

Now, the Parker 9 Hour was another story....I don't think I ever slept the night before Parker, I'd toss and turn, get up and walk..go back to bed and toss and turn.......there were always so many things to worry about, besides the driving.... when they'd count down to zero, usually, I'd have to wipe a tear or two from my eyes.....as I loved racing and hoped things would go well, I also knew I would be able to do this forever.......then, I'd hit the switch....

My Konigs were always fun, I was never an abuser....I'd start the engine on as little of throttle that I figured she'd run on, and just "Tickle" the throttle to make sure she was clean....Then, I'd nod to the guys to let me down, and I'd come on the throttle...easy, like I'd seen Jerry Waldman do a hundred times....I always did my racing between when the clock hit 60 and the checkered flag....

Harry Bartolomei's Cross Flow Quincy 75-H on a 15:16 Konig foot, two in the boat, 13'6" DeSilva....Man you didn't have time for BUTTER FLYS....

The young lady that didn't see me win ARR, did see me win DRR, Chicago to Milwaukee to Chicago Marathon and the 1967 Outboard World Championships at Lake Havasu.......

I had a physical the other day, the nurse said, "WOW what a heart beat...perfect.".....I would be willing to bet, my heart rate changed little while driving.....

My good friend, Chuck Newton, who has passed on, often wondered "OUT LOUD" how I, who could only stay on one subject for two or three minutes, could get in a race boat and drive like a "CRAZY MAN" for 5 or 6 hours......

I guess, I loved be totally focused on the race......I can honestly say, I NEVER raced in a race, that I couldn't have told you who was a head of me and who was behind....Marathon or short course, I'd get focused and I just knew where everyone was and what was going on....

Few could drive a tunnel boat at Parker, all day and stay off their head....In Freddy Hauenstein's prime and my prime, when we drove together, we'd lap, 13 miles and 8 minutes 32 second full fuel load or empty.....That's just all we could squeeze out of her....people set their watches on our lap times...that Super Stangler, sounding like it was "RIPPING PAPER"... would run all day...Freddy and I ram 27 straight hours at Parker in my 16 foot Scotti...before they went to 7 hours....

Butterflies???? Yes, I guess I had them 24-7.....

ADD: My Konigs were set up with twin fuel pumps and regulators....I'd turn on both pumps with one switch, my dad had them so, if one quit the other worked. Then, I'd "Tickle" each float to make sure they were free and to just "tickle" a few drops into the carbs....I never squirted my Konigs.... Now Harry Bartolomei's were another story...Hell, he ran so much NITRO, the whole boat was on fire, in C Racing Runabout, and Harry was still cranking, saying when it starts the fire will go out...I tried to jump out and Frankie Signarello pulled my pants down to my knees, by the time I had my pants back up, Harry had the Mother running and the fire did go out, burned all the hair off my arm, though...(Four carb Konig)...Damn thing went two laps and broke a retainer....I won the "D" with a four carb that year...

Master Oil Racing Team

07-28-2006, 06:44 PM

....I'm talking about. I had those same kind at DePue also, but a few years later. Your butterfly seemed to have followed you some distance.

Jeff Lytle

07-29-2006, 04:42 AM

Morning Boys........

I can relate to your butterflies Wayne. I love your description you posted above--It's kinda' like really being there.
I used to get really nervous too before the 1st race of the day, but found after I had a heat under my belt, everything just kind of fell into place.
I was known for having to have a pre race pee. It didn't matter how I timed it, it always crept up to bite me........Usually when I had the life jacket on and my helmet in my hand and was ready to go. :eek: I could deal with the dry mouth pasties OK, but I could usually be seen wandering out into deeper water to "inspect" something on the front of my boat for a minute or two before climbing in to get the job done. Guess it way my bodys way of preparing itself for the upcoming rush.

BTW Ron, I pronounce it Konig just like everyone else does. Maybe Armand and the French Canadian boys did it another way, I can't recall.

Master Oil Racing Team

07-29-2006, 06:28 AM

I forgot about those deep water inspections Jeff:D Yeah, once the action begins, no more butterflies. Thinking back, it was the worst at the nationals in a qualifying heat with lots of boats. Once I knew I made it to the finals, I still had butterflies before the first race of the day, but it was not as bad as in qualifying. Another time is UIM racing with 20-21 boats in a heat. Well, my pictures are downloading now, so soon I'll tell the story.

David_L6

07-29-2006, 06:57 AM

Yeah, once the action begins, no more butterflies. Thinking back, it was the worst at the nationals in a qualifying heat with lots of boats. Once I knew I made it to the finals, I still had butterflies before the first race of the day, but it was not as bad as in qualifying.

The only time I remember ever having butterflies in a qualifying heat was the very first Nationals I entered. I probably should be more concerned about making the finals than I am because I have made some late starts (don't won't to jump in qualifying) and then had to really work to get up to 5th (guaranteed to be in the finals) place. I don't want to finish 6th and then hope that I'm the fastest 6th place finisher. Winning a qualifying heat has never meant much to me. I guess because I've seen some guys jump the gun that had the fastest boat in their class. Never understood why they pushed the clock so hard when they were plenty fast enough to make the top 5 even if they started in last place.

Now once we're going out for the finals the butterflies start flying!

Another time is UIM racing with 20-21 boats in a heat.

If it was me going out with a crowd like that it would be called SCARED! :eek: - not butterflies. :o I remember Tim Butts describing some of the UIM races to me. It was impossible for me to even imagine before the internet came along and I was able to see some pictures and videos of those races.

Master Oil Racing Team

07-29-2006, 07:09 AM

My very last race was the second heat of the UIM OD World Championships in Berlin and somewhere around 18-20 boats. It was at the Spandau course and I'm sure Ralph knows the milling area, what little of it there is. Probably 3/4 ths of the field jumped the gun and I just held back waiting to get to the first turn, a single pin bouy. There was so much spray that boats went way wide and I intended to cut in close and come out way ahead. That is until one of the boats in the spray missed the bouy and turned around without looking. He was directly in my path and I ramped over him, puncturing a sponson. I did have time to paddle to a yacht and get a rope on the bow handle just before it sank. There's the doorbell. Be back in a minute to do the story.

Jeff Akers

07-29-2006, 07:59 AM

[QUOTE=Master Oil Racing There's the doorbell. Be back in a minute to do the story.[/QUOTE]

Don't toy with us Wayne just give us the scoop!:rolleyes: ;)

Master Oil Racing Team

07-29-2006, 08:52 AM

About 6 or 8 months after I had discovered BRF I had decided I needed a Konig to hang on the wall in my racing room. After looking at all those beautifully restored motors that members were posting I decided to try to find one out there. I don't know how to do E Bay so I was going to post a want ad on the buy/sell thread. Well, only a couple of days later (before I had a chance to post) there was a new listing of 7 or 8 items. All but the last one was OPC boats and motors. The last item was a 700cc Konig. That was exactly what I wanted. I was hoping to find a 500 or 700cc Konig from the mid seventies like I last raced with.

So I decided to buy the engine, but first I wanted to know the serial number to determine the year it was made. For those not familiar with Konig serial numbers the first two digits are the year of manufacture and the other numbers are the number it came off the line. For instance one of my old "F"s was 7331. It was the 31st "F" made in 1973. The seller E mailed me that the serial number was D41994. My response was "that's not a Konig number!" He replied that he knew that and that was an issue in the past when he tried to sell the motor. He assured me it was a Konig and sent pictures to prove it. It was, down to the old style coils and I made an offer. He made a counteroffer and I accepted. At this point it was a matter of getting the shipping costs and mailing him the money. The night I made the deal, I was in a deep sleep when all of a sudden my eyes popped open about three O'Clock in the morning. That number seemed familiar. First thing in the morning I got up and checked the "D" section of my test book. There it was on one of the test sheets---D41994. That was my old motor. The very one I hoped to find one similar to. Now I would get it back. I couldn't believe it.

That motor has a good history. We bought it from Marshall Grant in 1974. It was the last D Billy Seebold ran before going to OPC. Billy was racing it in the heat that Jerry Waldman was killed in. Billy Hulgan and Jerry Simison ran it at Alexandria before we got it from Marshall. The second time I ran it, I stuffed my hydro and was out of action for the rest of the year. The beginning of the next year, 1976, I won a World Championship with it, set a competion record, and set a kilo record with the same set up we raced with. The only thing I didn't accomplish with it that year was win the Nationals. We had some kind of problem with it then. I did win a nationals with it in 78. I carried it to Austria and Germany, and was with me when it sunk at my last race in Berlin. You can't imagine the cloud I was on when I knew my favorite motor of all time was coming home.

That was sometime last summer. After the early correspondence, nothing more was forthcoming. after a month or so had passed, the seller had moved and gotten a new E mail address. There were some sever health and other personal issues going on at the time that I was unaware of. Don't blame them for putting that ahead of an old chunk of aluminum. I was told the engine was put in storage and that when he had time, he would box it up and weigh it for freight charges. More time passed and I had told Joe the story of my find that same day. I didn't want to post anything here until I had it in my hands. After about two months Joe began pestering me about getting the motor. I was getting no response and finally sent an E Mail every other month or so. I told my daughter's boyfriend about it and he said he had a lot of stuff in storage when he was out of work after being discharged from the Marines and all his stuff was auctioned off for past due rent. Man, was I worried.

Sorry, but have to finish later. My boat's ready in Corpus and they close at Noon. Debbie's hassling me to get out of here. :(

David_L6

07-29-2006, 09:55 AM

Jeff,

Looks like he's going to keep teasing us! :p

Wayne,

Sounds like it's about time for you to contact Marc Johnson @ http://www.mjrboatplans.com/ and get one of these..... :cool:

Master Oil Racing Team

07-29-2006, 12:28 PM

....I could only wish.

No David....I really did have to go to Corpus:D Either that or sleep in the storage room because I didn't get the boat.

So here goes again.

I began to forget about the motor, then Joe would hammer me. Rusty Rae said if all it needed was boxing up, he would go get it and send it to me, but I didn't know where it was. Then a couple of weeks ago right before we left for Hawaii I got an E mail from the seller apologizing for the delay and explaining what had happened. He wasn't sure whether I still wanted it. I said I sure did and within a few days he had it all boxed up and weighed. I was up near Houston when he called and gave me shipping costs. I sent him a check and finally received the motor during the last couple of days. There were three packages. The first three came Thursday. Carbs, pipe bracket, elbows, tower housing etc. No powerhead. Oh man! Then yesterday had a notice that there was a package at the post office. I loaded up for a job then went over there to pick it up. No package. The mailman still had it. The postmaster gave me his cell and said we may be able to tag up somewhere. He never answered and I left a message. I headed toward the job. Nothing was going to be easy getting this motor. Shortly after I turned North to go to the job my cell rang. It was the postman. He was only two miles from me. So I drove to a store to meet him. After I signed the receipt I ripped the package open and Yes. there was my old motor.

The people I bought it from acquired it from a guy named Michael who had in turn bought it from Harry Bartolomei. It was Harry Bartolomei who bought everything we had but the trailer in the fall of 81. I may be wrong, but I think I heard that Harry or Lee had set a kilo record in excess of 100mph in 700cc runabout. Or maybe it was that Lee was clocked over 100 when he blew over. Anyway, I'll try to track down some more of the history on it. Many thanks to the guys who made it through some tough times, but held out and got D41994 back to me. Now I need to call Marshall Grant and find out what the deal was with that weird serial number.

Jeff Akers

07-29-2006, 12:49 PM

Great story even if it took all day to post it LOL :rolleyes:

I'll have to talk to my brother about this, he may know some history on it as he drove for Harry in the mid to late 80's...I know the stuff they had back then was very fast...I'll see what I can dig up.

Master Oil Racing Team

07-29-2006, 01:55 PM

:cool: I never heard what happened to my Butts laydown "Vibora de Cascabel" (rattlesnake). Did your brother ever drive it?

David_L6

07-29-2006, 02:05 PM

Great story even if it took all day to post it LOL :rolleyes:

No kiddin'! :rolleyes: I've been running back in the house every few minutes to see if the rest of the story has been posted yet.

Great story Wayne. Thanks for sharing. :cool:

David_L6

07-29-2006, 02:09 PM

I've been running back in the house every few minutes to see if the rest of the story has been posted yet.

Well.... There was one trip into the house that wasn't to check the computer. I came in to get the key to my truck. I figured it may be best if I made myself scarce for a while after I ran my 44 on the hose for about 5 minutes. :eek: The neighbors on either side of me weren't home, but a 4 cylinder mod make enough noise to rattle a whole neighborhood!

Ron Hill

07-29-2006, 02:42 PM

That Konig looks like it was used too much when it was NEW!!!

Master Oil Racing Team

07-29-2006, 02:43 PM

Sorry it took so long..heh heh.

Reminds me of an elegantly dressed lady about in her mid 70's at the Unlimited Commission meeting at Portland, Oregon in 1978. Bill Muncey was standing on a chair addressing the commission when she stood up. She said "Young man....faster is not always better!":D

What a sweet sound. A screaming 44 bouncing off the walls of every house in all directions. Bet some dogs enjoyed it too.:D

Jeff Lytle

07-29-2006, 03:07 PM

There were three packages. The first three came Thursday. Carbs, pipe bracket, elbows, tower housing etc. After I signed the receipt I ripped the package open and Yes. there was my old motor.

Just wondering........No unit?? No pipes?? Hope "etc." means you got the unit and the pipes too!

Looks like you have at least one 48mm carb there as well! :)

MORE PICS PLEASE!!

BTW--Your Dad would be doing backflips right now with the news!!

Jeff Lytle

07-29-2006, 03:27 PM

Now I need to call Marshall Grant and find out what the deal was with that weird serial number.

I saw some weird numbers in my day too. VB 1, and VB6900 come to mind. Both were Team engines purchaced from the Germans when they came to this side of the pond for a Worlds.
I bet Marshall bought it right from Dieter and it was a Team engine.

Master Oil Racing Team

07-29-2006, 04:40 PM

Yeah Jeff--I figure Marshall is the clue to the numbers. I don't necessarily think it was a team engine. My guess is that it is something Dieter put together for Marshall. Joe has spent a lot of time talking with Marshall over the years and he told Joe that whenever they were touring in the vicinity and Marshall got a chance he would go to see Dieter. I'll call Marshall next week to find some answers.

No, I didn't the the lower unit or pipes. Pipes may take up too much room, but if anyone out there has a lower unit, I would be interested. Ray Yates has offered up one of Charlie Bailey's "C" prop to hang on it. If Charlie wants it back he has to become a BRF member and tell me or Ray:D .

There are two 48mm carbs as well as the 40's that came with it. Interestingly there was only a standard Konig rotary valve. We were running Zak rotary valves with varying leading and trailing edges that were far different in degrees of timing than the Konig. It also did not have the rotary valve gear and set up that we ran. One of the few things I had left was one of those, so I don't know if we replaced it before we sold it or what. It had some tricks that Ray Hardy invented, so maybe we kept that after all.

Jeff Akers

07-29-2006, 10:13 PM

:cool: I never heard what happened to my Butts laydown "Vibora de Cascabel" (rattlesnake). Did your brother ever drive it?

I asked him some time ago if he had driven a Butts, he said Harry had one that he got to drive...I remember him saying it was the best handling boat hed ever driven... not sure if that was your old boat or not...I think he's got some pictures of it.. I'll see if I can get over to his place sometime next week and get the photo's for ya:cool:

Master Oil Racing Team

07-30-2006, 06:52 AM

I'm looking forward to it Jeff. The last two years I raced, we were down to D and F only. We quit 250 hydro after 76, 350 after 78, and 500 hydro after 79. Jack Chance didn't have time to keep up with everything and with the oilfield catching fire, neither did I. I craved the speed and power so we chose to run the big classes. Plus in our move to promote UIM racing over here, we were more likely to get the 700cc and 1100cc World Championship events in the U.S. So the only two boats we had left when we sold to Harry were "Vibora de Cascabel", the laydown, and "Shadowfax", Tim's first experiment with two 45 degree wings on the transom. Both were excellent handling boats.

Tubby Nevada

07-30-2006, 09:33 PM

Glad you got all your boxes, old Tubby was pleased to send the old girl home to you. I had the stuff hid out so well I couldn't even find it for some time but that was good since what would Uncle Sam do with a vintage Konig. Wayne it made my day when I read this story and realized old fatty got to play a part in it. Tally-Ho from Tubby

Master Oil Racing Team

07-31-2006, 06:10 AM

Thanks Tubby. Your part added lots of drama to the story. Welcome to BRF. When I found the note from Michael packed in one of the boxes, I was wondering...did you ever get the motor put together and race it?

BTW, while I was looking for your website I found some great cartoons of a rattlesnake. Was that your brother Bill that did those?

Master Oil Racing Team

07-31-2006, 05:23 PM

Jack Chance and I picked up that motor on the way to the Eastern Divisionals in Gadsden, Alabama in June of 1974. We got that "D" and Marshall Grant's dual rotary valve "F" Konig. From the very first test sheets we had ignition problems with that D. I don't recall racing it at DePue or the final race of the year at our house as we had another D. We did a lot of testing from December through February prior to the OD World Championships, and the common thread was always surging at high rpm. We finally ran out of test time and had to pack up to leave.

We rented an-out-of -the-box Konig from Jim McKean, but that Grant motor was quicker and better accelerating even with its surge. Marshall later told me that he never could cure it, but it still won races for him. After trying everything we could think of we decided to put Jim's stator plate and all ignition components on the Grant Konig. I made a pass down the backstraight and the Keller showed 107 less than halfway down the course and the pipes not all the way up. I pulled into the pits and said "Put it on the stands, it's ready".

After we got home, on very close inspection we found that the brass post that the points swiveled on was drilled and tapped very slightly out of alignment. We ran an extra spring on our points to keep them from floating at high rpm's and the tension seemed plenty good when we set the timing. At home I tighted the points on the crooked post and the tension was much weaker. Loosen the screw and the tension was back. There was the problem. That one set of points was floating at more 9,500 rpms. We never thought to check tension after the points were set and tightened.

Another thing about that engine that I never had happen before was that I lost the front pipe on the back straight in lap two (I think). I had a good lead and when the pipe fell off Rex Hall knew for sure he would take over 1st place. I thought so too, but that motor never even slowed down. It maintained good acceleration too. Doug...ask your Dad if he remembers that. Rex chased me to the finish but he never caught up.

Here is one of the test sheets showing some of the difficulities before the race. We spent so much time testing that motor that we only spent part of a day on the others. The photo is the Grant Konig on an unnamed boat that later became "Quien Sabe". It was only sealed then and did not have our colors yet.

Tubby Nevada

07-31-2006, 07:01 PM

Hello, Tubby back at ya-
We never ran that motor, bought it from Michael Lopez after he bought a bunch of Harry B's Konig stuff. Jason and I were so busy in developing our version of the four carb 850's that I never got around to building that project- thus it was sitting in a box for many years. I got tired of breaking gear cases with the big old 4 carb merc and was going to get started on this project when- I got sick.
As kindly old Uncle Sam was relieving me of everything I owned, that motor was some of the stuff that found new homes in my race trailer and storage. Yep, funny how right in my worst run of health and finances, I thought to protect my racing stuff and then I took off and strapped on a race boat. Tubby found the cure, when you are circling the bowl- go racing. Tally-Ho my friend if I get to Texas do I get pizza? Tubby

Master Oil Racing Team

07-31-2006, 07:46 PM

...& is that Jason riding deck? Whoever it is looks like he's really into the ride.

Yeah Tubby, when you get to Texas we'll have homemade pizza. Just let me know what toppings you want. Also Tex Mex. After that you'll never be satisfied with any other kind of Mexican food.

I kind of had the idea when I found that note from Michael that you hadn't run the motor. That really adds to the streak of luck because a lot of people who had something like that sitting around in storage for a long time might have just junked it. My thanks to you.

Finally---I've seen a lot of fine looking restorations on BRF. Any hints from you restorers on how to clean up the block without dissassembling everything? What about Armour All on the plastic and rubber parts?

Jeff Lytle

08-01-2006, 03:50 AM

Wayne.........I recently got a 700cc Konig in the same condition. Crank, rotary valve and l/unit stuck TIGHT :eek:
I took it to a local engine rebuilder and had him put it all (except coils and condensers) into his hot tank for a few hours. I gave him a couple of gallons of Klotz / Alky mix to run through it after it cooled to flush out the tank mix. The engine came back castor free and I was able to take it apart and rebuild it.

As for the rust on the elbows, pipes and tower, I used a water based cleaning solution that sizzled as it attacked and neutralized the rust. Can't remember the name of the stuff, but remember it smelled like rotton eggs (or was that me? :D ) Then emery cloth and elbow grease did the rest.

As for the pitting and staining on the block, I used a superfine emery and steel wool--------It worked really well.

Ed thirlby will still have the hard to find bearings and stuff if you need them. He should have pipes and a pooched unit as well if you're just going to hang it on the wall.

Good luck

Master Oil Racing Team

08-01-2006, 07:07 AM

Thanks Jeff. May have been some kind of sulfuric acid base. It will throw off H2S that smells like rotten eggs. The motor is free. It had a slight hang, but I was rotating it with all the holes filled with stuffing, so a piston was probably catching that in an exhaust port. One of the heads had no nuts on the studs and a quick inspection of the pistons and cylinders on that end looked good. The steel wool and emery cloth should work great on the tower housing, but seems like a lot of polishing on a casting. First I want to try something a little less time consuming. & a pooched unit is just what I need.

Tubby, or anyone else. Do you know how to get ahold of Michael Lopez? Are these numbers still good. I just want to see if he has any other stories to add regarding this motor.

Jeff Lytle

08-01-2006, 07:34 AM

Tape up the milled/polished surfaces and give it a light soda or media blast then.
Don't suggest silca for obvious reasons. That should cut the emery/steel wool time to a minimum, and save your fingertips as well.

bill boyes

08-01-2006, 10:12 AM

Master Oil Racing Team

08-01-2006, 02:35 PM

Thanks Bill, I got it. I sent a pm back to you but my box was full and I don't know if it made it out the door. :) I will try to call Michael tonight.

In the meantime I talked to Marshall Grant this morning and this is what he told me.

The motor D41994 was built for him. He didn't keep records of the motor or numbers and he doesn't know why that number was stamped on it, nor had any clue to the meaning. I don't think Dieter ever did anything randomly. The numbers mean something, but unless Peter Konig or someone else in Dieter's family can give us a clue, I guess we'll never know.

