Parker Mini Enduro

[Bill Blackwell]

What ever happened to the Parker Mini Enduro? Perhaps it is still going on. I remember the Parker Enduro and Parker Mini Enduro used to get a lot of coverage. Back in the early '80's, mini boats as they were called, were quite popular. I believe the resulting racing class was Sport C. But in the Parker Mini Enduro, what classes competed besided Sport C and 45SS? Was there a "mini boat" class?

Just curious,
Bill Blackwell

[LakeRacer99]

Those seemed like fun times...I remember my Trailer Boat magazines would be full of coverage. I think the editor was either racing or sponsoring a Sport C boat. I was about 12 or 13 then and was trying to figure out how many lawns I needed to mow to afford a Bobcat tunnel or a mini Eliminator with a 25 Evinrude and go racing. I had a 8ft Fliver/Merc 9.8 at the time... :)

[Ron Hill]

"The dog would have caught the rabbit, had he not stopped to take a dump."

I cleaned this up a little, but I used this line almost everyday of my teaching life...there are choices in this world.

We chose to quit Mini Boat Racing,, rather than fight.

Western Engine Distributed Volvo Engines and parts. I made the only Volvo stainless prop that looked good and worked well. They'd buy 100 a year or more...They did 8 million a year in parts.

They were owned by a company in Wisconsin, called Palmer Johnson.

Merle, can't think of his last name was the President of Western Engine and a good old Wisconsin boy...Enjoyed a beer or three, had yearly parties at Western Engine and Christmas Parties...and parties. They sold a lot of Volvo drives...

One day I'm over at Western Engine, probably collecting money, and I see these cool little outboard motors... Mike Basso, Chuck Fredricks, Bill Shepard and some other Western Engine employees think I'M JOE RACER because I'm always talking BOAT RACE.

Well this guy named Twitchy had a Addictor with a 25 Tohatsu on it...I say to all these guys, "How many of these SUCKERS are there...?" They say Twitchy has sold about four and is building two more...

I said, "Let's race them."

Next thing I know, we have a race to Catalina Island planned. Trailer Boats Magazine is going to cover it. I go with them in a 36 foot Sleek Craft, we have 9 entries... Great idea... Problem was only one makes it. The other 8 ran out of gas...

When we get done "FINDING" everyone, I tell Merle this was great, but had we lost someone at sea... I said, "WE" need APBA insurance.

So, it was agreed to get APBA insurance.

Ernie Dawe took the rules to Portland, Oregon, as he was Stock Outboard VP at the time. Barb and I went up and made a proposal to the Stock Outboard Commission.

The class was called C-NOD.....NOTE: THE CLASS.

I made a presentation to the Commission and I said I wanted one motor and one boat to be the only legal boat and motor...

The OMC people and the Mercury people almost choked on their cigars... One motor, one boat... and a JAPANESE MOTOR???
The Stock Outboard Commission was hand picked by Ernie Dawe and they VOTED to accept C-Nod as a local class

That night in the HOSPITALITY ROOM (BAR) the rumors were flying...Mercury was going to offer the Merc Cub as a ONE DESIGN CLASS..OMC was going to build and new A and an a 45 motors, if the Stock Outboard Commission would reconsider a one motor, one boat class...

See I believe in consparicies.. I believe Johnson's people got Kennedy!!!!

Mercury and OMC feared JAPANESE OUTBOARD MANUFACTURES....and for good reason...

Anyway, C-Nod became a class... Were raced. We were called the NOD's...National One Design. Western Engine paided for APBA's insurance and gave trophies, plus loaned motors to almost anyone...

Well, the boys at Western Engine decided that C-NOD was OK, but what was needed was O-NOD and U-NOD.....I wasn't convinced....C-NOD with 30 HP, aluminum prop only. O-NOD was going to be the 40 HP, any prop..I did my homework and realized that the only 40 HP to have 33 cubic inches was the TOHATSU, so to protect our sponsor, I wrote the rules for U-NOD (OPEN) to be any 33 cubic inch or less Outboard.

So, the first MIni Enduro was scheduled the week before the Havasu Classic...

I got an Addictor for my wife and we built and MOD VP bottom C runabout for U-NOD...

The first Mini Enduo had maybe 40 entries, two Evinrudes, Miller from Nevada....(All Seasons Marine, Boulder City, Nevada)...Mod VP Hot Shots...) and John Rinker.... the rest were TOHATSU POWER...


I'm going to say 14 C-NOD's, 12 O-NODS, and U-NODS.

I wrote the runs so that when you made a pit stop you exchanged gas tanks, not fuel the tank...I didn't want to polute the river...

