The Bob Martin Family

[Ron Hill]

Lindy and Doug,

If you guys would post some of your pictures it would be great. I still get by your Bluebell house in Anaheim....I never fail to think about your dad. When you guys first moved to Anaheim, your dad, Bob, would pick boxes of oranges and bring them to me in Bellflower to make orange juice. He'd always say, "A FOOTBALL PLAYER needs orange juice". Bob was a LOVER of Boat Racing...Glad to hear your mom is doing well...I'll tell some Bob Martin stories, one of these days! (Trust me)...

An e-mail from Lindy Martin:

Wow, Ron Hill now thats a name from my past, hi this is Lindy Martin aka Dougs sister and Bobs daughter.
Doug called me yesterday to tell me he found the racing web site and I should check it out. Was great to see and here some names I remember, Doug has a memory like an elephant never forgets a thing, me well thats another story I blame it on being a female.
My mom Betty is alive and well living with me in Indiana. Doug is a superintendant for a large construction company that builds buildings for the government and Wal Mart.
My dad passed away in 1984 in Washington where my parents had built a house. We have the greatest and fondess memories of boat racing, traveling across the country, meeting all kinds of people. We had a great childhood unlike most kids.
Well keep up the good work, glad to hear you are doing well still in California. I will be reading your page from time to time.
Thanks and thanks for the memories.

Lindy Martin

aka Doug Martins sister his boat # 7-C he got the good stuff lol
aka Bob Martins daughter

[russhill]

We've got some friggin' in the riggin' here. I saw Dougie's name here the other day and I checked it out. It said "Doug Martin" age 54. I know it was a fraud. "DOUGIE" is 6 or 7 years old. He's going to race J when he get old enough. Anything you read here to the contrary is a figment of somebody's imagination.

It makes me think we need a an SCOA, USA, LASA, VSA re-union here in Southern California, like we had in De Pue last summer. Volunteers???? I'm not going to do the work, but I'll bitch if you do it wrong. If you don't know what the above letters mean--don't bother to come to the re-union.

Russ

[Ron Hill]

Bob kind of got the name "Scoop" because, in fact, he usually knew what was happeneing in the boat racing community... I'm not sure Bob ever really had to work...His wife, Betty, had a great job as a nurse, he's inherited some apartments....So, Bob was always OK, money wise...But he did do some work with fiberglass...Finishing touches to bath tubs and such, but I think his hours were not really "SET", so Bob could stop at boat shops, Ted May's, our house....

Bob was race chairman when we actually raced in Newport Dunes. We raced around a Pirate ship...pretty cool, actually. He also worked with Salton City.

Salton City, on the Salton Sea was really a "LAND SWINDLE", and about two years ago, lots started selling there, just like the land sales had said, 45 years ago...

Larry Laurie and Associates, who also helped promote Havasu, promoted Salton City....Bob worked out a deal where they'd give us a pretty good chunk of change to race about once a month. The LAND SELLERES would bring bus loads of "Pigeons" down and explain that the area was "BOOMING" and sell them a lot...(We had boats, trailer and people everywhere...)...

Problem for us, the wind would blow like a sum bitch most of the time and the races would get blown out.....the "ADULTS" didn't mind the wind, they could drink beer all day......and watch the wind blow...Us "KIDS" just watched thw wind blow...

I think we had the Divisionals there in 1961, maybe even 1962....

On the way home from these races, around White Water, we'd get sand blasted...In the winter of 1959-60, we got like 7 windshields in our '59 Chevy.

The boat club fatten up their bank account because of these races though...

[Ron Hill]

The 91 Freeway bought our house out in Bellflower, April 1962, and we moved to Garden Grove.

Bob Martin lived about two or three miles from us in Anaheim. Bob would stop by after work about twice a month or so and give us the "SCOOP" of what was going on...

I'd won the Colorado River Marathon in '62 and '63 with a Morehouse boat that Ed Karakowa had given my brother and I had reworked the bottom and my dad and I built a cowling for the deck. Seemed to me, this "HYDRO" Cowling made the boat easier to drive and faster.