Anyway, Marshall picked up the motor in Berlin in pieces in 1970. The Johnny Cash Show was going very strong then, and Marshall was going to be in Europe and wanted to get a new D Konig with certain parameters he wanted. He got Dieter's phone number from Scott Smith and phoned up Dieter to give him the list. First he wanted the block to be square and the sleeves line bored true. Then Marshall wanted identical pistons with wrist pins bored square and the pistons fit properly. Most importantly, he wanted the crank to be 100% true and perfect. Marshall considered the crankshaft to be the heart of a superior racing engine. Essentially he wanted the basics of a blueprinted engine. Off the shelf, Konigs were pretty good, but Marshall wanted one with all major components squared off and perfectly in line.

What Dieter did was to do all the pressing, machining and measuring himself. So when Marshall got there all the parts of the engine were laid out on a table. They went through each piece and when Marshall was satisfied that Dieter had gotten him what he wanted, he took everything back to his shop in Tennesse where he assembled it.

Marshall told me that the engine always ran very strong, but sometimes it would begin to flutter the last 1000 rpm's. One time at Lakeland the brass post that one set of points swiveled on came loose and he had to retighten it. That was the same one that gave us fits. Billy Seebold won numerous hydro and runabout races with the motor from 1970 through 1972 when he moved to OPC.

Jeff Lytle

08-01-2006, 04:50 PM

Wayne:

I had an old boat of mine come back to me some 20 years later, cool feeling driving the old gal again. :)

http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81

Master Oil Racing Team

08-01-2006, 06:01 PM

That was a good series of posts Jeff. If those boats could tell a tale about the drivers they had, imagine how great that would be to sit around and listen to. I am so amazed at how people are able to track down these old treasures. One of those great success stories is Kenny Kitson resurrecting his Switzer Wing "El Diablo".

Master Oil Racing Team

08-02-2006, 07:03 AM

At first Marshall didn't exactly remember the year he got the motor, then he recalled it was when Carl Perkins was pitting for him at Alexandria. He said "It was 1970. The TV show was going, and Carl was pitting for me. We won both qualifying heats". Those were D hydro and D runabout. Billy Seebold went on to win the NOA World Championships in those events as well. He repeated in 1971 winning both classes at Alexandria, but Marshall didn't show in 1972 or 1973. The following year, the motor was ours.

I haven't found all the info yet on APBA 1970-74.

Jeff Akers

08-04-2006, 04:23 PM

Wayne, I talked to my brother this week about the 700 and he said he ran one about a half dozen times on one of Harry's Italian"Popeally"(sp)? boats...He's got some good video of it :cool: ....He also said that he never paid a whole lot of atention to the engine #'s and stuff. he was just a young kid wanting to win every thing at WFO! He wished he piad more atention now;) Not sure who ended up with Harry's stuff.

The info I gave you on the Butt's was wrong:( "sorry"...The butt's he drove wasn't Harrys It was Tom Gouldstone's witch Tom had bought from one of the Biagio's(sp) from J&G marine in Napa. My brother said he thought Biagio bouhgt it at the pro nat's in the mid 80's?

Tom striped all the paint and re finnished the boat the way you see it in the photo's... my brother drove this boat in the 88 season for Tom with a 500 on it.. he still get's upset talking about it cause Tom would't let him run it with Tom's "good" 700.. He did say it was by far the best boat he had ever driven!

Sorry I cant be of more help.. :o

Master Oil Racing Team

08-04-2006, 05:52 PM

....even if it's not what you thought at first, it could keep you away from a dead end. Nice looking boat, & good job of refinishing. Looks like a little too much fin though unless it's a long straight with tight turns.

Turned out I gave some bad information myself. I had thought I did a kilo record and a competition record with 41994 in the same year. That was my goal, but it didn't happen. The competition record I set in 1976 was also with a Marshall Grant motor, but it was the double rotary valve "F". I have to spend a little time getting all of this straight because I lost some notes and my files are all scattered.

Marshall didn't keep notes on serial numbers and I don't think many people do. I did through part of my racing career and quit toward the end, but I would never remember a number in the wee hours of the morning from any other motor we had unless it was the "Donald Duck" motor. The fact that the number was so unusual and that we spent more than six weeks trying to figure out how to correct this perplexing high speed miss must have ingrained that number in my brain from writing up so many test sheets.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-22-2006, 06:40 AM

Finally had a little break yesterday and examined my motor a little more closely. Took the stuffing out of the ports and the heads off. It turns as easily as if Jack Chance had overhauled it last week. Crank looks good. Pistons all good, and the rings are free. Doesn't appear to be much time on the cylinders since the last rework. There was some shrapnel hits on no. 3 and no. 4 cylinder heads--more on 4. One 2-3mm scrape on No. 4 cylinder liner that a hone couldn't take out, but for a 36 year old racing motor, it looks in good shape. In fact it looks so good internally that I believe with new electrical components and a tank full of fresh fuel, it would fire right up.

Found the rest of the APBA results from the time Billy Seebold ran this motor for Marshall. Billy and Dan Kirts dueled back and forth in D hydro and Billy ended up with 2nd overall in 1970. Billy finished third in D runabout. In 1971 Billy again finished 3rd overall in D runabout, but I could find nothing on D hydro. He was not in the top three. Billy won his qualifying heat for D hydro in 1972, but something happened and he doesn't show up on the top three for the finals. He did win the nationals in D runabout this time though.

Jeff Lytle

08-22-2006, 01:14 PM

I know you said you were going to display this engine, but just in case you get the urge to hear that sound and smell the castor..............

Does it have retainers w/loose needles on the wrist pin end or caged needles?
If option #1, change the retainers and spacers!! (If not all the bearings top to bottom.) The only tough one to get might be the split center one, but I'm sure there are still some around.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-22-2006, 04:49 PM

....but this ol' girl has come home to rest on a red wall. If I cranked her up and tore out a chunk, I would have lost some of the magic.

It's not the old style crank, and short of tearing it down where I can get a peak at the pistons from the backside, I'm saying they are the caged needle bearings. As I turned the motor there were no slight tight spots, stickiness or anything that felt like the bearings were bad or gummed up.

However, the bearings for the rotary valve belt are another story. They look like the same ones I last laid eyes on. They need to be injected with that purple stuff people take to loosen up their joints. But I am glad to have them as all they need to do now is provide tension for a replacement belt. I will have to find one of those. The one that came with the motor would only come down halfway down the top carb. BTW, what plugs do people use now. Are AC M40ffg's still around? I have no plugs either.

So I guess the plan is to get an incense pot. Fill it with a 20:1 methanol/castor oil mix. Light it off. Pop a top. And sit back listening to the Marshall Tucker Band while looking at the motor.:D

Jeff Akers

08-22-2006, 09:14 PM

So I guess the plan is to get an incense pot. Fill it with a 20:1 methanol/castor oil mix. Light it off. Pop a top. And sit back listening to the Marshall Tucker Band while looking at the motor.:D

Now That would be awsome....LOL:cool:

jrome

08-23-2006, 05:13 AM

Wayne ,I think the Tennessee Three album would be better.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-23-2006, 06:18 AM

Believe me Joe the Tennessee Three and Johnny Cash get a lot of play here. Especially when I'm hanging something on the wall or filing old boat racing files. And I use the Tennessee flag that Marshall gave my Dad to cover my recorder. It, and the Texas flag match the color scheme.

But....it happens that a certain Marshall Tucker album I associate with that motor after we first acquired it. I guess if I gave her a name, I would call her "Dee".:D

Roy Hodges

08-23-2006, 06:35 AM

I remember seeing a picture of a stock D U runnabout on the cover of a boat racing magazine , in late 50's or early
6o's , with name "Ring of Fire " on the bow . Supposedly Johnny Cash liked boats and sponsored this one, some .

Mark75H

08-23-2006, 02:47 PM

Roy, that was Marshall Grant's boat ... :) use the search feature for Marshall or Grant and you will learn all the details :)

Roy Hodges

08-23-2006, 03:39 PM

Roy, that was Marshall Grant's boat ... :) use the search feature for Marshall or Grant and you will learn all the details :)

O k, I had NO idea who owned the boat, i am lucky to even remember that cover. I just thought it was appropriate for a cover on a magazine . It must have been his song "ring of fire " . Come to think of it, i had been in a couple of boat races before that in 1957 -family ski(outboard) boats in RODEO,Calif.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-23-2006, 05:37 PM

Like Sam said, the search will lead you to some interesting information Roy. You'll also find a number of OPC guys with stories about Johnny Cash's drummer WS "Fluke" Holland who used to race OPC.

At the 1972 NOA World Championships, with Billy Seebold off racing tunnels in Europe, Marshall had Billy Hulgan driving his hydros and Jerry Simison his runabouts. While Billy Hulgan won both heats of F hydro with Marshall's double rotary valve Konig, he doesn't show up in the top 4 of D hydro. Have to presume some type of motor trouble.

However, Jerry Simision scored 2 seconds with the motor in D runabout. Unfortunately, the guy he trailed in both heats was the same one, so he finished second overall.

For those who don't know, the first pic is Billy Hulgan, second Jerry Simison and third is Jerry and his crew with Marshall Grant looking at something on the motor.

David_L6

08-25-2006, 07:34 AM

Wayne ,I think the Tennessee Three album would be better.

Who's the bass player in this song? :D :eek: ;)

http://members.cox.net/jlharmon3/digmeup.wav

Master Oil Racing Team

08-25-2006, 08:19 AM

:confused: You got me on that one David:D

Roy Hodges

08-25-2006, 09:15 AM

Please tell me about these "double Rotary Valve Konigs". Don't think i ever saw one . The konigs I saw seemed to have one large disc in front , instead of reed valves . it seemed here in calif. , that , if you're not RICH , don't even think about a konig .

Master Oil Racing Team

08-25-2006, 10:48 AM

...and this is it. VF7023. It was acquired from Marshall Grant at the same time as the D motor. There is quite a history behind it also and like the D, it went to Harry Bartolomei, so at one time it was in California. Don't know where it is now.

Marshall brought some of the first, if not the first, square block Konigs to the U.S. As far as I know the first square blocks were built in 1970, or maybe being cast in late 1969. Maybe Sam could help us here.

I don't know if any other double rotary valve konigs exist. This one has another rotary valve and set of carbs on the exhaust side. The block was cut away and this rotary valve was mounted offset, slightly higher (may correct after I see the photo) than the other rotary valve. This is because it runs the same exact belt as the front side rotary valve, but they run on the same gear--one belt above the other.

The primary problems costing a race were two. Blown lower unit and losing one rotary valve belt. Belt problems normally occurred when the motor was started. If it happened, it would be one belt popping. Once the motor was running, it was surprising how few belt problems there were.

As one pit man learned, don't look into the carb on the exhaust side when Jack squirted gas in the motor to start it. You could see clear through the motor on the carbs where the valve was open. If the gas didn't hit the crank, you would get a shot of gas in the eye.:(

As I research the D motor, info on the DRV F pops up so after I get down with this I may post some more stuff on the F. I keep finding things I forgot about. Here is a photo of the F. I was just looking at this pic to try to figure out which motor on the rack was the D.

Mark75H

08-25-2006, 11:02 AM

I bet that was the block Konig developed for use in motorcycles. On bikes it laid flat and had the normal intake side blocked off, running the rotary valve and exhaust both out of what became the the top of the engine. The same type block would be used for the 1000cc back to back dual 500cc Konig outboards

Master Oil Racing Team

08-25-2006, 11:18 AM

What is the front side on an outboard is bolted down with some kind of gaskets and becomes part of extra water jacket. You can the the bosses molded into the block which can be tapped for the motorcyle engine. I just know don't know exactly the year they came out, but I believe it was 1970. I also think that perhaps D41994 was originally scheduled to be a motorcyle engine when Marshall asked Deiter to gather up the components for his new "D". That is the only thing I can come up with at the point for the strange serial number. The "D" motor I ran before we got Marshall's was a round block no. 6995.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-25-2006, 02:13 PM

This pic shows both sides of a square block.

Jeff Lytle

08-26-2006, 04:18 AM

Hey Wayne....Do you have any more pics taken in the factory?

Master Oil Racing Team

08-26-2006, 05:49 AM

beauxcoups:confused: (boo-coo) as Armand might say.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-26-2006, 07:28 AM

It's been a little time consuming tracking down what Marshall was doing during his final years of racing. I have to piece it together through my photos, my files, my Dad's files & old articles. This was during the time the Johnny Cash show was on TV so Marshall was very busy with rehearsals, TV, and being on the road. During the Pro Nationals at DePue in 1972 Marshall was shuttling from the pits to Washington D.C. and back every day. Nixon had wanted Johnny Cash to perform at the White House, so Marshall was really burning the fire at both ends. That was the last time Marshall had any boats in an APBA National Championship. He did not come to DePue in 1973.

My Dad, Tim Butts and Marshall Grant had been promoting a fast moving, entertaining, professional boat racing show so Marshall continued to support this event. In 1973, Dan Kirts drove for him at Hot Springs. This was the second invitational race there and was billed as the "Diamondhead Second Annual Jerry Waldman Cup", although Jerry had been killed there just the previous year.

Charlie Bailey was able to hold off Dan Kirts in D hydro, beating him by a split second. It's extrememly difficult to pass at the course on Lake Catherine, and if you've raced against Charlie Bailey, you know he will start on the inside. It was a great show for spectators.

David_L6

08-26-2006, 08:14 AM

http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1899

David_L6

08-26-2006, 08:17 AM

Look at the air under that boat in the bottom picture! :eek:

Where is Charley Bailey from? Name is familiar, but I can't place a face or a boat.

Roy Hodges

08-26-2006, 08:47 AM

How bout ROY ROGERS winning the long beach (or where ever) to CATALINA RACE in a yellow Jacket molded plywood boat with 2 mark 55 h's on it ? And Guy Lombardo in his (Tempo ? ) unlimited hydro ?

Master Oil Racing Team

08-26-2006, 09:12 AM

Charlie Bailey is from Houston. He is one of those rare double edged swords--championship caliber in both a hydro or runabout. He didn't travel outside of LSBRA until the mid 70's. I plan on putting up a thread on him in the encyclopedia one of these days. He was at the LSBRA reunion. Charlie is up next in the D41994 saga.

An interesting side note. Louis Williams bought Charlie's old "C" Konig and had it shipped up to Steve Litzell to go through it. Steve was supposed to bring it to DePue and Ray Yates would take it home to Louis. As it turned out, Steve only had enough room to bring the motor he was going to race so he left the "C" home.

A couple of weeks ago Joe Rome and I were talking, trying to get something straight timewise and I said "We quit racing C hydro in 1979. I locked my C up at Alexandria and we sold it to Charlie Bailey as is". Joe said, "What?....You sold your "C" to Charlie?" "Yeah!" sez me. "Do you think that's the one Louis bought?" Joe asked. I laughed and told him it probably was and that I had the serial number if he wanted to confirm it. He phoned Louis, but Louis didn't know. So I asked Joe if he wanted the number and he said "No, we'll just wait until Louis gets his motor".:D

Here is a pic of Charlie at Alexandria in 1973

Master Oil Racing Team

08-26-2006, 02:46 PM

Lakeland 1974.

The wind and cold came down with Canadians Vice Pede, Hank Engles and Steve Allision to Lake Hollingsworth and threatened another blowout like the first round in 1973. Unlike the previous year, it calmed down enough to get all but D stock hydro and D racing runabout in.

Dieter Konig came over from Germany to help Marshall Grant sort out his 8 cylinder back to back 500cc blocks that made up a brute of an "F" motor. Charlie Bailey was driving for Marshall this time.

Bill Rypkema from Schaumberg, Illinois was down on his honeymoon and hitting on all cylinders as he won D Hydro. Wayne Walgrave came in second and I followed in third place. Charlie had motor problems with the "D". The same problem that had always haunted Marshall, and that we didn't get sorted out until the World Championships in Phoenix two years later.

When Marshall got home, he found that the post holding one set of points down had loosened up. He threadlocked it in after that, but it didn't solve the underlying problem as the post was very slightly crooked, and the high speed miss persisted.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-28-2006, 11:07 AM

Joe talked to Marshall today to find out whether or not the third and final Invitational race at Hot Springs in 1974 was his last one. Marshall thinks it was. He told Joe that if he did field equipment in a race after that it was "a little bitty one". The Hot Springs race was June 8 & 9, 1974.

Dan Kirts did the driving for Marshall at this race. For those who never saw Dan drive a runabout, he did here. Unfortunately he had a DNF in 700 runabout. He fared a little better in 700 hydro, finishing third behind Charlie Bailey and Artie Lund.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-29-2006, 07:18 AM

I had originally thought we picked up the motor on the way to Gadsden, Alabama, but it was actually on the way to Winona for the 1974 PRO Eastern Divisionals. It would have been probably July 4 or July 5 that we stopped at Marshall's ranch in Hernando, Mississippi to get the D and F motors.

I don't think we tried to run it at Winona. The first test sheet I have is dated 7-17-74. I was also in error about the first race I ran it in. It was DePue. That was the year of low water and we ran one heat finals winner take all. All boats but Mel Kirts and Bill Rucker, Jr. jumped the gun in D hydro and Mel won the championship. The final race of the year, the Pan American Regatta, was September 29 in my Dad's front yard. I won with a 3rd and 1st ahead of Jim McKean's 1st and 4th.

The first race of 1975, I could do no better than 3rd, chasing Charlie Bailey and Jim McKean. Three weeks later, I was hauling down the back straight in the first heat with this D when I stuffed. That was the end of the season for me except for the final race of the year at my Dad's house.

In the first pic D41994 is next to the last motor on the right. This photo was taken right after we got back from Winona. The 2nd pic is the Pan Am Regatta.

Ron Hill

08-29-2006, 08:31 AM

That is you with the blond hair??? Oh, to be young again...

I just reread your thread here....it was an enjoyable read...It makes me think "What if"....

What if:

1. When the Konig came out, Bill France (not really him, but someone with his power) would have required a transom height to keep the Konig at the Quincy speeds????

2. Boats had been required to be safer, IE, three inch tunnel in hydros, boat lengths. weight requirements???

3. We'd have had capsules???

I have no answers here...I do know that I believe that most people quit racing boats because of injuries or fear of injuries...Having said that, I don't know if people would have wanted to race if the boats were slower, safer, heavier....

I do know that I quit "PROP" (Alky) racing for many reasons....I do know that watching Bryan McDougal blowing over in C Racing Runabout at DePue, in front of my bride to be, was a sight I never wanted her to see again...especially if the blow over might be me....Bryan wasn't hurt, but never really raced again...

At 235, I knew when they went to UIM type rules with no weight, I would be up against the eight ball to win...I always ran 50 pounds over weight in most classes, but with no weight, I knew I'd be giving away a hundred pounds..I was also being paid by OMC to drive for them....but in my mind, after Jerry Waldman's death, I knew I'd never go back to that kind of racing...but I had sold all my Pro equipment by 1972....I raced Stock kneelers until 1977, and I realy quit then because I thought D Hydro was too dangerous...MOD VP was safer then, and that is where I went...21 foot boat, electric starter, 80 MPH.

Master Oil, your pictures are WONDERFUL....God, I think of all the work to keep those Konigs going...it is hard to believe how much we must have loved racing...

Jimbo and I were talking last weekend, about how many years we raced at least 27 times, some two day races, but still, that is a lot of racing....I figure I've driven a hundred thousand miles with wet boat race pants on...

Times and people have changed...Keep posting, I read every word, sometimes, several times....

Master Oil Racing Team

08-29-2006, 08:59 PM

That's me! Not as blonde as the surfing days, but it was during the time when we didn't wear caps or hats. Not good. Seeing the pic of your face lift;) makes me think of what else those "sharp knives" want to do to our faces after several decades of fun in the sun.:D

I need to respond to your "What Ifs" but no time right now. Maybe tommorrow if I'm here. I had planned on talking to Tim Butts today. He is next up on the D41994 saga, but Debbie and I spent the latter part of the day with a neighbor's wife waiting out a successful bypass surgery.:cool: :D Alls Good.

Ron Hill

08-29-2006, 10:02 PM

My Lady Friend was introduced to Jimbo this last weekend... She had many things to say, but one comment she said was so true...She said, you (Ron) and Jimbo have the same looking arms....Meaning we raced boats for a thousand years and our skin looks it....

Yea, who ever heard of sun screen??? My mom used Sea and Ski, but she never tanned, but she also never burned...

Hat??? I still don't wear them, my head is too big, and a hat just looks really bad on me....

Say "Hello" to Tim for me...Tell him to design me an Aero Wing Kit boat for beginners that would take a 25 HP stock lower unit, handle steer...well, maybe not handle steer....made from Home Depot wood.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-30-2006, 07:17 AM

....but the little blue rowboat I made for the kids from Home Depot wood rotted.

What if

1. I can see your point on the Bill France scenario, but I always favored the Pro division for its purist form. The least amount on restrictions can lead to innovative ideas. Of course it leads to increasing speeds and dangers, but that is racing. I think if the US Title Series had started in the early to mid 70's there would be more alky racers today, and maybe kept some of the race courses we lost.

2. Again, for the Pro division I would hate to restrict boats other than differentiate between hydros and runabouts. It would stifle the imagination of builders like Tim Butts. There was at one time a rule in the PRO division that outlawed wings on a hydro, while competely ignoring the fact that the deck WAS A WING creating lift. Tim's designs made boats easier to handle through the turns and therefore safer. But, since they were easier to handle through the turns, and more stable at higher speeds, the drivers just raised the bar on running on the edge. I don't know how you could make rules for some of the things that go on.

3. I am very sorry that the expense of capsules has all but wiped out 500 and 700 hydro except for a few drivers and few circuits. I guess if I was still racing and on the commission, I would have had to go along with it. The speeds have gone up so much that more needed to be done to protect the drivers. I remember the night Bill Seebold called my Dad from either Parker or Havasu and told him about Billy's first crash in a capsule. He went on and on about how easy that crash was. He was sold on it. I forget the year.

As far as weights go, I don't buy it for Pro racing. In Stock or Mod, I can see it being more critical. But, you are of the caliber of driver that you would win even being way over the other drivers. Weighing really slowed down the racing schedule, and was sometimes dangerous. If I didn't have my helmet on one year in Lakeland, I would have probably gotten a fractured skull when the S hooks gave up and it crashed down upon me. One of the arguments I used on the racing commission to eliminate weights was a list of all the drivers that were consistently winning and they were all way over the minimums. You were one of those guys Ron.

Sometimes I wonder what if I had listened to Bob Hering and Billy Seebold and went to OPC. If my Dad and his partner hadn't sold their OMC dealership in 1972 we might have. Only ran in one OPC race and we finished second in a four hour marathon with a Merc 110 and Speedmaster on a 17' Mustang built by Pete DeLackner. But I couldn't break away from the sounds and smells of Alky racing. And the fresh air from a D hydro runnin over 100.

