OPC when it was Outboard Pleasure Craft

[Powercat]

I have not been able to pin the year down on this but this article from
Propeller magazine refers to the "first" new OPC rules for APBA used at
this event. Must have been 1961 or '62

[Mark75H]

The calender year was 1961, the month was December. APBA's racing year runs from November 1 the previous year thru October 31 of the calendar year.

Records set and races run in November and December of 1961 count as 1962 events .... with 1961 dates.

For a few years before that, OPC ran as a probationary division under APBA's "Special Events" division. Edgar Rose drafted the rules, you can guess who they favored.

[Powercat]

One thing that was throwing me off on the date is that some of the boats
are listed as having 100hp Mercs, while all the "team" drivers were
still using 80's. I guess the 1000's were so new that most racers went with
established setups.
Danny

[Ted March]

were legal on the Direct Reversing 800's.

At that event John DePietra set the Class I (80 to 89.9 cu. in) kilo record at 64.84 mph using a Merc 1000 (100 HP) club foot.

Bill Anderson set the Class H (70 to 79.9 cu. in.) kilo record at 66.879 mph running a Direct Reversing Merc 800 (80 HP) speedmaster.

Both were running Switzer Shooting Stars.

The rule was, in order for a motor to be legal it had to have reverse.

The 800's were legal due to the direct reversing feature of the Merc 800 motor. The 1000's had full shifting lower units and when fitted with a speedmaster only had forward.

We moved the SH record to 72.53 in 1968 using a 1960 Merc 800 DR on a 1964 Switzer Shooting Star. The actual boat shown here with a Merc 1000. The 1960 800's were white.

[Powercat]

Ted:
That explains it then.. ... .....
But since these were supposed to be "pleasure" craft that would
be a logical rule. Kept the older motors competitive for several
years also... Glad you cleared that up...
Thanks
Danny Leger
........

were legal on the Direct Reversing 800's.
At that event John DePietra set the Class I (80 to 89.9 cu. in) kilo record at 64.84 mph using a Merc 1000 (100 HP) club foot.
Bill Anderson set the Class H (70 to 79.9 cu. in.) kilo record at 66.879 mph running a Direct Reversing Merc 800 (80 HP) speedmaster.
Both were running Switzer Shooting Stars.
The rule was, in order for a motor to be legal it had to have reverse.
The 800's were legal due to the direct reversing feature of the Merc 800 motor. The 1000's had full shifting lower units and when fitted with a speedmaster only had forward.
We moved the SH record to 72.53 in 1968 using a 1960 Merc 800 DR on a 1964 Switzer Shooting Star. The actual boat shown here with a Merc 1000. The 1960 800's were white.

[lilabner]

In both class H and G Richie and I were running Speedmasters..

Butch Stokes

[Ted March]

a 700 DR with a speedmaster in G?

[lilabner]

YESSIREE...The boat (Raveau) ran best with that combo, but we also ran a Sportmaster a couple times..I used a Michigan prop that looked like a chopper..in fact I used the same prop with an 800 Speedmaster..it was bronze..worked fantastic..I also made a DR 1000 with 800 wiring and other stuff..sort of a mix and match..boat ran over 70 easily with that engine..Richie and I ran identical boats in that race..only the engines were different..

[lilabner]

6 Hour

[lilabner]

The Rules..pretty simple back then..

[Ted March]

I had a Sportmaster too. Won FH Albany to NY with it in 1965 It was very sensitive to props. John DiPetra work my Sportmaster Props (Mercury). Didn't realize Michigan had Sportmaster Props or I would had had some. MIchigans were my best stock unit props and speedmaster props. Boat was a 1964 15'2" Allsion.

Also had a 1000 Speedmaster would run 70/71 on the Speedometer on the Allison.

Still have the Speedmaster prop we set the SH record with in 1968. Boat was the above pictured Switzer.

[lilabner]

Only used a Michigan on my speedmasters..the same one on all of the engines, just wound the motor tighter..I don't ever remember seeing one for a sportmaster..the boat handled so much better with it..Marcel Raveau was my prop man...with a ball peen on thr trailer hitch..then we would sand it smooth..lots of hammering for the 1000..

[Ted March]

Props were a bitch on the spoetnaster. Couldn't really make them work, but
the bottom line is, as bad as they were, the sportmaster set up was better that the club foot.

