Inboard hydros

[Master Oil Racing Team]

some inboard hydro photos

[RichardKCMo]

I lost most of my pics in a flood, i find an old mag. or race program now an then.
RichardKCMo

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Glad you liked em Richard. Here are a couple more from Firebird Lake outside of Phoenix and the others are from Valleyfield, Canada. All are from 1976

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Dayton, Ohio 1980

[Master Oil Racing Team]

There has not been enough activity with the inboard hydro guys, I love the deep throated sound, especially when they are pounding water, and pumping it too. I don't know what that feels like and what you have to do with your right foot to keep the tail up and the boat powering through the turns, and then walking through the chop or facing rollers.

Here is a photo of an inboard hydro at Hydroglobe 1980, Dayton, Ohio. How about some of you guys chiming in. I think a lot of us would like to hear some of your stories.

[wolfgang]

Having built up, raced and obviously maintained outboards as well as inboards, I can provide manhours spent per hour on the water: outboards 10 to 14, inboards about 20. Inboard boats and equipment are out of necessity large, heavy, awkward to handle and oh so expensive. But - a well sorted rig is a great joyride.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

A good point Wolfgang. I always liked racing with an engine one man could carry to his workbench....or into the motel room for that matter.;) I don't recall ever seeing any photos of inboard hydros from South Africa. Would you be able to post some? I had a standing invitation to come to South Africa and race in the summer series, but I regret we never took advantage of that.

Here's a pic from Firebird Lake in Arizona.

[wolfgang]

Wayne - I raced mainly S3 (2ltr "sportboat", Molinari monohull and BMW semi-works engine) in Europe, with varying success. As a Weslake employee, delegated to the Ford Cologne racing department, in `69/`70 I was also actively involved in the successful world record attempts of the Kuerten/ Geschke team in S4 (2.5ltr "sportboat", Monark monohull and Weslake-built Ford Capri engine). As soon as I find some time, I will scan and send to BRF the article which the Ford magazine published at the time about the records.
Upon moving to South Africa in `79, I was pleased to see the local boys racing 2ltr hydros, powered by Alfa and Volvo engines. Very quickly however, political problems and galloping inflation ruined most powerboat racing, except F1. The latter being a full-time occupation which a privateer can hardly afford. Since about 2 years, a sort of ModVP (5 classes) and some junior classes are enjoying increasing participation. With the untimely death some years ago of Reinhard Schulz (who was the AMG representative for RSA), having been the local C Hydro exponent and multiple record-holder, hydro racing went South and never recovered.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I'm sorry to hear about Reinhard. I didn't know he passed away. I raced with him and Tom Jones in Austria in 1979. Tom had Tim Butts' Aerowing shipped over and he got T boned and knocked out of it early on. Jim McKean raced in South Africa several times and told me about the hospitality of the South African racers and how much fun it was to race there. Looking forward to that article Wolfgang.

When I set the OD kilo record in 1976 it was South African Dino Candiotes that I took it from.

[wolfgang]

I'm sorry to hear about Reinhard. I didn't know he passed away. I raced with him and Tom Jones in Austria in 1979. Tom had Tim Butts' Aerowing shipped over and he got T boned and knocked out of it early on. Jim McKean raced in South Africa several times and told me about the hospitality of the South African racers and how much fun it was to race there. Looking forward to that article Wolfgang.

When I set the OD kilo record in 1976 it was South African Dino Candiotes that I took it from.

Yes Wayne, boatracing must have been big here in the `60s and `70s. I can well remember that the Dino Candiotes and Dino Moulinos teams used to come to Paris every year for the 6-hour race, with two boats, engines and the lot airfreighted in. The same goes for Gordon Lanham-Love`s participation in the Cowes Torquay offshore race with a wooden racer built in his local yard, powered by twin Ford Interceptors (427 ci). I also read in Speed and Spray or Aquasport that a South African in the `60s held the world record for 5ltr hydro (must have been a kg class in those days) with a Ferrari engined boat. The record apparently aws established on the Vaal river near Johannesburg, Where Reinhard Schulz also did his record runs.
I have lots of material to scan, but at the moment do not even find the time to progress my replica runabout project.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I know how that is Wolfgang. However long it takes...we will be very pleased when you are able to scan and post.:cool:

[The Dealer]

Glad you liked em Richard. Here are a couple more from Firebird Lake outside of Phoenix and the others are from Valleyfield, Canada. All are from 1976
Well i must admit i was never a lover of hydro's tll my mate got an old troy craft,same as the N-11 pictured boat.With a pretty much stock 350 10/1 comp,cam,manifold and 750 holley,with the only prop we could get this thing ran 113mph at the kilo's straight away,and he also circuit raced it on a single bouye course against kt and v-drive boats in a narrow river here in windsor australia turning it from bank to bank.but with an engine we called the slugger we had good cheap fun.That same engine in a v-drive would have done 60 to 70 mph.
Mick.H:)

[Gene East]

Gordon H. Lanham-Love is certainly a name from the past.

We built a six-cylinder deflector "F" for him. He and Bob Batty came to the States to watch the APBA Alky Nationals back in the 60's. We built a "44" for Bob. They stopped in Quincy to pick up the engines. Gordon paid his bill with the biggest wad of $100.00 American Express travel checks (cheques) I ever saw.

They were looking forward to visiting with "Chief Scrutinizer" Charlie Strang at DePue

[Tailwheel]

Great to stumbe across this site, my ole man was part of the racing scene here in South Africa in the sixties along with his pal and they experimented and raced an E Class runabout of which they did some interesting modifications. I remember a certain Pat Thomas had an inboard Hydro (Front Engine) and it was powered by a 409 Chevy. If I remember correctly it was called Alley Cat. They were part of the East Rand Speed Boat Club which is still in existance at the Rynfield Dam in Benoni 20 miles or so east of Johannesburg. My dad went onto attain his Springbok Colours (National) for coming second overall in the South African Olympic Games boat race held in 1965 at the Wemmer Pan in Johannesburg. He received a Silver medal from the then State President C R Swart. His boat was engined with a 283 cu in Chevy that he scooped out of a accident damaged 57 Bel Air and he managed to get hold of an Edelbrock Tri Power intake with three Strombergs and stack air cleaners, It looked fantastic. One of the highlights of my memories was years later Gordon Lanham Love who had a beautiful SK hull named On On and his race # was 3. It was an all white hull with big letters emblazoned on the side Powered by Ford, and he ran a 427 cu In Holman Moody Ford with a V drive. As I sit reminiscing here today I can still hear that distinct sound of that big ole' Ford propelling that beautiful boat at a great turn of speed. Many years later a gentlemen Louis Lipschitz was instrumental in getting the Kona hull entrenched here in South Africa. He obtained a few from Universal Plastics in LA and set about to mold them locally here in South Africa. It was also a beautiful boat and most of them were powered with a 455 Olds turning a 12J Berkeley Jet. There were a few around with BBC power plants and some with 400 cu In Mopar engines as well as some with 460 Fords. Louis company at the time was called L&H Plastics here in Johannesburg. Of particular interest I remember they (Louis and Neville Cohen) went over to the USA and raced at I think Lake Mead in Arizona with one of their boats. My memory is fading but I think it was a Kona hull named Firewater and it had a Big Block Chevy turning a modified Berkeley Jet. Much later again the Hallets of Leon Prinsloo (Raven Marine) Alan Lindenberg, and a radical supercharged boat of Derek Dresner, Attie Tromp and as mentioned Reinhardt Schultz all continued the inboard racing and hi speed skiing here in Sunny South Africa. It was a sad day 9 Jan 1998 when Reinhardt lost his life in the accident that also claimed the lives of his wife and daughter when he crashed his Cessna Turbo 210 en route from the coast near Vryheid back to Johannesburg. The accident report attributed the in flight break up of his aircraft to continued VFR into IFR conditions. Reinhard was an instrument rated and I guess we will never know what transpired that fateful day. The inboard V8 scene seemed to taper off considerably and is almost extinct save to say a few Hallets and every now and then you'll here the elevated RPM of a Jet boat. "Those were the Days" I have enclosed a pic of my dad's E runabout circa 1970 running on the trailer all plumbed with my moms garden hose for cooling

[Tailwheel]

I forgot to mention on my previous post "Wild Bill" Badsey who also set alight the South African Boating scene in the late sixties and seventies.

http://www.badsey.com/old/bill_badsey.html