We ran 5 hours...My wife, was the only boat NOT to have an electric starter... she and Caorlyn Nelson finshed third after losing some time with a gas line unpluged...(I had hooked it up)...

We finshed second in U-NOD to THE EVINRUDE of Miller's from Nevada... after, believe it or not, the gas line came unhooked.. and I had hooked it...

I don't think there was any prize money. Trophies only... Many tears, hugs, and cheers at trophy presentation. Even losers felt like winners...It was GRASS ROOTS RACING at its best. EVERYONE VOWED to do it again, next year...

The picture is from Havasu, not the Mini Enduro!!!

[Miss BK]

The Parker Mini Enduro was one of the most fun races the mini's ever had. We raced 3 miles down and 3 miles back for 5 hours straight. Some guys actually drove all five hours by themselves. (it was like a "macho thing" to boast about afterward) ;)

My team always changed drivers on the hour, which is about as long as one stock fuel tank would last.

At the pit stop, your crew would swap your tank out, and piggy back your drivers so they didn't have to get wet.

Here's me getting a piggy back ride by Sergio Calvo, who was a F1 tunnel driver and once married to Fred Bowden's niece. He now owns a sports team clothing company called Grand Prix Apparel.
http://stitches.com/mag/apparel_left_coast_embroidery/

The driver helping to set the tank and co-driving for me is Craig Schaid, Sergio's adopted brother, who's dad (Glenn Schaid) owns Enduro Motorsports Trailers in Havasu. (he's the one in the hat on the beach)

These days were so much fun...The classes were C-NOD, O-NOD and U-NOD at first. Later, the names changed to C-Production (30hp and Vee only), Sport-C (35 cu in max, stock, tunnel only), Mod-C (same as Sport C, except modifications were allowed) and SST-45 (OMC's sst45 stock motor only)

My boat was a Mod-C (Yamaha 3-cylinder, punched out to 35 cu in exactly, with giant modified exhaust holes in the lower unit -- yes, it was LOUD!!) :eek:

[Joe J]

Ron:

How about the rest of the Havasu story? The first time we ran there, the race had to be stopped, TWICE.

The race committee, in the superior wisdom, decided to run us on the big, 3.5 mile course. The course was REAL rough, and they ran out of patrol boats, every one of them had at least one swamped boat under tow. After they were all brought in, the race was re-started, with the same end result.

The next year, we ran a smaller course.

Looking back, we had some real good times back then, too bad racing has evolved. Maybe for the better, maybe not...................

Val: Lauren's J hydro and my new runabout are sitting in an Enduro trailer.

Joe

[chill]

Bk,

They were very fun, I was about two years too young to run, but always wished I could do it. By the time I was able to run the Mini Enduro I was able to run about the last race "400 Klm Nathan Worthy won overall, Jason Campbel was second and I ended up third third. I was sixteen at the time and to this day it was still one of my favorite races. I would love to promote another Mini Enduro, but with the 45’s today, they are built with so much squeeze more then ½ the field would blow over. Speaking of blowing over (ADD like father like son) Do you remember when Basso blew over three times in his Kober Cat Sport C at the Mini Enduro?

[Miss BK]

It was fun.

Included in this group: Rick Hoffman (out front), Ken Hoffman, Todd Bowden, Jason Campbell, Johnny Travis, Joe Johnson, Jimmy Johnson (no relation.. ha ha), John Castelli and me of course. Greg Foster, Bob Wartinger and Chris Bush often joined us too.

[Miss BK]

I don't remember Basso blowing over three times at Parker, just the first year when he was out front and barrel rolled across the start/finish line (plowed at full speed right over our own starting wakes, which had four foot swells!)

My God, that was a rough race. But I was new to racing, and just thought this is what it was supposed to be like. LOL. John Castelli drove Jake Gilbreaths Gran Prix and lost it (literally) at the farthest turn. In twelve minutes we lost twelve boats. :eek: I saw the guy beside me hit a swell then vanish.

They had to stop the race because they only had twelve patrol boats and couldn't tow any more in.

Chad -- I recall a later race at Parker when I was helping Nathan and Wayne. They both were driving new Mirage's in a new class called Formula-50. They also had a Sport C that an old friend of theirs (Bill H?) was going to run.
Just as testing was ending, Wayne and Nathan were coming down toward the judges stand and Nathan "lifted off" and flipped. The boat was done.

Now Nathan was without a ride. So they gave the Sport-C to Nathan to drive instead. Not long into the race, he flipped that one too. :D

Hard to beleive that was nearly 15 years ago.