Only props I ever ran on the speedmaster were Michigans. Went through the same experience with Paul Allison and the ball peen hammer and you went thru with Marcel

[Lloyd Burns]

Ted:
That explains it then.. ... .....
But since these were supposed to be "pleasure" craft that would
be a logical rule. Kept the older motors competitive for several
years also... Glad you cleared that up...
Thanks
Danny Leger
........
You could and Iam sure a110 or 100 power head in a 8oo cowling and use the DR feature and speedmaster amd sportmaster Fleetmaster was the club foot Sportmaster was half as big
Lloyd Burns MVP 49

[Ted March]

was a 1000 powerhead on an 800 frame. The only place it was legal was in the unlimited classes.

[Smokin' Joe]

Yep, nearly 6 mph faster on a flat bottom wooden Allison, with 17" or 19" Quicksilver prop, can't recall which pitch we ran in 1960. Busted 60 mph with the 13' Allison driving from backseat. Our Quicksilver props arrived cupped from Oshkosh, although we were as capable as Paul of doing the right job with a ball-peen hammer on the edge of an old chrome-plated bumper. Paul had a tendency to cup too much by 1961.




Props were a bitch on the spoetnaster. Couldn't really make them work, but
the bottom line is, as bad as they were, the sportmaster set up was better that the club foot.

Only props I ever ran on the speedmaster were Michigans. Went through the same experience with Paul Allison and the ball peen hammer and you went thru with Marcel

[Smokin' Joe]

Was there an OPC race in APBA anywhere except at the Orange Bowl Regatta in 1961? Must have been 1962 that Allison boats won at the Orange Bowl Regatta-? Yes, my old friend Edgar selectively wrote OPC history as if NOA never existed (he does know better), but OPC had exploded in NOA during 1957-1960.

A different question: when did Roy Rogers run twin Mark 55s on a 14' Yellow Jacket, and under what racing organization?





The calender year was 1961, the month was December. APBA's racing year runs from November 1 the previous year thru October 31 of the calendar year.

Records set and races run in November and December of 1961 count as 1962 events .... with 1961 dates.

For a few years before that, OPC ran as a probationary division under APBA's "Special Events" division. Edgar Rose drafted the rules, you can guess who they favored.

[lilabner]

The South Florida Outboard Marathon Club was the first sanctioned OPC club, and we put on the first races around 60-61. We raced all over. The term Orange Bowl came from the Orange Bowl Regatta that was held every year around Dec or Jan..It was mainly an inboard event, with Stock Outboards added sometimes..The OB Regatta lasted a couple weeks, to get in all the events, including the Around Miami Beach Race..It was a spectacular couple weeks..
The Nine Hour Race was I think an APBA event, with just about every class you could imagine..I know it was an UIM event..The Six Hour was strictly OPC. We raced OPC all over Florida. I went in the service in Jan 64, so the best man to fill in the gaps would be Velox on S&F..

[calvin]

I have seen the reprduction wooden allison on S&F allison anniversery celebration..does anyone have a pic from a boat back in the day?

[Smokin' Joe]

The one you refer to was a step-plane, Paul's first boat, if a photo of the original exists then it would be in the Knoxville area owned by I don't know whom. The wooden Allisons raced 1958-60 were flat bottoms and are shown under my 'NOA' posting. Below is Darris with the copy of the ca. 1955 step-plane that he made for Paul's 81st birthday. Also shown are an 'old Allison' and an 'old Allison driver', photos from Sept. 2008 at the factory in Louisville, Tenn. and from Paul and Lucille's house in nearby Friendsville.





I have seen the reprduction wooden allison on S&F allison anniversery celebration..does anyone have a pic from a boat back in the day?

[calvin]

Thanks skokin joe great pics of the bottom...allison was always at the front even in 55..I remember chatting with you when you had your record E rig for sale...wish I had bought it!

[Smokin' Joe]

Then please remind me who you are! I sold it to a dock owner on the Fla. Panhandle in 1996. Also sent him some pictures and maybe a poster. He had it on display, someone drove it once in a while, and I wonder if it got blown away in a hurricane. Our 18 year old also wishes that He had it!



Thanks skokin joe great pics of the bottom...allison was always at the front even in 55..I remember chatting with you when you had your record E rig for sale...wish I had bought it!

[Ron Hill]

Was there an OPC race in APBA anywhere except at the Orange Bowl Regatta in 1961? Must have been 1962 that Allison boats won at the Orange Bowl Regatta-? Yes, my old friend Edgar selectively wrote OPC history as if NOA never existed (he does know better), but OPC had exploded in NOA during 1957-1960.

