Dave Packer..#48
Printable View
Dave Packer..#48
Driver: Warren Spinnenweber and Rider: John Sherlock Sr.
I was in the USMC and they borrowed my Switzer Shooting Star to run in the Albany to NYC Marathon. It was a tuff ride,,, a Switzer Star was not a good boat for this event. They finished and this was something to be proud of for that marathon.
Marty O'Neill
#250
In loving memory
Brandt Hilsen
1973 - 2004
Fatally injured racing CSH in Williamsport, Pa
Loss of a Legend
Friday, June 2, 2006
Legendary hydroplane builder Henry Lauterbach passed away last evening at a Virginia hospital.
FARMER Wilton T. "Will" Farmer Sr., 90, of Richmond, passed away Monday, December 11, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Elva Mae Farmer; his son, Wilton T. "Will" Farmer Jr. and his wife, Donna; two grandsons, W. Ryan Farmer and his wife, Michelle and Mark T. Farmer; one great-grandson, Michael; a niece, Shirley F. Hunt and her husband, Jerry; two nephews, Frank L. Farmer III and his wife, Kathy, and William F. Drumeller III; and his beloved dog, Cha-Cha. Mr. Farmer was a drummer and was a member of the Richmond Musicians Union. He played with many bands over a 70 year period including Barry McKinley and Skeets Morris. Mr. Farmer built race boats over a 30 year period. In 2000, he received the American Power Boat Association's highest honor, being elected to the Honor Squadron. He helped establish Farmer Machine Company in 1978 and served as vice president until the time of his death. The family will receive friends 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Central Chapel of Bennett Funeral Home, 3215 Cutshaw Ave. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, December 14, in Signal Hill Memorial Park.
BILL (Grandpa) SEEBOLD SR.
Very sad to hear this news. Always will remember his walking me over to the trunk of his car so he could give me a couple of props to try. I don't think anyone loved the sport of boat racing more than Grandpa. We had many, many, many good times.
Danny Critchfield. Lost while testing a boat in 1987.
Great boat builder and driver.
John,
Was the Albany to NYC race your Dad ran in '65 by chance. I was there three times and that was the worse. When we rounded West Point I wondered if we had missed Ft. Lee and headed into the Atlantic. We finished second in FE running a flat bottom 13' Allision. If I had been smarter we could have won. Earlier in the race we passed the class winners Mike Quale and the late Herman Haggerman.
That's the only race I ever ran that I received a certificate from the state for completion.
What year did a certain college boy from Califorina brag the night before how fast he was going to run the river in a flat bottom DeSilva?
1965 - Steve Sherlock / 1964 - John Sherlock Jr. / I think my dad ran in 1965, same year as my brother.. My brother, Steve, was killed in Vietnam just a few years after the 1965 race.
1964 I believe was calm. I wasn't there, but I believe that was the year Ted March won FH and Bob Halstead won FI both in flat bottom Allisons.
1964 Al Wood, 1st FI
Bob Halstead 2nd FI
Ted March DNF FH broke at Poughkeepie while leading
1965 Ted March 1st FH
1966 Ted March 2nd FH
All flat Bottom Allisons
Barbara "Bobbie" Eldredge 1957-2006
3rd generation racer- daughter of Marshall Eldredge, Jr.
1994 125ccH National Champion, 1100ccR National Champion (deck rider)
1980 ASH Region 5 Champion
We miss you Mom!
Jon Eldredge
Nick Davis & Gerry Drake
Both taken from us at Lake Depue, Nick in 500 Sprint Hydro last year and Gerry testing his 500 Hydro in 1994.
Guys I grew up with and looked up to, you will not be forgotten!
Jon Eldredge
Boat racer Jack "Doc" Welte passed awat last night at 7:30. He was surrounded by family and a few close friends.
Jack raced and was always around the Havre DeGrace racers of Steve Sharp, Bill Roberts and Stu Shane.
Ed Simms of the N-10 Ed's Capade fame passed away last week.
Fred Bowden told me he was the first one to Joe after his accident in St. Louis. Fred said, "He knew he was dead." Capsules save lives...
Joe could drive THOSE VEE HULLS......like poetry..
Here is a picture of Joe driving a 380 Laser 380, like I NOW OWN, I always loved this boat, ESPECIALLY WITH JOE at the wheel...
We used his picture on our certicates, and I may reprint them again, if for no other reason but to honor JOE....
You can continue to rest in peace, Joe...Us OLD GUYS are still carrying on the battle!!! I'll never forget you!!!
Joe was the smoothest Allison driver ever. He made the boat run like it was being pulled by a string.
At an Ohio OPC race Joe had just rigged a new white Allison with a Johnson GT-115. He asked me to check out the rigging. A lady came to the boat accompanied by a gorgeous blonde. Joe introduced them as his mother and sister. It was the first time they had seen him race.
So the race starts and when they came to the first turn several boats tangled with a big splash. The white Ally was floating upside down. Never forget his mother standing next to me "Wheres Joe?" He'll be okay, I said not really knowing. It seemed like five minutes before he swam clear of the boat and waved knowing his mom was watching. Joe was a great guy and we miss him.