Mark75H

08-30-2006, 07:27 AM

There is another what if I see with 500 and 700 hydros

The capsule restriction was imposed by the insurance company due to speed. If the boats had been changed in some other way that reduced speed instead of reducing the number of racers 500 and 700 could still be as popular as they once were. The capsules have the unintended consequence of reducing speed in 500 anyway.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-30-2006, 08:02 AM

Ron Hill

08-30-2006, 08:19 AM

John Schubert T*A*R*T

08-30-2006, 08:53 AM

Seems to me California lost three 350 drivers from "Blow Overs"...but can only name two...Ray Hoot and Shawn and Spencer Love's dad...Both were testing when they got hurt...

Why not a NASCAR page.... Big courses, Prop Shaft 2" below the bottom (Works like a carb restrictor)... Under 3/4 mile 1 inch below the bottom...

I believe that the 1 3/8 transom height has made "A" Stock runabout and hydro safer....but at speeds of 57-58 now in "A" Hydro, I would not consider this a "SAFE" Class...

The next class to have major injuries will be Super E....or what ever they call the class that runs the three cyclinder OMC.....Those suckers are going over 100 laying down...

Ron,

I seriously thought about having a boat show with some of the equipment that we drove. The problem is this, if any of our group from the 50's through the 80's had anything, how would they get it to depue? The other issue is several of our group are still racing, and if they had stuff to bring, their trailers are already maxed. Good thought, and shouldn't be ignored.
I know we say it is racing, but we could require reinforced cockpits in both hydros and runabouts, we could require a side height in runabouts. We could have breakaway noses and pickleforks....

Do restricted "C" Runabouts have less accidents in 25 SS Runabout than they do is "C" Runabout??? Personally, I'd rather run a lower transom height, than lower power, but I like the restricted concept as it has worked well with J, AXS, and A in Stock...

My HOME DEPOT ONE DESIGN would have the concept of new boats every year.. Build it for a SPECIAL RACE...play with it after the race...next year build a new one...

The Solar Boat Racers have to buy a bare hull each year as part of their entry...Maybe sell a simple "KIT BOAT" laser cut by like MJR Boats... with theyear laser cut in them...

How about, for DePue 2007, we have GPS Trials for guys that ain't still racing...like "Fly Bys'???? Or will you not want to fire that "D" Konig once you get her rebuilt???? I do think we should have a boat show there....

Ron,

Actually gave some thought about having a boat show, but didn't see how we could get appropriate equipment there. The featured group from the 50's through the 80's might have equipment, but how would they get it there. The second issue is that there are several from the featured group that are still racing but might have the appropriate equipment. Their current trailer is already maxed, so again, how to get the equipment to Depue. Godd idea though & shouldn't be ignored.

Joe Silvestri 36-S

08-30-2006, 09:08 AM

Ron,

I agree with you on trying to make boats and boat racing as safe as possible. This is one reason why I bought a new MJR CSH this summer. The cockpit sides are made of 1/2 foam with carbon fiber as the inside laminate and kevlar as the outside laminate. The windshield is made entirely of kevlar and the floor board is made of 1/4 foam with cabon fiber as the top laminate and kevlar as the underlaminate. Not to mention that the sides are 22" tall at the dash and 17-1/2" tall at the transom. This allows me to smack my hip against the cockpits sides through the turns and help keep me in the boat. My pickle forks are rounded over as well so that if I were to impact another boat, I would hopefully bounce off the boat rather than pierce the boat. Also, Marc's designs, at least the two boats I've owned, have always handled the rough water extremely well. I only fell out of my CSH one time, the first boat I owned, and it was my own fault, as well as a little help from a competitor.

I know from talking with Marc this summer that he is always trying to design boats so they are safer, as well as faster and lighter but safety is the first thought when designing. I really applaud Marc for that. There are plenty of boat builders builder faster and lighter boats but not much thought, at least it doesn't seem that way to me, is going into safety concerns.

All of outboard racing in the U.S. could learn a few things from the Europeans when it comes to safety. Look at the safety features the U.I.M. requires on their outboard hulls.

As far as runabouts go, I have been building my CSR's with tall sides for a few years now. I haven't gotten into using newer materials yet, but I will. The next CSR I build will not have a pointy nose and will have new materials used for cockpit sides. I do use the side fin, which I know a lot of guys feel is unsafe, but in my experience, it is only unsafe if it is not put on the boat properly. If mounted to the boat properly, the boat will drive over the rough water just fine and will not make the boat do anything silly or dangerous.

Let's just hope that there are always boat racing enthusiasts, builders, racers, etc... who are always thinking safety first because they will help direct the sport in the right direction. I applaud all those who have helped the sport out and have directed the sport in the right direction. I know its not easy to do and a lot of time and effort goes into it. So, I say thank you!

Mark75H

08-30-2006, 02:22 PM

I had no idea that's what happened Sam. I thought it was a decision by the Pro Commission after the death of Jerry Drake. Thanks for the insight. BTW, was there a specific speed that triggered it? What about the current speeds of 350 hydros?

The speed that is considered necessary for capsules is when the class consistantly runs 100+ in competition. Current 350's run close to that, but not with any proven consistancy. FEH is running very fast, but they are not yet running over 100 in competition. If there are any more motor power breakthroughs or a magic boat or prop - FEH will see 100.

I agree with Ron, I'd rather see FEH slowed down and safer boats than see anyone getting hurt.

Prop depth could make things really weird: imagine a 500cc hydro class that topped out a little slower than 350's but had faster lap times and was easier and safer to drive than other alky classes

Jeff Lytle

08-30-2006, 03:52 PM

David Weaver

08-30-2006, 04:03 PM

Well, I cannot help, but jump in here. I agree that the 500's, 700's and 1100's could have been slowed down by other means than capsules. The prop depth rule would have been sensible, but the commission favored capsules and maintaining much of the speed. The capsules do put on great races, but just have not been embraced in the same numbers as the open cockpit days.

In the USTS, we tend to run 3/4 mile and 1 mile courses. This has dropped the number of accidents considerably. I believe that the most danger in open outboard racing exists during milling and going into the first turn. Aftet that, the action tends to settle-down (but not always).

Jeff Lytle

08-30-2006, 04:21 PM

Master Oil, your pictures are WONDERFUL....God, I think of all the work to keep those Konigs going...it is hard to believe how much we must have loved racing...

I will always remember the sounds and smells of the Alky pits in my pre-teen years before self energized CD ignition came standard on the Konig engines.................The smell of quick start, the tap, tap, tapping of someone setting points using a timing buzz box, the smell of the inside of a trailer, the tell tale smell of a Gentex..........Dumb as it sounds......I would wipe my finger in the stinger of a pipe just to get closer to that smell.:p I remember after the season was over, not wanting to wash a jacket or 2 cause' it would still have a hint of alky/castor:rolleyes: ................Then I discovered GIRLS!!:confused:

Miss BK

08-30-2006, 04:38 PM

The speed factor is only one slice of the pie when discussing boat racing safety. It's silly to give an arbitrary number and say "Below 100 mph is ok".
Just in the few decades I've been involved in boat racing, dozens upon dozens of drivers have lost their lives running a lot slower than that.

The latest fatality at DePue dealt not with speed alone, but with direct impact with another boat. 70mph could have produced the same result. That's a big part of what capsules were built for - deflecting impacts with other boats - not just blowovers or high speed single boat crashes.

I remember in Havasu in the 80's when a V-bottom going into a turn slid up on top of another V-bottom and broke the drivers neck. They were probably running less than 65mph at the time.

I was hurt pretty badly at less than 80 when another boat slammed into my side. Just a few feet difference and I might not have been here at all. That experience was enough for me to never race again. And it wasn't just the pain and loss of work that caused me to think twice about racing, but physical therapy bills are NOT fun to have to worry about either!

In fact, one year after my wreck, my Mod C running buddy, John Beck, was T-boned at the same race - almost at the same exact spot. He was hit at about 70mph too -- he spun out and suffered a direct hit to the cockpit. Snapped his femur in two places resulting in months of physical therapy. He now races cars.

That entire class - MOD-C - dwindled down to just a few racers not long afterwards, but not because of capsules. A new class (SST-45) emerged and many of the MOD C drivers who were left went on to run in that **very** popular class.

This class was made a capsule class in 1989, but it still remained extremely popular, probably due to the availability of brand new motors from OMC.

It is still popular today - but numbers have been dropping yearly - probably due to the LACK of available motors today.

I can name a lot of people who aren't in the sport anymore after a death or injury of a friend or injury they suffered themselves. I can look at my Christmas list from those days and see entire racing families who left the sport after a family member got hurt... or worse...

So while we blame capsules for causing the demise of boat racing, I think we should really do a survey of ex-boat racers from the past few decades and I think you'll find quite a few of them who aren't racing anymore because they decided the risks were too high, or maybe suffered a loss themselves.

And if you can't keep these old, addicted boat racers in a race boat because of safety issues, just think how hard it would be to attract new ones?

When looking for ways to improve safety, you have to look at all the issues that cause harm. Capsules were designed to cover multiple issues - impacts with other boats, impacts with the shore, driver hit by his own boat, propeller injuries, body slams & cartwheels from stuffs, broken necks from impact with water - and blowovers, rollovers too. So you can see....speed is just ONE component of many.

Improving safety is a good thing; in every sport.

David_L6

08-30-2006, 06:12 PM

I believe that the most danger in open outboard racing exists during milling

Yes, both before and after the heat. I have had close calls both before and after, but the only time I've ever been hit was after. That driver wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him, couldn't see very well, and just turned into me. Luckily I've never hit anyone while milling. The only time I came close was before. We were both looking at/for the clock. I consider it that I almost hit the other boat rather than the other way around because of my "line" - I was turning into the line of the course and the other boat was going more in a straight line and sort of inline with the front straight. We were all upriver of the second turn and not on the actual race course yet.

and going into the first turn.

Need a long run to the first turn. That's one of the reasons that I like to race at Alex. We run a one mile course and with the room we have for milling I can get a looong run at the clock and usually not be in a pack of boats at the first turn.

Video in this link: http://media.putfile.com/Is-he-going-to-be-late-on-the-clock Watch the boat way out there at the beginning of the video that looks like it will be late on the start, but actually start (and finishes) first. Long courses and/or courses with at lot of room for milling off the course but where the clock can be seen usually thin the herd before it gets to the first turn. Too short a run from the clock to the first turn is dangerous.

Miss BK

08-30-2006, 06:21 PM

I will always remember the sounds and smells of the Alky pits in my pre-teen years before self energized CD ignition came standard on the Konig engines.................The smell of quick start, the tap, tap, tapping of someone setting points using a timing buzz box, the smell of the inside of a trailer, the tell tale smell of a Gentex..........Dumb as it sounds......I would wipe my finger in the stinger of a pipe just to get closer to that smell.:p I remember after the season was over, not wanting to wash a jacket or 2 cause' it would still have a hint of alky/castor:rolleyes: ................Then I discovered GIRLS!!:confused:

Jeff -
I was lucky that stock outboards ran with the alkies back when my brother raced stocks in region 12. I didn't get to touch one, but I can remember always having a big smile when that sweet smell wafted across the pits as they were being launched. I LOVED that smell. I didnt even know what it was.

My brother stopped racing around 1979, and I quit going to the stock races and instead started going to OPC events. No alkies there.

Many years went by without experiencing it again.

So a few years ago I got to go to Constantine, MI --- and when those alkies fired up, my memory of that wonderful odor was refreshed! And that same smile came back on my face! LOVE that smell!

Val

David_L6

08-30-2006, 06:45 PM

Jeff -
LOVE that smell!

Val

Somethings you never forget!

Master Oil Racing Team

08-31-2006, 06:09 AM

You're right about the speed factor Miss BK. Of 6 accidents I had where the man above was looking out for me, two were around 45 mph and only quick action by the driver saved me. One was a stock driver who reacted quickly to keep from spearing my head with a lower unit, and the other was myself avoiding a motor in the face when a driver turned in front of me. Bill Ellis was hurt very severly in I think C or D Mod hydro. He was testing. And unfortunately there were quite a few drivers hurt while testing on their own and no plan for dealing with it.

But I think you misunderstand my position on the capsules. Having been out for 25 years, there are a lot of things that went on that I had no knowledge of such as boat setups, speeds, class participation, etc. I don't know which factors contributed most to the drop out of racers. I think a lot of drivers in the faster classes got out just because of the speed and greater potential of harm. As I stated earlier, were I on the racing commission, I probably would have approved of the capsules on 500 & 700. I say "probably" because having never driven one I don't know what it's like. My main concern is getting into trouble by not being able to see every thing going on around you. What I really meant regarding capsules was that I was sorry it cost so much for a capsule boat. There are just a lot of guys out there that can't afford one. Note: Don't you boat builders get the idea that I think you are ripping everyone off on a capsule;) . I know they take a lot of time and materials, and that stuff is not cheap. And you guys do a good job. I like the look of the capsules.:cool: In the end, you got to go with safety.

P.S. Jeff, Miss BK, David---Maybe ya'll should look into the incense pot with the 20:1 methanol/castor oil blend I mentioned earlier.:D

Miss BK

08-31-2006, 08:12 AM

I just wonder how much money these guys had to spend on medical bills after being hurt. I know in my case, my medical costs nearly reached the cost of a capsule --- and I didn't even spend the night in a hospital. Phys therapy is incredibly expensive and even good health insurance will only pay for 6-8 sessions. You have to cover the rest.

In John Becks case, I know that his medical costs from the hospital alone exceeded a capsule cost by more than 20 times.

But I also know that cost isn't really the only reason people quit when forced to put a capsule in their boats. Capsules aren't so expensive that you can't figure out a way to pay for them. I'm not sure how much they are today for hydros, but I'm going to guess less than $2000 or $3000.

I was a $4.65 per hour bank teller back in the 80's, and when I crashed my Kober Kat, I borrowed on my parents home equity loan and bought a $2000 Mirage Tom Cat. So I don't buy the excuse that capsules cost too much. In my experience, racers always find a way to buy stuff to keep racing...

But back in the 80s, I had the same view on capsules that Dick Sherrer did --- I hated the whole thought of being trapped underwater without air. I hated the thought of being restrained while driving. I felt I would not be able to see. I felt I would drown if I crashed in one. And most of all.....I hated change!

And that's why I didn't start racing again after the capsules were introduced. Dick had plenty of money to put a capsule in his boat - but he still quit for all the reasons above.

It took years of watching hundreds of flips and crashes and rolls, with everyone coming back to shore with not even a scratch - and hearing stories like Billy Seebold's story of his "easy wreck" before finally coming to the realization that capsules really ARE handy life savers.

And today, those early capsules have been greatly improved upon --- now drivers usually have onboard air so the drowning worry is much less than before. They all have radios to talk to their "spotters" (often their wives) on land to help with any vision problems. Teams have even learned to have all smooth, soft edges and no bolt ends sticking out anywhere inside the cockpit, to avoid even the smallest injuries. And even the rescue teams are now well adapted to bringing air to an underwater driver, even if he's trapped.

In OPC, capsules have to have approved latches and approved belts that are all similar in design, to avoid any confusion when the rescue crew comes on board, and to cut down on canopy jams. They all know directly where to go, and practice this dozens of times during the numerous capsule training sessions. Removing a driver becomes second nature.

They didn't have any of these things when capsules were first introduced.

But I do see some real problems, relating to design when discussing putting capsules into light weight runabouts an hydros. If you build the capsule too beefy, then the added weight is going to create instability that might actually cause an accident. But if you build the capsule too thin - then you've designed a floating coffin. You certainly dont want to be strapped into something that can't keep an 80 mph boat from piercing through! That's often worse than getting thrown out.

These issues are all problems that the smaller classes have to deal with. And without giving them increased horsepower, I don't feel a capsule would be the solution for them. Their work on finding a solution is much tougher than the bigger classes.

But this is why discussion like these should always be encouraged; Someday, someone will come up with the solution.

PS
That incense pot idea --- what a great idea! Are you selling them? I'll take one!

Composite Specialties

08-31-2006, 09:57 AM

Hey Wayne,

Here is my point of view on the capsules from a boat designer and builder.

I was there back in the mid 90's when the capsule decision was made and I heard from many that the only reason they did not get a capsule was the cost of the boats.

I sell Pro capsule boats for $8000 and composite cockpit side laydown boats for $4500. Others sell capsules for around $7000 and non-composite cockpit side laydowns for around $3750.

It does take alot of time to make them both and the cost of material has gone way up since the war took all of the carbon from the public.

I have also raced a 500cc capsule with radios and I loved it and would do it again. I have wrecked in a 250cc kneeldown at lakeland and the hospital bill alone could have purchased two capsule boats.

I have been there and learned and will no waver from my prices for composite boats. All I can do is offer the safer method, I cannot make people buy them but I do enjoy researching and making safer methods for everyone, even if it cost more than my competitors.

Master Oil Racing Team

08-31-2006, 01:20 PM

I had thought I heard somewhere that capsule boats ranged from 12K to 15K.
So I didn't know what I was talking about:confused: :) . But the point you and Miss BK bring up Marc is excellent. Medical costs have gone out of sight and continue to grow alarmingly. My crash in 1975 would probably cost 100K today. I always depended on my own insurance, but for those that don't have any a severe accident could be financially catastrophic.

I do like your boats Marc, and I think $8,000.00 is very reasonable for what it takes to put something like that together.

David Weaver

08-31-2006, 05:57 PM

My mother was a physical therapist. I was not allowed to play football, as she took care of all the collage football players in our town!! They were lucky, because the football team picked-up all those expensive bills, I guess. No matter who paid the bills, their knees were ruined for life....

One should absolutely understand the risks in any sport and be comfortable with insurance or lack of insurance that they carry. And the consequences of having or not having adequate insurance or assets in the event that......

By the way, this goes for anything bicyles, motorcycles, jet skis, water skiing, snow skiing, snow mobiling, skate boarding, race cars, karts, planes, scuba or anything else that has elements of risk to it. I played water polo for a season in college (D1 even)and loved it. I do not know that I would allow my child to play water polo, if I had children. Concussions, busted spleens, ruptured testicles (not kidding).....perhaps they could just swim.

Mark's ideas (and others) will probably become requirements in the future. I would like to see them phased in over a period of time that will not materially damage participation. But this is the direction to head. Capsules have been great in accidents for the PRO's. Only one or two really scarey moments that I recall. Of course, there is only 1 capsule heat for every 12-15 open class heats run, so the chances of any accident occuring are statistcally less.

At the end of the day, there is no better safety device than one's brain and left hand (or foot for capsules).

David Weaver

08-31-2006, 05:59 PM

I.

I do like your boats Marc, and I think $8,000.00 is very reasonable for what it takes to put something like that together.

Is that an odrer Wayne?:D

Master Oil Racing Team

08-31-2006, 07:05 PM

....Hmmmm---not that much more than a jet ski.;)

David, your comment on a brain being useful reminds me of a story of my insurance agent. Every time I saw him he would say "Wayne...you know if you quit racing...we could drop your premiums." I would just laugh and tell him one thing or another. I don't know why he thought that would stop a 20year old kid (yeah, I was far from growing up then) from the excitement of racing a hydro. Then one day I chanced upon him on a street in Corpus Christi. He had his right arm in a cast resting in a sling. He was limping until our eyes met. I walked up and said, "Hey Joe. What happened to you?" He replied "You're the last guy I wanted to see. I was hoping I would'nt run into to you."

He was at the lake with a bunch of their friends. He was pulling a friend's daughter on waterskiis and the girl's mom was the observer. Joe, the insurance agent was also observing. The only one watching where the boat was headed was the daughter. When she threw the rope up, Joe and the mom exchanged puzzled glances. Then when he looked ahead to circle around, there....straight ahead...unavoidably ahead..was the cliff that broke Joe's arm among other things and the Mom's ribs, leg and whatever bruises, etc. that went with the sudden stop. I didn't even ask about the boat and whose insurance covered that, if any.

Ron Hill

08-31-2006, 09:04 PM

When Ted May got hurt at Parker....He told me and Dave Mayer the worst part of getting hurt was losing his house....Ted was like a Dad/Brother to me and many other young racers in California.... But when you hear something like that, it makes you want to make sure you have your numbers covered....

I quit racing in 1985.. Chad was 8... I had blown my Sleek over at Havasu. Bruce Nescher, of Sleek Craft Boats had built me a new one (FREE)...and re decked the one I blew over... At Parker, we had three Mod VP Sleek Crafts running out of the Hill Marine pits....(My Red Sleek, My White Sleek and Kim Howard's Black Sleek)plus Tim Soares in a Baker... On the first lap, Kim Howard and a MOD U got together...I think the MOD U was driven by Benny Robertson, but it doesn't matter...Kim was hurt very badly and lost an arm...Needless to say, he never raced again...

John Castelli AND TED BRAVO WERE DRIVING MY RED SLEEK AND ROD ZAPF AND I WERE DRIVING MY WHITE SLEEK...

Tuesday night, after the race, I was reading Chad a story before he went to sleep....He was 8 as I said...before. He looked me in the eyes and said, "Dad what would happen to us if you were killed racing boats???" I said, "I don't know....but how would you feel if I quit racing and just had John Castelli drive our boats?" He said, "I'd like that, and rolled over and went to sleep..."

I called Castelli the next day and said I was "DONE"...I have not raced a boat since...Chad has raced J, A, 45, Mod VP and Formula One... I plan to run Fat "C" and "C" Stock this year...but 31 years changes things...

I may run our 45 Kilo boat in Formula E....as a Capsuled hydro, with a three hole Evinrude seems like it could be a kick in the ***... Seems like it could be fun with a 350 Konig, too......or whatever they run in 350...

You tell of Seebold blowing over...Billy tells about Parker when he blew over twice in one weekend......and it is funny as hell...The story, as I recall, goes like this:

About 1980 or 81, OMC and Mercury both had about ten single engine boats running the Parker Nine Hour...Mercury had several problems, a very torquie motor, and props that would blow out before people knew what blow out was... (To get the Merc humming you had to kick them out like hell to get the engine to rev, and with a big propeller they'd go like hell and lift the transom until the prop blew out, the transom would drop and over she'd go...9 of 10 Merc boat blew over the worst was Bill Scroisis, he ended up in the Phoenix hospital...

Billy blew over Friday testing and didn't figure to race..(Gary) Garbrecht had different guys covering differnt boats and Billy, being sore and all wasn't scheduled to drive was standing around...About 4 and a half hours into the race, Gary was out of drivers from blow overs, and he yells at Seebold to get his jacket and helmet on and drive some boat...Seebold really doesn't want get n the mother, he is limping like hell and hurting like hell, but he gets in the damn thing...and he doesn't make a lap a blows over again...knocks hell out of him again..Billy almost quits Mercury after this weekend...

Look at the Chilli Bowl, midget auto racing, racing inside a building, in Oklahoma...what a 1,000 plus cars...can you get hurt in a Midget???Well Tony Stewart did...but the average guy can't ..a thousand cars at one race...Why, because it is safe!!!!

