DePue in the 1960's

[Tomtall]

Had a chance to scan some family pictures of Jerry Oberlins over the Holidays. Jerry was just a young lad when these pictures were taken sometime in the mid 1960's. His father, Jerry senior, raced mod class and took these pictures when attending this DePue race from the past. Thanks Jerry for allowing the use of these family pictures.:)

If any history can be put to the photos, feel free to add them.:cool:

[Tomtall]

second set

[Mark75H]

The last picture with the rotary valve Konig is very late 1960's or early 70's

[Tomtall]

Sam - This last picture in the set may not have been from the first grouping of DePue pictures. I did notice that picture was from different photo stock from the others. Being as Jerry was very young at the time he thought, to the best of his knowledge, because of his age, that these pics were from the mid 1960's. Thanks for the year date on the Konig.

[BBaron]

http://my pictureshttp://IMG 0013 This is late 50 and early 60
Not sure this is going to work if not will try something else

[jeff55vDSH]

Tom, Thank you so much for posting these photos. These bring back a lot of memories. I was club racing boats just like these in the late 70's and 80's. The club I raced with was behind the curve by about a decade, but we sure had a great time.
I have a lot of respect for the history this sport has. Those times and years seemed like they'd never end. I wish I had a time machine.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Great pictures of the pits. Tell Jerry thanks Tom.

first group
Maybe Jeff can pick the year off the trailer plates in pic #8.

#9 That is Phil Howard in a white T shirt with sunglasses and carrying a powerhead??. The light yellow trailer that says Howard's is exactly the same color as I have always seen his trailer.

Second group

#3 The number G 61 is familiar and maybe I will remember later.

#4 Larry Latta on the scales

#5 a blond headed kid pushing Kay Harrison's hydro back to the pits

Last one. A pit crewman is wearing a Baumann Propeller T shirt. The pit guy on the right looks familiar, but I can't place the name. Maybe Jeff can lift the name off the back of the dark shirted pit guy, and finally you are right about the Konig Sam. I couldn't tell exactly if that was a can on the exhaust, but if it is, that would at least put the manufacture date somewhere around 68-70.

[jeff55vDSH]

Sorry to interupt again. But I just looked more closely at pic #8. That's a Corvette with a trailer hitch! OMG! My dad owns a red vette just like that one, less the trailer hitch. I just put NOS on it for him last year. It's a beast!
A trailer hitch on a vette is blasphemy. That's like installing a plastic highback seat into a laydown hydro! But I guess it's not so bad if the guy was towing a race boat with the car.
:)

[David Weaver]

Great pictures of the pits. Tell Jerry thanks Tom.


#9 That is Phil Howard in a white T shirt with sunglasses and carrying a powerhead??. The light yellow trailer that says Howard's is exactly the same color as I have always seen his trailer.

.

Wayne,

In the foreground of the sme photo are 2 boats numbered P-15. This is probably theDwight and Dennis McClellan. Also, F-11 is on the top of a trailer near the water. Would that have been Dub Parker or the Westbrooks?

DW

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I can't tell for sure about the F11 David, but what looks like a P on the hydro I think is a funky C. There are a couple of reason why I think that. First, the guy in the white T shirt clearly has a C 15 imprint. It has the same dot between the letter and the numbers on the two boats. Secondly, on both boats you see state registration numbers on the side of the cockpits and the nearest boat looks like it has CA preceeding the numbers. No other boats have state numbers. You can be sure that the first race boat registrations and accompanying fees came out of California.;) Am I right guys?:D That same hydro is in the foreground of pic 4 of group 2 with Larry Latta on the scales. I am guessing Jerry had a reason for taking pics of that hydro. As I write this, I'm not clear where Jerry is from.

[Tomtall]

Wayne - At the time these pictures were taken his father was from Delton,Mi. or the Richland,Mi. (Gull Lake) area. Jerry junior now lives in Ga.
This would explain why there are so many pictures taken of "M" boats.

