Boat from the past?

[Tomtall]

OK Ron fill me in on this one. 1970 Powerboat magizine cover. Who and What?

[Ron Hill]

DeSilva's built this boat for OMC. I alway thought Entrop had something to do with the design, but have heard a different story, many years later.

I drove this "WING" at Parker, in the spring of 1967, first weekend in March. Freddy Hauenstein and I drove it. Ray Nydahl had done most of the testing with this boat, as we ran the first hundred inch V-4...Ted May drop a Switzer Wing with two hundred inch Johnsons, on a boat called The Black Coffin....

Inboards ruled in those days, and I drove side by side with the late Rudy Raymos for first hour and forty five minutes...(Which blew me away in those days...side by side with RUDY RAYMOS) The water lines split from the excessive pressure (speed), and the cowling had foam rubber, and the engines would get wet and one engine would stall... By the time I'D GET BACK TO THE PITS, SHE'S HAULD OUT.

I was limping back to the pits on one engine, making a hell of a wake, when Dewey Berghauer came along is a Schultz Twin (100 inch Evinrudes), and he stuffed in MY ROLLER... Totaled the boat, made Dewey more PUNCHY than he was...I had to pull his big *** out of the river because his Life Line Jacket was torn off in the accident...

As a result of the accident, we all bought Lifeline jackets....The Berghauer Boys, and I were the first OUTBOARDERS to ever wear Life Line Jackets, and we wore them at the 1968 Milwaukee to Chicago to Milwaukee Marathon...

Anyway, the next year, was the year Freddy and I lead the inboards, the first outboard to ever lead Parker...8, 13 mile laps until Freddy broke the crank...(Red boat, black and white checks, painted by Capnzee, Rod Zapf, right here on BRF)...Boat named "SNAPPER"...

The picture, if I'm not mistaken, is Jerry Walin, (Also known by his close friends as the Phantom) the first Outboard to WIN PARKER's 9 Hour...1970.

Jerry was teamed with Alan Steinson, who I thought built Allison Boats (Al for Alan, Son for Steinson)...but I was wrong, Paul Allison built Allisons...Not knocking Jerry's driving, as he was one of the best kilo drivers ever, didn't lap as fast as Steinson..BUt Alan lapped faster than Jerry and he wsn't afraid to go on the wrong side of the river to make up time. In those days, once all the bouys were knocked down, you went on the river where you wanted...Alan and I knock down almost all the dead trees along the backs at Bluewater...The last two hours, Alan and I ran side by side, sensing we could pass Bobby Witt...

Bobby Witt from Baytown, Texas has lead, basically since the first hour of the race, I had run over a bouy on the first lap, and I'd stopped to get the thing off my gearcase. Dewey Berghauer co-drove with me. While I was out of the boat, my brother did some quick number running and told me, IF I DROVE THE REST OF THE DAY, at the rate I was going, I'd win.

I ended up driving 7 hours and fourty minutes that day and lost by one foot...So, had I gone one foot farther, I'd been on the cover of Powerboat Magazine. I drove a Hallett Hydro that year. Jimbo finished fourth in the OTHER DeSilva Wing, that Freddy and I had lead with the year before....The boat that Jimbo's and my dad owned...

The ONLY time Steinson and Walin led was the last ten feet of the race, they lead one lap in 9 hours...

[MN1]

Are there any DeSilva Wings still in existence?
Mark N

[Ron Hill]

No, there were only three DeSilva wings. The first one, that is on the cover of Powerboat, the second one that Mac McConnell and my dad owned, and the tird, that Warren Thompson.

Warren's had two very "HOT" Mercury motors on his boat at Havasu, I want to say 1968, but I'm not sure...Anyway, he stuffed the wing on the first lap of testing and was killed. The boat came apart like a dollar watch. Billy and Ralph DeSilva said they'd never buildt and OPC boat and they never did.

The boat that Jimbo's dad and my dad owned, I personnaly took to the Orange County dump and un loaded it...I kept the trailer for another project...

As for the "WHITE" DeSilva, Bruce Summers or some EX OMC employee said they'd taken it to the dump...

Ralph Desilva is still alive, his brother, Billy, passed on a few years back...But Ralph says he has all the plans to all his boats... Which, when you think about it is amazing...Ralph and Billy DeSilva built some amazing boats over the years...

So, to answer your question, "NO"... there are no wood DeSilva wings still around...

[Tomtall]

I thought the boat looked familiar. Now I remember it from this earlier post on BRF @ http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2301&page=2&highlight=black+coffin

[MN1]

What would make such a huge boat stuff? Was it because they were flying and a wave would hit at the rear portion of the boat and force the bow down?
Mark N

[Ron Hill]

This was an era when many things were changing FAST...Dieter Schultz built this twin, and I a have pictures some where, with like no lift, as "BLOW OVERS" were a problem, so Dieter built this twin with no lift...Damn thing, with either Berghauer Brother, 200 plus pounds, ran with the nose about 12 inches above the water...

I was leaving a 3 foot roller, which wasn't really big for 110 boats racing on the river, when Dewey came motoring down the river, he hit the first of my rollers, and the second he went to the bottom....Probably, going about 85 with two big mother Evinrudes behind him...tore **** off of that Schultz Cat...

[Fast Fred]

Ralph Desilva is still alive, his brother, Billy, passed on a few years back...But Ralph says he has all the plans to all his boats...
think he has any Wingtips to share?

[Roy Hodges]

He told me , on the phone , he trashed all his plans, when he moved from sabastopol, Ca. to Georgia . Maybe he meant he only trashed all his OPC boat plans ?