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Lubriplate & crew sock prop bags...
Smitty; Here is another old tale, fairly interesting in general. I may have just one more left from the weird past.
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This is an 8mm movie extracted photo of Entrop’s new (and last) -FOH- course hull on its first outing at the season opening race on Lake Sammamish. I think the year is the one following the Nationals in Casper, WY. (Can someone help with the Casper year, maybe 1963?). The first test was for ride attitude without the added weight of new siamese pipes. We bolted on the pipes and the ride balance remained stable. Short course prop gave 94 mph on speedometer so about normal. New deck curvature gave increased aft lift as expected so a more safe corner entry mode.
http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...attach/jpg.gif
The next race for Hugo was mid season Capital Lake in Olympia, a large 1 mile course. This story is about a very interesting discovery during that race and a later mystery.
Hugo used high shear strength aircraft bolts with a formed metal aircraft lock nut rather than standard shear pins. He wanted to retain the prop if the shaft failed at the threads. He used a torque wrench on the prop nut. I assumed that there had been a failure in early times.
Hugo coated his props in Lubriplate grease and kept them in crew sock bags, the few stored in a nice simple tray which fit a trunk space below where he laid the 75-H in his 1950’s Desoto. He pulled out the prop for the day at Olympia and mounted it, white grease included. Ran the first heat and set it on the stands for refueling.
I noticed the prop nut was missing, the shaft had broken at the threads. Hugh decided to run heat two but wanted to change to a prop for running at lower rpm & less throttle plus would be less concerned if it was lost.
I removed the prop as Hugh got the next one and then I saw that the forward face of both blades was still coated with white grease. A small band of grease was washed away for maybe 1/2 inch or less behind the leading edge. These are typical clever wedge type props as used on Inboard hydros.
Hugh was fascinated so got his nice 35 mm Pentaflex camera out to get a picture of the grease markings then set the prop carefully aside for later photos. We put on the second prop, shear pin bolt drive only, and Hugo said that he would use full throttle at the start and throttle back for the rest of the heat; still ran in front.
That prop also had the grease remaining on the forward face but a wider wash band behind the leading edge. More photos, close up, of both props. He said that Doc Jones would want to see the photos.
Talking with Hugh, maybe the next year, he told of getting a call from Doc Jones asking when he could bring the boat south for some test runs. Hugh had vacation time and the model shop was not busy so he made the trip. I did not know this at the time, no one was supposed to. Doc Jones had contacted someone at an “agency” and they wanted to set up a straightaway course in salt water where they could take high speed underwater movies of Hugh’s prop at his normal speeds. Probably coated with something a little more exotic than Lubriplate.
The course was quite narrow to allow for proper placement of several cameras and sound equipment so was a little spooky to run through but Hugh did the many passes as needed. The agency crew said thanks, Doc & Hugh left. Some time later Doc received a report from the agency telling that there was excellent new information about high speed prop micro cavitation from those tests, no more tests needed, and thanks for the outstanding service.
That’s it folks. You will have to guess, just as I did, where application of that new cavitation data was so critical. Doc & Hugh were either restricted from disclosure or did not know. Underwater noise is created from even minor prop cavitation and who knows just what that odd separated flow across the forward face of Hugo’s props looked like and what sound was generated.
Those props of Doc’s & Hugh’s were surprisingly efficient, calculated using simple pitch, tac rpm, and indicated speed. Much more so than those on typical outboard hydros of the time including the props I ran in -D- on Entrop’s 1955 course hull.
I think enough time has passed that my speculation and this story is of little importance, just interesting to think about.
R.R.
Entrap's craftsmanship & photography
Dean; Good that you found the writing interesting. I only have these few memories from my short time in racing outboards so that’s far too little material for more than telling tales. I generally know little or less about other noted outboard racers outside of Region 10 other than name recognition. I “disappeared” after the early 1970’s except for the random contact with Hallum and attended only a couple races any decade. That whole era was special for me so I never lost interest or curiosity though.
You asked about Hugo. When he called he would say it was Hugh or Hugo. Most often Hugh would ask if I had time to help lift the hydro to or from the car top rack sometime that week. When it was Hugo calling that meant soon going to the races.