Just got off the phone with Chris Bush, he still is a little SLOW in the COMPUTER DEPARTMENT...But he did add, "That Joe Burgess was the best V -Bottom driver ever..." Coming from Chris Bush, I know Chris knows...
He added....Something too about Joe being small and low in the seat and Chris wasn't sure how he could see...but you could tell, that Chris had the greatest respect for Joe...
I was told, a few minutes ago, that Ted Bravo passed away a month or so ago...
A moment of silence for me...
Then, I'll write a several lines about Mr. Ted.... AKA Teddy!!!
Ted Bravo came to Parker and drove my Red Sleek Craft....not sure what year...after that we were friends forever///He offerd me an HST, he had for free...Ted March went and looked at it..I was considering driving to NY to get it...
Rest in Peace, Ted...
In memory of Art Kennedy:
One of my favorate racers of all time. Great guy and one hell of a racer. When I was a kid we use to stay with him and his family at their house in St. Louis on race weekend. I remember how happy my dad was when Art won the 1986 F1 race in Pittsburg.
One hell of a driver and boat builder:
FAST, FAST, FAST and faster:
One of the best:
Cesare had won Havasu....
Eight years ago today, my dad, Ray Nydahl, lost his 17 year battle with emphysema. As he did throughout his life, he accepted the consequences of his actions with dignity and integrity.
Up until his death he remained a motor sport enthusiast, reading and watching anything he could find on boat and car racing. His favorite NASCAR driver was Dale, Sr. About 2-3 weeks before he died, his health took a sudden drastic turn for the worst. We all knew, including Dad, that the end was very near. A few days before he died, he told us he was going to “stick around” until Sunday so he could watch Earnhardt win at Talladega. Only half of that prediction came true. Dad died around 9AM and #3 won the race later that afternoon after a dry spell of more than a year.
When Dad started racing in the early ‘60’s, he started with the Midwest Powerboat club. I have memories of many from that club who are no longer with us.
Jack Dodge and his wife, Jeanne, were like uncle and aunt to us. I’m not sure if Jack ever raced but it seemed he was always at the races helping make things happen. Jack raised Dachsunds and occasionally had a litter. He had decided that “Nydahl needs a dog.” One weekend in the spring of ’75, Jack and Jeanne came for a weekend visit and brought Dad’s first puppy with them. He was immediately hooked! If I remember correctly, Jack died in the early ‘90’s. I haven’t heard anything about Jeanne in several years.
Fred Lonsdorf always had a huge smile for everyone. Ralph Stahl was always a soft-spoken gentleman. Dave Shaughnessy was a faithful and close friend. I remember Bob Smith pulling into a race site with a HUGE trailer piled high with boats that he towed with a Trans Am. I can still recall Don Tarnowski, the club announcer, saying over the PA, “The next class of the day is “D” as in dog hydro.”
I am looking forward to attending the reunion at Depue this year. A few weeks ago my husband asked me what I wanted to do for vacation this summer. My reply: “I don’t care what else we do as long as we make it to Depue!” Mom is looking forward to being there, also. Of course, Pete and his family will be there. As a kid, Depue was the highlight of my summer because it meant we would see people that we usually only had a chance to see once a year. Depue was one of our closest races, but it was so great to see people who came from places like California, Tennessee, Washington, Long Island, Florida, Texas, . . .
If Dad was still alive, I’m sure he would love BRF. He would be reading every post! A while back, my husband found me (yet again!!) checking out the action on BRF. His question to me was, “Are you missing your dad?” . . . Yes, I am.
Sandy (Nydahl) Plummer
What a nice post about a very nice man and brilliant racer. Sandy, you hit it right on about looking forward to seeing people once a year at DePue. There was nobody I enjoyed seeing more than Ray. Racing Ray was a great driver, real electronics innovator and best of all great father and husband. I am laughing because he was so deadpan when he would tease you. I can still hear him ask me if I felt secure about my job pumping gas. We sure do remember him on this day. I'm going to put a bratwurst on a stick and roast it in honor of Ray.
Sandy, we all miss him too.
Sandy,
What a wonderful tribute to your dad. To those of you who knew Ray you can imagine what it must have been like for a new engineer, just out of school, to work with Ray. At OMC, Ray had the isle bench right behind the tool crib and Bruce Summers was right behind him. I had just been assigned the new 135Hp V4 and Ray was going to be my technician. At that time, Ray knew more about outboard engineering than I though I could ever learn. One of the first things he taught me was that "fishing engines" were called "G.. D.. Gas Burners"; now if that wasn't enough to scare a young engineer, when Ray got a little upset he started talking to himself - out loud. At which point I would usually assume I did something dumb and go for a cup of coffee. You had to earn Ray's respect, titles meant nothing. If you wanted to lean he was an excellent teacher, if you were full of BS he would happily let you hang yourself.
Over the years we became good friends and when I think back I too miss Ray. I always looked forward to seeing Ray at a race and loved the banter we had between Alky Burners and Gas Burners. As I am writing this I remember an Alky race where Ray was walking through the pits will a cold one in each of his pockets. As he passed someone he knew he would hand one out. One of the best Cold Ones I ever had!