A different question: when did Roy Rogers run twin Mark 55s on a 14' Yellow Jacket, and under what racing organization?

We were racing at The Puddle (Marina Del Rey, today) in the winter of 1055-56. Elgin Gates, the Mercury distributor was a friend of Roy's and probably go Roy into racing. Seems he ran twin Mark 55E's (Electric starters). Somewhere here there iss a thread of two about Speedboat Rodeo on KTTV channel 5. We raced on TV with both APBA and Out Law. Out Law at the end, when Roy ran his Yellow Jacket.

[Smokin' Joe]

I think I've read about the attempt to televize boat racing in one of Peter Hunn's books. If you ran under APBA, then how did they classify it? They didn't have an OPC division in 1955-56. I can't find anything about Roy and the Mercury racing on the web, so far.






We were racing at The Puddle (Marina Del Rey, today) in the winter of 1055-56. Elgin Gates, the Mercury distributor was a friend of Roy's and probably go Roy into racing. Seems he ran twin Mark 55E's (Electric starters). Somewhere here there iss a thread of two about Speedboat Rodeo on KTTV channel 5. We raced on TV with both APBA and Out Law. Out Law at the end, when Roy ran his Yellow Jacket.

[Mark75H]

Joe, the televised APBA races were just regular Stock classes.

I think there is mention of Roy racing the Around Catalina Island race

I don't think there is a lot about Roy's racing because his work kept him from being an every weekend racer

[Powercat]

Roy ran mostly local SoCal racing in the WOA (Western Ouboard Assoc.)
As Sam mentioned Catalina Channel race which was run by the Outboard
Boating Club of Long Beach at that time. There were a lot of other
local clubs that held races at many different locations, all which were
considered "Outlaw" style racing as they were not under APBA classification.
Most of Roy's racing was in the early 50's and as mentioned his movie and tv
career kept him from getting further envolved.
This type of racing in SoCal and then the NOA racing across the country
brought the motor factories into this new "Outlaw" racing and they inturn
finally got the APBA's attention and the first OPC race in 1961 followed.
But it all started from a bunch of regular guys "hot rodding" the family
runabout to see who was fastest.
Danny Leger


I think I've read about the attempt to televize boat racing in one of Peter Hunn's books. If you ran under APBA, then how did they classify it? They didn't have an OPC division in 1955-56. I can't find anything about Roy and the Mercury racing on the web, so far.

[D-44]

After reading a request from the late Jim Stone's uncle, I put up a few pictures and a 3 minute movie of Jim Stone and myself testing. The main star of the movie is my Curtis Craft SD/SE boat. Also includes a few moments of the late PRO racer Jim Stone. This is from the days when OPC literally meant a race boat with "your dad's fishing motor" attached. The stock 40 HP Merc could almost beak 50 mph, 50 HP good for around 58 or so with a much smoother ride. The movie shows the 40, and Jim's hydro had a 40H with stacks. Enjoy.
http://www.world-net.net/~crash/tom

[Mark75H]

Couldn't get the movie link to work :(

[capnzee]

After reading a request from the late Jim Stone's uncle, I put up a few pictures and a 3 minute movie of Jim Stone and myself testing. The main star of the movie is my Curtis Craft SD/SE boat. Also includes a few moments of the late PRO racer Jim Stone. This is from the days when OPC literally meant a race boat with "your dad's fishing motor" attached. The stock 40 HP Merc could almost beak 50 mph, 50 HP good for around 58 or so with a much smoother ride. The movie shows the 40, and Jim's hydro had a 40H with stacks. Enjoy.
http://www.world-net.net/~crash/tom I had and still have a SD/E Curtis Craft I bought in Miami around 1965. I raced this boat in Key West Florida while in the Navy around 1965/66. There was a sister boat called the "Paper Tiger" that held the speed record at that time. I swear the number on the side of my boat was D-44. I have a poster with this boat advertising a race we held in Key West. I will do my darndest to find this picture. As soon as I post this I will go to my pictures, I believe I may still have one of my old Curtis Craft. I was just about to start refinishing the boat as a "something to do" project. The boat was sold to a guy in Chicago, I heard about it and convinced a guy out here in LA to buy it for "36" racing, then I bought it back and put a "44" on it after winning the "Regionals" in "36" at Lake Los Angeles, or was it Lake Delores?. Rod Zapf

[Ron Hill]

Not sure of the number ROD!!! But, your boat sure looks like the one in the pictures...This yellow boat is Rod's...