While living in Orange County, I watched Ted May and Marcel Belleville build hydros and decided that a runabout HAD TO be easier to built than a hydro. So, in June of 1964 I started building a C Runabout...My dad "JUMPED IN" and started helping me build this boat, which I was thankful for, as my mind and hands never seemed to quite work together...

Anyway, part of my design was a cowling. On my D Marathon boat, my dad and I had worked HOURS and days making it and glassing it...Bob siad he'd make me one...but as we were finishing the boat, Bob said he'd bring me materials...Which was OK...

He brought resin, wax, CASTTILLIS (As Jimbo Called it)...and cloth...

With cardboard and masking tape I made my "COWLING" and with Bob's advice and made a mold and cowling....In the HISTORY of the World no one ever wasted more cloth or resin than I did....But finally, I had acowling I could live with....and thanks to Bob Martin, I'd saved about 100 dollars in resin costs...

Now, when we resined the boat, my dad and I had no clue what laminating resin meant....but Bob brought us acetone by the gallon...and sand paper and after weeks of work....the new boat was done.

Bob worked for a bath tub company and resin and such was "FRINGE BENEFITS"...Cheaper that way...

That CU boat went on to break the CU KILO record, 1964, ..and later in 1966, I used the cowling on Carl Myer's ARR to break the kilo record..

From that cowling mold many cowling srung up...Her is Jimbo's 777-C runabout driven by Bud McCorkel of Needles with a "BOB MARTIN" cowling...

Truth is cowling are part of runabouts today, and Bob Martin played a part of that...

ADD:
Bob Martin, as race Chairman of SCOA, put on a race at Newport Dunes, California, 1958,sponored by Bray-Go oil...Here is all I have left of that race...

Bob Martin also put on ALL the Salton Sea races...1961...

3-C was D Runabout Kilo/Marathon Boat
1-C was the Original "SNAPPER" with the glass cowling
96-C Carl Meyer's ARR Kilo boat/B Runabout
Ukiah Divisional Winner 1964.....C Runabout with 1-C
1-U.S. same colwing
777-C Jimbo's Hill Boat with Bud McCorekl driving...Cowling from this mold!!!

[carl sladek]

Didn't Bob Martin also race ASH, pre 1964. He told a story about flipping, landing on the shore and not getting wet.

I thought Bob owned an appliance store in Anaheim.

He sold my dad a complete JU set up for $100. An ancient sid-craft with a 40 inch bottom, J club foot motor, helmet.... Even when the sid craft was cut down, it took forever to get on plan. My dad would always get on me about the starts, until he drove it. Anything less than full throttle and the thing went into the whole, no room for adjustment at the starts.

Who was the guy and his daughter that raced out of Culver City? In real life he worked as a professional pit crew man on race cars. His daughter went to UCLA. Had an altimeter in his trailer to read barametric pressure.

Wow! There always someone that had a different angle on racing!!

[Ron Hill]

Bob Martin wasn't the guy who flipped his hydro and never got wet, it was TED MAY. We were racing at Kingsburg, at Paulings Resort, I had my 15 races in, so I let Ted May run my D Runabout (Once you had 15 races in, you didn't want to chance lowering your average points by racing again)...

I borrowed Roy (Smooth Water) Miner's Marchetti...as he wasn't racing for some reason...Roy seldom raced when my dad inspected anyway...Roy had bought this Marchetti from Don Willimans. (I think Carl Meyers brought the boat up to Kingburg and loaned it to me for Roy...Roy had put an new bottom on it and it was light as all get out...I borrowed Carl's "B" motor and Smith Short Course B Runabout wheel...Why Ted May never liked Don Williams, I don't know...but Ted loved to wet Don down more than he loved winning..Don was kind of an "ARTSIE" guy with long hair, way before long hair got popular in the 1960's...Anyway, Ted just would do just about anything to wet Don, especially in the corners..

Anyway, I was running B Hydro and driving this Marchetti like a runabout, and going around the island at Kingsburg, we didn't have any bouys, just the island...I had a "TERRIBLE" HABIT" of not looking back, as usually I was out front far enough I didn't have to look back, anyway, I kind of glanced back as I was turning the first turn on lap four, and realized Ted was coming hard to wet Don Williams....I could see him setting Don up for a big wet down.....So, I go way wide into the turn and cut it close to the island, but NOT real close, close engough that I figure, when Ted WETS WILLIAMS, he's cross my MAJOR wake and he won't be able to get on the inside of me and win...