To all who are no longer with us, rest in peace - we miss you.
I can envision it all!! I can't stop chuckling! I definitely knew what he thought of someone if he referred to a person as a Gas Burner! Another thing he always made clear was that it was a racing engine and NOT a racing motor. Motors are electric!
I have great memories of Ray and one of them was that he told it like it was. We had only been racing 4 years and at Alex in 1969 Ray Hardy and Harry Pasturczak had told us about this fantastic CD ignition. That was when we first met Ray Hardy and Harry. At that time my Dad and his partner were OMC distributors and your Dad, Sandy, had adapted the OMC ignition to fit the Konigs. He had the cast mounts and everything.
At that time, I was still learning how to get through the turns without getting wet down. We tried all kinds of plates over the carbs, but I still got towed in a lot. Well, this ignition offered a lot of promise. 50,000 volts, and my Dad figured that would be enough to burn water.;) I don't know what we were doing wrong, but that turned out to be our worst year ever. I would be going along great then the engine would just quit. Sometimes it would quit, start, quit and start again. We stuck with that ignition through the final race at Alex. Even a slight mist and the engine was dead. I know a lot of people had some success with it later one, but maybe there were bugs we never got worked out. We just took everything off and sent it back to Ray. Then we bolted new Konig ignitions back on. Sometime during that year Tim Chance, as well as Powerboat did a big spread on the Nydahl ignition.
When we got to Lakeland the next year one of the racers, I forget who, came up to us. My Dad and you Dad were talking in the pits and Joe and I were standing there. This racer says "Hey Ray...you need to sell Baldy some of your ignition kits." Without hesitation and that deadpan style he said "Hell....I sold him a thousand dollars worth and he gave me the G.D. things back in a box".:D We all laughed. My Dad was never upset over any of that and neither was Ray. We tried it. We had problems. But that was racing. Ray never minced words. And him and my Dad always remained friends. Ray was one of the names I always looked for in my qualifying heats of F Hydro because I knew he was going to be in the finals and there would be one less spot open.
Jim--
Lots of truth in what you say. He was always there when I needed help. Before I had my own mill,lathe and heli-arc I'd ask Ray if he could help me out and he always replied-you know where the tools are, get up here and do it!
I remember one race I had with Ray at Lake Zurich where it was dog eat dog all the way. I could out-turn him but he had speed on me. He beat me by a couple of boat lengths. After the race Jim, you came up and said "I thought you guys were buddies,it looked like you're going to run over each other". We always were buddies OFF THE RACE COURSE.
Sandy--
I saw your mom and Pete and the family at Lake Wales. Looking forward to seeing you guys at De Pue.
Bruce
I will always remember returning to engineering after running the Miami-Nassau race as Co-Driver with Dr. Bob McGoon. I was telling Ray about nose diving the boat, Bob was knocked out and I was able to get us back underway and we finished 5th. Ray listened to the story then said, So you never made it to the first turn in a boat race yet? NOPE I said and he laughed. Reminded me of that for years. The "Hot Setup" was also a favorite term of his. Great Guy and a super tech.
http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ghlight=Nydahl
Don't forget The Nydahl Family Post...
Known as Bugger Red, passed away on July 20, 2007..
Butch, is that a 15C? I have a 15C and a pair of 800DR's with speedmasters, would like to restore it and it would be nice to represent something with history in memory of Earl.
John
It sure is a 15C..This was Chucks boat, and it had a lot of numbers..40, JJ40, JJ4, Chuck won everything in that boat..I got to run it as pictured in Blue Ridge, Ga around 1962..got beat on the turns..first time I ever raced a Cat, ended third. I blew by them on the straights, and got hosed in the turns..That guy from Alabama that raced Powercats won.. Then we went to Mississippi where Bugger had worked up enough nerve to drive it finally..It ran just over 80 as pictured..It was a E ticket ride back then..would float like a hydro flat out..
Butch
Here is a picture of the same motors on the PowerCat Hydro Red bought from Chuck.. second picture is Red right behind my Raveau, in the spray..We just passed the Switzer thing..LOL:D :D
Sad to say we lost another one..all you kneeldowners should remember him..
William Hutchins
William T. "Hutch" Hutchins, 85, of Lake Placid died July 16, 2007. Born in Wilkesboro, Pa., he had been a resident of Lake Placid for 29 years.
He flew crop dusters for Del Monte Foods and at the same time managed several small airfields. He flight instructed future combat pilots at Sparta Field. He joined Pan American World Airways as a pilot in 1951, flying the South American and European routes. He retired as a captain in 1982 with over thousands of flight hours. He served as a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He flew the China-Burma route known as "The Hump."
He was a builder of many national championship outboard racing engines. He was a member of the Airline Pilot Association, American Power Boat Association, the Model Airplane Club and the Lorida Trap and Gun Club.
Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Lois; children, Lois Edwards of Crystal Lake, Ill., Bill of Lake Wales, Jeff of Land O' Lakes and Carrie Fish of Miami; 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to the evening hours Saturday at the family home.
Memorial arrangements are being handled by the Michael A. Brochetti Funeral Home, Lake Placid