Safer is better!!!

Wayne, borrow Jim McKean's kilo boat, put that "D" Konig on it and race it a DePue....The boat has a capsule..It is an MJR boat I think..I tried to buy it but could never quite get a hold of Jim...I hafve a new Kilo boat being built by Ernie Dawe for 45 SS and SST 45....we could use my boat at DePue!!!!! I'll drive her in 1100 CC Hydro....NOT!!!!

Master Oil Racing Team

09-01-2006, 06:51 AM

How would that work on a course like DePue? Sure wish we could get Sean McKean on here and tell us what it's like to take a "D" through the traps at over 120.

Composite Specialties

09-01-2006, 06:57 AM

There was actually a pass made at over 130 mph. That kilo boat that I built is strictly for kilo's. It is not setup to turn and it was about 15' long. It also had adjustable and removeable rear pads and adjustable and removeable air traps. The bottom pics are from the film crew from the discovery channel that was there for a TV special that aired later that year, back in 1997.

Miss BK

09-01-2006, 07:09 AM

Wow - I didn't know that was your boat, Marc! Nice!

Also - when we first started building capsules back in the 1980s for Mod-VP, the trend was to retrofit existing hulls with capsules that bolted into the old boats. 15 years ago these would sell for $1,500 to 2,000. They did the same for the smaller OPC classes too. This way a guy didn't have to purchase an entire new hull.

I don't know how PRO/Mod/SO capsules work, but is this something they do too? Do you build solitary capsules that can be fitted to an existing hull?

I didn't think about how the carbon fiber shortage would be putting a hurt on capsule builders.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-01-2006, 07:11 AM

I didn't figure a kilo boat would be what you wanted to dive off into a first turn in. That is one fine hydro. Marc, do you have a copy of those runs? Or is there any way you could get your hands on one. I would love to have a copy to show friends that have never seen an alky run.

Composite Specialties

09-01-2006, 07:33 AM

Wayne,

I can look to see if I still have that video from the discovery channel. I was on the rock shoreline beside Jim listening on the radio when Sean made several test passes, that was awesome watching that boat come thru those traps that day. It really looked fast from the shore. We also had Bob Wartinger helping us between runs, we would all go into Jim's hauler and watch the runs on video and discuss what to change for the next run. It was very cool to be a part of that and is something I'll never forget.

Also, I have attached the records that were set with that boat so far to the original post with the pics..

David_L6

09-01-2006, 11:01 AM

My mother was a physical therapist. I was not allowed to play football, as she took care of all the collage football players in our town!! They were lucky, because the football team picked-up all those expensive bills, I guess. No matter who paid the bills, their knees were ruined for life....

The only major surgery I've ever had was on my left knee from playing high school football. My knee never has been the same since, but I'd do it again. Now they have better methods than they did in the late '70's.

One should absolutely understand the risks in any sport and be comfortable with insurance or lack of insurance that they carry. And the consequences of having or not having adequate insurance or assets in the event that......

By the way, this goes for anything bicyles, motorcycles, jet skis, water skiing, snow skiing, snow mobiling, skate boarding, race cars, karts, planes, scuba or anything else that has elements of risk to it. I played water polo for a season in college (D1 even)and loved it. I do not know that I would allow my child to play water polo, if I had children. Concussions, busted spleens, ruptured testicles (not kidding).....perhaps they could just swim.

Mark's ideas (and others) will probably become requirements in the future. I would like to see them phased in over a period of time that will not materially damage participation. But this is the direction to head. Capsules have been great in accidents for the PRO's. Only one or two really scarey moments that I recall. Of course, there is only 1 capsule heat for every 12-15 open class heats run, so the chances of any accident occuring are statistcally less.

At the end of the day, there is no better safety device than one's brain and left hand (or foot for capsules).

I agree completely Dave!

Miss BK

09-01-2006, 11:42 AM

And the consequences of having or not having adequate insurance or assets in the event that......

I wanted to tell a little health insurance story I heard the other day...

My friend just got a $9,000 bill from the hospital. And that was just for all the diagnostic tests to look for kidney stones. :eek:

But it's okay - because she has great insurance from her work - one of those fabulous 80/20 PPO plans with $1,000 deductible.

So that means she only has to pay $2,600.00 out of her own pocket ! :eek:

So people have to remember that health insurance doesn't mean you're not going to have any bills to pay!

Unless you are playing school sports like water polo or live in Europe :D Then they cover it all for you.

Val

Doug Hall Y51

09-01-2006, 05:45 PM

Well I guess I will give my two cents worth since I race a Pro Capsule Boat. I remember when they first mandated us to get into the Capsule I was definatly against it. I felt I had no other choice since I felt I was too big to be competitive in the smaller classes. I hated the fact that I had to give up my perfectly good and fairly new laydown boat for a boat that nobody in the Pro division had even tryed. Not to mention the money that it would take to get it. I bought Kay Harrisons Pugh Capsule and had to get a loan from the bank to do it. All they knew was that it was for a boat. The new Capsule I am driving now is two years old and was purchased for around 6,800.00. The only reason I have it is because my old one was getting very heavy AND because my dad paid for it. If it was not for my dad I would not be able to afford any type of racing. I am working as a Fireman and work a second job so that my Wife can stay home with our 4 kids. I think that there are alot of people that look at the cost of not only the Capsule boat but the cost of a 500 or 700 and realize you are going to be well over the 12,000 dollar mark and will race for next to nothing in prize money. Also you will only race about 5-6 times a year. Or they could go down to their local dealer and buy a Jet Ski and be able to run it 5-6 times a week with little maintenance and only have to travel a few miles. If you look at the Capsule class I believe you will find that the majority of racers are those who grew up around the sport and love the sport. I just dont think that the average Joe wants to spend that much money, do that much upkeep, travel that far and race for next to nothing. We had 12 Capsules at the Nationals which was a great number but I dont think you will see many more than that unless something is changed to make it more appealing for the average person. Now that I have driven for a few years in a capsule and feel comfortable in it I can say that it is safer than my laydown. I too have been upside down a couple of times and escaped with no injuries.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-01-2006, 06:46 PM

God bless you Doug for the thought, ability and perserverance to allow your wife to nuture ya'lls kids (can't get rid of the southern talk;) )

Thanks for the input. Wow! Twelve at the Nationals. I want to see the next one. There is a lot of money out there in racing. Unfortunately it goes the wrong way. But what can a whole summer of driving a jet ski do to your soul than a couple of heats in a 500 or 700 hydro?:D I know you got the bug. Congrats & tell Rex & Barb hi for me.

Doug Hall Y51

09-01-2006, 09:43 PM

Wayne, I totally agree that there is nothing like the rush in this racing. But it still comes down to the fact that we are not getting new blood into the Capsule class. I just think there is not enough reward to draw people into our sport. I hope I am wrong but that is how I see it. And yes you are right, 12 was a good number for the Capsules. Almost makes me wish I was on the bank watching. It is supposed to be on some satalite channel this fall. Will let you know when we find out when. I will tell mom and dad you said hi. Look forward to seeing you next year at Depue. Hopefully we will have another full field of Capsules.

G Spec Racing

09-02-2006, 04:38 AM

Hey Doug,
I think it is great that your Dad and yourself and the other teams in the USTS are running so well in the capsules these days!!! I would say that heat of 500 hydro in the later evening at the nationals was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen! We currently have a brand new capsule boat being built and we hope to have it running by some point next year. Make no mistake it is due to the show you an the other capsule drivers / teams put on that we are getting into the capsule classes. Sure they are not cheap but as a totally new guy to boat racing and a new team they are certainly "more bang for your buck" than a race car, motorcycle etc. in my opinion. Anyway just wanted to drop a line and say thanks for all the hard running you guys do and that I can't wait for our team to get involved in it. Good Job, to all of the capsule drivers/teams!!!

-Blake Johnson-

p.s. We have "the other kind of motor" but at least it should make for a great head to head match in 700 and 1100 in the coming years :D

Miss BK

09-02-2006, 09:28 AM

I just got word from the OPC chairman at the OPC nationals this weekend that they have the largest SST 120 and SST 60 field ever. These are both capsule classes that have gone up and down in membership over the years.

SST 60 class uses ONLY the special OMC sst-60 motor - which hasn't been produced for many years. So it's really amazing that they have 15 entries at the Nationals!

The boats in these classes cost way more than a jet ski, and some of the drivers who run the Superleague circuit in SST 60 are brand new to the sport - including two girls - one from Canada. Some of the names I've never seen before - so they must be new as well. If I was going to start racing again -- this is probably the class I'd join. Safety is a big thing with me, especially having two boys. And I feel it's a big factor on whether new people will decide to start racing - lesser chance of dying is always more attractive than the opposite.

The races are being held this weekend in Kankakee IL.

Keep in mind that every tunnel boat class at the Nationals has a capsule except for the Sport C, which have mandatory reinforced cockpit walls, and still, the entries are high. Many of the Sport C and SST 45 boats are coming all the way from Calif. I haven't heard numbers of entries.

SST 45 also uses a specific OMC motor that stopped being produced long ago -- availability of new equipment is a major hurdle to get people to invest in racing! To get a new person to invest in a class where you will never have access to new motors -- not much incentive there.

But I wish I was in Kankakee right now.

Keep watching the APBA site News page - Mike Wienandt, OPC Chair, contacted me and is going to be sending me updates every night and I'll post them as quick as I can.

Val

Skoontz

09-02-2006, 10:41 AM

"I wanted to tell a little health insurance story I heard the other day...

My friend just got a $9,000 bill from the hospital. And that was just for all the diagnostic tests to look for kidney stones.

But it's okay - because she has great insurance from her work - one of those fabulous 80/20 PPO plans with $1,000 deductible.

So that means she only has to pay $2,600.00 out of her own pocket !

So people have to remember that health insurance doesn't mean you're not going to have any bills to pay!

Unless you are playing school sports like water polo or live in Europe Then they cover it all for you.

Val"

As an employer, let me add a different perspective. Health care insurance is not an entitlement, yet, since WW ll, it has evolved into one. I feel for those who have 80/20 or other plans, and have not allowed themselves the discipline to budget for major illnesses. In comparison, we pay $78,000 a year for our health plan through Kaiser Permenente. We and our employees still get doinked paying a $15.00 co-pay every time we go in for whatever, and, $100.00 for emergency room charges. I have the worlds worst nose, and waited 5 months for scheduled surgery a year ago, and if that is an example of what universal health care would bring to the US table, I say no thank you. This program is all our company can possibly budget for, it costs the least, and give adequate care. It is by no means an entitlement and no one should take it for granted.

And, the illegal alien, who breaks into our country, drops a kid here to anchor themselves on a fast track to residency, signs in to the ER, has the kid, and pays nothing. As a result, 113 emergency rooms in Southern California have filed chapter 9, or 11 over a 10 year period. Those costs, get passed right along to those of us who use any health care system. The ratio of legal babies to illegal alien babies down here is 3 out of every 10 are legal, 7 are illegal. Do the math. Since those which are born here are citizens, when they turn 18, they will be given voting rights, and guess what then? We won't have enough votes to defeat their agenda because the average illegal alien squirts out 6 kids in the time they can carry kids.

Regarding safety and costs, I saw this as a major hurdle years ago and it is the main reason our family did not enter boat racing programs. We did the mechanical side of the sport, and, entered car/mini bike stuff, which costs thousands less and has a more substantial payback. Example, dwarf and legends cars. You can build a competitive dwarf dirt car for under $7,000.00. A legends car dances around the $20,000 mark. The paybacks, range from $1,000.00-$50,000 per race. You strap youself in and can run 100 plus MPH, with far less danger than an non capsule boat.

So, the question is posed, with safety in full regard, what can be done to significantly reduce the costs of capsule and reinfoced cockpit boats? As I see it, unless our business doubles i size, we could not develop a budget with deep enough reach to support a capsuled race boat and that's a big problem.....

Miss BK

09-02-2006, 11:56 AM

Boy, do I agree with you on the 'employer provided' health insurance fiasco. I think it's terrible that US companies (and *ONLY* US companies) are forced to be strapped with this extra expense. That is one thing that should have never become a necessity.

Would ever we expect employers to provide our auto insurance? Or home insurance? So how did we get to the point where they are responsible for whether we can go see a doctor or not?

But the long wait to see a doc isn't just a Kaiser issue. When my son was dx'd with an autoimmune disease, we were given a 3 month waiting list before we could see a pediatric endo for a second opinion -- and that was for the entire state. My son was very sick so we ended up having to drive out of state to see an endo earlier. We now have our own endo and it still can be months before we are squeezed in for an appt.

Neither one of our employers offers health insurance. We are forced to buy our own insurance -- 80/20 with a $500 per person deductible. We pay $25 for doc visits, and have a strict limit on therapy visits. $300 copay on Emergency room visits. It's a private plan that costs our family $720.00 per month. This premium increases by about $75 every few years.

The sad part is that since my son has been dx'd with a "disease", he will not be able to purchase a health insurance plan for himself after age 18. And we can't drop our currrent plan either --- we've tried, and discovered that nobody will approve him now. So our only choice is to keep this policy forever - regardless of how high our premiums rise.

I've had Kaiser insurance before (1st Interstate Bank in Redwood City, CA) --- but it's only available in the west, I think. I thought it was so great to be able to go to the Emergency room and pay something like $10.00 (1985). I had a ptyrgium in my eye - nothing serious - but that meant I had to wait 6 months to see a doc about it. Anyone who had worse issues went ahead of me. I moved to AZ before I ever got to see a doc.

Another wake up call happened when I joined a support group for autoimmune disease 3 years ago and met people from all over the world. I learned the US members are the ONLY members who have to deal with trying to find and keep health insurance.

The others are from Canada/UK/Australia/Egypt/Thailand/New Zealand/Singapore/Philipines and a few other countries. And by FAR, the people who have the biggest problem with getting good health care are the Americans. :( These people are SHOCKED when they hear that people in America can lose everything they own just because of medical bills. And I was shocked to learn America is the only country where this happens!

Some of them do have to wait awhile to see certain specialists - but on average, not any more than we do. And we also found the insurance companies in the US actually inhibiting the hospitals from doing proper testing. In most other countries, people with Graves disease are tested every 2 months and are treated with drugs to help their thyroid and try for remission. But in the US, 90% of the time they kill the thyroid using radiation - this is the cheapest way - insurance companies won't have to spend so much money on tests. :(

Think about this - in the US - Every government employee is offered Government-Paid insurance. This includes the President and all the Senators and Congressmen. There's never any mention about how "bad" this "universal" insurance is (except that even Mr. and Mrs GHW Bush had their thyroid's destroyed too).

But why couldn't regular citizens be OFFERED a chance to buy ("purchase", not "free") into whatever plan we are paying to give these Govm't employees? This is not the same as asking taxpayers give everyone a "free" plan -- but just a chance for all Americans to BUY into a lower cost plan that is, apparently, good enough for Senators and their families? A plan that anyone can buy, even those who have a 'disease'. Then our businesses won't have to deal with it anymore.

By making employers pay for this insurance we are basically making them pay a health care "Tax", and that cost rises every year. Eventually, they will be forced to drop this benefit - and more people will become uninsured, causing an even greater burden on taxpayers. It's time that the US removes this burden from our small businesses and figures out a better way to help people get proper medical care.

And this will help boat racing in the long run too --- medical bills won't be something they will have to constantly worry about.

What do you all think?

Val

Skoontz

09-02-2006, 04:33 PM

I have yet another scenario Val. We offer health care, subsidized health care, or more money on the check. Want to bet what over 50% of our employees choose having no regard for what may happen should they become ill?

At $720 a month, you are still a few hundred less than ours in the land of fruits and nuts. Our family part is $980 per month.

Then there is an area little discuss. When the insurance lobby pointed fingers at the evil doctors who overcharge ( about 2% of them) and the frivelous lawsuites (lawyers, only have 2 moving parts, a rear end and a mouth, both those interchange) They (the insurance companies) did not look in the mirror. Those who live in glass houses should not cast stones. Since 1936, the insurance industry has had the highest paid group of employees, presidents and officers in the world. Surpassed only once by the investment industry in 1999-2000.

I'm all for making a decent living, that's why we began our company, however, when non college educated agents get $150K per year, and they continually tell me that costs have risen, all the while successfully blaming lawyers and doctors without looking at themselves, something is wrong.

Miss BK

09-02-2006, 05:33 PM

My husband's best friend is an Internal Medicine doc (specialist). They were at lunch one day, and the doc was screaming about his malpractice insurance premiums.

Finally, my husband asked him just how high this premium was....and he said, "$500.00 per month!!!" Brad thought he must mean per week.....but no, it was per month.

This doc drives a Hummer, has three racing bikes, own his own practice, and just bought 12 acres out in the country just to create his own private motocross course! And he's screaming that his malpractice premium is $500.00 a month. That's 1/3 less than our health insurance.

And we're still young. The amount they charge goes up each year. I don't want to think what it our premium will be when we are 50! :(

And another thing that really makes me mad is that statistically, malpractice law suits and settlements have dropped steadily over the past 10 years. I nearly died taking Bextra (when it was still being sold) and ended up in ER in excruciating pain. I had open sores all over my mouth/thoat/nostrils and other places.... When I later discovered that Bextra was pulled off the market and was known to cause this, I tried to find a lawyer who'd take the case - they all told me "No"! If I wasn't in a coma or dead, then they were just not interested.

I found that lawyers will not take the case unless there is MAJOR damage done. And everyone I spoke to about it had the same experience that I did. I don't consider those "frivolous".

So it's all hooey about this "frivilous medical lawsuit" stuff too. It all just another plot to charge the public more money. And we are all just naive enough to fall for it without even asking questions.

With all the global competition we face, we need to bring and end to employer-paid health insurance if we care at all about our US companies. It's going to end eventually anyway, as more and more employers are dropping it. It will be horrific if we wait too long for a solution.

And true - some people will avoid buying their own insurance. But with so many companies dropping their benefits now, that's going to happen either way.

hydroc888

09-02-2006, 07:16 PM

I have never responded to your post yet I love to read them . Look at the older boatracers[ me included ] that have decided where to cut expenses. I make $1100. a month on retirement My check to me is $ 606 after medical. I know that there are plenty out there that would like to be getting that much, but it doesnt leave anything for what I love to do best, go fast in a little boat.
I have a buddy that lives here in Taft that is a Canadian . He goes home when he has medical problems , all paid for by the governmant out of tax money . Our politicions take money from the doctor org. and drug org. to make sure that everyone makes tons of money but the little working man [ or lady ] goes broke , then the doctors say Oh well .
Give me a medical plan like they have and I can put $600 a month into the thing I love, boat racing. Not much , but I never wanted to finish 1st.
A lover of BOAT RACING till the day I die.
Hydro C888 { Jack }

Bob Valachovic

09-02-2006, 08:11 PM

This is what we pay through the business plan per month in New York.
individual--316.62
two person--633.24
family--823.22
This is a 17.3% increase from the previous year,and I have been informed that another increase will be for the upcoming renewal.

Dago Fast

09-02-2006, 10:37 PM

Miss BK

09-03-2006, 08:23 AM

Yes -- Report from Saturday is now posted on the News page. I stayed up til 1:30am waiting -- then I went to bed. And wouldn't you know it, the report hit my mailbox at 1:55am. lol

It's here: http://www.apba-racing.com/apps/news/index.php

Dago Fast

09-03-2006, 10:28 AM

Thank you ma'am.

Tim Chance

09-06-2006, 10:43 AM

Wayne - That is quite the story. I want to add my Konig story. I'm picking up a 500 cc at Raleigh, however I want it mainly for the towerhousing and gearcase to put under the Super E (Formula E in APBA) that I'm building. Going to Florida this weekend to pick up a Pugh hydro to run it on (the E not the 500). I know I've lost my mind, but I didn't have much of a mind to start with. And to Doug Hall I never felt safer in a boat than I did strapped into a capsule with my SST-140. And another thing, I saw a post awhile back wondering if Jack Chance and I were related, we thought yes, very distant, Both our family trees originated in Virginia, then to Oklahoma, Jacks' went to Texas, mine went north. We figgured 34th cousins 10 times removed. - Tim Chance

Jeff Lytle

09-06-2006, 06:13 PM

Skoontz

09-06-2006, 06:31 PM

Sorry guys and gals...My jaws got to flapp'in about a touchy topic...Good idea about insurance concerns!

Miss BK

09-06-2006, 09:09 PM

If I could make a suggestion......................Wayne's idea about evolving this thread into his history with his engine and Marshall's association with it seems like it has been lost in the shuffle. Not that you alll have been posting trash to mix it all up, It's all good stuff, but the original story has been kinda' stepped on. Perhaps one of you can suggest a new thread title for your insurance concerns and either Sam or I can shift it all over into a new home.

Agreed?

I quit talking about insurance four days ago! LOL :p

But yes, just as I hit send, I remembered what thread I was on...and do feel guilty about messing up Waynes great story.

His story is cool! It lets me dream that someday my pretty white Tom Cat will show up...and my boat and I can be reunited again! But I hear it went to Tahiti :(
Not much hope.

Resume...I'm enjoying this one....

Master Oil Racing Team

09-07-2006, 06:38 AM

Miss BK...I can't think of a better excuse for a South Pacific vacation.;)

Tim, That's cool about you and Jack. & I always thought Jack Chance was a good name for a boat racer.

Don't have a guilt trip guys. There was a lot of good stuff on that side trip.

O.K......Back to the story. It gave me time to find a couple of slides filed in non boat racing binders.

During 1974 it became apparent that "Honcho", our D/F boat would not be the same success story as "Hookin' Bull", Tim's first C/D/F Aerowing. As motors got more powerful, we needed a different boat to hang our D & F on. Honcho was just too much boat. So in November 1974 I took Honcho to Romeo, Michigan for Tim Butts to make some modifications and also pick up Tim's World Championship rig "Ruthless II" along with two new boats. I think the "B" boat may have been "Que Pasa" and the D/F Aerowing was "Texas Tornado.

I spent Thanksgiving with Tim, Ruth, his Dad and his brother & family. It snowed on the boats, two finished and two unfinished. After I left Tim, I drove down to Chicago and spent a couple of days with Anne Finkle who I was dating at the time. Snow remained on the boats until I got between Dallas and Waco where it finally started melting and blew away.

The only boat that was affected was Texas Tornado. It turned out to be a very appropriate name, as we spent more time fixing it than racing it. The plywood delaminated and there were dents on the deck. Tim didn't like my Dad's method of fixing it with three pieces of halfround glued and screwed to the deck. He got it back and fixed it properly. This was probably the hydro that Doug Hall remembers seeing inside the house when he was a kid.

Texas Tornado was on the middle rack of the boat trailer.