I really don’t remember enough details about how he arrived at his long employment in the Boeing main Wind Tunnel Model Shop. The critical thing I can say is that the skills acquired by anyone working in that shop result in exactly those type of abilities that folks outside of that field admire and often think are Engineering. They are not wholly ‘self taught’ either due to the broad training of a Wind Tunnel Model Maker included in all of the experience.
I think Hugo graduated from Ballard H.S. as a regular good student, must have been about 1940. I cannot remember if he told of a first job being at Boeing in aircraft assembly but the timing sure would have been right because of the WW-2 build-up. I do vaguely remember something about the later sudden need for Wind Tunnel Model Makers because of the new Boeing Transonic & Supersonic Tunnels becoming operational, or soon to be so for the Supersonic.
Many Wind Tunnel Model Makers were also hobby model fliers since childhood. The Tunnel guys used the term Toy Models whenever they were talking about their hobby modeling while at work. Hugh was one of those who had done hobby model aircraft building & flying since his young years. There were so many of these early Toy Model Aircraft people involved in all aspects of the Wind Tunnel operations that Wind Tunnel managers went looking for more of them when the need grew large. If Hugh was already a Boeing employee and one of his many Toy Model friends already in the Tunnel operations told management that he was out there then I will guess that was his entry point to being a Model Maker.
Hugh’s photography enthusiasm got a sudden start in that year of the Outboard Nationals at Casper, WY. It was a circular trip, first to a demonstration run at a boat race in Paulson, MT the weekend previous to Casper. He opened up two fitted camera cases to show me his very new 35mm Pentax and a whole range of new premier lenses from short (macro) focus to 800 mm, no variable tele-photo types. This was no low cost operation! He had studied the operation manuals and a beginners guide but didn’t yet know details or have experience with good practices in photography. I think that he set up a full dark room for B&W prints almost immediately.
In 1962 at Everett J.C. I had taken courses in photography to help raise the struggling grade point. Also was one of the Yearbook staff photographers after that. So on the Casper Nationals trip there was much conversation about the details of using all of Hugo’s nifty new photo gear in the best ways. He took a ton of pictures through Glacier Park, then Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, then over a 9,000 ft. pass to Cody and on to Casper. There was no shortage of hilarious tales about Krazy Karl along the way too.
One of his Wind Tunnel and Toy Model friends was Herm Dittmer, a Model Design fellow, photographer, and amateur astronomer. He built his own larger type reflector astronomical telescopes and ground the precision lenses, a seriously involved task. Hugh showed him his photography and Herm showed him his latest telescope and the celestial photographs. Herm’s tracking mechanism for that telescope was a commercial unit I think and had operation issues of some sort but did OK.
So that was Hugh’s start point for celestial photography. He purchased a premium small reflector astronomical telescope, a Questar if I remember correctly. It was then the time for him to build his first powered tracking platform which could be adjusted accurately for Earth rotation and didn’t have whatever that issue was with the commercial unit of Herm’s. He showed it to me one afternoon in his back yard. That first unit did not appear complicated but did have all needed adjustment & rotation planes solidly set in place. I think that Hugh made modifications later to improve the nearly exact tracking.
The telescope maker set Hugh as an advisor for their products I think, used his photographs in their literature, etc. He became maybe even more generally known world wide for his photography than his earlier boating & model airplane record efforts. As with his speed records, it took years and maybe decades before his super sharp celestial images no longer amazed even professional astronomers or were equaled by amateurs.
R.R.
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Walin & Rautenberg; Fast water guys, on wet or frozen
Here is my only image of Gerry Walin & Dick Rautenberg from our early 1960's adventures in winter after the fast summers of boat racing. This is another marginal quality image extracted from 8mm movie film. This image is of Gerry & Dick in the Top lift line at Mt. Baldy in Ketchum (Sun Valley) Idaho. Skiing from about 9,000 ft. Baldy peak. The ski trip first went to Big Mountain in Whitefish, MT then to Ketchum & Sun Valley, ID & back to Seattle. Very good times with these guys summer & winter. Many Seattle boat racers were also skiers because the ski areas were only a 45 minute drive (some longer) and had night skiing.