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

Tom T: What great pictures!!!!!!! That is what racing was all about alright! Bravo!! Keep on scanning and posting! :)

Jeff: Putting a hitch on a Corvette being blasphemy EH? Man I must be the worst of offending sinners!!! LOL! I put hitches in order of year on: 1957 MGA, 1958 Triumph TR3, 1970 Triumph TR4A, 1972 MGB, 1957 Chevy Belaire 4 dr., 1966 RollsRoyce Princess Van Den Plas, 1971 AMC Gremlin X Denim 304 - 2bbL 4 Spd and finally a 1969 Jaguar 4.2 liter XKE convertable. My girlfriend wh then became my wife didn't mind!!! :)

To pull my hydros my first trailer was an old modified car frame from a 1936 Chevy with a plywood doghouse on the back for 4 engines. I used 24 X 24 X 2 sidewalk blocks on the front of the frame to counterweight the back once it was fully loaded each time with 2 raceboats, 4 engines, fuel and support gear. The idea was no more than 40 pounds on the hitch. This is what you call on the cheap on side trailer wise and a little more expensive on the cars on the other!

[Tim Chance]

G-61 is Kurt Almos from Minneapolis.

[Tomtall]

To pull my hydros my first trailer was an old modified car frame from a 1936 Chevy with a plywood doghouse on the back for 4 engines. I used 24 X 24 X 2 sidewalk blocks on the front of the frame to counterweight the back once it was fully loaded each time with 2 raceboats, 4 engines, fuel and support gear.

John - I was too young to remember but this picture of my uncles boat sums up simple trailer. Hell they even had the motor bolted to the back!:eek:
No rigging at those races.:D

[bill boyes]

The Runabout 43(C43) is Manual Carnakais from Bakersfield Calif. Always wore white overalls. Any one remember the boats name? What was Manual's sons name?

[F-12]

F-34 was Al Holub who ran a 460 on that cabover. He and Marshall Eldridge ended up with my Aerowing and D Konig. Big change in the ride. Al used to get that boat running every now and then and it would really go............F-11 I think is one of my older hydros. I used to run F-11 and F-12 back then. Not sure, just using the SWAG method, that is what I came up with. (Scientific Wild A** Guess) Great pictures.

[Tomtall]

Thanks everyone for putting names with these boats and pics. I will be taging them very soon. I presume from what has been posted so far that these pics were of a national race being as alot of the boats were from many distant states.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I thought that was Manual Carnakis Bill, and I asked Joe if he knew. I think I may have been at some races with him, but never knew him. The C Service was a clue, but I couldn't see the C (doesn't sound right;)) so I was afraid to make the guess. So Yeah Tom, there's not only Michigan, but Minnesota, California, Florida, Georgia, New York/New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, and R-26 from Washington is a number in my head that I should remember but can't right now. These states are just some I remember seeing in the pit shots without going back and looking. Like John says, "What great Pictures.".

[Mark75H]

What is the man in the fez hiding from us?

[oldalkydriver]

Bill, Joe, the 43 was Manual Carnakais's number. I'm assuming there is a C in fron ot it. That surely looks like Manual. Sons name I believe was John and the boats name was Woisme! White overalls and Yellow and black boat. Helmet had the same design as the boat until APBA passed that all helmets had to be florescent orange.

[jeff55vDSH]

What is the man in the fez hiding from us?

Looks like a Merc 60-J to me.

[Rog Dykehouse]

As I recall, the M 444 hydro on the scales was John Young who ran with the Michigan Outboard Racing Assoc, a NOA club. The hydro with the four cylinder Looper leaving the pits could also be John. Rog Dykehouse

[Mark75H]

As I recall, the M 444 hydro on the scales was John Young who ran with the Michigan Outboard Racing Assoc, a NOA club. The hydro with the four cylinder Looper leaving the pits could also be John. Rog Dykehouse
That could keep it in the late 1960's as NOA allowed the rotary valve Konig earlier than APBA did (around 1970).



Looks like a Merc 60-J to me.
Me too. They came out in 1968, so that one belongs with the Konig rotary valve picture; a little later than the rest of this group. I think the silver overlay on the boat number also indicates a 1970 ish date for that frame, too.