Skoontz

09-07-2006, 04:30 PM

You're gunna think this is beyond weird, but, A day or two after turkey day in1974, my buddy and our girlfriend's were heading into the Chicago Ampitheater on south Halsted to watch a rod and custom car show. I remember seeing a suburban and trailer similar to that driving down the Dan Ryan expressway and made comment to my friend! He too remembers the boats and the rig....Small world I tell you!

Master Oil Racing Team

09-07-2006, 10:11 PM

On my trip up to Tim's that same trip, 1974, I stopped the night of my final leg to Romeo at some unremembered motel. I had a small place to back up the suburban and trailer and some guy just showed up to direct me into the spot.

When I got out of the suburban he introduced himself. Jon Culver. We went into the ?Holiday Inn? wherever and spent the next couple of hours talking boat racing.

I don't know where the Dan Ryan Expressway is but I was headed to a suburb south or southwest of Chicago. Something Park? Just east of where Ray Hardy used to live where the first McDonalds was. Is there a Parkridge? Anyway...........so cool:

Master Oil Racing Team

09-07-2006, 10:26 PM

Debbie and I were very pleased to have the pleasure of Kate and Mike Hauenstein's company for dinner tonight. They are down in our area for a vacation and look around and had time to come by and visit. We had a great time and heard some good stories.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take any photos until later when I figured out instead of film I needed a chip. With a regular camera you can take all the flash photography you want if there's no film in the camera. Then you tell your friends the lab screwed up the photos. With digital, the flash will pop up, the infrared will scope out the purps, but no flash or no pics. When you pop in the piece of plastic, then you can take the pics. So I only have a couple. And this is Kate and Mike Hauenstein on either side of D41994.

Skoontz

09-07-2006, 10:37 PM

Ok, you were stopped in Romeoville, one town over from Joliet, home Stateville Prison, where John Wayne Gacy got the deserved needle. Your hotel could have been any one of a dozen old foresaken Rt. 66 stops, similar to what Jimbos mom used to operate only in the illustrious state of Illernoyzz.

Ray Hardy, if I am not mistaken is a brother to Don Hardy, of Don Hardy race car chassis. Many of the true greats of the golden age of drag racing lived in those south suburbs of Chicago, and near Oswego, Ilinois.

You must have taken the Dan Ryan to the Stevenson and I saw you just before you hit that exit ramp.

The first McDonald's is located in Desplaines, a town over from Parkridge, but those towns are so intertwined that you could be at any intersection and stand at all 4 corners and litterally be in a different city.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-07-2006, 10:50 PM

Ron Hill

09-07-2006, 10:51 PM

Jon is still around, I'd love to interview him...

At the 1956 Nationals in Cambridge, Maryland, Jon won C Runabout. I had finished third in A RUnabout to Dean Chenowith, and Billy Shoemaker and was in the inspection area.

Jon came into the inspection area with a Speedliner, with the front seat cut out, which was the rule then, but he had the front seat covered with a plastic cowling...it was cool looking and I wondered, at the time, did the cowling help him win, or was it just COOL looking???

Anhyway, he was supposed to race C Hydro in a few heats, and he told his dad, Merlyn, he didn't want to run C Hydro that one win was enough...It struck me funny at the time...as I'd want to win them all if I could....But Jon seems to be happy savoring his one win.....

See, Merlyn Culver was a Mercury Distributor, from Ohio, and Dean Chenowith, was also from OHIO....Dean won three Nationals in Oakland, 1952, maybe Jon didn't want to compete with Dean, maybe, his C Hydro wasn't that fast, maybe, like me, I never liked hydros...

Merlyn Culver once made my brother a D Hydro prop, that my brother never liked. He sold it to Ernie Dawe for B Runabout, Ruben Dawe, repitched the prop on his 1958 FORD'S BUMPER, and Jeff Fritz from Yuma, Az, borrowed it and won the 1961 Nationals is B Stock Hydro...

Merlyn made props, and Mister Mercury, Carl himself, asked Merlyn to build props for Mercury and he turned him down...

The Culver Family would make a great story....Especially when Jon explained how his motor had 8 reeds and everyone else had four...(Local Race)...But I guess, Jon beat Major Bob Smith and Dean Chenowith, and the "FUR FLEW" until everyone had 8 reed reed blocks...

Where is MARSHALL GRANT ANYWAY??? Maybe, we should just go see him!!!! (And talk BOAT RACE)....

Tim Chance

09-08-2006, 09:27 AM

I agree, I don't think Ray Hardy had a brother. When Ray quit racing in 1979, my partner Jack Kaemmer and I bought everything he had. As I recall 4 Konigs, about 30 props, a trailer and a 12' Butts Aerowing. I loved that boat with a C on it. Jack hated it because he went upside down with a D on it.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-08-2006, 03:11 PM

Hey Tim---I have a picture of you as part of this story coming up.

And Ron, Marshall still likes to talk racing. When I told him I found his old D, he sounded like a proud papa. He said after I got it mounted on the wall he might just have to come down here and take a look at it again.:D

When I was looking for pictures to go with this story, I came across a couple of rare photos of Texas Tornado. I didn't have too many because I only actually raced just under 8 1/2 laps with it. It had a name but we never got around to painting it on. After my Dad put the 1/2 round on the decks Tim said he didn't want one of his boats out there like that. Don't blame him. I don't remember how he got it back to replace it, but by the time we sold it to Jim McKean later on in 1975, it had had two decks, several stringer replacements, maybe a new cowling and a couple of round trips to Texas.

When I was trying to recall when I stuffed Texas Tornado with the D on it, I called Joe. He said to him it looked like I just fell into a gigantic hole. It seemed to look like the boat just fell off a cliff at a severe angle. There was no splash. I was just going like hell, then in the blink of an eye the boat just fell off and I vanished from sight. The boat dove in clean then bobbed back up right where it went in and just floated there. Then I popped up. I could never figure how there could have been just a hole. For more than a year I only remember coming out of the pits. Finally bits came back, but the last I remember to this day was coming out of the first turn and really gaining on the pack. I never knew until today how I came out of the turn and was only a couple hundred yards behind. Denny told Joe what happened from his perspective.

As I had previously posted, we had to make a quick repair right before the start and after the boats went by the referee signaled that I would be allowed to race. I pulled out of the pits, went around the safety bouy and punched the D. That D of Marshall's had so much power you better keep your steering tight. And since it was a short course we had on a Hopkins wheel for acceleration. It was a 7 1/8 X 13. We couldn't do much more than 90mph with it but it would get 90 right now. Unlike an A you could feed it pipe like it was a throttle. When I came out of the turn I saw the pack not even getting to the far turn yet and I smelled blood. I punched that D and was gaining so fast that I figured I may have a chance of being with the pack by the end of the first lap. That's the last I remember.

What Denny told Joe today was that he had his eye on Jim McKean who was right up front, maybe second place. Joe was watching me as I made my run with a very late start and did not see the rollers. I always figured some rollers came through after the pack and ahead of me, but Denny says no. The field had to slow way down and they bounced across. Denny took notice of Texas Tornado because of how fast it came off the corner and was topped out so soon. Denny told Joe there was no hydro ever built that could fly over those rollers and he said to himself "Ohhhh nooooo! This is going to be bad". I figure I launched off the first one and the second one popped the tail up and I dove in at a steep angle in the trough of the third one which to Joe appeared like a gigantic hole.

I think I must have seen it, but couldn't do anything. I figured I released the throttle and stood up on my knees, because I still had my left hand glove. I probably had a death grip on the steering wheel, and that or either the cowling took off my right glove. I'm guessing that as soon as the forks entered the water I flipped over the steering wheel went in front of the forks and entered the water legs first. I think this because besides my neck and head the groin area on both legs where I kept the leg straps tight really hurt also. The only other thing I associate with it is a black cold void. Not sinking or rising. Just an overwhelming feeling of being alone. Like there just isn't anybody else anywhere. Then light and warmth. I don't really know if this comes from subconsciousness, a dream or what.

The first photo is the finishing touches on Texas Tornado right before we loaded it on the trailer Thanksgiving 1974. In the second photo, it is behind the hydro in the foreground. Painted and numbered but not with the Master Oil logo or name yet. The third photo is Jack Chance left, pit men Johnny Bezecny or Johnny BZZZ as I called him, and to the right, Jim Roerig.

Coming up next is Tim Butts at the helm of the D.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-09-2006, 09:54 AM

The Eastern Divisionals were held in Gadsden, Alabama on June 21 & 22, 1975. We didn't want to fall behind while I was out so we hauled our equipment up there for Tim Butts to drive. Tim had his own boat and motor M-71 for 250 and 350 hydro, and our equipment for 500, 700 and 1100 hydro.

Tim tested the 500 on a boat that I am not sure which one it was. It was painted, but no logo or name on it. It could have been Texas Tornado. Externally I don't think there was much damage, but I believe Tim had to repairs some stringers that became crooked. I'm not real sure though. I do know that I never drove Texas Tornado again.

He also tested the D on Honcho. Tim didn't like that boat. It was too long, not enough lift and would tend to hook in a turn, which is totally unlike an Aerowing. Tim didn't test the dual rotary valve F I don't think. Tim decided not to race the D but he did get some valuable time in the cockpit. Since Hookin' Bull was retired and Honcho wasn't working out, we didn't have a good rig for 700 and 1100 hydro. Tim took what he learned at Gadsden and built "Shadowfax". What a boat that turned out to be. He built the V-8 boat of Joe Michelini's from the "Water Wars" off that same design with only slight differences.

Tim was only going to run 250, 350 and 500 hydro, but the water got rough. There was a one hour delay in the qualifying heats and then it was decided to reduce the laps from 4 to 3. Tim ended up scratching in all events rather than fighting the rough water.

First two pics are possibly the Texas Tornado. The third is Marshall's D on Honcho.

ProHydroRacer

09-09-2006, 02:30 PM

Skoontz...I stopped on the way up about 7 hours south of Detroit I think on IH 65? No route 66. No Hotel California;)

I don't think Ray Hardy had a brother, but Yes, I drove from Parkridge where Anne lived only a few miles west to Ray Hardy's house. It was Anne that pointed out the first McDonalds in Des Plaines. She took me downtown and showed me the L, Sears Tower, where they sold pork bellies, etc. We even went to a mosque before they got into bombs.

p.s. I do remember at some point going by an M & M or some kind of chocolate plant close to the freeway.

Ray Hardy had a brother he was a twin to Ray. When Ray and I where pals in the old Chicago Outboard days he would never speak of him and I got the feeling they where not on speaking terms. I think his brother lived somewhere south. Bill Van should know.

Bill Kurps
ProHydoRacer@BellSouth.net

Master Oil Racing Team

09-09-2006, 07:37 PM

I never knew that Bill. Ray was a genius. I guess his twin must have been so too. Maybe that's why Ray never mentioned him. It's been told that twins could read each other's minds. Could it be that Ray's twin always knew what Ray was inventing?;) :D His inventions were innovative, easy to manufacture and timely. Something always went haywire with Ray's patents. Do you think this was the Hardy that Skoontz wrote about?

BTW Bill---You and Bill Hosler are featured in an upcoming segment of "An Amazing Story".

Master Oil Racing Team

09-11-2006, 09:57 AM

OK Skoontz, you got me on the brother, and there keeps coming up other weird angles.

My Galaxy I/O has been stuck in the lake for a month while the water continues to drop. My warranty work on getting a wiring harness replaced so the starter wouldn't catch on fire backfired. When I went to turn of the motor, it wouldn't stop. The kill switch didn't work, I disconnected all the wires to the ignition switch & finally had to pull the coil wire out of the distributor to kill it. It took a couple of weeks to figure out which wires went to where on the ignition switch because what was there didn't match the diagram or what the shop foreman told me. When I finally got it right, it wouldn't start. The brand new starter just spins, or does nothing. So now I've got to load the boat without power. Problem is the concrete launch ramp ends about 25' from the water and I have to back the trailer into a creek bed deep enough to load it and then be able to pull that heavy mother out of the water with only a single axle trailer.

So I go into Mathis to get a tow rope. I planned to hook it from my 4X4 to my son's 4X4 which will be on the concrete ramp and have solid footing to pull it out if the trailer wheels break through.

I'm not at the parts store but a few minutes when we get on the subject of high performance boats. One of the guys, Chuck, says he used to have a picklefork that he could outrun larger boats with. I asked him if it was wood and he said "Yes, red white and blue. The Eradicator!" I told him "That's my old boat". We had sold it to Neil Bauknight I think. Anyway, we used to see it run down the back straight at Barbon years ago, but I never knew who owned it. It's been quite a few years now since I've seen it. Chuck told me who he sold it to and where it is now located. It has been hanging in a warehouse near the entrance of Lake Corpus Christi State Park. He said I could look through a window and see it. Which I plan to do.

Then he tells me there is a guy in Sandia who just found one of his old racing motors. Dumb me. I'm thinking of either an old racer from the 50's or Tommy Wetherbee who used to live about 3 miles south of Sandia. He said he read about it on HotBoat. Chuck says "He calls himself Master Oil Racing." So this time I tell him "That's me!" He comes over and shakes my hand and we get a big laugh. Even though my address is Sandia and it is only a couple of miles from my house across the lake, it is probably 15 miles to get there from here.

Skoontz

09-11-2006, 04:59 PM

I think Don Hardy is the brother to your Hardy Master Oil. That guy can make a drag car chassis burn!

If only I had a similar story with my old switzer super sport. I loved that boat and never tracked it down.

Now heres one for you. My daughter Katie, now 13, after successfully driving 3 1/4 midget and mini dwarf car seasons will get her first bout in an A hydro, many thanks to Ron Hill, Earnie Dawe, and Bob Peebles, who when I asked him what I would owe for this thrill (he will nhave an arm band and parking/pit passes for us on Sunday) he says if we get her drving an A boat in the region on a regular basis that's payment enough. If only my dad was alive to see his grand daughter debut...Anywho, did not want to steal the thread, it's my amazing story of the week!

Master Oil Racing Team

09-11-2006, 06:01 PM

....an amazing story. Thanks for your contributions to the original Skootnz, and good luck on the next phase. I actually had a different amazing story before I started this thread and when Mike and Kate Hauenstein were at our house last Thursday night, I forgot to show it to them. It will come later. But I know there are many amazing stories out there if people would tell them.

I only have a few more years to go then mine's done. I guess I should have researched the whole thing before I started because I have since discovered a few inaccuracies. You know how the old brain remembers. Unfortunately, I do not have my notes from those days and have to trace things largely from photos. I found out toward the end of 1975 both Hookin' Bull and Texas Tornado had the same Texas registration number:confused: :;) . Methinks in our haste to get back to racing in our own backyard in Texas, we duplicated the numbers to be able to race.:) Don't know if that's what happened, but I have been a little confused about a couple of boat.s

If I would have thought about this thread more before starting it maybe things would have been more in order, but what you guys out there have contributed have moved it around some and added more interest.

BTW Skoontz, do you have any pics you could maybe post on an Off Topic thread with your daughter and her midget and mini dwarf cars?

Master Oil Racing Team

09-11-2006, 06:41 PM

...it means get ready. So here's some more of 1975.

After Baytown I had to go to a torture chamber twice a week for six weeks after I could get around. My brother Mark had to drive me to Corpus christi and back to pick up the little red Fiat X 1-9 that I had ordered. For several months I couldn't look down or look up without holding my head. I couldn't work on motors, boats, test.............nothing. So I went to races to take pictures.

At the national Pro races I would meet up with Anne Finkl who came with her Brother-in-Law Phil Wagner and her sister Joanie. At the OPC and Inboard races in Texas I took my future wife Debbie. I went to as many races as possible. I was at my prime in racing and had no other way to get closer to the speed on water than to be with my friends, walk the pits and smell and hear the essence of boat racing.

So here are some pics from those days.

At the pro races Anne would carry some of my camera stuff & take notes,(first set) & Debbie did it for the OPC and GN races.(Second set of helpers) Those notes I can't find. BTW that's a young Joe Rome to the right of Debbie in the B&W photo.

deanwilson

09-12-2006, 09:26 PM

Hi Wayne,

Just want to let you know really enjoy the stories and the pics of the places and people I knew growing up. A while ago you mentioned that you were looking for AC M40FF spark plugs for the Konig. Well I just came across a set that look like they've never been in a motor. If you still need 'em, email your mailing address to me and I'll send them to you.

Dean
deanwilson17@sbcglobal.net

Master Oil Racing Team

09-14-2006, 08:00 AM

I could have found some kind of plugs at a parts house, but I didn't figure they would know how to get an AC M40ff plug, and I wanted everything to be authentic.

We took our boats up to Winona, Minnesota for the Grain Belt Pro Nationals August 20-24, 1975. What a great place to race. And what a great organization. The Midwest Power Boat Association did a bang up job. I think Bruce Allman was commodore at the time and Bob and Judy Smith spearheaded the event.

Tim Butts would be driving our stuff. I have photos of him in all the classes but 700 hydro. He had the 500 on Texas Tornado and the 1100 on Honcho. I don't know which one he drove in the qualifying, but I suspect it was Honcho. I don't know if he qualified or not. I can't remember and my notes from that race are still lost. And I can't find a propeller with results from the 75 Pro Nationals. In any case, he got a lot more time in on the bigger classes this time that helped him design Shadowfax.

The first pic is the layout of our pit area. Tim is on the left walking, then pit man Jim Roerig and another person are rigging up Loaner. Between the boats are Frank Zorkan, Joe Rome and someone I don't know.

Second pic is Tim Butts and someone there helping us. I know the face, but I can't call up the name.

Third pic. Since Jack Chance didn't come with us and I wasn't carrying my weight in the pits, Joe and Jim had to make a few pit stops for refreshments.;)

4th. Tim racing the dual carb 1100 on Honcho.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-14-2006, 09:22 AM

While looking through my contact sheet I found three pics I thought might be of interest.

1st. The boat in the foreground is having motor problems in 1100 hydro and he is heads up and aware that he will be lapped. When he sees Wayne Walgrave and another coming around the pins in a heated battle, he wants to make sure they know he's there (2nd pic):D

3rd. Who can guess who the lady is?

Jeff Lytle

09-14-2006, 10:49 AM

Looks like Dan Kirts on the inside......

Master Oil Racing Team

09-14-2006, 11:42 AM

....but, I'm not sure. It looks exactly like his style through the turn, the goggle and his position, but I am not sure because of the way the motor looks.

But, wait, I went back and took another look at the contact sheets and it appears to be Dan. There was a controversy at this race where Charlie Bailey was running second in 500 hydro when his shear pin gave up welding his prop to the shaft in the process. For some reason Tim didn't qualify with our boat and we had offered the ride to Charlie. Charlie decided to stick with his own rig. He lead out of the first turn the first heat but Bob Rhoades passed him and went on to set a record. Unable to get the prop off his motor, he notified the judges stand that he was switching to our boat. Charlie ended up winning the second heat and matching Bob's record, but he was dsq'd for the switch.

My Dad protested and the sqaubble between him and Judy Smith went on for several months. In the end my Dad's argument won because of another ruling. Dan Kirts was driving a (Yale?) with a Merc Quincy and something happened. Maybe flipped. Then he switched to a Rhoades with a Konig and they let it stand. Charlie had a 500cc Konig on the sister aerowing to mine, also Konig powered. Tim built mine and Charlie's Butts Aerowing at the same time. So Dan's switch was from two different manufacturers of boat AND motor, while Charlie's only differences were serial numbers within the same manufacturers.

Gets kind of interesting dredging up the past sometimes Jeff. I've got some photos of Dan driving Rex Hall's boat and I'll bet this was the time.

Mike Schmidt

09-14-2006, 03:11 PM

In my photo colection, I have one of the 8 cylinder Konig, that I thought was from the first Winona Nationals. Is that what is on the inside?

The boat he switched to in 700 was Rex's. Danny had never driven it and pushed the start the first heat and jumped. Won the second heat.

Plase keep the pictures coming......

Michael D-1

jrome

09-14-2006, 06:36 PM

Wayne,You forgot to tell the story about that week in Winnona. One of most fun places and great races . But all we had to eat was hot dogs. IT TOOK 10 YEARS FOR ME TO NEED TO EAT A HOT DOG AGAIN. Iwould love to go back to a race in Winnona,but I am takings some food this time.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-14-2006, 08:15 PM

....now what would posses me to take a camera to the hot dog stand? Maybe I thought there might be some action there ...Huh? If you look at the photo, our other pit man Jim Roerig is between me and you. He sure is watching your hands! I'm just thinkin', maybe you said something like "I'll crack your head with this crescent wrench if you let me head up to that hot dog stand again".;) :D Jim may have been pullin' guard duty. I didn't need another crack in the head.:D

Doug Hall Y51

09-15-2006, 09:25 AM

Wayne, I have heard the story of Danny running my dads boat. I would love to see the pictures. I need to get dad to post some stories. Obviously I was too young to remember alot of the stories but I love to hear them.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-15-2006, 10:48 AM

I have already posted one of Dan in Rex's boat, but I have a few more from the same race. I wish I could find my notes, because I can't remember all the details of what happened. I looked at the story I wrote for Powerboat, but it doesn't list all the winners. Some are mentioned only in the captions. I don't know why I left some of the names out. I can only say it's because I'm not a real journalist. I just was passionate about boat racing and figured I knew more about that than a writer would so I figured if I came up with some human interest angles and photos, then I could make the stories work. Unfortunately, some of the racing facts were not complete. In the story of the Grain Belt Pro Nationals there was a human interest angle involving Larry Latta. Due to the recent news of his health problems and Larry being on a lot of people's minds, I think maybe I'll post that story.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-15-2006, 04:01 PM

She is Tim Butts' sister Suzy. Tim said she used to come to watch him race, but the 1975 Pro Nationals at Winona was the one and only time I saw her. I keep getting off track, but I come across these pictures while I looking for one's associated with Marshall's D.

I finally found the results of the 725 hydro race. Fred Hauenstein made two perfect flying starts and went pole to pole both heats for the win. Charlie Bailey chased him both heats, and Howard Anderson finished third. Tim doesn't remember much about the 725 hydro qualifying heats other than some rough water. At that time, Tim was still getting up to speed in the larger classes. He had spent a little time testing, but no actual sponson to sponson clashes yet.

racnbns

09-15-2006, 06:07 PM

250 H 250 R
Tim Butts Lee Sutter
350 H 350 R
Lee Sutter Ralph Donald
500 H 500 R
Bob Rhoades Charley Bailey
725 H 725 R
Fred Hauenstien Bruce Nicholson
1100 H 1100 R
Charley Bailey Bruce Nicholson
C-1 H C-1 R
Ralph Taylor Craig Selvidge
CSR
Todd Brinkman Jr.

I found these results in the 1976 program. It also has some good pictures. I'll bring it to the reunion.

Bruce C. Summers
V-71

Master Oil Racing Team

09-15-2006, 08:10 PM

I was trying to figure out where Marshall's D figured in to the story when I was trying to find the results. I came across a pic of you and a deckrider approaching the start of 1100 runabout somewhere during the process.