[Ron Hill]

My wife painted these boats CRAZY... Blue on one side, white on the other...Her boat was green on one side and black on the other...if you weren't careful, you'd think we had four boats...

For Havasu, I looked at the water, then looked at my wife and neighbor's wife...and I got Castelli to drive the 45 and Mike Murphy to drvie my wife's #32...

After the first MINI Enduro EXCITEMENT was "SKY HIGH".

(Note: year one, C-NOD speeds, Barb was as fast as anyone, she could see 42. I don't think any of the O-NODS could see fifty. Because our U-NOD wouldn't go 50 and we were second fastest). REMEMBER THE SPEEDS and the difference in speed bewteen classes.

APBA"S OPC Division took CONTROL of the MINIS because you sat more like an OPC....They renames C-NOD to CP. O-NOD to Sport C and U-NOD to MOD C.

Well, C-NOD was no longer a ONE DESIGN CLASS, so new boats started showing up. We built one, Howard Pipcorn built one, and a couple more appeared. Truth was, 30 HP stock motor, aluminum prop all went about 42-44. Howard may have gotten the KILO to 46....

Now SPORT C, these guys also had new boats, Bob Cat's by Bob Carlson (Glastron-Carlson fame), Grand Prix made a new boat, Speed Marine made a new boat, Kober made a new boat and Mirage made a new boat...maybe, even David Lee.

Blake Esau, Blake's Marine in Las Vegas, too advantage of the rule that allowed up and down transoms. Blake found that a Tohatsu could run with the propshaft level with the top of the tunnel and still get water and with an $850 Mercury propeller you could go 52-54 MPH, if you didn'st spin out going straight. (At that time you could buy a new 40 Tohatsu for $999)...


U-NOD was another story. Rick Hoffman, Jimmy Johnson and Ed Lane, got with Yamaha and sleeved dow a three cyclinder. But making a bottom water pick up on the nose cone and modifying the engine, they could run abour 80-85. Mitch Lemke, of Speed Marine, modified a Tohatsu 40 and went about the same speed.

Now, a year has passed, Havasu has scheduled the Minis and the MINI ENDURO is the weekend before Havasu...

Do you see a problem coming? 85 mph MOD C's, 42 MPH C Productions and 50 mph Sport C's that spin out going straight???

George May, god bless him...(He's doing well in San Diego, I saw him at the Unlimieds lasat Septemeber), told everyone NO MATTER what, we will run 2 1/2 hours... at least half of the 5, becasue the weather didn't llok good and there was some wind..

I'm not sure the actual number of entries, but there were 16-18 C-Productions...My wife's team had six women drivers. Two had never raced a boat. One was a Ski Race Champion, one was a 19 yeear old PhD student at Stanford who raced kneelers, one was my wife, inflatable World Record holder, one raced with he husband in Offshore...One, her husband ran MOD-VP.

The race started and Mitch Lemke lead the first lap...within fifteen minutes there were reports of boats upside down... by the wone hour mark, Chuck Fredricks had barell rolled twice and was back in the race...

The women and the rest of the C-Produtions were all right side up and were racing. They made their one hour scheduled fuel stops and were back at it. By two hours, more than half of the Sport C had been or were upside down and only two Mod C's were running.

The "WOMEN" made their two hour stops as did the other CP's....when Mitch Lemke "STUFFED" his MOD C...We were sending our C-Production boats out when the BLACK FLAG flew... George declared the race stopped and said they'd go back to the previous lap scoring, giving Mitch, 2 who wasn't running, the win and Overall win.

Five of the 42 MPH boats were in the top ten, and with Mitch out, there would have been 6 with three hours left. All C-Production, aluminum props and all were still running and not one had spilled...

When TROPHY presentation was over, not one person was happy. (I don't think Mitch was happy winning, he raced the big Enduro and knew you raced all day)... What a change from one year to the next....

It wasn't George's fault...the Sport C's were out of control, most that had one knew they were going to wreck it or get beat by Blake. Blakes boats were fastests...

We went to Havasu, the next weekend...OMC was pushing their new 45...they race was started in 3 to 4 foot waves... again, no C Production went down, but the race never went more than 10 laps and half the tunnels were on the bottom, sunk or upside down...

Pam Kinion, 19 yearold, working on aPhD in artificial intelligence at Stanford, drove our #9, yellow boat. She's never seen Lake Havasu and never seen an Enduro. After they stopped it, I asked her if she wanted to go back out...She looked at me, those 150 IQ eyes, and said, "It is really rough out there, but I think I'm OK."

