Thanks once again Wayne, you are a true gentleman for going to all that trouble.
I remember Roger running that set up here in England during the mid 1970's but never got to see it up against the propriders.
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Thanks once again Wayne, you are a true gentleman for going to all that trouble.
I remember Roger running that set up here in England during the mid 1970's but never got to see it up against the propriders.
The best I can remember Sam, is that they were very competitive. I only watched them run only a half dozen times though, so maybe others can give more of a perspective. Maybe Mike Ward may have some stats on them. It seems most of the top drivers at this race were running them.
The World Championship races attracted a lot of the former races I had taken pictures of in the past and had hope to secure autographs from. As in the past I grabbed some discarded photos to take with me, because the autographs were the most important. The first one here was signed by Cindy with her maiden name Hosler. It was taken at Alexandria, Louisiana in where she won a national championship. This photo of Cindy was published in Powerboat.
Lowell Schumacher got a kick out of this one. He was down at Gary Pugh's pits. They had just spent a couple of weeks putting together a very fine new boat going over to Europe. James Aderholdt drove it at Florida. Lowell was still working with Tim Butts when this pic was taken at Winona in 1975.
Another boat builder. I got to introduce my son Andrew to Rich Krier. Rich explained to us the circumstances that led to the designs and trials in developing the new style runabout. Rich had a laugh out of the college days "hippie" get up, but he couldn't indentify the rider. It was taken at the Eastern Divisionals at Springfield in 1977 and I don't have a roster of drivers.
I had been carrying these three photos around since I first started my autograph collection. I finally was able to get Todd Brinkman, Jr. to sign them.:cool: The first was from Alex around 1977, & maybe the second also. The third was was taken at Hinton in 1977. It was great to see Todd again, and despite all that he had on his plate at Lake Alfred, we did get to visit for a little bit.
This one of Bob Rusnak was taken when he won the 250 hydro nationals at Hinton, West Virginia in 1977. I didn't know Bob when I took the picture back then. I have gotten to know him better....especially since his daughter Lorraine married Sean McKean. In February Bob will have a Texan grandbaby.:cool::D
It was great to see Pete Voss again, and especially back in a boat after his accident at the Nationals last year in DePue. Pete was with me at the last race I ever drove in Berlin. It was a laugh a minute back then, and Pete still hasn't changed.:D
Here's a couple of Bill and Eileen Van Steenwyk. There is a puzzle to the first pic because it doesn't exactly look like Bill Van in the boat.....but then I don't remember what he used to look like in a hydro. For the most part I was racing in the same heats he was. Then after I took up my camera, I snapped this pic at DePue in 1972 of him in C hydro. He said it was Eileen driving, but Eileen never drove C hydro and surely didn't race in 1972. Within a little more than a year, Bill Van blew over one of Billy Seebold's tunnels and was in the hospital for awhile, then many months on crutches and therapy. Seems to me that it was 4 years before he was back in a boat, and then.....not in a C hydro. As I explained to Bill Van..."This has to be you in the boat. After what you went through, you could never have set this way in a boat again and we forgot what you looked like in a boat before.":rolleyes::D So we agreed it was him....hence the comment. Thanks BVS.:cool:
The next one is one of my favorite girl racers...Eileen. After going through all that stuff about Bill Van she asked what she should write. I think Bill Van must have been jealous about his belated photo because I got one of my very first autographed photos from Eileen in 1980 and I told her that she wrote on the first one something about a good looking guy....hence her comment. All in all we had a great time and I smile every time I think about the times we had together.
Hi Wayne- I see that you have met over the years many of the Long Island Eastern Outboard Racing Club. Our Little club ( I still belong) have over the years produced many national champs. I see you got the autographs of Bob Rusnak and Pete Voss. Have you pictures of any others from Long Island?
Unfortunatly several have passed on such as Bill Fales, Dick Scopinich Bob Hooghkirk, George Scudder among others.
Always ENJOY your postings.
Ye Olde Desert Geezer :cool:
I didn't know George Scudder Allen, but the first three were friends of mine. I'm not sure who all are "Long Islanders" but, yeah I've got a lot of pictures of some of them including Jim Gohery and Dick Scopinich with the "Happy Valley" team. From time to time I see someone post stuff on the Eastern Outboard Racing Club. I'll try to post some of the guys on that thread.