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

I suspect that is either a KF9 or early KG9 with open flywheel on that neat old hydro. I had 2 KG9s and 2 40Hs back in the later 1960s I tried to terrorize Merc 55Hs with in hydro and runabout but the closest I ever got was in runabout. Keeping the aluminum cowls on them eventually became a problem as the metal failed on mounting points and cracked. By the time I made transition to the later Merc H engines there were only 2 sets of complete aluminum cowls left for the 4 early Merc 4 bangers when I sold them. :)

[Tomtall]

Had a BRF member contact me regarding the make of this hull that was in picture #3. He is thinking of a winter project to add to his "B" vintage stable of boats. Any ideas of maybe who raced it or the make of hull?

[bill boyes]

Bill, Joe, the 43 was Manual Carnakais's number. I'm assuming there is a C in fron ot it. That surely looks like Manual. Sons name I believe was John and the boats name was Woisme! White overalls and Yellow and black boat. Helmet had the same design as the boat until APBA passed that all helmets had to be florescent orange.You are correct. I used to help Manual drive to the Nationals. I'm very good friends with his son John. Now for some true facts.
Lake Ming was a life time dream of Manuals. As past Mayor and a then member of Bakersfield council he got the County to build the Lake to replace Hart Park. However, he did not have the votes needed from the Board of Supv. He needed one swing vote. Manual went to Ming and told him he would see to it that the lake would be named Lake Ming if Mr Ming would vote in favor of the project.
Hence Lake Ming was born.
.

[Ron Hill]

In the first picture, it looks like a Konig on a hydro, but I can't see it that well....I feel it is my May Craft hydro, built by Ted May. Here is why: The engine spray shield it like the ones my dad made for my Konigs. The clear fuel lines look like they way we did it...And the Keller returns, are where we placed ours....The Konig is on a Mercury Clamp and swivel, as Lon Stevens shortened my Mercury towers to hold Konig gearcases. The boat has aluminum air traps like Ted used and where the deck and side chine meet, there is no room for a aluminum strip like was on Sid Crafts. (Just a sharp corner). And that F-34, might belong to the Smalls from Florida, as I sold the Smalls, from Florida, my 13'6" DeSilva runabout, at DePue, when I pitted next to them, 1970.

That C-15, I will go out on a limb and say this is Gary Sales. Gary did win the F hydro Nationals with a Marchetti and a Lon Stevens six. And this six is a Lon Stevens six, as you could always tell Lon's motors had a blue crank plate...Seems this is the same Marchetti that Charlie Wix, of Wix Oil Filter fame, once took for a ride a Lake Pleasant, in Phoenix...Why Charlie didn't get killed in that Marchetti, god only knows!!!

The F Runabout that you can only see 7 on and then the word "LAZY" was Lazy Bones the F or Bill Jack Rucker, Senior. DeSilva runabout, with a Lon Stevens six on it...Rucker's boats were always signed painted by Bob Powell...who called himself TREBOR LLEWOP (Robert Powell backward). Bob was a great supporter of the "SAVE THE MOTHER CONDOR REGATTA"....Rucker also had a boat called Lazy Bones then....there was a picture of a DONKEY!!!!

B-98-M looks like a Clark (Maloof) Clark Craft...

D-777-M is Fred Kenny, I'm thinking as Ed Kenny, his brother, always cut the cowling all to hell....

S-10 with the trottle on the RIGHT...NO BRAINER...Harrison...as in Kay Harrison...

Two runabouts, 5-M and 107 M, I'm think the McCortie brothers...CU..(C Runabout) fast as hell in those days!!

C-43 Manny...for sure!! Woisme!!! Bill Boyes pointed out that Manny was Mayor of Bakersfield....On the back of Manny's business card he had reasons why he didn't win the boat race....When people asked how he did at the boat races, Manny'd take out a card and check everything that had happpened...from Flipped, broke cranck, jumped gun, burned piston, fowled plug...and last was "ALL OTHER BOATS FASTER!!!!!

Manny used to charter a plane and sell seats and tickets for the INDY 500...We got tickets from Manny in 1952 when we went to Indy!!!

Enjoyed the pictures...

[John Schubert T*A*R*T]

Had a BRF member contact me regarding the make of this hull that was in picture #3. He is thinking of a winter project to add to his "B" vintage stable of boats. Any ideas of maybe who raced it or the make of hull?

Definitely a Sid Crafy "B" Hornet.