The next racing season, we went to San Diego, took three boats, Two drivers had never raced boats before and my wife. They ran a one hour Marathon. Of course, Minis were second class citizens, so they ran them last, almost dark at Misssion Bay with four foot waves...About 8 Spot C's and 8 CP's...

when the race was over, my wife got like third in class and 5th overall...The Sport C guys were still spinning out going down the straightaways....but at trophies the COMPLAINED that they didn't want to run witht he C Productions anymore because the V bottoms made it too rough....Of course, Mission Bay had four footer every afternoon when the big boat went home.

We went home, sold all the Minis, and the mold.

The next year, Rick Hoffman broke his arm in Mod C, Blake broke both shoulders in 45 SS...

Many quit running the Tohatsu's, to run 45, with RACING LOWER UNITS and OMC PRIZE MONEY.

Volvo bought back their distributorship and moved Western Engine to New Jersey. ZThe new owner of the Tohatsu Distributorship didn't like racing....of course, they went broke..

So, many things happened... To me, had I still been in control of the "NODS", I would have required a TRANSOM HEIGHT in O-NOD and ruled out $850 propellers...Or I would have at least required a propeller diameter size, so you culd not jack them up to a point that they's spin out going straight...

As far as U-NOD, I would have changed it to a 50 HP class, stock with a transom height...

But the world is changed as my ESL students say. Jet Skis got real popular..Addictor Boats went out of business, after selling maybe 300...LEGAL C-NODS...

Can they class come back, Harry Hardy, Frank Baducci and I think so. But as my brother says, "BUSINESSES NEED GOOD MANAGMENT."

Bill, my HISTORY is my opinion and may be off the mark. To me several things need to be inplace for the SPORT to GROW:

1. SPORT/FUN IS WHAT WE WANT.
2. ANY PRIZE MONEY SHOULD BE SPLIT TO EVERY BOAT. (It costs just as much to lose as win)..
3. Establish a Division II, for each class (30 Hp, 40 Hp and 50 HP) for motors over five years old...Also, motors over five years old would no longer be inspected, except for clear modifications, like nose cones, cut skegs, and exhaust reliefs...(Why??? As the motors get older, the "WRECH HEAD" figure how to post them a little, and had to deck the blocks a little and how to bore them .030 over and "Shoe Shine" the cranks...and the new guy AIN'T GOT A CHANCE!!!! So, Division I would be for NEW STOCK MOTORS, Division II, run what you brunk, race together socored seperate!!!
4. Claimer price on PROPS. Allow steel, but require a diameter...
5. No built in tanks...6 gallon only... Why... Mod motors need more fule bigger tanks...Stock motors, for pit stops, you switch tanks and don't pollute the river...
6. No race less than 3 Hours...
7. BRING THE GRASS ROOTS RACER....
8. ANY UNSPORTSMAN LIKE CONDUCT WILL HAVE PENALITIES...

First, I'm going to bring back MOD-VP. Then, the MINI ENDURO SERIES.

[Ron Hill]

Chad, Carry Sunshine and Jessica... This traile had two Mini C_NODS, end for end...

Chad was mad here casue Carry got to drive...

[Ron Hill]

Pit Stop at Parker. Chad finished 2nd. We decided to add about two extra gallons of gas at the last stop, he finished on fumes!!!

We were a WELL OILED PIT CREW THAT DAY!!!!

well, we did get him in and we did get him out, about five minutes later!!!!

[RAISINGCAIN]

CAN YOU STILL BUY ONE OF THESE LITTLE TUNNELS? :confused:
I HAVE A DAUGHTER AND A LITTLE BROTHER THAT WOULD LOVE ONE.

[Miss BK]

There are quite a few Sport C tunnels for sale here:

http://www.sportc.com/trader.htm

[RAISINGCAIN]

Thank You For The Info, My Little Girl Is Going To Love It.

[mercmack]

When The Class First Started, They Had 10 To 12 Boats If I Recall In The Bay Area..most With The Tohsu Eng..2 Had Johnrudes..and Being Of Limided Funds I Bought A Second Had Lark, Looked Just Like The Additors..and Since I Work At J & G Auto Marine In Napa, I Rebuilt A Merc 350 2cyl 30 Cu In Showed Up At The Start Of The Next Season And Gess What...only 2 Boats Left..so They Put Us In With The Mini Grand Prix Of Omc's Thing.we Bet The Tare Out Of Them..that Day ...but That Was The End Of C-production...sport C Is Still Going Strong Thou...even Though I'm 67 Now I'd Still Would Love To Race Again In This Class..have To Move Back To Cal...
P.s. Just Picked Up A Old Additor For 50 Bucks And Still Have The Old 30 Merc..oh Yah..about The Time They All Quite, They Come Out And Said That My Merc Was Not Legal..to Old...and I Told Them To St----- It And Quite Myself...
Me And The Family Where At All The Havasu And Parker Min Races Thought...