Here are some pics of Rex Hall, Jr. In the first one he is talking to Hans Krage at Firebird Lake in Phoenix. The second one was also at Firebird Lake in a test session in 1976. It appeared on the inside cover of Powerboat. The final one was also in Powerboat, but taken at the Eastern Divisionals in Gadsden Alabama. He came into the pits hot and wanted to alert his pit men that if they weren't quick, they would be drying out a motor.;):D
Wayne, both me and my wife Kathie were thrilled to see the picture of my boat "Miss Lorraine" on BRF. This is a picture of the boat just before the 1977 Nationals with Lorraine sitting in it. Now so many years later Lorraine is married to a great boat racer (Sean McKean) and will "maybe" another racer will follow in Dec. Great to see you at Lake Alfred last week. What a great event and thank you ....Bob Rusnak N-96
I had gotten an autograph from Jeff Hutchins at Alex in 1980 at the first round of autographed pics. It was one of him in I think A stock hydro at Kaukauna in 1976. You can go back to the beginning of this thread to check that out. I had this pic of Jeff driving a Yale at San Antonio, Texas at the Pro Nationals with me at Lake Alfred. I had hoped Jeff would show up....and sure enough he did.:cool:
We talked about some old races and Jeff was still the smooooth guy he always was. Relaxed...talked about racing...remembered when I chased him two heats at Alex...and said "You told me I was Speedy Gonzales...You kept catching up to me...but I would squirt ahead!".
Over the years Joe Rome and I talked about different drivers and we always figured Jeff to be the most cool headed. He never got rattled. He never worried about the start. He didn't seem to bother about his starting position. And he didn't seem surprised to be the first one to see the checkered flag drop when he crossed the start/finish line.
I was very happy to visit with Jeff at Lake Alfred, and had some other things to talk about, but that's the way it is when you see too many old friends to spend time with in such a limited amount of time.
This pic was taken of Gary Pugh early on in his career when he was the man to beat in 125 hydro. I think it was taken at Alex in 1976. I had a couple of good visits with him. He got me though when I was trying to find directions to Lake Alfred from Winter Park. My son Andrew was picked up at the airport by his friend David Montgomery a couple of days earlier and were staying at Winter Park where David attends college. I had asked Ralph Donald if he knew where Winter Park was and he told me Bill Hosler could tell me. I found Bill talking to Gary. I asked Bill "Do you know how to get from Winter Park to Lake Alfred?" Bill says "Winter Park or Winter Haven?" With a big grin Gary says "You're already here!":D
Hey Wayne,
its me once again Peer Krage i cannot believe how much stuff about the old times you put in BRF i could quote to so many treads but on this one i can tell
you the truth this Bill is called Bill Berkei and he is my father in law.
He was for several years the mechanic of Ötte Markus.
Thanks Peer. What a coincedence. All around the world, BRF is the place to come for information on boat racing.:cool: I got your E mail with the autographed card. I am going to send to you a picture I took of you at Lakeland in 1993 for your autograph also.
ADD: Did you show your Father-in-Law the picture?
This is the first of many of my photo's I was able to get signed at the Old Phart's Convention at Ralph Donald's place in Naples, Florida.
It was great to once again visit with Ron Anderson.
I sure miss Walt Blankenstein. We had some good laughs and experiences together. He and my Dad were great friends. They were both outspoken and not afraid to say what they thought. This was Walt and Ron and Don Anderson in the pits at Alexandria, Louisiana in 1973.
Bill Seebold, Jr. driving Miss Folsom for Marshall Grant. This would be the last alky nationals Bill drove before going full time OPC. It was DePue in 1972. It looks like Bill Van in front.
Lee Sutter at DePue in 1972. I can't think of who V-1 is. Can't tell who the inside boat is, but kind of looks like the way Jim Stone kneels in a runabout.
Ron Anderson really got a kick out of this picture. I promised to send him a copy to show his kids. He said they wouldn't believe it.:D
Dr. Phil Wagner at the first Hot Springs Invitational in 1972.
This is one I am especially proud of. I had posted it way early on in the autograph collection after I got John Schuberts autograph at the DePue Reunion. I always hoped I would be able to get Jerry Simison's autograph to complete the picture, and now here it is. It was taken at the Grain Belt Eastern Divisionals at Winona, Minnesota in 1975.