IS this the Jim Stone that was killed driving a hydro?

[D-44]

After reading a request from the late Jim Stone's uncle, I put up a few pictures and a 3 minute movie of Jim Stone and myself testing. The main star of the movie is my Curtis Craft SD/SE boat. Also includes a few moments of the late PRO racer Jim Stone. This is from the days when OPC literally meant a race boat with "your dad's fishing motor" attached. The stock 40 HP Merc could almost beak 50 mph, 50 HP good for around 58 or so with a much smoother ride. The movie shows the 40, and Jim's hydro had a 40H with stacks. Enjoy.
http://www.world-net.net/~crash/tom
If you had difficulties with the movie, please try it again. When we squished it from 220 meg to 20 meg, it was unstable without a fast video processor. Now, at 30 meg, it plays OK. If you don't have a fast Internet connection, try downloading it (right click) first, then playing. Also, it does not work under current Microsoft Media Player, but it does using Quickime or iTunes.

[D-44]

Not sure of the number ROD!!! But, your boat sure looks like the one in the pictures...This yellow boat is Rod's...

IS this the Jim Stone that was killed driving a hydro?

YES, Jim and I were very close from High School until his death at the World Championships in Laredo.

[Mark75H]

If you had difficulties with the movie, please try it again. When we squished it from 220 meg to 20 meg, it was unstable without a fast video processor. Now, at 30 meg, it plays OK. If you don't have a fast Internet connection, try downloading it (right click) first, then playing. Also, it does not work under current Microsoft Media Player, but it does using Quickime or iTunes.

I wasn't having trouble playing the video, I was having trouble opening the video page after your main page (or downloading the linked file).

There is something on the video page that some browsers can not read. The page opened blank with no file with Safari, but opens a page to correctly download the video with Camino.

If anyone is trying to view it with Safari, just use another browser.

Thanks for putting that up and linking it. It's great!

[D-44]

I wasn't having trouble playing the video, I was having trouble opening the video page after your main page (or downloading the linked file).

There is something on the video page that some browsers can not read. The page opened blank with no file with Safari, but opens a page to correctly download the video with Camino.

If anyone is trying to view it with Safari, just use another browser.

Thanks for putting that up and linking it. It's great!

Sam, thanks for giving it another shot. BTW, the movie was produced by Ben Perry, a well known F Hydo driver, in the South East, in the 1960's. He was one on the very few people who started with an actual 75H, and would only use the 75H gearbox. It was like Christmas whenever he was able to find a new set of gears!...

[Mark75H]

New gears to Merc spec are available now

[Danny Pigott]

Back in the mid 50's Southeastern Boating Association ,SEBA mainly a Pro Association, Started running what they called the fisherman class. This was for any non Hydro or Runabout. I can't remember what motors most of them run but they had fun doing this. I guess this was SEBA's OPC

[capnzee]

D-44, this is a picture of my Curtis Craft on a poster for one of our Key West races. I think I bought it in 1965 and I am thinking I bought it used for 400 bucks. Could this have been your boat? The number is D-89 on the pictures which I have to apologize for their quality. One of the reasons we have started a class of boats called COR (Classic Outboard Runabout) is an attempt to return to the days of Outboard Pleasure Craft. Our current rules are posted on APBA's web site under Special Events. We now have 15 COR boats in Southern California and are in the process of spreading to other regions. It sounds like we are starting out like the old OPC only we will be more careful so as not to fall into the current OPC game where engines and boats can run into the 10's of thousands.

[D-44]

D-44, this is a picture of my Curtis Craft on a poster for one of our Key West races. I think I bought it in 1965 and I am thinking I bought it used for 400 bucks. Could this have been your boat? The number is D-89 on the pictures which I have to apologize for their quality. One of the reasons we have started a class of boats called COR (Classic Outboard Runabout) is an attempt to return to the days of Outboard Pleasure Craft. Our current rules are posted on APBA's web site under Special Events. We now have 15 COR boats in Southern California and are in the process of spreading to other regions. It sounds like we are starting out like the old OPC only we will be more careful so as not to fall into the current OPC game where engines and boats can run into the 10's of thousands.
Nice shot of a good-looking boat, but it's not mine. I got my boat from Nick Chapman (Curtis Craft) new in 1966, while attending U. of Miami.