Late 1960's and Early 1970's Outboard Commission minutes

I have scanned copies from a safety presentation by John A. Langley to the Safety & Regatta Management Commission (Members only) 5:00 P.M. Hawaiian Room . This was Wednesday November 20 1974. If you remember the earlier minutes from 1972 you will note that there was controversy regarding the full face helmet. It was in the notes that the full face was "bad". There had been some neck injuries purported to have been caused by what was called "Bucketing" i.e. like the helmet scooping up water at speed, thus jerking the head and neck from the body. There was a lot going on back and forth about this. Bell Helmet had been a sponsor and advertised in Propeller as long as I can remember. My first helmet was a Bell because off an ad I saw in Roostertail. Bob Nordskog , inboard/tunnel/ offshore racer and publisher of Powerboat Magazine had someone develop a prototype helmet that would protect the skull yet not be too heavy, and not have surfaces that the water could snatch and trip the helmet. Most of the presentation examines different ways a helmet could hurt a driver, and it is very true. I have seen that most drivers would wear their legs straps loose, very loose or some have the cut off. All the problems I read in the presentation causing helmet problems were a result on improper cinching up life jackets, and most importantly legs straps. I know from personal experience. If not for cinching up leg straps.....I would not have been a BRF member...or have ever been remembered as a boat racer...or ever having my wife as a pit cheerleader. They might have found me a few days later when the San Jacinto River dumped out where the Bayshore boat club was. The presentation was six months prior to my accident, but I was already very safety conscious and did all I could to make sure all our stuff was safe, and had a good electronic safety cut out. What happened to me and my neck was not "bucketing" but I think was from the weight of the helmet. I stuffed at about 90 and so the helmet must have pulled forward, then instantly after compressed back onto my head like a bullet hitting the water first.

I need to talk to Alan Ishii because he was the one who tested the helmet that Nordskog commissioned to be built . There was a Powerboat article all around the design and building of this helmet. I talked about it with Alan many years ago, but I want to get it straight to address this safety presentation.

Every officiating member that attended this conference got a package that included this report, and in reading it the report was written as if was presented at a general assembly but it was only presented at the closed meeting as mentioned above. I always read everything I need to, and as my first time as a Racing Commissioner I'm sure I read that, But we never got the presentation in person, and I don't think any of the implementations regarding Life Support Systems Committee, local or regional safety guys or anything like that were ever implemented. I know for sure there was never any follow up, because I was a safety guy. We did what we needed to do safety wise in Lone Star.

The one paragraph that really struck me most though was why John Langley wondered why so many accidents were attributed by local officials as "driver error." I had one dealing with John Langley and it was basically a lapdog cop out"

I pushed the wrong button. Here are the copies of the minutes.

I should have asked Dale how to do this, but it looks like I should have scanned the last page first, Too late. To read in order, start at the bottom and work up.

A very providential or maybe heaven sent event occurred as a result of the New Orleans meeting. A group of I think mostly outboarders, but maybe some inboard (have to look back) formed a plan, informally or formally I don't know, to run for office and take over from the stale, old guys that had been running APBA divisions. They wanted to move forward, improve racing and get modern thoughts into how to make racing better. Increase the pace....not sit back and rest on the old laurels. These guys termed themselves the "Young Turks". They planned to get the vote out full force, and as far as I know they were 100 percent successful in each office that they contested. I'm not sure, but I think this "Young Turk" movement took over at this convention. It might have been 1973, but I'm pretty sure it was 1974. Ron Hill might remember. This is the list that I can recall off the top of my head that came into power in 1974 in New Orleans. Rick Sandstrom, Mike Jones, Fred Miller, Wil Pergande, I think Jon Stone, and another I can't remember right now. As a council member my Dad Baldy met all these guys, and as a result I met most of them too. One was Wil Pergande a top Modified driver from Wisconsin. This is the story I alluded to at the beginning.

I don't recall the name of the highly successful company that Wil Pergande was a part of, but they had held a company meeting in New Orleans right before the APBA Nationnal Meeting. The meeting over, Wil's two partners were flying back to Wisconsin. I don't think it was a private charter, but instead a company jet they were flying back in. Wil stayed in New Orleans to attend the national meeting and take the helm at his new position in the APBA hierarchy. After taking off, the private jet went down in Lake Poncentrain and Wil's two partners were killed. I was a devastating blow to his company. He recovered and everything prospered, but what an ordeal to go through having just come off a victory. I only saw him once more in person a couple of years later where he set a D Mod Kilo record.

Here is the minutes of the Pro commission meeting held at the Outboard Nationals in Winona MN.