A lot of these pictures are old and faded and nearly 40 years old. When I got ready to go to the Old Pharts Convention, my scanner and computer weren't working. I had wanted to get some autographs of Bill Seebold pictures from his OPC days, but I couldn't scan them. So I pulled stuff from my photo album and took them with me. That's where the shots of Bill, Lee Sutter, Phil Wagner and some of Jerry Simison come from. So here's another of Bill driving Miss Folsom at DePue.
This is another of Lee Sutter, but this time at Fort Buhlow Lake in Pineville (Alex) Louisiana in August 1973.
Another of Phil Wagner and also from Fort Buhlow Lake in August of '73.
I had cornered Bill Seebold and Lee Sutter together to get a bunch of pictures signed. When Bill saw this one, he made sure he got Lee's attention then said loudly with a big grin:D "Hey Wayne....why did you take this one with Lee out in front?".
This was another from the 1972 PRO Nationals at DePue.
This photo was taken at the 1975 Eastern Divisionals at Gadsden, Alabama. Phil was testing the boat, but it seems like Jimmy Aderholdt was supposed to drive it. Shortly before the race Jimmy noticed the clamp bracket holding the tower housing tube had a gap, so he tightened it up. When he pulled out of the pits, he started to turn right, but the motor was bound tight. Phil had had Walt Blankenstein machine some of the surface off the bracket so he could tighten up the steering.:D
I asked Phil "Isn't this a Hedlund?" and Phil said "Yes". So Ron and Gerry Hedlund were a few feet away and I got them to sign it along with Phil. Ron said this was the last hydro they built. It was built for Mercury Marine for the 25SS, but it was never put in the water. Phil found it behind Elmer Nord's house and it had lost its cover and tipped over. The bow was filled with water. There was not much wood damage, but it was stained heavily on the bow hence the black paint job. Phil set it up for M Hydro with a single cylinder Konig.
Every story I ever submitted to Powerboat, Powerboat & Waterskiing, Motorsport, The World of Speed, and some trade journals were published and never edited with the exception of a paragraph in the Propeller. Not that I am a good writer, but I guess everything fit OK. The titles to my stories and paragraphs were another thing entirely. The titles I sumitted were merely the title of the race, dates and where it was held. The editors were better suited to finding a suitable title to the story that put it into perspective. And I always hated writing captions. But, the photos needed to identify people and other objects in the pic. I don't recall any title or caption I ever wrote being used. The editors were much better at that, and I never knew which photos they would pic for either content or layout. So...that being said...
The photo that Phil Wagner signed above was one that was submitted to Powerboat in 1975, but not published. They used different ones in the story of the Eastern Divisionals held at Gadsden on Green Lake. After Phil signed the pic, he happened to turn it over and read the caption. Then he got everyone around him to read it and said, "Look what 'MY' buddy wrote about me".:D I had forgotten about that, but we all got a good laugh.:)
A couple more of Lee Sutter. The first was at Alex (Fort Buhlow Lake) in 1973. Motor trouble.
The second was at the Grain Belt Pro Nationals at Winona in 1975. This photo appeared in Powerboat and Lee won the 350 runabout title.
My best friend in this era was Jack Woodruff. Jack was four years older than I was. He had raced boats for four years but quit when he entered college in '58.
Jack never beat me, his parents could have bought my parents out with their pocket change, but that never kept us from being the best of friends. Jack's dad loved race horses and racing. Their boat trailer was made from a horse trailer.
Jack was a sheltered kid, and had never spent a night away from home until he was 16, when stayed at my parent's house with me. His mom called four times the first night he stayed with us.
Jack could drive, I wasn't old enough. So with my brains and his car, we had adventures. We surfed about every other day, we water skiied, stayed at their trailer at the beach, went camping....drank orange freezes everyday! (52 cents with tax).
Anyway, when the Seattle Nationals came along Jack and his mom drove up to watch, as Jack had said he'd get back in racing after college. Jack and his mom got to Seattle early and was finding their way around town and some how met up with Lee Sutter.