Speaking of the reunion, I was talking to Joe today and we figured we had better start funneling names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. to John. I have noticed many BRF members show locations different than in the past.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-16-2006, 08:29 AM

I had posted the November 1975 issue of Powerboat some time back, so I will just post that part regarding Larry Latta.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-16-2006, 09:45 AM

It had been five months since I was in a hydro. My neck wasn't hurting any longer, but it was frozen up from going so long without being able to turn it. I could look a little bit to the left, but not much to the right. We had the final race of the year scheduled at my Dad's house on October 18 and 19. A couple of days earlier I had called the doctor who treated me when I was at the hospital in Baytown and told him of my situation. He made an appointment for the following day and I headed out to Baytown bright and early the next morning. The doc said my neck was just locked up from non use and it needed lubrication. He asked me how brave I was and I just shrugged my shoulder's and asked "What do you mean"? He said he thought cortisone (sp?) might do the job, but it make take more than one treatment and on some people the injection felt like liquid fire. I told him nothing else had worked so lets do it. He stuck the needle in my neck at the base of my head and moved it around a little while squirting the lube in. It didn't hurt at all, just a little warmth. It felt a little weird with him moving that needle around though. On the five hour drive home I started rotating my neck. By the time I got home late that afternoon, I had almost full rotation back. I told my Dad and Jack, "Get the boats out. We're going to race tommorrow".

I was a little rusty, but boy did it feel good back in the cockpit. In the 725 hydro I jumped the gun the first heat and finished second behind Jim McKean in the second.

The first photo is on the way to the first turn. Charlie Bailey is on the inside followed by Artie Lund, and probably Steve Jones or maybe Jim Richardson barely in the pic.

ferv888ipba

09-16-2006, 09:48 AM

I remember that race at Winnona, Butch Levendusky came back in from the heat and "drove" that C Service Hydro 15 feet up on the beach with a hole you could drive a truck through on the bottom. That was also the race where Craig Selvige in C Service kept hitting the bouy, although he did not dislodge or destroy any of them and they threw him out. He protested and was able to show the rule book says destroy or dislodge which he never did. Pretty good bruhaha.

Funny to think, Larry had enough weight to upset the balance of a boat and turn it over, but he did.

It looks like Winnona is coming back to boat racing as Bruce Johnson has been working real hard on getting the Title Series up there next year and that will be exciting to go back and be able to announce at one of the premier race courses in the country.

Ray

Master Oil Racing Team

09-16-2006, 02:27 PM

What a great place to race Ray. Just the right size body of water. Plenty of room to mill. Complete control of all watercraft. Fantastic pits. Hope it works out.

Speaking of Stan Leavendusky, he just wasn't having a good weekend in C Service. Could one of these be Craig? I couldn't find his number to try to get an I.D.

ferv888ipba

09-16-2006, 05:54 PM

Wayne,
Could not tell if one of them Craig. The runabout class is the one that they orginally through him out in, but got back in.

Seems to me I remember that the JayCee's were the sponsor for the National's up there and they had some trouble with the community. I seem to remember that the President of the group was on the radio apologizing for all the noise that we were making.

It wonderful to think we can get back in. Thanks for all you are doing keeping the pictures and stories coming. Hope that you and Joe are coming up to Depue for the reunion for the national's next year. I would love to do an interview on the PA with all of you guys. The fans will be going crazy as they are the most knowledgeable fans in the country with boatracing and would love to hear stories of the "old" guys. This years program had a number of years of Championship winners and it was fun to see your name along with Todd Brinkman, Howard Andersen, Ralph Donald and the rest.

I was thinking about your Dad the other day and remember him meeting me at a motel in San Antonio to deliver you guys a runabout. I was living in California at the time and was racing with Dick Davidson's family and driving a Terrell "C" hydro. Wade had built a runabout for you and one for Jim Schoch at Quincy, I believe trading one for a Koinig from you and one from Quincy. Here I am in the dead of winter pulling two runabouts on a trailer and the hydro on roof of the Ponitac Calatlina. I got into El Paso about 11am and got to San Antonio about midnight. Met your Dad about 11am and took off and went out through Texarkana at midnight. Man I thought I would never get out of the State of Texas. By the time I got to Quincy, Illinois here we were unloading that runabout at 9:30pm in January with about a foot of snow on the ground and people going by wondering what are those guys doing.

I don't know if you heard the story on Wade, but he was had a pacemaker and one time the electrical system affected the timing on the pacemaker to the beat of his engine and it dang near killed him, shut it off and just laid in the bottom of the boat. We all had a big laugh after we knew he was alright.

Well take care again thanks for all the stories.

Ray

Master Oil Racing Team

09-17-2006, 08:16 AM

After I posted that pic, I realized it was a runabout instead, but I let the post stay.

That would have been around 1969 Ray. I was in college at San Marcos, Texas. A small college back in those days. That Terrell was my last runabout. It weighed practically nothing. I had the nose at about 45 degrees several times and that's when my Dad and I decided I wasn't cut out to be a runabout driver. The cockpits in runabouts were always too wide and too low and I was always bouncing all around. Most of my trips to check out how hard water can be was in a runabout.

I was glad to hear the story about how that runabout got to us. I didn't remember. BTW, as bad a runabout driver as I was I won my first race in 1967 in A runabout with a DeSilva and a cast iron Konig. I beat Bobby Wilson and I can still see the smile on my Dad's face.

I never heard that about Wade. His valves must have been floatin' at that RPM. Good thing he wasn't wired into the kill switch.;) Thanks for YOUR stories Ray. Joe and I WILL see you at DePue.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-17-2006, 09:28 AM

Well we finally got the name painted on Texas Tornado by the final race of the year, and I did drive it a few more laps before we sold it to Jim McKean. Tim seemed to remember the bottom had twisted a little and he had to take his big sanding block to get everything back in line. Other than that, it had little damage. Jim, Denny Henderson and Benny Aylor came down to my Dad's to test and to pick up Texas Tornado on December 22.

The following week Tim and Ruth Butts came down to finish out the year with us. He brought two boats with him. An A/B hydro and a C/D hydro. That one we named Quein Sabe ("who knows" in Spanish). This is the boat we ran the D on in Phoenix.

We tested on New Year's day. A beautiful, calm cool day for testing. This boat came out of Tim's driving the C/D/F rigs a few months earlier. I had thought he brought Shadowfax down then, but now that I think back, we must have taken delivery of Shadowfax at Kaukauna a few months later. Check the afterplane.

John Schubert T*A*R*T

09-17-2006, 02:29 PM

Master Oil Racing Team

09-20-2006, 07:00 AM

Master Oil Racing Team

09-20-2006, 02:33 PM

After I got where I could move my neck again, I started excercising, riding a bike in the hills, excercising my grip while driving and what else I could do to be in shape for the 1976 season.

Tim Butts was down over the holidays and we went testing New Year's day as I previously mentioned. I forgot to say that QUIEN SABE was our first boat from Tim that had a tail shroud. Here are a couple of other looks of that boat. Tim did a little tweaking up at the house.

denny henderson

09-21-2006, 06:11 AM

I remember we brought HOOKIN' BULL out of retirement for the UIM World Championships in Phoenix, but this pic I didn't remember. I keep finding these little goodies while looking for photos to go with this story.

This is Denny Henderson in HOOKIN' BULL at the final LSBRA race of 1975 at my Dad's house. What do you remember about this Denny?

Wayne,

The picture above Tim and Baldy is Benny Aylor and I launching Jim McKean in the Texas Tornado in December. I remember that, but have no memory of me driving the Hookin Bull, ever. I'll ask Craig and Al, at the Raleigh race, if they remember anything about it.
What I do remember about that race is when Benny went too far up the lake while testing his new Yamato "B". Baldy had been very clear about staying away from that end of the lake while testing. We had been working on Benny's engine all afternoon, trying to get the surge out of it. Late in the day, starting to get dark, he made one more run and the engine finally ran good. He couldn't help himself. It felt so good, he just kept going down the lake and into the forebidden zone. When he came back in, we all witnessed the Mother of all *** chewings. I have never seen anything like it, and will never forget it. None of us got over it until the next day.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-21-2006, 06:53 AM

Yeah, Denny, there was some things in the water that could cause some serious problems. When the wind was blowing too hard I could go deep back in there and get a good test run lined up against our shoreline, but I knew where to go. The last thing my Dad wanted was for one of his friends to get hurt so he figured he hadn't made it plain enough before. One thing about him though is that once he spoke his mind, he would be back laughing and joking in ten minutes.

I was asking Joe about you driving HOOKIN' BULL and he doesn't remember it either. You didn't race it, but you did drive Benny's BT22 in 500 hydro. Don't know if you had planned on running it and changed your mind or maybe Jim McKean had some 500cc Yamato's on the way and you wanted to check out a 500 hydro ride. Just don't know. But that pic is not a computer trick.

BTW, Benny won the 350 hydro race.:D

denny henderson

09-21-2006, 08:16 AM

I can't remember who's idea it was for me to drive that Four Pipe "C" Yamato on an 11'6" hydro, but I have no one to blame but me. There was no shortage of stupidity back then. Man what a ride!:eek: I can't remember if you or Charlie Baily won the two heats. I duked it out with Artie Lund until the little boat whipped me down.

Tim Chance

09-21-2006, 07:22 PM

Master Oil Racing Team

09-21-2006, 08:16 PM

....I never realized all the twists, turns, and moments forgotten in time that could turn up.

Denny, the only pic I have of you in HOOKIN' BULL is that one. I didn't crop it and there are no pit shots. So I don't know what motor is hanging on the transom. Since you ended up running that 4 pipe Yamato on BT22 I am guessing there was a problem with the setup on HOOKIN' BULL.

We didn't use Konig tower housings. Tim's boats were designed for cornering and that meant low center of gravity. Tim steered us to the Leavandusky's tower housings and we also used their steering bars. That was as tight and low as you could get. The tower housings were 10". I remember the Yamato as well as Konig tower housings were much taller. So it may be that the transom of HOOKIN' BULL was too short for a quick set up for racing.

I say this because you didn't have an entry in 350 hydro and you're number in 250 hydro was X. The traditional number of a newly delivered boat at it's inauguaral start. (I think Sam had some stats on the X No.) You built your own, so I guess you had a new boat, untested....no 350....and you wanted to race on good clean water.

Craig Lawrence ended up winning both heats of 250 hydro and you behind Billy Davis after jumping the gun in heat 2. You and Johnny Dortch were a little early.

But in the 500 hydro race we are referring too, you ended up third overall. Charlie Bailey won both heats. I jumped the gun in heat 1 with 6 others and DNF heat 2. You ended up 2nd in heat 1, outrunning Artie Lund. That was the heat to watch. You were one of the many DNF's in heat two.

Here is probably the 500 cc Yamato 4 pipe you had hanging off of Benny Aylor's BT22. This was in the background of the pic of Jim McKean starting to test TEXAS TORNADO.

Ron Hill

09-21-2006, 09:18 PM

Tim Chance... you ran a four carb Konig "D" on a 10' 6" Sid Craft??? I ran my Quincy "A" on an 11' Sid...and Harry Bartolomei's 4 carb on his 13' Schultz, and that was a handful.....Won a heat at DePue and ran out of fuel the other...

Ted May ran a 4 carb C Konig on his 10'6" May Craft, Sid copy, at 97 mph for a UIM KILO record....

I just can't even imagine trying that four carb "D"... Lucky you aren't still up in the trees somewhere....Scares me thinking about it...

John Schubert T*A*R*T

09-22-2006, 07:37 AM

Denny - It all comes back when you have to use your memory. I ran a 4-carb D Konig on a 10-6 Sid Craft. Nobody talked me into it dumb runs in my family. See you in Raleigh. Is Stanley H. coming with you? - Tim

The 10' 6" Sid was a 'C stock Hydro/ A alky boat". You must be good Tim to have kept it safely on the water.

Tim Chance

09-22-2006, 12:15 PM

The 10' 6" Sid was a 'C stock Hydro/ A alky boat". You must be good Tim to have kept it safely on the water.
That Sid Craft actually started out life as John Wood's D Mod boat, then went to Dale Kaus and he ran A and B Loopers on it. When I got it I ran a C Alky deflector and a B Loop on it. Then the first time I ever ran the 4-carb D I ran it on that boat. Got to the first turn first and won the heat. The motor came from Billy Hulgan and Dub Parker had blown it up at the NOA World Championships in Midland. Walt welded it back up and I bought it from Billy. I ran that motor on an 11-8 Sid one time and it was a more scary ride than the 10-6. I did,however, get a full size Marchetti for it before that season was over.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-22-2006, 12:39 PM

I was going the opposite way. I had an A Konig, one of the two fixed pipe models, on an 11-4 Sid at Knoxville and Bob Hering asked me why I was running such a big boat. "It's the only one I have.", was my reply.

Those 4 carb Konigs with the short megaphone pipes were really cool sounding motors. Tim, I bet you made sure you were pointed in the right direction before you punched it. How many guys to you think you beat because they were afraid to get close? LOL.

Tim Chance

09-22-2006, 01:56 PM

Wayne, when I ran that thing on that little boat. I got on it coming up for the start and it kind of cocked the boat a little sideways like the bow handle was pointed somewhere between 10:00 & 11:00 o'clock. When I got to the corner I backed off a little and it went around the corner all by itself. Another time the judges missed the multiple sign-in sheets and then did nothing when too many boats came out. I got to the first turn first and it kind of had its own mind and hooked around the 1st pin and about 15 boats passed me I straightened out and looked back and there was about 15 more still coming. My memory stops there. Terror I think. Funny thing about that motor; it would only run on Bosch plugs. Campion or AC and it would load up every time. When it became obsolete I gave it away. I wish I still had it - just to listen to it run with those little pipes. Although I finally had put expansion chambers on it. And I had one of those first A's with the long fixed pipes. I had like a Swift Big Bee or something, not nearly enough boat and borrowed an 11-4. I was about 120 lbs then and the boat packed so much air I was afraid of it.

John Schubert T*A*R*T

09-22-2006, 03:37 PM

That Sid Craft actually started out life as John Wood's D Mod boat, then went to Dale Kaus and he ran A and B Loopers on it. When I got it I ran a C Alky deflector and a B Loop on it. Then the first time I ever ran the 4-carb D I ran it on that boat. Got to the first turn first and won the heat. The motor came from Billy Hulgan and Dub Parker had blown it up at the NOA World Championships in Midland. Walt welded it back up and I bought it from Billy. I ran that motor on an 11-8 Sid one time and it was a more scary ride than the 10-6. I did,however, get a full size Marchetti for it before that season was over.
Tim, now that you said that boat came from John Woods, I believe that it was a 10' 8" "C stock D stock", if it was the early 60's. I believe it was my boat as John had purchased mine after the 1961 season when I moved up from C Stock to D stock. That is when Sid began making separate C & D boats. Was there any evidence of a name on the side decks? Maybe "Sleepy Time Gal (# something)?

Tim Chance

09-22-2006, 07:50 PM

Tim, now that you said that boat came from John Woods, I believe that it was a 10' 8" "C stock D stock", if it was the early 60's. I believe it was my boat as John had purchased mine after the 1961 season when I moved up from C Stock to D stock. That is when Sid began making separate C & D boats. Was there any evidence of a name on the side decks? Maybe "Sleepy Time Gal (# something)?
John - I got the boat in the mid to late '60's. I think I got my Marchetti (12' not 12-2) from Armand Hebert in '68 and I had that Sid for at least a year or two before that. We all called it a 10-6 I don't know if anybody ever measured it. It could have been 10-8. One thing for sure it was a totally different boat from the 10-6 B/C Alky Sid. As this boat had a much wider bottom. I think the first time Dale ran the boat it did have lettering on it and still had John's number (Y-100???), But the Kaus' totally refinished the boat and when I got it there was nothing else on it. But my guess is that it was originally your boat. I sold it to a schoolteacher named Kenny Peterson and he had a series of kids drive it with an old 2-cyl Konig deflector.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-24-2006, 10:18 AM

What strange twists and turns. Cool to learn the path of John's old Sid. Would be good if John Woods would come on and add to the story.

Well....back to it.

We did a lot of testing prior to the UIM World Championships at Phoenix held February 20-22, 1976. I already told of some of the troubles we had, and how we didn't know we found the cure until we actually put the boat on the water at Firebird Lake. I also told about the race. But prior to the race we were also playing around with the pipes. We tried different stinger combinations and at Phoenix Jack had to modify them a little more.

Here are pipe dimensions on our previous D No. 6995 and those of Marshall Grant's original D pipes. Then there are the dimensions of the various stingers we tried. And some of the motor corrections we made along with a test sheet prior to the race at Phoenix.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-24-2006, 02:09 PM

This next section will come in two parts for easier explanation.

Until I started digging into old files I had thought I won the World Championship riding in SHADOWFAX, but now I know it was with QUIEN SABE. It was a great boat, but better for a C. HONCHO was too long and not enough lift. So the next boat Tim built for us was SHADOWFAX, and it turned out to be one of our best all time boats. It had an innovative feature that Tim used on his next boat that was disguised as a support member. It was actually an airfoil to give some lift and lateral stability to the rear of the boat.

The hydros only had a couple of rules. The main rule said there could be no devices creating lift, which basically outlawed all hydros. I don't know when the rule was originally written, or if the commissioners at the time of the writing meant devices other than deck shapes for creating lift. I was one of the commissioners leading the charge to rewrite the rule and we were able to get it done at the 1976 APBA Convention.

First is the rule as it existed at the time SHADOWFAX was built. Second is the rule after changes at the convention.

John Schubert T*A*R*T

09-24-2006, 02:45 PM

John - I got the boat in the mid to late '60's. I think I got my Marchetti (12' not 12-2) from Armand Hebert in '68 and I had that Sid for at least a year or two before that. We all called it a 10-6 I don't know if anybody ever measured it. It could have been 10-8. One thing for sure it was a totally different boat from the 10-6 B/C Alky Sid. As this boat had a much wider bottom. I think the first time Dale ran the boat it did have lettering on it and still had John's number (Y-100???), But the Kaus' totally refinished the boat and when I got it there was nothing else on it. But my guess is that it was originally your boat. I sold it to a schoolteacher named Kenny Peterson and he had a series of kids drive it with an old 2-cyl Konig deflector.
Tim, I'm sure that it was as that boat am combo C-D did have the wider bottom. When Sid designed the C & D separately, he narrowed the bottom on both the 10'6" C & the 11' D.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-24-2006, 02:47 PM

The leading edge of a Butt's Aerowing was designed after a wing of an aircraft with a stall speed of around 80 mph. Therefore, it was an illegal lifting device, just as all the decks on conventional hydros of the time were. But in those days Unlimiteds were beginning to utilize wings over the transom to add lift. PRO division hydros could get away with different deck configurations, but a wing on the transom would be declared outright illegal. Most everybody knew the paradox of the rule, but still it was there. Tim wanted to experiment with some tail lift, so until the rule was changed, he built SHADOWFAX with an airfoil that supposedly had a different purpose in order to get away with it. I know of only two boats he built with the larger airfoil--SHADOWFAX and his own M 71. He built another boat with one about half the size of those two, then I think he discontinued the rear wings altogether.

The idea was to not only provide just a little lift on the tail, but also a little lateral stability like a vertical stabilizer on an airplane. The two wings at an angle plus the lower unit in the water would be kind of like the feathers on an arrow keeping it flying straight and true.

The first pic is Tim's boat at the John Ward race in Valleyfield in 1976. Quien Sabe is in the background. We had picked up SHADOWFAX a month earlier and it was in the paint shop.

Tim Chance

09-24-2006, 05:45 PM

One time Tim (Butts) and I (Chance) were talking about airfoils or wings at the tail of the boat and decided that for inspection purposes they were "tool trays" a place to put your prop wrench or whatever so you wouldn't mar the finish of the boat.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-24-2006, 08:10 PM

....I haven't heard that one. It was one of your boats that I had a different example of a wing on the transom Tim.;) I'll put up a pic tommrow.

Jeff Lytle

09-25-2006, 08:12 AM

I had a friend of mine who had an older 700cc Aerowing with the lower, wider sides and the flush transom. With the older Konig, it handled the power just fine, but when he updated his engine, suddenly he found himself with a handfull of ill handling boat. He built himself a homemade afterplanes he screwed to the transom. He followed dimentions he got off a newer boat, and it made the rig driveable once again.

Tim's practical theories on the way air affects hydroplanes was awsome!

Master Oil Racing Team

09-25-2006, 08:30 AM

Had to leave yesterday before I finished.

We had never run a kilo before and didn't have any plans to, but Tim had SHADOWFAX built and rather than me going all the way to Romeo or Tim coming to Barbon, we met him at Kaukauna. Seemed like a good idea. Lots of people there. My Dad and I met Tim and Ruth at a hotel, but we turned in early as we had to get up a 4 a.m. to get to the course on time. I drew a very high number so we had lots of time to rig up.

We rigged up Marshall Grant's D first. Tim spent a lot of time on the set up as we had no testing time with the boat. We would just have to guess at the best setup and go with that. My Dad was the prop man and he picked out what he thought would work. We never ran any trick stuff at a kilo. We just ran what would be a good set up for a high speed oval. Thinking back now about what we had done seems pretty amazing in itself, but at the time it seemed like nothing more than getting ready for a test session.

It was taking a long time to get the runs off. I don't mean this in any derogatory manner whatsoever, but it was taking something like 10 minutes for some of the J or A stock guys to complete their runs. On the run into the wind they would go a half a mile or so outside the traps then turn around to make the run. It lasted forever. So after a few hours the wind began kicking up and there were a lot of entries still to go. After the wind picked up quite a bit, as the announcer called the next number, drivers one after another scratched. They kept calling numbers until they came to ours and we took it. There was a small island out close to one of the traps and Tim told me to ease to the right around the island, then hook a hard left and accelerate into the run to get the back up. It was probably only 100 yards or so.

That D really had some power. The first run was into the wind and I was unable to keep it at maximum power. The wind was blowing too hard and it was all I could do to keep it on the water. I was tucked just below the cowling as far forward as I could get, and just had to balance it by working the pipes up and back. Never had I run so long at that speed. I kept thinking the motor was going to lock up because I wasn't backing off to let a little extra fuel bubble through. But that motor just kept stroking. Going downwind was just the opposite. The wind was blowing hard enough that it took all the lift out and we had a conservative tuck on the motor. So then I had the throttle wide open and pipes pulled all the way up and the sponsons seemed like they were plowing through the water. I was stretched as far back as I could get. Going with the wind was so quiet that I began to hear noises I never paid attention to before. It seemed like I could hear the gears in the lower unit meshing and the pistons thrasing around, then I worried about being able to make it all the way through. But I did. So the first two passes I ever made with SHADOWFAX went into the record books. The run into the wind was something around 112 and downwind was 108 for an average of 110mph. Thinking about it now, I realize it was because Tim's boats were so consistently driveable that I never hesitated to run them as hard as I could on the first trip out of the pits. They were always like that.