As I come out of that first turn, I just put my head down and hope Ted doesn't come blowing by me...I win the heat, and can't see Ted...Don Willimans is second, looking REAL wet, but no Ted....as I go an extra lap, there, at where the EXIT PIN of what would have been an EXIT PIN, had we had one, was Ted' boat in the tree....Ted was pulling the mother back out of the tree..

Seems, Ted got busy watching Don, and my BIG *** roller, I laid (on purpose) hooked Ted's sponson and into the tree he went..He said, "He flew out and landed on his knees)...Ted took his knee pads down and they were full of mud....figured Ted didn't lie about this one...

Bob Martin bought my number one and number two "A" Motors when I went into "C". He bought "SILLY GILLY'S" (Bruce) Gilmore's "A" Hydro, also. Bob put on a race at Newport Dunes, California and as he left the pits the engine died, Bob reached back to start the motor and the BEACH BREEZE caught the hydro and blew him over, when the motor was stopped...But Bob got plenty wet from that "BLOW OVER".

To my knowledge, Bob repaired fiberglass tubs and showers and was in the inheritance business.. Bob's wife Betty was a NURSE....

The guy from Culer City that had a daughter...hmmm, she was younger than I...Seems he had a blue DeSilva Runabout and KG-4...He was a Sports Car mechanic...handle bar mustache...Stu Haggard, I think his name was...He was friend of Jake Plachek and Jake's friend Art....I borrow Stu's A Delsiva to run B Runabout at Phoenix one year...

Jake Plachek had a B Quincy Looper and a Belleville hydro....And the reason Jake never made it to DePue for the Nationals is his Car TOOK a ****....I hate when that happens.

Jake was the first guy I ever saw BLOW A HYDRO over in a corner...a sideways blow over...Seen many since...Rounded or curved decks develop lift going sideways in a corner, and they blow the boat over sideways...

[Jerry Combs]

Carl,

Bob Martin quit racing right after he and I had a meeting of the boats milling for the start of my first race. I turned hard to head for the start and didn't see Bob coming. I think this was at Needles where there wasn't a lot of room to mill. It shook Bob up and put a really nasty hole in the bottom of his brand new Marchetti and tore up the cowl of my Karlson. I think he sold the boat to Roy Miner.

I think was Bob Davidson who had the appliance shop but it was out in San Bernadino.

[Ron Hill]

Jerry,

Your story may explain why:

A. Roy's Marchetti, that I borrowed..probably without his permission, had a new bottom
B. Why it was light as all get out

Roy planned to run his Hot Rod on this boat....seems I'll have to ask Carl Meyers, but I don't think Roy ever ran the ROD on this boat...

FYI: Later, wwe changed the starts at Needles to start going up river, more milling room, down river, and a VERY SMOOTH WATER first turn. Now days, there are too many rocks at Rainbo Beach to race, but Jack Smith Park in Needles would be perfect...

[Jerry Combs]

Ron,

I think that that Marchetti was an A hull. I know that Roy did very well with it in ASH. Stu's daughter was a cutie, I remember I had a crush on her for a while but I was too shy to talk to her. Dang I miss those days!

[Ron Hill]

Kingsburg was a VERY SHORT course, I borrowed a motor and boat...and won...May have been an A Boat, but I ran it in B...Like I ran Dave Mayer's A-B Sid in B-C-D and won three high points in SCOA....

[carl sladek]

Have the dimensions changed from way back when, the required dimensions of the runabouts, length of the hydros, and the weights.

I know that the pre-1960 the runabouts had to have a passenger's seat.

[Mark75H]

Yes, dimensions and weights have changed radically. The size changes and corresponding shape changes are the major reason speeds have increased so much. These changes have also made the boats "smooth water" boats. Many races are canceled due to rough water that would have been fine in 1960.

The next factor in speed increase has been propeller technology.