Attachment 63067
Dick was a long time skiing instructor. Gerry was a regular skier. I was a skier & lift operator.
When the water froze for mountain snow the boat racers just geared up for the slopes and kept going fast.
Russ Rotzler
Unintended Consequences...
I had already begun reworking this mid-1960’s tale as a final posting to suit Smitty. So now that he has become impatient maybe I can hurry a little.
In previous writing I told of the two small motorcycles that Hallum, Dunn, and I used as test machines for engine modification extremes (beyond what was already done in the Anzani’s), and many pipe tests. They were also raced on dirt short tracks. Both had the valved 2-stage pipes so had full effect from below 8K to above 14K rpm with a long overlap in the ranges. The two moto’s were a 50cc Tohatsu and an 80cc Yamaha. Both about 1961-62 vintage, the Yamaha used a disk rotary valve, the Tohatsu used piston skirt intake timing. Everything learned had potential transfer to the Anzani. They both were powerful and hard to hold the front wheel down on full power starts if the rear wheel did not completely break loose. The Yam had the same bad habit going to 2nd gear. So that brings this tale:
That Yamaha 80cc was my addition to the test bike stable. It got the full-plus-extreme treatment in testing limits for everything. Actually never found limits because these were modified stock motor parts. Always a little more power or extended power range. Also, anything more than could be applied to the Anzani or Dunn’s Suzuki X6 road racer was rather pointless.
A little south of Dunn’s home in Everett, WA on old highway 99 was the Yamaha dealership of Bard Hanson & his Father. (Bard’s father had been a C-Service boat racer with the older Seattle gang). Bard was a first rate young local flat track racer, 250 cc Bultaco I think, semi pro type rating.
Bard had seen me face down in the dirt trying to race the Yam 80 at Gold Creek indoor short track. He noticed the power and 2-stage pipes on the Yamaha & Tohatsu. When Dunn stopped at his shop Bard asked about both machines. Then asked us to bring the 80 to his shop for a back yard ride. We did that; I warned him to load the front wheel but it still ran out from under him. Second try he hung over the bars and got a good race type start spewing dirt through 2 gears.
Bard asked if he could keep the 80 for a couple of days until the Yamaha importer Rep out of L.A. was going to be there. The next week Bard was laughing as he told us how the 80 threw the Rep on the ground twice, once in 2nd gear. The Rep was a dirt racer too so was a bit shocked.
The Yam Rep asked if he could get a set of parts with the racing mod’s in the 80 so I carved up a cyl., cut a valve, cut a Dykes top ring setup on a piston; ... didn’t make a “shell design” combustion chamber — just told them the chamber volume, the inlet port & carb throat size, and gave a length for the long pipe. Hanson was authorized to give me Yam parts to modify.
About a month later Bard told us that the "Factory" was impressed. Maybe a year or more later Yamaha (probably the LA operation) began selling a modification for the 80 called the GYT-Kit. ... Genuine Yamaha Tuning.... It was the set of mod’s from our test Yam 80. Yamaha also put these mod’s in GYT-Kit form for their newer small motors, maybe up to 200cc’s. They couldn’t use the extreme mod’s fully because these kits had to be long lived, not just racers. On the 80’s they used a short high rise expansion chamber which had only a moderate effect and the common long tiny diameter stinger-outlet, (but it was all pretty chrome).
Halum & I made 3 or 4 Yam 80 full mod cyl, Dykes ring piston, raised compression sets for local racers. Complete waste of time since there was more important racing gear needing attention.
So there you have it Smitty. Yeah, I remember that (dam...d) Yamaha GYT-Kit as a prototype. Seemed to work well enough when stuffed onto a standard machine. Strange that the Factory did not know or do this long before being shown. My guess is that they didn’t expect these machines to be used for anything except putting along trails and streets. I think it was a little before the motocross era; Seattle area riders were still racing Scrambles, 250 cc and larger.
R.R.
P.S.
More memory attempts on those early GYT-Kits. I do not remember any iron cylinder 'factory' kits but I think some were made available in L.A. When Hanson (Hansen?) first had a factory kit after that long initial quiet time, he called Hallum and we both were able to view and measure it. It was an aluminum cylinder, hard coated, (don't recall the method). The porting measured the same as my iron 80cc cylinders but was profiled for best ring support long term. The piston used more current thin chrome rings, two & about 1.0 mm thick. I think all later GYT-Kits used this method. During that period those kits did a fine job I think.
Original Pacific Northwest racing chain saws, Mukilteo style...
OK Dean, here is what I remember from that fun chain saw episode. It was quite amazing as you say.
Hallum’s powerful 2-stroke motor successes were notice fairly soon in the latter 1960’s by a rather unique couple of serious woodsmen who were very active loggers in the Pacific Northwest. They were attending regularly scheduled logging competition-festivals in those many Northwest towns whose primary economics was based on felled trees and reducing them to manageable sizes. There was much included in these festivals including the traditional log rolling, axe work, and those quite effective two-(person) long cross cut saws.
I wandered into Losfar’s Boathouse one afternoon and Hallum was still feeling amused by the earlier events. Jim took me outside where a test log about 15 inches in diameter and the professional size Stihl long bar chain saw was sitting. Saw chips were everywhere. The saw owners had earlier left for home in Mt. Vernon. The Stihl was left behind because it required a new starting cord handle that would not fracture and blow apart if the saw motor kicked back when starting because of fixed ignition timing with high compression. This was a very serious problem; a little hard for outboard racers to know even with a few snatched-back starter ropes.
Jim told of two loggers arriving one day from Mt. Vernon, (half way to British Columbia from Seattle), some months earlier and telling him about these chain saw competitions which they regularly entered and how really serious (maybe only bragging rights, yearly total points, and a trophy) the events were. They showed Jim their "Pro Logger" Stihl chain saw which was very nicely loop scavenged but very “over square” (bore/stroke) compared to all of the racing motors Jim normally dealt with.
The loggers asked Jim if he could make their Stihl saw into a “racing chain saw” like his other excellent motors they knew about from reading and local talk. Jim liked the idea of finally having a motor to “hot rod” that was really over-square and an excellent design otherwise. The other important factor was that cutting logs was best done at a stable rpm, not yet exactly known. It was a motor power load where the chain produced the most chips, kept its momentum, but was not necessarily peak rpm. Somewhere above max. torque.
Pipes could be tuned for maximum effect exactly at this power range for max. applied torque at a stable cutting rpm. A few test cuts with the upgraded motor showed the best rpm band.
Jim could only tell me of his modifying work on this Stihl. The raised cyl. porting, reed valves behind multiple pumper carbs, high compression & combustion chamber reconfiguration, and a pipe that was set for best torque at cutting rpm.
The only failure was the starter rope handle which would blow up in those strong logger’s hands if the motor kicked back. First fix was a water ski double-hand-hold handle with the starter rope wound around it. That was good for cutting tests but was not going to be any good flopping around in contests. Jim made something work but I do not know what it was except that it did not use the familiar traditional handle with a center knotted starter cord in a through hole.
After that the real fun began and Jim was really chuckling as he told about the amazing success the loggers told him they were having with their new saw. (A side note I vaguely recall is that they were eventually restricted from competition by rule changes).
The Stihl saw was a very new brand in USA Logging at that time. I think that all former dominant Pro saws were American cross flow designs. Sometimes big heavy beasts because of large motor size for the power required. The Mt. Vernon loggers who brought the Stihl to Jim were already suspicious characters “packin’ thet ‘ferren’ equipment”.
The chain saw cutting competitions were what you might imagine except for one where a standard size long log was cantilevered out at 20 or 30 degrees above horizontal. The logger ran out from the base, whacked off a marked width slab, and ran back to set a time. They also did a standing cut on a large standard diameter horizontal log and another event which was a vertical pole climb, cut, and max. rapid descent to trip the clock. These loggers were very tough, agile characters,... no surprise on that.
The bottom line on this was almost magic viewing for those attending these logging competitions. The Hot Rod Stihl cut all diameter logs in times thought impossible before then. The angled log had the hot-rod-piped Stihl back at the base before the competitors were half way through their cut. The same for the vertical climb topping cut and even shorter for the standard horizontal log. It was an almost impossible situation for the competitors. My guess is that all Pro chain saws out working in the forests were soon lighter, more powerful, and more efficient for the loggers.
As with the 100 mph Anzani, needed change was suddenly obvious. Another ‘Bravo’ for a serious NW logger, Jim Hallum engine mod’s, and the “MukPipeCo.” tuned pipe. A proven practical precision tool regardless of whatever may have been happening internally.
An additional thought. I am pretty sure that there was not a valved twin pipe in the final configuration here but at first an open megaphone may have been part of the tests. I used to know that detail, .. it is a short blip in memory, now gone.
R.R.
Motorsport that was owned by the owner of the New Orleans Saints: John Mecom, Jr.
John raced a Mandella inboard Flat Bottom. Is that the guy you bought the helmet from Wayne?
I got a "B" in typing in school. I used to drive the teach nuts because I looked at my hands. I was one word away from an "A" in speed, 100% no errors on our final. He gave me a "B". Mr. Simpson said, "If I didn't look at my hands, I'd have been faster." I told him, "If I don't look at my hands, I don't know what I'm typing."
Typing class as a Sophomore was very good for me. I learned very quickly that a hand written assignment, no matter how well I wrote it, got a "C". Any typed assignment, no matter if it was piss poor, I got at least a "B".
We used to say about INBOARDS, "If it don't go, chrome it." But pretty sells. Turn in a piece of junk paper, typed, in a nice folder, smile when you turn it in......You got an "A", especially if you sat on the front row.
Wally Cleaver learned how to be the Beaver's brother from me, trust me!
I'm just a fast "HUNT and PECKER".
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A Very Interesting Gearcase
I remember looking Gerry Wallin's boat over at the Modesto Kilos. Many things went through my head. The main thing at the time was a "B" (350 CC) going 100 MPH.
I thought then, and I still do, this was a "D" Quickie, shaved to a "HATCH" as my dad made one like this when he put his 60-42 Evinrude on a "D" Quickie. Quickies have built in "KICK OUT", my dad never liked that. He liked things running parallel.
I can't tell from the picture but wasn't the motor bolted straight, and the rudder was moveable.
I got several cleavers from Cary, for Lon Stevens, when was breaking F Hydro records. They looked a lot like this propeller.
Early Entrop hull copies...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DeanFHobart
Russ,
Wasn't that Bill Farr hull later the boat that Bobby Waite used for his many Sammamish Slough wins in FOH? I think it usually shows up at the Slough reunion race.
Thanks, Dean
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Dean; pretty good chance that I will fumble the details on the Farr, Waite cabover Q.
The long answer, (I obviously am not inclined toward “one liners”), is that the Region 10 F/DOH hulls in 1959 were mostly Karelson cabovers and maybe some conventional Swift types. I do not think a large Sid Craft had arrived West and Ron Jones hulls were a year or two in the future. I was advised by both Hal Tolford and Entrop that the most affordable and probably best D/F hull available was sitting idle with Dick Brunes. It was the #2 Entrop hull.
I bought it in time for the 1960 racing season.
I was surprised a few times to see “copies” showed up to race, never at the same time. I think that there were two of them, similar in appearance to my 1955 hull but different since they were from the first Entrop cabover. At some point I think that I learned who built which hull but that is gone now. There were strong finish appearance differences in the two copies. I will also guess that they influenced the Karelson designs.
The Farr hull appeared for racing again in 1961 & 1962. Then owned by a fellow who lived in an east lakeside upscale area maybe a half mile north of the L. Wash. floating bridge east end. It had very distinctive rich grained plywood skins and was extremely well cared for. It did not run the Slough to avoid damage. I cannot remember that owner’s name, a successful businessman. Went to his home one time, very nice fellow, and the hull was carefully stored for next season. He had an excellent current 55-H.
I do not know what became of that hull but Waite was also running at times during that whole period so was a separate hull. Both hulls were marginal for holding the nose down at speeds near 75 mph which is the reason for Entrop’s second hull type.
Bob Waite’s hull was nicely done but with a more standard grain plywood skin type. I sort of remember that Bob usually ran it in DSH and did OK. Vague memory has it that (Andy) Thompson may have been involved in building one of those two hulls. He was also the builder of the 250-R Calkins style runabout in the photo, run by Jim Henry and then Jim Price. I think his home/shop was near north L. Sammamish. I always thought of Farr’s & Waite’s cabovers as being Sammamish area boats.
R.R.
Anzani -B- surfacing foot...
Hallum did some fine work building that surfacing foot for the Anzani B (and A). The whole long process began with the years earlier discovery of the high efficiency of Entrop’s props for his M 75-H and the horsepower, rpm, and resulting speed with his lower pitched course props as well.
The early calculations were done while traveling along in Entrop’s old Desoto to a race or demo run. The numbers were impressive. When Hallum told of the HP their current B Anzani was showing on the dyno I showed him the calculations made for Entrop’s prop efficiency and the HP & rpm of the original record 75-H motor. A few quick calculations showed that the Anzani B could turn those props nearly as well as the 75-H if running a foot gear ratio that would bring the prop to an rpm approaching that of the 75-H with the Anzani at peak torque/HP rpm. If the hull ride allowed rpm’s above peak HP at top speeds then acceleration would continue. Entrop said he would be quite willing to loan whatever usable prop he had to the Anzani record effort.
Fortunately, the gear ratio was already available from Merc. The concern over gear tooth strength was real but the actuality of all impulse loadings on the gears being spread by a “hunting pinion tooth” made the worthwhile option to give the whole project a try. Jim was fairly sure of the gear survival if very good meshing tolerances were set up.
As usual, a good option arrives and then Hallum gets to do all of the work. I do think that Wallin regularly whittled on many racing pieces out at the farm plus much intense effort at his home shop on the newer hulls too. That much effort compressed into a few years by both Halum & Walin while doing their day jobs (plus a huge yearly vegetable garden for Jim) and producing success is well beyond outstanding to think about.
R.R.
Entrop time line reply for Dean.
Dean,
I arrived in N. Seattle from Boise after 9th grade 1957, did not know what hydroplanes were. Tolford tagged me in the Green Lake pits at the 1959 Stock Outboard Nationals to go help Entrop lift his hydro onto his car and help him with a demonstration run. Bottom line is that I know little about the Entrop racing of earlier times other than second hand stories about how extraordinarily fast he and Doc Jones were in F & C with those cabover hulls. Those stories were from the old gang which was there, including CA, at the time so that's all I have.
The news reports of his 107 mph record run on the East Channel in 1958 was all I knew until riding along as pit help in the early 1960's and talking about the effort involved with that hull and the M 75-H motor he ran during that early record process.
I never talked with Hubert in any detail about his early racing. I’ve read the stories about his early first runabout racing which was very early 1950’s. His first cabover reportedly used a modified Merc KG-9 (-H). The small skeg on that foot left the boat unstable in the corners; made a good Carver splash photo. He may have added the aux. rudder to that hull, I don’t know. The 1955 #2 hull had that rudder.
The #2 cabover was his 1955 racing hull using a M 55-H as I understand the stories. He ran the #1 hull in 1954 and maybe 1953; again I don’t know details. So that gives us a guessing time line of:
1) maybe building and racing the runabout one year in 1950-1952;
2) building the #1 cabover and racing it in 1953-1954;
3) building the #2 cabover in time for 1955 racing season;
4) building the #1 13 foot cabover for the Merc 75-H testing and record trials which used up maybe 2 years or more so hull construction may have begun after or coincident with the #3 short version cabover for Doc Jones. Doc’s hull may have been built during the 1955 racing year and the first 13 foot hull immediately following for use in 1956 & 1957. World Record speeds in late 1957 & early 1958 per the news reports so the M 75-H was revealed early to Hubert in about 1956. I sure don’t remember any F Stock class for the M 75-H or the later 44 cu/in motors..
I do not know which short early hull, #1 or #2, won the FOH Nationals you referred to but either was probably fast enough; I will guess that the #2 hull in 1955 with the M 55-H was much more able to do that.