After that run, all the drivers scrambled to get back in line. No more scratches. We rigged up the dual rotary valve "F" we got from Marshall and then I started to take more pictures. After a little while Bob Hering blew his tunnel over right at 130mph. It looked very bad. No runs while the ambulance was gone and I think we must have rigged down then. We did not go out with the "F" and I think it must have been because we were so bummed out about Bob Hering. We had lost Bob's ex alky partner Jerry Waldman 4 years earlier, and at that time we never would have expected Bob to come away with only some broken ribs.

I didn't take any photos with D41994 on SHADOWFAX, but here are a few shots with the dual rotary valve F. Incidentally, as few years earlier I had read Tolkien's trilogy "Lord of the Rings" and the character Gandalf had a horse named Shadowfax. That horse could run as fast as if it had wings, but it DID NOT have wings. That aerowing ran as fast as if it had wings, but that device on the transom WAS NOT an illegal wing;) hence the name.:D

BTW the records show the boat as SHADOWFOX. They must have thought we had a typo on the paperwork.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-25-2006, 09:26 AM

Tim---Here's that wing on your boat. Springfield, E. Divisionals 1977.

Tim Chance

09-25-2006, 10:59 AM

Tim---Here's that wing on your boat. Springfield, E. Divisionals 1977.
It's not a wing it's a "tool tray" - a place to put the prop wrench and prop nut. Anyhow, at Springfield it had no effect whatsoever on the way the boat ran. But it looked neat so I left it on. Then at the Nationals in Hinton West Virginia it was another story. I had a fast B (I got it from Steve Ketzer who got it from Marshal Grant). Danny Kirts and I were running side-by-side going to the first turn. My boat had lifted like normal with the sponsons off the water, then about 3/4 of the way to the corner the wings kicked in, the tail lifted, and the whole boat started to skate around. I got to the corner and dropped the pipes, but they stuck up on the elbows and the motor quit. I was relieved to have a dnf. The "tool trays" found a new home in a trash can in Hinton.

ProHydroRacer

09-25-2006, 05:56 PM

It's not a wing it's a "tool tray" - a place to put the prop wrench and prop nut. Anyhow, at Springfield it had no effect whatsoever on the way the boat ran. But it looked neat so I left it on. Then at the Nationals in Hinton West Virginia it was another story. I had a fast B (I got it from Steve Ketzer who got it from Marshal Grant). Danny Kirts and I were running side-by-side going to the first turn. My boat had lifted like normal with the sponsons off the water, then about 3/4 of the way to the corner the wings kicked in, the tail lifted, and the whole boat started to skate around. I got to the corner and dropped the pipes, but they stuck up on the elbows and the motor quit. I was relieved to have a dnf. The "tool trays" found a new home in a trash can in Hinton.

Hey Tim! I got your Konig 500cc engine finished last night. Do you have a boat for her yet?

ProHydroRacer

Tim Chance

09-25-2006, 09:20 PM

Got my Super E powerhead to share the lower unit and a Pugh Hydro to run it on but I think it's too small for a 500 Sprint. But I think when I get to Raleigh I'll be looking at runabouts. Haven't built one in years, but I'm ready. Can't pound a nail straight anymore (must be the bifocuals) but I do have an air nailer. Still thinking about the 250 motor.

Composite Specialties

09-26-2006, 05:09 AM

Hey Tim,

How about a brand new in the box, never raced, 2006 Rossi 250cc powerhead for that runabout your a thinking about? I can bring it to Raleigh for you to look at if interested.

Tim Chance

09-26-2006, 06:36 AM

Hey Tim,

How about a brand new in the box, never raced, 2006 Rossi 250cc powerhead for that runabout your a thinking about? I can bring it to Raleigh for you to look at if interested.
Thanks Mark but, I'm just putting my foot back into the shallow end of this racing pool - I'm not ready to jump into the deep end yet. Sorry Wayne, I'm not trying to steal your thread; can't wait to hear the rest of the story.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-26-2006, 07:14 AM

Tim Chance

09-26-2006, 08:01 AM

....but don't sweat it. This thread has taken several interesting sidetrips since it started.

We qualified the D for the PRO Nationals at the Western Divisionals at Lake Calaveras in San Antonio. It was the only mass migration from the pits I ever saw. It was clear early on that morning that wind was going to kill the races, so we decided to move the pits and race course around the corner to a more protected cove. We didn't even have time to stamp the grass down in the first pit area. Some guys drove their boats around the corner and some paddled.
I remember that floatillia. I also remember Lucky Lund telling me that all the snakes had been chased out of the original pit area. They weren't chased out of the alternate pits. Tom Berry found one and terrorized John Dortch II, and me with it.

ProHydroRacer

09-26-2006, 09:46 AM

[QUOTE=Master Oil Racing Team]....but don't sweat it. This thread has taken several interesting sidetrips since it started.

We qualified the D for the PRO Nationals at the Western Divisionals at Lake Calaveras in San Antonio.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I remember that race. We drove within a mile or two of the Lake late at night and stopped at a bar to ask for directions. The local drunks didn't even know there was a lake there.

We found the pits after driving down some back road that was overgrown with trees and bushes. What a trip! Made that trip with Rod Walk and Barry Anderson.

The local racers where having a BBQ and treated us really nice.

To this day, I always look for snakes in my boat before I get in.

The good old days!!

ProHydroracer

Master Oil Racing Team

09-26-2006, 01:28 PM

While the talk was going on about whether to move the race course or not, my Dad decided to go ahead and move our trailer to the alternate site. He knew we weren't going to race where we were and if we didn't move, we would not race at all, so he took our trailer to a good pit site.

I don't know why I stayed at the original pits....I guess to take pictures. Anyway while I was standing at our former pit site, Bill Van Steenwyk drove up. We talked a few minutes then he said "Hey...where's your trailer?" As we had a back and forth practical joke thing going with Bill Van, what popped into my head was "Somebody stole it!" "What?", he replied. And so I said "Yeah....we got here this morning and it was gone." "No", Bill Van said, "That couldn't have happened." When my Dad started to move the trailer he forgot the lid was up and dragged the pole about 10 feet through the dirt until I hollered to get him to stop. (See previous B & W pic) I remembered that and pointed to it saying "See where they dragged the pole when they started off with it." Up until then he thought maybe I was pulling something, but that pushed him over the edge. "I just can't believe anything like that could ever happen.", he said, then "Where's Baldy?" I told him he was down at the Sheriffs office giving a description of everything. To make it worse, I was able to explain the situation to my Dad before Bill saw him just a little later and he carried on with it. Bill was really bummed out, so we had to finally confess, but not without considerable laughing.:D We knew we would get something back in return. Was it worth it? Heck yeah!

Here are a few more pics from the 1976 PRO Western Divisionals at San Antonio.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-26-2006, 09:02 PM

Contact sheets were not in order when I labeled them (Wow-30 years ago:eek: ) and the grassy area I first mentioned was the new snake pits. The original pit area was mowed. And Tim Chance's hydro that looks a little askance didn't ride all the way to Texas that way. His and the Dortch's trailers were migrating to the new pit area. They just threw them on the trailer for a short haul. Right Tim???

Master Oil Racing Team

09-27-2006, 06:58 PM

.....what a great time that was. The Midwest PowerBoat Association once again put on a fantastic nationals. It was the BiCentennial Celebration of America. The Tall Ships sailed into New York Harbor on July 4, 1976, past the Statue of Liberty, beneath the spray of the firefighting boats of New York. We raced the following month...August 17-22.

The Oly Pro Nationals was sponsored by Olympia beer. Never heard of it before, but it was a premium beer. After that I became an Olympia fan. They paid off with BiCentennial silver dollars in an Olympia beer tray. And we also got ornate Olympia beer mugs and wooden Olympia wooden beer crates with a lid.

I had won the UIM World Championships earlier that year with Marshall Grant's motor and we had seemingly corrected all motor problems when we changed out the stator plate. We won the Western Divisionals but we were having fuel problems with the larger bore motors. They were building up so much pressure in the fuel tank that the floats were popping loose, in spite of the spring loaded pressure relief ball valve on the Konig check valve. We switched to electric fuel pumps which we had unsuccessfully played with in 1967. They seemed to be more reliable and compatible with methanol now. But a month earlier in Valleyfield at the John Ward race, the fuel pump failed with a quarter of a lap to go and a big lead in the qualifying heat. That was with the 500cc motor on QUIEN SABE. I don't know whether that caused us to change something or what we did to prepare for the PRO Nationals, but looking back, I have a different outlook.

We had never gone to the Divisionals before to prequalify, but we started the year before when I was out of racing and we wanted to keep our equipment competitive. All we did at Winona was set the motor up, run a couple of tests on props and get ready for the finals. I think now, that without having to compete in a heated battle to make the finals, you don't get the feedback you need to get your boat/motor ready. In any case, we THOUGHT we were ready. This was the class I most wanted to win. To cement the World Championship with a National Championship and a competition record to boot , all in the same year....1976. It was a surveyed 1 1/4 mile course and Marshall Grant's D on SHADOWFAX was more than capable.

I can't find my notes from those days and I don't exactly remember what went wrong. I think it was fuel related, but I can't be sure. I finished 5th in heat one behind Jerry Kirts, Fred Hauenstein, Artie Lund and Howard Anderson. Maybe there were back to back heats. Forgot. In any case the following sequence tells the story. I don't know who took the photos. My sister Jan used to take pics, but she wasn't there. I can only suspect it must have been my wife Debbie, who for some reason picked up my camera to take a few shots. It doesn't matter. It shows why I raced boats.

When my motor wasn't right after I came out of the pits, I turned back just a little way down. The motor quit before I could get to the pits. It didn't matter that I was a competitor to these racing teams. They jumped through hoops to get me in the race. Bill Hosler went into the deep water to grab the bow handle. Bill Kurps grabbed Hosler to pull us in. Everyone hustled to get the boat turned around and fired up to clean it out. Bill Kurps was cranking on it, but, time ran out. The one minute gun fired. You can see the look on my mechanic Jack Chance's face as he headed back toward our pits. Of course I was extremely bummed out myself. But this was racing and in those pics you see compadres that make up what friendly competion is all about.

ProHydroRacer

09-28-2006, 10:03 AM

I remember that time like it was yesterday. 30 years ago! The pictures really tells a story how intense we become to get a racer back on the water.

Bill

Master Oil Racing Team

09-28-2006, 10:27 AM

.....and it doesn't look like I was doing much talking at time time, so I would like to thank you right now for your efforts.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-29-2006, 09:09 AM

After being out of the cockpit most of 1975, we tried catching up in 1976, traveling approximately 20,000 miles all over the country. We went to Yelm, Washington for the September 18 & 19 races on the record setting 1 2/3rds mile course of Lake Lawrence. We went up through Utah and Idaho and came back via Oregon, California, etc. It was beautiful country. Will never forget our first view of the Redwoods. Ever since then I will never buy anything made of Redwood. They need to just grow.

For some reason I didn't take many pictures and I didn't wander around the pit area where the stock and mod guys were. That's where Ron was hanging out. I regret not taking more photos. I remember having a good talk with Gerry Walin. He hung around our pits, and I was always too intimidated to talk to him before. My first full year of racing he set a world outboard speed record of almost 131 mph with an Evinrude on Starflite IV. He was an icon to me. Someone who had been many times champion, and ran a "B" over 100mph in a day that "D"'s weren't even going that fast.

Since we lost out in our quest to pick up a national championship in 725 hydro, we went to Yelm with the hope of setting a competition record with it. While we did end up with a record in 1100 hydro, we missed out chance with Marshall's D. We didn't have any chance to test and just guessed at the setup like we did at Kaukauna. Tim was with us and he was going to take a try at 250 hydro with Loaner, which that boat motor combination is a story in itself. And he would help us with the setups on this 1 2/3rds mile course.

It was my first time at Yelm and I was unfamiliar with the clock. After the 1 minute gun fired, I was not in good position, but I could have made a move to get where I needed to be if I could only find out how much time was left. I kept alternating between watching traffic and looking for the second hand. When I finally realized that the whole clock face was turning from white to black, I was going to be way early. I had to go back around. I can't remember for sure, but it seems there might have been a local safety rule that you had to go all the way around the far turn to make a legal start. In any case I crossed the starting line about the time the pack was almost to the first turn. The set up on SHADOWFAX was working and I was able to make up a lot of time. I finished either first or second, I don't remember. In any case, if I won, it wasn't quick enough because the other boats started the clock. The second heat I blew a lower unit.

The water was perfect and a lot of records were set.

Hal Tolford set 2 records CSR and CSH
JSH Scott Shuman
FOH myself
JSR Brad Shuman
B Mod H Bob Wartinger
25SSR Earl Garrison
C Mod H Dick Davidson
A Mod H Julie Seaman

Jeff Lytle

09-29-2006, 12:20 PM

Hey Wayne..........I absolutley LOVE your stuff, and look forward to the daily pics and stories.

The pics of you climbing out of your rig after the 1 minute gun is a feeling we can all associate with, after all-- we've all been there.

David_L6

09-29-2006, 04:18 PM

Hey Wayne..........I absolutley LOVE your stuff, and look forward to the daily pics and stories.

I'll second that!

Your posts have made some looong 12 hour night shifts go by a lot quicker than they normally would have. (Sometimes, when whatever station I'm operating is running well, it's gets awful boring just sitting there in "monitor mode".) You've also kept me tied to my computer at home when I should have been doing something else! ;)

I love your pictures also. I remember seeing a lot of those boats and trailers (I noticed Bobby Wilson's in a pic a few posts up for instance) in person. I was ~ 12, 13, and/or 14 at the time.

Dr. Thunder

09-29-2006, 04:30 PM

Wayne ... as others have stated ... your contributions to the BRF content is really appreciated. Please post more of the photos ... particularly interested in any additional Lawrence Lake or Region 10 folks that your camera might have captured along the way. Thanks :cool:

Skoontz

09-29-2006, 10:01 PM

Great stories keep em comming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Master Oil Racing Team

09-30-2006, 07:53 AM

Thanks for the kind words guys. It's been fun digging through this old stuff and trying to remember how it was. It makes it much more worthwhile to see a bunch of you enjoying it. I started this thread as a story about how I kept seeing all these restored motors on BRF and decided to try to find one to hang on my wall. Kind of like catching a record bass on the first cast, I found the VERY motor I wanted a duplicate of. How it all came about was the amazing part. Then as I started telling the history, it evolved into what it is now. Guess I should have put more thought into it before I started. I would have liked to have added more at the beginning when Marshall Grant owned it, but anyway, here we are six years later and the motor is still pumping out wins.

Master Oil Racing Team

09-30-2006, 09:08 AM

Okay Dr. Thunder. Here are a few more shots from Lake Lawrence before we head down to Fort Buhlow Lake in Alexandria. I could kick myself for not taking more photos at Lake Lawrence. It drew lots of top racers from Stock, Mod and Pro outboard ranks. I don't know names behind some of these boats, but included are record runs of Scott Shuman 2US and Bob Wartinger 28R.

When we traveled, we usually would stop if we found a fruit stand with locally produced fresh fruit.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-01-2006, 09:43 AM

The final race of 1976 was at Alexandria on October 8-10. There were 75 drivers representing 17 states, with a total of 180 boats. Jerry Kirts and I swapped heats. I won the first heat of 725 hydro with Jerry 2nd. The second heat Jerry won with me pushing him hard. He set a new 725 hydro record upping the old one by 7.3 miles per hour set in 1975 by Fred Hauenstein. Jerry's average speed was a blistering 81.485. 1976 was the first time an outboard broke an 80 mph average on a 1 1/4 mile course. I did it at the Nationals in 1100 hydro. Jerry was 1.100 mph over that. Dan Kirts turned in a 82.005 record in 500 hydro at Alexandria.

David Mason

10-02-2006, 10:00 AM

Now that is flat smoking.

Wayne, thanks for the reading, I look forward to it each day on my lunch.

38-M

Master Oil Racing Team

10-02-2006, 03:35 PM

Thanks David. It seems from one year to the next the records really came up. But even though we ran mostly on 1 1/4 mile courses, none of them were surveyed. The two primary surveyed courses of Lakeland and Yelm were both 1 2/3. While ours was the first outboard to break 80 on a 1 1/4 mile course it didn't go into the books because Jerry Kirts broke it shortly after that in Alexandria.

Speaking of Yelm I found another tidbit of lost information. Since I lost my notes I don't really know what happened exactly at Yelm in 1976. But today I came across an old "Shaft" that my Dad used to publish that said the "other motors broke a driveshaft and a prop shaft while we were just under the records." That would have been the C and D. Don't know which broke what. But we turned a 98 mph average on the last lap of 1100 hydro.

David_L6

10-02-2006, 05:56 PM

Wayne,

I've had some Aerowings and I know how they ran, but don't you think you were just a tad too high :eek: in this picture? http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=11336&stc=1&d=1159720808

Master Oil Racing Team

10-02-2006, 08:02 PM

No!:D

Cameraboy

10-02-2006, 08:16 PM

You can really see from Wayne's photos how much different the water level is now - tough to get the 1 2/3 course in except for Spring. The shoreline is still familiar, but there are so many more houses now.

But now, as then, there is still Mt. Rainier in the background, a crowd at the end of the dock (new dock), and Bob Wartinger on the course chasing a record. :cool:

I always get better shots from a kicker boat - I miss some towing somebody in, but if I have to hold near the pits, I get a chance at the second photo (2003). The third photo is something old/new taken by my wife. Young Aaron Peterson has just set a record. My nephew Ryan is holding him and the red signal flag, and that's Tom O'Neill (still bleeds alky) holding the end of the flag. That's one of the better shots I have of Wart (2002), but I need a better scan of it. He set a record on that run.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-02-2006, 08:21 PM

Maybe this is David:)

Looking forward to the pics Mike.:cool:

Master Oil Racing Team

10-03-2006, 06:57 AM

....Where did all those fines trees go. This is from the pier looking back to the left where all that asphalt is. The pits were more like a rough it campsite back then. I remember it was a very wooded trip to get to Lake Lawrence in 1976. It was in the tules. How long have records been set there?

Dave_E71

10-03-2006, 07:51 AM

Maybe this is David:)

Looking forward to the pics Mike.:cool:

Wayne,

That set-up looks..... um...... interesting :eek:

Dave

Master Oil Racing Team

10-03-2006, 08:06 AM

.....all I can say is that I'm glad I had eight hours of flying lessons before I quit to start racing boats.;)

BustnlooseIII

10-03-2006, 09:06 AM

Wayne, that picture is awesome! Sure is convincing evidence that the Aerowing is the only way to fly. I bet looking at that can put your mindset right back in the boat and feel it like it was yesterday.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-03-2006, 12:05 PM

You're right. Looking at it brings back a lot of memories and the feeling of going as fast as you can without loosing it. If I remember right, the best I could get out of it that day was 108. We got one two way run, but it was too close to the edge to pull the pipes any more. Tim made his run, but lost fuel pressure on the return leg. He was able to go back out after he increased tension on the checkvalve bypass spring. I think he had a pass around 114 or 116 but blew over on the return. He is going to send me a sequence of that. This was on the Brazos River in Texas.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-04-2006, 09:30 AM

For some reason I don't have hardly any race results, qualifying heat rosters, notes or much of anything in my folder for 1977. Debbie and I had gotten married in April and went to race in Berlin on our honeymoon. After we got back we moved to Denton, Texas north of Dallas where she got her Master's Degree in nutrition at Texas Women's university.

We only ran 6 races in 1977, including the one in Berlin. Our first race after Berlin was the Western Divisionals at Marine Creek lake near Fort Worth. The "D" was really running good, but I flipped the first heat.

I had the start nailed. I had begun starting on the inside after I rode with Charlie Bailey in F runabout at Alexandria a few years earlier. This time though I found myself in a good spot on the outside with a long run to the clock. Most of the pack was a little early but I was aired out on the far outside. Tom Berry was a little ahead of me to the left and swinging wide. He and I were the only ones back deep and he thought he was the only one back there. He never looked over his right shoulder. I thought for sure he had seen me go back up in there, but it became apparent he figured that he was on the far outside. I was already too committed at the speed I was traveling and couldn't have bent it to the left to keep from hitting him without crashing. I kept hoping he would straighten out, but he kept sliding right. It didn't make sense to me that he was still trying to kill time off the clock, but that's the only reason why I figured he kept drifing out.

I was gingerly trying to go right without flipping. All of this was just a few seconds, but my mind was really racing along. I could see an immenant collision and Tom was totally clueless it was coming. My left sponson went over his right sponson and all it did was push my turning fin up. I got back on the throttle and headed to the start. I could not feel the boat handling funny so I just tried to push the fin down with my left hand. No go. So I kept to the outside to see how it would turn.

I got to the turn with the pack and eased around. SHADOWFAX turned just fine, only it was sliding a little bit sideways. When I got straight I nailed it and caught up to leader Steve Jones on the back straight. He pushed me to the outside and I went way wide, sliding. But, I was beginning to get the hang of it. Steve didn't know what was going on, but he found out I was not trying to duck under him so he kept going wider and wider. I was faster than Steve, but he had me hung out so far on his hip, that I couldn't get around and he continued to be ahead on the first half of the course.

On the far turn lap three, Steve drifted way wide and by now I was learning how to handle SHADWOFAX through the turns. Had we been closely chased by someone else, I would have kept clear, but with just the two of us, I kept pressing to get around. When Steve went so wide on this turn, I thought I could do the same thing I did with Dub Parker at Alexandria in 1973. I started to cross under Steve and cut close to the exit pin.

I slid under past his roostertail just fine, but when the transom hit his wake, it was too far around for normal racing and the wake lifted the rear out of the water which was all that was biting to help me turn. The boat just swapped ends and I found myself going backwards all of a sudden. It swapped so fast that the force threw me over the cowling and I was just hanging on. I don't know exactly how far it was but it seemed like it lasted a long time. Then when the boat slowed down to about 30, the transom caught and flipped over backwards. I caught the bowhandle across my right thigh as I entered the water. It was a stupid move, but I was just thinking about a win.:D

I guess it was Debbie that took this pic, probably on lap two.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-04-2006, 09:35 AM

I got logged out and it wouldn't let me post the pic on the previous post, so here it is. You can see the fin up and water coming off the right rear through the turn. I had posted this incident in the past, but I didn't find this picture until today and I just thought I would retell it in chronological order in the story of the D motor. Hope it's not too much rehash.;)

Master Oil Racing Team

10-04-2006, 11:48 AM

....but what's another one gonna hurt. I remembered this when thinking about Debbie going to school at TWU and have to tell it.

