Hutchin's Family: Bill, Sr. Bill Jr. and Jeff

[Ron Hill]

I must be honest, I really didn't know the Hutchins very well.

"OLD MAN" Hutch was a Captain for Pan Am and it seemed he was at a lot of BIG races. He had his boys running Stocks and Alky. He alwasy talked to me as if we had been friends for years.

At the 1964 Nationals, when I used my D Hydro propeller on my C Runabout to break the kilo record, Hutch, Sr. was the first to congratulate me, saying, "We've run hydro wheels for years on hydros, just wasn't sure it would work on a runabout."

Over the years"Hutchins" and CHAMPIONSHIPS were two words that went together.

Seems 1964 to 1976 blur together. But I remember Bill Sr. telling me at Hinton, West Virginia 1976, to watch their 20-H as the new rules allowed a Mark 25 case and Bill Sr. had a running motor. But, I don't recall how "B" Hydro went, except to say that Vern Kargus won B Hydro with a three blade prop. Only three blade at the Nationals.

There was this boat racer, new to California racing, named Bob Weikart. He was a Captain for Continental Airlines and he raced B and C Runabout. I was talking to Bob and he told me he was from Pennsylvania and he'd been an air craft controller. Bob had met Bill,Sr., at a race in PA and Bill, Sr.offered to teach Bob to fly.

Bob became a Captain because Bill Hutchins took the time to teach Bob Weikart how to fly.

I lost track of the Hutchins after the 1976 Nationals, but I've never forgotten what gentle people they were! True CHAMPIONS ALL!