[Ron Hill]

Don't recall why he didn't win...but John Castelli was leading MOD C at this time in the second Mini Enduro...


These boat weren't designed for the speeds they were getting...

[Ron Hill]

My dad built the "PLUG" for my wife's "Snappers". Bob Carlson did the design...

You build it in wood. Then gelcoat it...then, "POP" a mold off it...throw the plug away!!! Build glass boats...

[seaspeeder]

Hi Everyone,
I am currently researching the history of Addictor Boats and would love to hear from any of the founders or former employees or people that know of this company and what has become of it. Please email me with any info at discountscooters@hotmail.com
Best regards to All
- Peter.

[Ron Hill]

Dagofast tells me the molds for all the Addictors are in Clear Lake, Calikfornia.

New name will be NANO Enduro...Not Mini.

[mercmack]

Have A Good Addictor Boat With A New Trailer And New Steering System Ready For The Race...you Just Got To Put A Eng On It..need 600 Dollars .....to Cover The Cost Of Trailer/steering..so Boat Is Free..can Send Picture Of Boat If Interested..:) :) I Am Wanting To Buy One Of Ron Hill's Tunnels For Fat "c":) :)

[RichardKCMo]

Dagofast tells me the molds for all the Addictors are in Clear Lake, Calikfornia.

New name will be NANO Enduro...Not Mini.

What was length and width of these? I used to watch these race on mission bay.
RichardKCMo

[Ron Hill]

Ross "The Boss" has told me he'll handle the Coast Guard permits...

I met with La Paz County and it appears it will be a RACE on Sunday, November 18, 2007, at La Paz County Park.

Four Hours of Mini Boat Racing....I'm billing the race, "The Biggest Little Boat Race in the World"...

Six Divisions: Division A,B,C,D,E and Division I...(Division I will be the same rules as Division I at the Blue Water Resort and casino 300 Enduro...)

Three manitory Pit Stops of ten minutes each...Staggered starts (Handicaps)...
All boats must have NAMES Painted on or stickered on, in large enough letter as to been seen from the shore...No name, no race!!!!

Division A:

Up to 49 Cubic Inch, V-Hulls only. APBA C Stock and D Stock Runabouts will be included...

Division B:

Legal APBA Sport C


Division C:

California C (Also knonw as Fat C).

Division D:

Howard Pipkorns V Bottom class....Basicall anything under 66 Cubic Inchs on a V-Hull (Prop shaft must be 2" below the bottom)

Division E:

Under 66 Cubic inches, any hull, tunnel hulls must have the prop shaft no higher than one inch up in the tunnel.

Division I:


Same rules as the Blue Water Resort and Casino 300 Enduro...(Any outboat under 16 feet will 99.9 cubic inches or less...Texas Tri Hulls are legal...

Here are some pictures of La Paz that I took Friday... I have more boats than drivers...please let me know if you'd like to race...(Those two boats are Division I D'Cucci boats...).


Don't have to be running at the end to collet prizes and money.

[vishus]

Ron,

I'll RACE, just NOT in the GOLDFINGER boat... I would prefer something with an OB to an inboard if at all possible :) HELL I'll race anything as long as it's FAST...

thx.sid

[Ron Hill]

What's the chances of a PROP FEST this spring in Phoenix??? (I need to talk to you guys about Family Drags)...

She got up to 70 in Needles today, I think the cold is over....

What aabout a Division I boat for the 300 and then running it at the Mini Enduro???

There are two MORE D'Cucci boats in Havasu...They DO NEED WORK...but I think they'd hum when we get the done...

[vishus]

I want to run my Ally in Div IV in the ENDURO, but I would like to run a D'Cucci boat in the MINI.

I am heading to Saguaro on Sunday (73deg) to run some different props and to learn how to drive my ALLY and to practice 80mph turns:rolleyes: for possible Nostalgia racing... it will be a mini PROPFEST as some of the bassboat guys want to try my overhub "race" props on their rigs... everyone is using the trophy/temptest through hub props.


YES on PROPFEST this spring. Sunday will be 73, Monday will be 77.

LA PAZ is nice, that is where I stayed during the ENDURO, real close to BADENOCHs for burgers and such...

[Ron Hill]

I never got this race off the ground, but have not given up...

Found this patch from the 1986 Mini Enduro.