Southwest Airlines had started up not long before and we could fly roundtrip from Dallas to Corpus for only $40.00. We weren't able to do much testing with me 8 hours away, so sometimes we fly home for the weekend to test. One weekend prior to one of the upcoming races I flew in without Debbie. She had a lab assignment over the weekend.

One six week period, TWU was engaged in a "Nitrogen Balance Study" grant. It had to do with tests on the human body and nutrition, etc. while eating products made from cotton seed meal. Cotton seed had some nutritious components including protein, and scientists are always looking for ways to feed the world with byproducts. There were 15 or 20 paid volunteers, mostly students I think. They had to eat stuff made out of cotton seed all three meals and nothing else (maybe some veggies or so--can't remember) There were hamburger type patties made of it. Bread, muffins, cookies, doughnuts... all kinds of things. I think there may have even been something like a milkshake made from the stuff.

Once a week, these volunteers had to bring a stool of their feces in to be analyzed for the "Nitrogen Balance Study". They would take each person's stool individually and put it in a blender to homogonize it before they ran the tests. When I went home to test, Debbie had to stay for this lab. Now, when Debbie and I were first married, she was very quiet. She was like a little doe in the forest. So one of our friends saw me at my Dad's house and asked "Where's Debbie?" "She's up at TWU stirring up a bunch of S#*T" was my truthful response:rolleyes: ;) . That persons eyes bugged out, jaw dropped and said "Debbie?":D

Master Oil Racing Team

10-05-2006, 08:11 AM

June 18 and 19, 1977 were the Eastern Divisionals at Springfield, Illinois. The course was very short. Only 3/4 of a mile. We left SHADOWFAX at home and brought QUIEN SABE, and our new B Aerowing QUE PASA. After winning the nationals in 76, we sold our A stuff and never ran that class again.

We had been having fuel problems and throughout the years we would switch from the Konig check valve/crankcase pressure system to electric fuel pumps then back again. We were once again playing around with electric fuel pumps. They always worked great for awhile, then for some reason suddenly turn erractic. I don't remember exactly what the problem was, but it was fuel pump related and none of our stuff ran good. We scratched 725 hydro.

Tim Butts had the brand new Aerowing V-8 he built for Joe Michelini and his D Konig was new and tweaked by Ron Anderson. This was the race just prior the the upcoming UIM OD World Championships in Dayton the following month. Dan Kirts wanted to know why Tim was entered in 725 hydro (or was it back to 700 again?--have to check). Dan told Tim he was an A-B driver.

Dan won the first heat chased by Tim all the way. After he came into the pits, my Dad met Tim with the prop we would have run. He told Tim he could go faster with it. Tim looked at my Dad and said, "Baldy....uh...it's not the prop." A slight pause. "I've just got to squeeze that throttle harder".:) Then Tim proceeded to get a good start and get the win with Dan chasing him this time. Tim was lapping the course in 39 seconds. After the race was done and Tim was just standing there Tim Chance announced over the loudspeaker, "Tim....you can take your hands out of your pockets now. You won on time.":cool: The stage was now set for the upcoming showdown in Dayton primarily between Tim, Dan and Jerry Kirts, Rex Hall and myself.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-16-2006, 10:05 AM

...Dayton Hydroglobe 77. July 15, 16, and 17. It was the UIM OD World Championships and we were billed along with the Unlimiteds. It was just us and them. We had four heats to run, and the Unlimiteds had their heat series leading up to the final heat.

It was an all star team of officials. The race chairman was John O'Hara. Jack Waite was referee and Bill Hertz alternate. Chief Scorer was Jo Ann Ellis and Harry Pasturczak was inspector. Gene Whipp was in charge of publicity and Tom Bates was a good whip cracker to see everything we needed was there including a podium and flag poles for all the countries represented.

We were going to run SHADOWFAX which we felt would be a better boat for the 1 1/4 mile course on Eastwood Lake. We had QUIEN SABE renumbered for the late Austrian Erwin Zimmerman. That was the boat we won with in 76.

We had a great time at Dayton. We got there early enough to check out the Wright Brothers air museum. That's one of the things my Dad insisted on. There was a supersonic bomber Valkyrie outside. Only two were built I believe and the other one had crashed. I think there was a Gee Bee there too. It's the airplane equivalent of Tim Chance running a D konig on a 10-8 Sid. Then there was the huge 6 engine bomber that carried nuclear bombs. I think the bomb bay held 5.

David_L6

10-16-2006, 07:07 PM

More great pictures!

I think I remember the renumbered boat. That one and the one that Kirts ran the 2 powerhead motor on confused me when I saw them. I thought I knew the boats but the drivers weren't the same. Ya'll shouldn't pull tricks like that on kids. ;)

Love that shot of the - then Pride of Pay 'n Pack - soon to be Miss Madison. Ron Snyder drove the heck out of that boat when it was the Miss Madison. :cool: He ran it out of nitrous in the final one time trying to stay ahead of the Budweiser boat. I guess he figured if nitrous works so well for acceleration it should work well for top speed too - if the motor doesn't blow up. (Actually, he was probably thinking the same thing Ron Hill was when the owner told him to be easy on the lower unit. Screw the lower unit (motor) - I'm winning the race! :eek: )

Ron Hill

10-16-2006, 10:09 PM

Actaully, David, Harry Bartolomei just told me to be easy on his Konig lower unit, with his 75-H on it, until the RPM's came up....But I did jump on the throttle pretty hard getting (Jerry) Waldman off the corner at DePue....In fact, I passed his Quincy Loop 44 so fast, he thought his mag belt broke....

Wayne...interesting what you said about carbs...My dad and Harry ran two fuel pumps and two regulators, and the way they plumbed them, if either one broke the other still would keep the engine running...One thing we found, that when you turned the fuel pumps on, the regulators we used would "POP UP" and stick shut...sometimes...So, everytime, we had a little "RITUAL"...Turn the fuel pumps on, push down the regulator tops a time or two, to make sure they weren't stuck...

Tickle the float needles, a little, make sure they weren't stuck, either....New spark plugs every heat.....be damned how good they looked....Lift the boat, turn the ignition switch on, I'd give her one pull and my C and D Konigs always started on the first pull...

Master Oil Racing Team

10-20-2006, 05:55 AM

We had lots of multimedia coverage for the event. Half the field were current or former UIM World Champions---some of them with several titles. At least one won a World Championship a couple of years later.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-24-2006, 06:55 AM

Dean, I got your plugs. Many thanks. I will be proud to have something from the Dean Wilson family as part of the display in my miniature boat racing museum. I had a job up two days after I got the plugs that was only 30 or 40 miles from Joe's auto parts store. I decided to take them to Joe's for him to hold while I took a photo of them. After all, what better than to use my best friend and former pit man who has been in the parts business all his life. Unfortunately, I still have problems with accidentally punching a wrong button then not knowing how to get back to normal. Anyway, I could not get this to focus up close, or even at this distance.

ADD: On the way to Joe's store, I was kindof lost with his directions. My cell phone quit and my map had to be looked at on 3 separate pages because where I was going stopped and started with only an inch or two travel on each page. I was about to run out of gas, and no stations in sight. So when I passed a fine looking tunnel boat with Custom something painted on the sign, I didn't stop. Joe told me it was the Schubert's. Was a fine looking rig.

One More ADD: I've been going to Joe's shop at the same location since 1968.
I asked him how long it has been there. That is a sore subject with Joe. Him and his dad Roland opened Stafford Auto Supply in 1965. They were moving in during the weekend of the NOA World Championships at Alexandria. That was the ONLY Pro race at Alexandria that Joe has ever missed.

One final ADD. After I took the pics of Joe holding the sparkplugs, his memory kicked into gear and he took about 3 steps back and pulled two packs of ACM40FFG plugs off a parts shelf. He forgot he had 23 brand new ones in stock. The difference between the M40FF and M40FFG is that the first has an extended tip and the other is a recessed pin type electrode.

shenders

10-24-2006, 12:31 PM

Wayne

What’s POP doing with that blackboard. Must be teaching a class on driving..
Is that straight line a short cut to the finish?? Ha...
Stan

Master Oil Racing Team

10-24-2006, 03:15 PM

.....it does look like a short cut Stan.:D I don't remember what was going on then, but look at Joe...........It must be important because he's taking notes.:;) But then again...it was Joe who threw me out two races prior because we were going too fast for him to respond at the same time to my pickleforks, the cannon and the clock.:rolleyes: He was wearing black and white vertical stripes then instead of the red, white and blue team colors.;)

John Schubert T*A*R*T

10-24-2006, 04:12 PM

Wayne,
Attempted to send a copy of an e-mail about the reunion, but it erred saying your e-mail address (the one on your profile) wasn't valid. I sent a copy to Joe & asked that he copy you. I trust you got it. Please reply by e-mail to me at jschubert@wi.rr.com. I then will have your address.

Need contact info for the reunion.
John

Master Oil Racing Team

10-24-2006, 04:24 PM

John, I am very sorry about the E mail. I have had nothing but problems since Hughes bought Direcway. They don't have any consideration for people that are not computer literate. They sent us notice by E mail that our account was to be changed over, but I didn't know who they were and ignored it. It worked for three months after that then quit. When I found out what happened and had to go back and retrieve trashed E mails I was able to get the info to get us switched over. It worked for my wife Debbie and appeared to make the successful switch to mine as well. But there was a glitch and I was never able to recieve or send since then. I didn't have time to hang on the phone for an hour so finally Debbie tried to fix it. It took almost two hours and a couple of people to find out what the problem was. I thought it was fixed last week. Anyway---give me a try mort73@hughes.net. Believe me, if there were any other providers out here I would switch because Hughes is not user friendly and I have already had E mails sail off into the ether.:mad:

Master Oil Racing Team

10-26-2006, 06:45 AM

Stan--You know my Dad enough to tell from his expression that he means for you to pay attention and get it right. Well....everyone decided they better take notes.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-26-2006, 07:52 AM

Hey Dan M....there you are behind Rex Hall.:D

David_L6

10-26-2006, 08:53 AM

The first trailer, the one with the life jacket on it....Bill Van Steenwyks'?

Dan M

10-26-2006, 09:36 AM

Wayne,

Good eyes! That is me behind Rex. That picture shows the pits as they were on Thursday or Friday. They were at the end of the straightaway on a little jut out. When the Unlimiteds started to test, we all realized that it was not the place to be. I remember people running up the bank when Muncey came down the striaght the first time. I thought there was no way he could make the corner without coming through us. Needless to say, the pits were moved to the middle of the striaight out of harms way. It was pretty impressive watching the unlimiteds coming right at us with 30' high roostertails and sponson walking all the way down the straight.

David L-6, that is Bill Van's trailer with the jacket on it.

Dan :D

Master Oil Racing Team

10-26-2006, 07:00 PM

..............John, I did get your E mail and the one forwarded to Joe, and one from Dean Wilson. I haven't responded yet because even though I can now receive, when I tried to reply to you there was an error message and I have to notify Hughes. It said there is something in the system that is a problem. I can NOW at least bring up the screen to write a message, but how do I NOTIFY THEM? Can't call. Have to go through all that other BS again. I am not computer literate enough to know all the shortcut sign languages, but does POS mean anything to you guys out there?

Master Oil Racing Team

10-26-2006, 10:22 PM

.....and that would be Dan's memory.

I had forgotten about that little sandy beach. It was a beautiful and perfect area for pits. Everyone was getting a tan and leisurely rigging up, joking, having a great time all around. The Unlimiteds started to put to the water to test. The photo I took was with a 24 mm lens which I always used in the pits because I felt it closer approximates the human peripheral vision. But it's kind of like the mirror on the passenger side. OBJECTS ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!

I don't have a shot of Muncey blowing down that turn, but knowing his showmanship and the funster in him, I suspect he knew we would take notice. It wasn't long until we moved.

As it turned out Bill Muncey and Mickey Remund were in a heated race when Muncey's turn fin departed just coming off the bottom turn. He lost it at a point where he knew it and he wasn't turning so he was able to finish, but at a tip toe through the turns at Dayton. But......what if?

oldalkydriver

10-27-2006, 05:52 AM

Wayne,
I don't know which mail product you are using, but maybe this will help. If you are using Outlook Express or Outlook, check your ISP's web site for email setup. If you find it, they will have listed a pop3 and directly under it you'll see "incoming mail pop3: and some info in the blank space. Probably mail.hughes.com". Chances are it is the same for 'out going mail smtp. Try it. If you open outlook express, go to tools, accounts, highlite the info, properties, server tab and there is the info. Check your out going smtp. That is where your problem lies. If you still have a problem, let me know. I'm in the Philippines now, but I still have some instructions by the numbers on this pc. Meantime, I'll check hughes and see what I can find. Good Luck

Master Oil Racing Team

10-27-2006, 07:50 AM

Thanks Oldalkydriver. We do have Outlook Express and I never had a bit of problem with Direcway, but this Hughes outfit (probably the same ones that sold interballistic missle technology to the Chinese) makes you have to think too hard. I've also got a draft E mail laying around somewhere that I can't find. It's there but it won't come out of hiding.

We're stuck with the satelitte mode because we have no cable & we won't go back to the phone lines. Debbie's E mail account worked after we were able to contact the Hughes people. They make you E mail them to make contact. I still don't know how she found them. Anyway it was almost two hours to make mine recieve. I will try what you said, but I am afraid there might be some screwworms imbedded.

Hey, how about some more pictures from the Phillipines.:cool:

Master Oil Racing Team

10-27-2006, 09:44 PM

....that Dan M was talking about.

Some of us got there early and had a wonderful time rigging up, testing, and talking some bull. Of course my Dad and Tim were there early as part of our Hydroplanes International organization that was responsible for bringing the OD World Championships to Dayton.

There was plenty of sun, the water was good and Bill Van decided he needed to make a trip to town for some eats and drinks, and maybe some sun tan lotion. He asked me if I needed anything and I said, "Yeah.........bring some Gatorade." More about this later, so remember it.

Tim's pit crew had not yet arrived, nor the foreign teams on our first day of testing. Rex Hall got a little bit of a$$ chewing from my Dad when he went out testing about dusk:( My Dad didn't want to jeapordize anything we had been working toward, especially with the Dayton Hydroglobe organization and insurance implications. But everything otherwise was great.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-28-2006, 10:13 AM

Looks like Jack Chance scoping out the Kirts' rebuilding their Konig. I know I should be able to put a name to the guy talking to my Dad, but I'm drawing a blank. Ralph you know all the people in this last picture, except maybe you forgot who the girl is. How about naming them for us.

David Weaver

10-29-2006, 05:19 AM

Ron Saxvik

10-29-2006, 09:56 PM

P-5 is Dwight McClellan from the Pittsburgh area, a great guy who raced with his brother Dennis for years an years (also with Joe Conzalo (SP) and later Tim Borway. Behind is Don Wood's trailer. I believe that Don may have won a nationals or two in D Alky. I remember that we rarely saw in him, but that he always ran well when he came to race.

The guy working on the boat is Dennis McClellan of "Razorback Racing" fame
and the bearded dude beside Dennis is his son, Dennis Jr. I sent a copy of
the picture to Dennis's other son David who raced 500cch and also CSH
and he filled me in on who the other person in the picture was. If I'm not
mistaken, Don Wood's family had a marine dealership in Fairmont W.Va. and
had some top notch equipment......didn't make too many races in this area
either but always was a front runner when he did show up.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-30-2006, 07:55 AM

That is the first race I remember the McClellans and Don Wood. Maybe they were at Hinton at the nationals in '77, but I never made it all the way down the pits.

Here at Dayton, I had the rare opportunity of getting some action pics from a boat instead of being stuck in the pits. While it wasn't the heated action of a race, it was a good chance to get some shots from some other angles.

Jeff Lytle

10-30-2006, 11:51 AM

H-1 Dan Kirts
H-2 Jerry Kirts........This is the rig he won the John Ward 500cc World Championships with.

This threat is great!!

In the 1st pic, it shows Dan just exiting a turn throttling with two fingers, and pulling the pipes with two more. --OUTSTANDING PICS WAYNE!--

F-12

10-30-2006, 12:56 PM

F-4 David Westbrook. The pics of the Kirts are REALLY good. The way the background seems to melt and the boats are focused were great.

Doug Hall Y51

10-30-2006, 07:08 PM

Saw Jimmie Nichols sitting in his boat with my oldest brother standing to the right. He must have been about 14 yrs old then. I had to take a double take to make sure it was him. The next picture shows my dad walking on the bank and his Butts on boat stands. I believe that Jimmie passed away not too long ago. I could be wrong though. He had a diner kansas city that just closed a couple of months ago. He had lots of boat racing pictures on the walls. Thanks for the pictures Wayne.

Ron Hill

10-30-2006, 11:03 PM

Doug, funny, I never met Jimmy Nichols. I sold him quite a few propellers. But Rod Zapf (AKA Capnzee on BRF) was a TWA pilot, and got around a lot. He met Jimmy on a trip once and bought a 650 Merc that Jimmy had made for a F. When Rod was picking up the motor, they called "LONG DISTANCE" and we talked about the motor...I only talked to him once....but last spring when Bill Boyes and I went to the Winter Nationals via IOWA, we went through Quincy, Illinois and saw both Jim and Jimmy Schock...Bill and I talked about finding Jimmy's diner in Kansas City....Sorry we missed our chance. Sorry to hear about Jimmy's passing....

Wayne if you ever put your pictures in book form, sign my up for several copies....I think I could look at your pictures forever....I think of all the raceds I raced in and only thing I have left is memories...YOU HAVE THE HISTORY....As they said about Ritchie Valen's first record...FAN TAS TIC....is the only way to describe your pictures....I like your writing too....but your pictures a PURE ART!!!!

Thanks...Keep posting....

Master Oil Racing Team

10-31-2006, 06:45 AM

The only pics I have of Jimmie Nichols may be this race. The orange hydro Y-8 is also Jimmie. He is in the center of the photo by the podium. There is also one of him previously posted in the lower right hand corner where I mentioned Dan M in the background. Sorry to hear of his passing. Jimmie always wore that hat as far as I can remember.

Ron, speaking of a book Ron, Debbie has told me for a long time that I should write my racing experiences down for the kids as I quit long before they were born. So whenever she bugs me about spending too much time here, I tell her I was doing what she wanted me to do.;) But if I ever do one, I'll be sure to put you down. In fact, I could use you along with Sam as a fact checker and proofreader:D

The first pic below comes off a contact sheet. Don't know who that is checking the timing. The next is Jimmie Nichols.

I think my favorite pics are those in the pits. That's where you will find not only the drivers, but also pit crews, family members, officials and others that never get in the magazines, newspapers, or racing programs. They are just as important to racing as drivers, and boat and engine builders. I thought it was great for Doug to do a double take and find his brother. And I didn't know the McClellans, but Ron Saxvik did and called them. I think that's great. And I haven't even scratched the surface of all the pics I have. So you need to stay tuned to find out who may show up.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-31-2006, 07:49 AM

I think you got Dan and Jerry in the wrong boats Jeff, but as usual your eagle eye picks up on interesting details. Here's another shot showing the throttle/pipe work.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-31-2006, 08:02 AM

...........but first---more pics.

Tim Butts wasn't a racing partner like our partnership with Jack Chance and Clayton Elmer, but we worked together almost as a partnership. We bought a number of new designs that Tim came up with and tested them during the winter. V8 was first raced at the Eastern Divsionals at Springfield and this was the second race. We didn't have any video cameras to check out boat attitudes so I would go out on the water and get some pics of Tim racing past.

Jeff Lytle

10-31-2006, 09:11 AM

So whenever she bugs me about spending too much time here, I tell her I was doing what she wanted me to do.;)

And it's better than porn!! :D :eek: :eek: :D

Donald

10-31-2006, 12:17 PM

Wayne, I believe that is Dortch in the hat, but I don,t know why he is in the officials shirt. I am talking to him, or maybe listening. I think it is Butch Levendusky on the left. I can tell by the way he's holding the cigarette. Then David Westbrook and brother Richard and you are right, I don't know the girl.

Master Oil Racing Team

10-31-2006, 01:10 PM

Mostly right Ralph. Johnny was at every major pro event in those days, but he didn't run the OD class and he wanted to participate. So my Dad put him to work in an officiating capacity. I don't remember UIM rules exactly, but seems like there had to be some type of official handling the pits. The photo is tough to tell, but that's Jerry Drake talking to David and Richard. The girl is my sister Jan. She went to races when she was younger, but had not been in a while. At this time she was in college studying cinema-photography. She filmed the whole event including the unlimiteds on a professional 16mm camera with sound. We planned on using this for our UIM promotional pieces. Someday I'll get some of it transferred to DVD. To the far right in the sombrero is Bill Van Steenwyk. He got pretty hot and drank a lot of gatorade there;)

Ron Saxvik

11-01-2006, 07:43 PM

Just checked with David McClellan again on who was in the contact sheet
picture. Knew that was Dennis supervising but not sure who the one was
doing all the work. David told me that it was Jim Warren from Marietta,OH.
Once he told me who it was, I remembered him. Not sure where he is located
now.....heard he got a divorce and moved away.

Master Oil Racing Team

11-01-2006, 08:59 PM

Ron Saxvik

11-01-2006, 10:22 PM

When I first started this thread, I had just thought about the little bit of history I had with this Konig motor serial no. D41994 and how it came back into my possession. As the thread has evolved there have been many contributions to the story. Not only from some that were there, but many that weren't but had things to share. There is much that I have forgotten. A lot I didn't know. And so happy to recall things that others have brought into this thread. If I had known how the thread would have progressed, I would have done it a little bit different from the start to include more of the people involved, but I am very happy to hear about some of those that were part of this history that I really didn't know. I have looked a little closer at the contact sheets and need more help in the pits. Thanks so much Ron, and I hope you can get David McClellan to give us more info.

Have learned so much from this site and more than happy to be able to
contribute any way possible. This has brought to light the human side
of the people that I have read about when I was barely old enough to
read. I used to spend hours reading and going over the pictures in my
father's collection of "Boat Sport" magazines when I wasn't busy cleaning
parts, sweeping up the floor of my dad's shop or just hanging out with
the guys that used to stop by to B.S. and swap stories with him. Until
I got on this site, those people of boat racing history were mostly just
pictures in a magazine or words on a page but now, through the stories
of them that knew them, they have come to life. I have made a lot of
friends and made many acquaitances through this family of boat racers
but it is quite an expansive group of people and Ron and Ted have made
it possible to bring them all together and I am greatly appreciative of
that.

Wayne, I have forwarded you note on to Dave and hopefully he will join
this site and fill us in on more of the Pittsburgh connection.

Thanks for all the fantastic photos and hopefully I can get this scanner
figured out and can add some more "racing history".