I don't recall if Lee raced the Divisionals at Long Beach that year or not. But by the time we got to Seattle all Jack could talk about, for four days was "B" Sutter. "B" Sutter could do this. "B" Sutter could do that. "B" could drive a runabout.
I always thought I was the "STAR" but Jack had decided "B" Sutter was "THE STAR".
It wasn't until I was at the Beloit Nationals, 1960 that I found out "B" Sutter was really Lee Sutter. From that moment on, I have always enjoyed Lee's friendship and always been impressed with his ablilites.
Jack graduated from college in June of 1962, we went water skiing that first Saturday after graduation with his financee and four BEAUTIFUL college grads young women....I was a high school grad.
Jack was killed a in a car accident the following Wednesday.
I never see "B" Sutter without thinking of Jack!!!!!
Wayne, thanks for posting these pictures!!!!!
The thanks goes to you Ron. If not for your forum...the original collection would still be filed away, and the additions would not have happened.:cool: Looking forward to more autographs at DePue now that I have gotten some new pics.
Ron has spoken a number of times on different threads about Dr. Phil Wagner, who traveled and pitted with Jerry Waldman. Note the number and colors of his runabout. I always liked the name too. HYDROPHOBIA. I never asked if he didn't like to drive hydros, or he was pulling the "string" of the King of hydros.:D I'll ask next time I see him.
The first time I met Phil was at Alexandria in 1978. It was a Friday or Saturday night after the races. My brother Mark was pitting for me then and he wanted me to cross the highway with him from the Holiday Inn where we were staying to the Ramada Inn where Jerry Waldman was staying. He had met up with Anne Finkl earlier and wanted me to accompany him as he was not known among racers out of Texas, and he wanted to hang out with Anne. Anne was the sister of Phil's wife Joanie.
I'm not sure whose room we were in, but Jerry's gang was all there. I can't remember all the people in the room at the time, but I remember there were Crown Royal bottles and bags. What stands out in my memory was that Johnny Carson was on the tube and people were talking, laughing and catching the interesting parts of Carson. Phil Wagner called me "Doc." He was the real doctor, but he called me Doc, because he said I looked like Doc Severeson who was the band leader for the Johnny Carson Show and played trumpet (for those who didn't know). Of course I didn't look like Doc , but in those days only Artie Lund, and a very few others had mustaches, and mine closely resembled that of Doc Severson. We had some good times together for several years.:)
This pic was taken at Alexandria, Louisiana in 1973.
This photo was taken also at Alex in 1973. Jerry Simison was driving for Marshall Grant at that race. I am not sure why he is in Dick Hoppenwrath's runabout. Dick was pitting for Jerry here also. So this is kind of a one-of-a-kind picture. Dick almost drowned after flipping in B hydro in the first turn at Alex and his wedding band was hung up in the throttle cable while he and the boat were upside down. To me, it happened before this race, and I think Dick was just pitting for Jerry now, but for some reason Jerry was in Dick's runabout. Jerry is coming to Midland, Texas this year for a shooting event and asked how far it was from my place. I told Joe Rome that if we can swing it we both need to go out there a visit with Jerry and watch him shoot. I'll ask about the pic then. Don't know why I didn't when he signed it. Guess I was so excited to see him again. For those who don't know...he has Parkinson's but has done real well in the last couple of years. It's a little hard to read, but he wrote that this is Dick Hoppenwrath's boat. This is another of my priceless autographs.
Got a new bunch of autographs today. The first is Ken Scoville and Darrel Beaulier. I've know Darrel for a long time, but I just first met Ken yesterday. I knew of him, but had not previously had the pleasure to meet him. We had some good long talks about some west coast drivers we knew. BTW Alan....he says to tell you high.
This one I took of Darrel Beaulier at La Port Texas in October 1974.
Another one of Darrel.
One of the things I always admired about Darrel is he seems to take things in stride. He did admit though that this wasn't the best way to get your picture taken.;):D
Last one of Darrel. I printed this one in 1975. Like most of the original photos I got autographed, they came out of the reject box. Too light...too dark...or not the right one to send to Powerboat. I never really planned ahead to set up the darkroom to get really good quality photos for my autographed pics....so the one I dug out for Darrel to sign fits the bill. Darrel said who the other guy in the pic was, but I was talking to Mike Tilton at the time and forgot.:confused: