Region 3/4/5 OPC notables

OK, I raced in these regions in the late 70s and mid 80s. The 70s were the heyday for OPC in MD/VA/NC. You could race at least every other weekend, sometimes more. We had as good a drivers here as anywhere in the country, just didn't get the press. From the early days, how about Ray Lumpkin, the Rogersons, Buck Thornton, Dave Casey, Bobby Drewery from VA; Rayner Blair, Beale Tilton from MD, the Speedmasters (such as Herb Gaskins, Bobby Alford, Harry Davis) from DC; some guy named Fountain from NC, and many others I failed to mention. Later on we had guys such as Roger Meekins, Mike Herrman, Lynn Nichols, Tabb Bridges, Ted Bravo, Rich Blauman, Harley Wilson, and again many others. Lets hear from some of you, maybe some stories of the days of Piney Point MD, Portsmouth VA, Belhaven NC and such. I miss those days. We will never see them again.

I Raced At Belhaven NC In 74-75 At One Race It Raining An Fog Was On The Water An Almost Dark When We Ran U Class.

Danny, we never met but I saw you race in Miami at the 75 OPC nationals. Remember that one?

Smokey your so right! Region 4 was the hot bed of OPC racing in the 70 & 80s. I should know I was OPC region 4 chairman for about 5 years in the 1970s. We had 25 to 30 races from April to Oct. A great record course at Portsmouth, Va and kilos at Toano, Va. I think I raced at Pointy Point, Md. more than any other place in my 15 years. Howard Swann would take all the races we would let him have starting at Mothers Day. It was a great course, pits and drew many boats at each race from regions 3 &4.
One of my many Piney Point memories, In the early 70s I was racing SH class with Henry Day. He always beat me. This day He did not show up at the race and I just knew I would win. Well on the 5 min warm up time I ran over something in the water and holed my McCall wooden boat and never got to start.
If anyone needs any information on region 4 races I have all the rule books and Propeller magazines, and compiled all records set, National Champions, Membership list,region officers and list of races for that time frame.nwlumpkin@yahoo.com

Region 3 notables

John Sherlock, Bob Van Epps, Reese Delorenzo, Paul Mielke, Marty O'Neill, The Powell Brothers, Henry Green, George Linder, Willie Schaefer, Rick Adamzyk, Smitty, The Fantozzi Brothers, Ben O'Connor, Fred Hartmann, Ken Kalibat, Jim Caldwell, Howie Stein, Sonny Werner, Don Jenkinson, Dick Knarich.

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Originally Posted by T2x

Region 3 notables

John Sherlock, Bob Van Epps, Reese Delorenzo, Paul Mielke, Marty O'Neill, The Powell Brothers, Henry Green, George Linder, Willie Schaefer, Rick Adamzyk, Smitty, The Fantozzi Brothers, Ben O'Connor, Fred Hartmann, Ken Kalibat, Jim Caldwell, Howie Stein, Sonny Werner, Don Jenkinson, Dick Knarich.

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I guess you forgot about me, as when I started driving for OMC I resided in Region 3

Let's not forget Bob Roberts and Bill Edwards. National High Point Champions in U and S classes OPC.

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Originally Posted by John Schubert T*A*R*T

I guess you forgot about me, as when I started driving for OMC I resided in Region 3

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I always thought of you as a Region 3 Hydro guy with Lostumbo, ODea, etc.... before you moved west and "upgraded" to OPC......:p

But I did leave out Geoff Briggs...........:D.

T2x

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Originally Posted by T2x

I always thought of you as a Region 3 Hydro guy with Lostumbo, ODea, etc.... before you moved west and "upgraded" to OPC......:p

But I did leave out Geoff Briggs...........:D.

T2x

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Actually, I didn't go to work for OMC & move to Nebraska(Cushman location) until 1972. I started driving for them in 1970. Won the Marathon nationals in "S" class in 1970 at Smith Mountain, VA & again in Miami in 1971. Finished 3rd to Billy Seebold & Earl Bentz in Washington, NC in 1973, but by then I was living in NE. Although Geoff, my co-driver in Paris, where we nearly won (threw rod) in 1971, was from Region 7, Lake Forest, IL but I'm willing to claim him & his brother Tim as region 3'ers.

I like the upgrader statement!!

John I was at all 3 of those races! See how active region 4 was, Smith Mountain Lake, Va., Washington, N. C. Lets here hear stories from Portsmouth, Va Bushwood, Md Tall Timers Md. Ables warf, Md. Wilson ,N. C. Plymouth, N. C. Hyco Lake, Va. Tonao, Va. Burgess, Va. Hampton, Va. King & Queen, Va. West Point, Va. Leonardtown, Md. Williamburg, Va. Huddleston, Va. Clarkes Landing, Md. Ables, Md. Hollywood, Md. Naylors Beach, Va. Winsor, N. C. I can go on!! 1971 was our high point we had 21 region races that year.We had over 5 pages of records set in region 4. In the mid 70s region 4 had over 60 racing members. Ha the good old days!!

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Originally Posted by John Schubert T*A*R*T

Actually, I didn't go to work for OMC & move to Nebraska(Cushman location) until 1972. I started driving for them in 1970. Won the Marathon nationals in "S" class in 1970 at Smith Mountain, VA & again in Miami in 1971. Finished 3rd to Billy Seebold & Earl Bentz in Washington, NC in 1973, but by then I was living in NE. Although Geoff, my co-driver in Paris, where we nearly won (threw rod) in 1971, was from Region 7, Lake Forest, IL but I'm willing to claim him & his brother Tim as region 3'ers.

I like the upgrader statement!!

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I always thought that Geoff lived in Westhampton, NY, where his boat yard was and Tim lived in Lake Forest......... But I could be wrong.

In any event, did you run in any Region 3 OPC races, or just hob nob with the "big shots" at the National events? :D:D:D

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Originally Posted by T2x

I always thought that Geoff lived in Westhampton, NY, where his boat yard was and Tim lived in Lake Forest......... But I could be wrong.

In any event, did you run in any Region 3 OPC races, or just hob nob with the "big shots" at the National events? :D:D:D

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Actually there were sevral races I & the T*A*R*T team raced at out East. Region 1, Bridgeport, CT, rougher then ****, I actually stuffed my McDonald & resurfaced & finished . We raced some sort of Championship run by John Valcohvic at Kingston, NY, Region 2 which I won, and we raced a min-marathon at Greenwood Lake, Region 3 where I grew up with S.O. when we were the Mercury Racing Club, with the stock outboards.

The Brigg's Long Island home was in Eashampton where Geoff's marina is located. However, they actually lived in Lake Forest until Geoff decided he wanted to on a marine business & he purchased the Johnson dealer in Easthampton. Not totally sure about when but was the late 70's I think.

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Originally Posted by John Schubert T*A*R*T

Actually there were sevral races I & the T*A*R*T team raced at out East. Region 1, Bridgeport, CT, rougher then ****, I actually stuffed my McDonald & resurfaced & finished . We raced some sort of Championship run by John Valcohvic at Kingston, NY, Region 2 which I won, and we raced a min-marathon at Greenwood Lake, Region 3 where I grew up with S.O. when we were the Mercury Racing Club, with the stock outboards.

The Brigg's Long Island home was in Eashampton where Geoff's marina is located. However, they actually lived in Lake Forest until Geoff decided he wanted to on a marine business & he purchased the Johnson dealer in Easthampton. Not totally sure about when but was the late 70's I think.

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I recall a business trip with Lostumbo in St Louis, and I recall he visited you there. Am I hallucinating?

T2x

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Originally Posted by T2x

I recall a business trip with Lostumbo in St Louis, and I recall he visited you there. Am I hallucinating?

T2x

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Think so. Never lived in St. Louis, but did live somewhat north of there in Galesburg, IL about 3 1/2 hrs. north. I have somewhat of a recollection that Don visited, but just can't remeber where or when.

It was 1976 or 77. OMC sent Jimbo McConnel, Barry Woods and Fred Hauenstein to Portsmouth to run on our record course. Water was rough on Saturday morning, didn't look good for records. Shortly after the driver's meeting, Jimbo received word that his father had passed away. He asked to run his class first, as he was going to leave immediately. Of course, we concurred. He ran one of the finest heats seen me of the worst water we could have had and not called the race. He took a victory lap for his father, came in, and left for the airport. A class act, and a truly nice guy.

Smokey, Jimbo set a record that day of 98.901 driving an Evinrude Molinari in Mod U class. The date was 7-02-78. I was the time rep. for Portsmouths record course.
Region 4 had 224 records set between 1963 and 1993. Thats hour records , 5 mile, kilo, and some lap records. Sad to say there has been little or no OPC racing since the 1990s.
Here are some pictures from region 4 good old days.

Hey if I can ask a goofy question here, is that a 99 cube inline on the boats in the last two pics? Thats just almost crazy to think of all that power on such a small boat!

Tim
Yes the last two pictures are 99.9 cu- 6 cylinder Mercs. The red and white McCall boat has 6 cylinder 1960 80hp Merc. I race this in the Sport H class. The other is John McCall in a McCall kilo boat with a 100 BP race engine. John record was in the SI class at 83.282 MPH in 9-29-1968 set in Toano , Va.

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Originally Posted by Ray Lumpkin

Tim
Yes the last two pictures are 99.9 cu- 6 cylinder Mercs. The red and white McCall boat has 6 cylinder 1960 80hp Merc. I race this in the Sport H class. The other is John McCall in a McCall kilo boat with a 100 BP race engine. John record was in the SI class at 83.282 MPH in 9-29-1968 set in Toano , Va.

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Gosh!! That just seems like so much way to much motor for a knee rider! I've raced against a 6cyl. hydro in the Super E class before but I don't think it was the 99 cube motor and it was on a small racing mid and not that big tall fishing looking mid. What is that a 15in?

Lots of fun racing in the early-mid 80s in Region 4/5 as well as others. I have fond memories...Roger Meekins, Tabb Bridges, Gary Schiel, Dave Viau, Bill Browne, Scott Nelson (tragically killed later on crossing the street), Lynn Nichols, Freddy Hartmann, Bill Slivey, Mike Herrmann, John Riegor, Homer Greene, Jerry Neely, Harley Wilson, Ted Bravo, Kevin Barnett, I can't think offhand of any more names but there were quite a few more...I had so much fun racing then, wish it was the same now.

JT

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Originally Posted by tthibodaux

Gosh!! That just seems like so much way to much motor for a knee rider! I've raced against a 6cyl. hydro in the Super E class before but I don't think it was the 99 cube motor and it was on a small racing mid and not that big tall fishing looking mid. What is that a 15in?

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Tim, you are right. The big motor in Super E is 59 cubes.
The motor on McCall's boat is technically a 15 inch, but it is a "BP" which was a weird one off mid and lower ... a full gearshift Super Speedmaster. The center of the bullet is basically the same height as a regular fishing motor, but it is actually heavier than a fishing motor or Speedmaster equipped motor. The bullet size is in between the two.

Judging by how well the boat floats that motor, I'd say it looks fine to me :)

Ray, those are great pictures ... we gotta get you set up with a scanner. If Ron can do it, you can too! :)

Who is driving the 790 McCall?

We want to see more pictures like these!

Tim
All the 6 cylinders were 15 inch short shaft. Stock centers and or BP style with stock units and super speedmaster units. In 1970 Mercury Twister was raced on a neal down boat. 6 carb engine is my Mod 90 engine.

Tim, Ray has shown us still another special Merc race motor and rare racing lower unit ... the "Red Stripe" Twister with the optional "MC-1" Super Speedmaster. The MC-1 unit is a little stronger and larger than a regular Super Speedmaster.

Ray, you will probably attest to this....If you ran good in Region 4 you could run good anywhere in the country. Not only did we have good drivers but ran often enough to get some good seat time in competion. If only we had had some funds...we would pile up in a cheap hotel room or local racer's spare room just to save money for gas. But we had as much fun as any of the IOGP or PROP high $ teams. BTW, how about Jim Caldwell? Last I heard of him was years ago when he worked for Fountain. Get out some more of the old pictures for us! :rolleyes: Those were the days!

Smokey
Your right again!! But we did have as much as any boat race club. My good friend Jim Caldwell, he was a good racer with factory connections. He ran Mod 50, SST SST120. Heres a region 4 story. Jim and I both showed up in Piney Point, Md and happen to park next to each other in the pitts. We both had broken the skeg off our super speedmaster units. The other drivers thought we had found some type speed secret. The secert was when you at the end of the straight at about 100mph you couldnt turn, that will get your attention quick.
Smokey and Mark 75 I will get some pictures out tomorrow. Glad someone elise would like to look at them, I got 15 years worth.

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Originally Posted by Ray Lumpkin

Smokey
Your right again!! But we did have as much as any boat race club. My good friend Jim Caldwell, he was a good racer with factory connections. He ran Mod 50, SST SST120. Heres a region 4 story. Jim and I both showed up in Piney Point, Md and happen to park next to each other in the pitts. We both had broken the skeg off our super speedmaster units. The other drivers thought we had found some type speed secret. The secert was when you at the end of the straight at about 100mph you couldnt turn, that will get your attention quick.
Smokey and Mark 75 I will get some pictures out tomorrow. Glad someone elise would like to look at them, I got 15 years worth.

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Had a conversation with JIm not too long ago. At that time he had his own company I believe in the fringes of the marine industry. Don't recall for sure where e is/was located, out east perhaps NC, as that was where I was working at the time.

I don't guess I'm a amazed at the hp as I am the weight of that thing on such a little boat. I know that top heavy is a big deal in a knee rider. This is good stuff guys, thanks for the history lesson!!:)

Tim, you are correct about the top heavy issue on a hydro, but it doesn't take much additional width to tame them. On my 12½ ft 36 inch wide hydro a 12 inch tower (15 inches to the propshaft) is a problem, but with a boat just a little wider like my Zorkan runabout or DeSilva tunnel hull, you can't feel it is there at 15 inches

Beale Tilton, Bill Rowell, Herb Payne and Bill Cochran. Not as well known as some of the drivers mentioned above as they ran the lower classes.

And Beale Tilton and Bill Edwards built the E&T boats.

Records by these drivers noted below

Tim you asked about the 790 boat. It was a McCall UI class driven by Bobby Drewey. Bobby was a region 4 driver that set 20 records and won 7 Nation titles between 1963 and 1973.His boats were owned by Paul Angel of Capitol Marine in Williamsbury Va. By the way I was told Paul in his 80s now and still repairing motors at his home to stay active. I am attaching some more region 4 pictures. Does anyone know theses boats?

Ted
The 4 drivers you list were great region 4 drivers as you were also. E & T tunnels were built in southern Maryland and were great boats in that they would run great with a stock (big foot unit) or a super speedmaster as well. These boats won many many race and set some records too. I have the last E & T tunnel built in 1974. I found it in Ohio and had it brought back in region 4. Beale & Bill have both visted me and look at their last boat.

FJ 811 is Bobby Drewry on his 79+ FJ kilo run at Toano, VA in 1968.

Thanks Ray. Beale mentioned he visited you this past summer and had a great time.

Great cause you support in Lukemia and Lymphnomia.

Ted
Bobby set 3 kilo records in 1968 SE, SG, SH. But none at 79+. Ernest Lawreence set a UI record at 79.217?
Ray

Ray,

Below is a page from the 1974 APBA rule book. Hope you can read it.

Bobby set the FI record at 67.394 in FI in 1968 with FI 811.

Set the FJ record at 79.917 in 1970 running the number 790. I wasn't there in 1970 but I remember Bobby running FJ 811 in 1968 or 1969 at 79+. My guess it was the same short deck Switzer

Thanks Ted!! My 1971 rule book shows the FJ speed at 79.441. Anyway he was fast. I got more pictures. Lets hear from region 4 members. Any body know any of these boats or people??

Ray, I hope you have noticed there have been over 700 views of your thread. People are very interested in it. Please continue! :):):)

Thank you Sam, no I didnt notice all the hits. Above pictures. #1-Bill Petty (twin engine) and Our own Beale Tilton at Hyco Lake 1070. #2- World famous Buck Thronton ( yes he started in vee bottoms, this is a FJ Checkmate/Merc.#3- and 4 McCall/Merc Twister owned and driven by Bill Rowell (southern Maryland). #5- Jimbo at Hayco Lake 1970, the goat boat. #6 Unknown to me, taken in southern Maryland about 1970. #7- We all know and love Reggie #76. #8 The other half of E&T Marine Bill Edwards, Chrysler/? better known then as the Dennis Point mentace. #9-Bobby Dreweys boat at Pintery point, Md. about 1970.

Thank you John! Reminds me John Sherlock came to many region 4 races. Great looking and running boats, a class act. John enjoyed racing you in SST120, I never did get to see the front of your boat. Post a picture so I can see the front!!

Ray,
Your photo of Jimbo in the Goat Boat is very interesting. It has a front wing controlled by a Keller hand throttle. I had never seen Jimbo's boat with this before. A very unique photo!!
Mark