[Ron Hill]

TART...being for Sid Craft country I ain't causing trouble...but the reason I thought it was a Clark (Maloof) Craft was....No front cockpit and longer to the dash board (to where the steering wheel is)...Erine Dawe had a Hornet Sid Craft, and that is the only one I ever saw up close...just seemed different that B-98-M or B-93-M.

[M721son]

Wayne:
I was raised in kalamazoo Michigan, till i enlisted in the service at a ripe old age of 17. Now I live in georgia were I retired from the military My second family was boat racers so now I've come back. Me and my teenage son are just starting our own racing. I wanted him to meet the kind of people I considered family. On My dad he really had a liking for the 6 cyl Merc's he took allot of pictures and did allot of research on them. He always was helping he would take pictures for who ever asked him or pull a rope were needed I belive he helped Tim out some when he first got started. If you want to know more you can talk to Frank Zorkin, Wanda use to feed me every chance she could. I have a question for You did Tim race 25XS in his early days I seem to recall him and a buddy of his pitting next to us at a few races. The time frame for these pictures is if memorie serves me is 1968 to 1972. I have some slides fom the same era at depue if I get the time to convert them to pictures I'll scan them.
Jerry

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Tim started out racing stock Jerry. He first drove in J, but then moved up. I don't recall the exact year, but I can look it up. He drove his first race boat to the pits from his house in Michigan. Somehow, I think back in those days that happened more often than we realize, but not as many went on to do what Tim did. That era of 68 to 72 was when Tim was formulating the original Aerowings. That was a really fun time. Please post the pics. Your scanner may be able to scan directly from slides. Check it out.

I haven't talked to Frank or Wanda Zorkan for years. I've talked to Curtis since then and that was during the past century.;):D I hope they are all doing well.

I wish you and your son well in the racing. The people you meet and develope relationships with in boat racing are as you say.......like family. If you need any help posting those slides, there are many here at BRF that can offer guidance, and be sure to take pics early and often of you and your son's racing adventures.:cool:

[M721son]

Tim started out racing stock Jerry. He first drove in J, but then moved up. I don't recall the exact year, but I can look it up. He drove his first race boat to the pits from his house in Michigan. Somehow, I think back in those days that happened more often than we realize, but not as many went on to do what Tim did. That era of 68 to 72 was when Tim was formulating the original Aerowings. That was a really fun time. Please post the pics. Your scanner may be able to scan directly from slides. Check it out.

I haven't talked to Frank or Wanda Zorkan for years. I've talked to Curtis since then and that was during the past century.;):D I hope they are all doing well.

I wish you and your son well in the racing. The people you meet and develope relationships with in boat racing are as you say.......like family. If you need any help posting those slides, there are many here at BRF that can offer guidance, and be sure to take pics early and often of you and your son's racing adventures.:cool:
Wayne:
If you run accross and pictures of M721 from the late 60's or early seventies I would love to see them My dad raced entill either 75 or 76. The classes he ran were d stock, d & e Mod, and at some smaller races c d & f Alky. He always ran Hydros. I have very few pictures of him racing years back allot of pictures got accidently burned. I'd love to share some more pictures with my sons of there Grandpa.
Jerry

I will try and scan some of the slides and see how that works out

[Master Oil Racing Team]

The only thing I may have is C/D/F alky if he went to DePue or Winona Jerry. I never was in stock or mod territory unfortunately. But I will check my contact sheets. Looking forward to the pics from the slides. And BTW, thanks for getting this stuff started with Tom. There are some non boat racing people here that are now BRF members that are finding out that we are truly a family.

[M721son]

Most of the time when we raced alky it was at places like Ravenswood, Constatine, Zanesville, Dayton and a few others I cant recall. He ran a 44ci and a 6 when you could start it I know he went to Depue every year to help and take pictures he usally was helping the Zorkans, or Masons out. We did go to the first race in Winona that they ran the nationals at. I went to that race with him the mainthing that I recall was that it was extremly cold I felt sorry for any of the drivers that hit the water or any crew member who had to stay in the water.

[Ron Hill]

Found this picture I was looking for from Topock, 1970....I'm sure that picture was my May Craft...Compare this picture with the very first picture on the tthis thread...

[David Weaver]

of ther boat name!!