You can also see that Hubert was able to build a hull in a short time if he had completed the design work for patterns and lofts. He was a very skilled professional craftsman and had advanced techniques from his Model Shop experience which may have helped a great deal.
I do not know of any specific wood that Entrop used but there was no limit of vertical grain Spruce and marine plywood available then. (It was after all, fine ol’ boatyard Ballard..“Ya Sure ya Betcha”). The Anchor Fast ring shank nail head story may be correct, I don’t remember. Hubert did mention something about the nails. I would also think that he might have used peening as a practical & quick method.
As for the series of StarFlite hulls for OMC, I only know a little. Hugh built the first Starflight in his basement shop. It was a frame when I went there to help him load his -F- hull onto the car. All of the StarFlite hulls were proprietary information so Hugh could only generalize. That first StarFlite was the last hull small enough to squeeze out of his basement. I do not know about the hull named StarFlite 2. It may have actually been that first hull. There was something about that hull which made Hugh say that it was partially unsuccessful. StarFlite 3 was very successful and much larger, maybe 15 ft. Hugh said it handled really well and even would have been a fine rig to run in D or F on the 1 2/3 mile course at L. Lawrence with the power available at that time. StarFlite 4 was a similar size hull, slightly longer I think because of a different forward profile for a light driver and higher safe speed potential.
Hugh had a well defined method for providing a hull design riding balance for the motor and driver weights. StarFlite 4 had a light driver in Walin, maybe 30 lbs less than Hugo, so that hull was designed for a balance with the motor which may have been a little larger/heaver than what Hugo ran on StarFlite 3. When OMC later wanted to run a next generation larger motor, Hugh advised them not to do that because there was no way to keep the riding balance. OMC went ahead anyway and instead of rising level off of a small wave as in the first record runs the nose came up and Gerry never walked again. But I wasn’t there so ....
In 2009 I managed to stop at the L. Lawrence season final race and I had a short conversation with Bob Wartinger including a little about the OMC world record efforts. Bob began racing BSH shortly after I had moved to DOH in 1960, best guess. He and a batch of boat racers were in Jr. College at Everett in the early 60’s along with D. Rautenberg & myself. It was good to talk with him after decades. I think that he has very much more detailed information than I about the StarFlite 3 and onward because of his involvement with the later OMC record efforts.
Russ R.
Doc jones, mercury distributor
You mention Doc Jones, what a "Mover and Shaker" in Outboard Racing.
Elgin Gates owned the Trading Post in Needles, he could gas weld aluminum. My dad would send him gas tanks from the "Alky" races that had cracked.
Around 1949, Elgin owned an "M" Hydro Jacoby and an "C" Service Evinrude...SOA's (Seattle Outboard Association) logo is Elgin gate's "M" Hydro, today.
Elgin came to my dad and said, "He wanted to run for records at Devil's Lake, Oregon would he rebuild his "M" and "Service C"? My dad went through Elgin's two motors and Elgin broke both records.
Doc Jones offered Elgin a job because his boats were fast. Elgin and his wife, Dolly, came home and sold the Needles Trading Post and moved to I think, Spokane, Washington to work for Doc Jones.
Elgin, had not been there long when Doc came to him and said, "Elgin, I'm selling my Mercury Distributorship and buying the OMC Distributorship. I'm moving to Phoenix, But, they are going to have a Mercury Distributorship open up in California, you should buy it."
Well, the distributorship was going to be $35,000, So Elgin called my dad and a 1/7 partnership in the business for $5,000. My dad counter by saying, "I have the $5,000 but I only have one partner and she'd hard to get along with. But,I will buy $5,000 worth of motors." My dad became dealer #1 in CALIFORNIA, AND HE WAS STILL DEALER #1 when he died, 1997. Mercury would not give the dealership to me, my dad never had a retail business.
DOC Jones, and Charlie Strang were the OMC Race Team in the early days. Doc liked me, and offered me a job. I told him, as an Arizona College graduate, I'd love to live and work in Arizona, but as a teacher I got a draft deferment. Later, I won the lottery and didn't go, but the early days. I thought I'd be a ****ty foot soldier.