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Thread: Ted May Boat Racer, Mentor to Many!

  1. #21
    Team Member Miss BK's Avatar
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    Wow... I really miss both of these guys.

    This are two photos I took of Joey's dad Roger and Ted. I think this was the year after they had won their division at the Parker 7 Hour. Unfortunately, this time they weren't going to be Champions. Mechanical trouble took them out of the race fairly early.

    Now, you have to realize, when you scratch early in the 7-hour Enduro, you have a lonnnnnng wait before the end of the race.

    These pictures are of Ted and Roger just after they had thrashed on the motor, only to realize they were done for the day. They both sat down to gather their thoughts.










    (I'm SO lucky I didn't get really chewed out for snapping these shots while they both were in really BAD moods! LOL. But now I am now super glad I captured that moment. )
    Last edited by Miss BK; 01-25-2006 at 06:37 PM.

  2. #22
    Team Member Joe J's Avatar
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    If I remember correctly, ( this is 20+ years ago), Val's picture was taken after Ted and my dad went through either 2 or 3 powerheads. This was in the day when changing powerheads was not allowed. They figured, "What The Hell", since they were done anyway.

    As anyone who knew Ted could tell you, driving a boat, anywhere, anytime, what what he loved to do more than anything.

    Joe Johnson

    QUOTE=Michael J Gwaltney]

    Rare to see Ted sitting down during a race. If he was on the "beach" he would usually be talking to the crews about something that needed to be done during a "pit stop". He was always near the action with a helping hand but never got in the way. Ted was a real asset for feedback when testing and racing experimental engines.

    Michael J[/QUOTE]

  3. #23
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default It's Saturday Night...

    It's Saturday night and I can't believe I haven't told a "TED MAY" story... Well, we were acing down in Blythe. Ted ahd this homemade copy of a Mishey hydro with a Champion Hot Rod for power. He'd won most of the races he'd run since he'd bought the ROD..But Blythe was a rough course and we had long straightaways and Ted had blown over and that cowling of the Mishey deck had hit him pretty hard in the chest, he was in a lot of pain and we all helped him lot up his equipement after the race.

    Well, Kenny Pyle had this new Art Carlson "D" hydro and he'd managed to nose dive itas had Herb Mayfield...and Lynn Buckles...Herb had managed to hydralic both his eyes... Ugly, The doctor had o put his eyes BACK IN THE SOCKETS...

    ANYWAY, KENNY AND TED HAD TEAMED UP FOR THIS RACE...So, Ted starts driving home...Well he's a hurtin' so bad he can't drive, after about two hours, and home is about 5 hours away. So, Kenny says he can drive, well about an hour into Kenny's "TURN", his eyes start to swell shut...Kenny's a yelling at Ted that he can't see and Ted's a yelling back he can't move...(Muscles too sore from his blow over)...

    So Ted starts telling Kenny how to drive because Kenny can't see...Ted's a yelling more to the right GOD DAMN IT Kenny ..NO, NO the left.......Who knows the real truth, but they did get home in Ted's '55 "T" Bird...Kenny did have two of the damnest black eyes you'd ever seen and Ted limped around for about two weeks... The way Ted told the story you'll have to have believed it...

  4. #24
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default JJ, I Don't Think So...

    The way laws are written, now days...I'm sure a balloon filled with welding gas would be considered a "BOMB" and under homeland security, you could spend about five years somewhere away from your home, they'd give you free rent and free food....if you get my drift....

    BUT, I was thinking of maybe trying this AGAIN, in MEXICO.....

  5. #25
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default I'm Not Sure This Is A "Ted May" Story...

    It was the summer of 1962, and Ted May, Ernie Dawe and I decide we should go to Valley Joe to race....(Vallejo)...Of course, none of us knew where Valley Joe was...

    My dad didn't like the idea of racing my DU, as I'd won every race that year, but he said I could run CU, as I usually ran close to the front with that one and going to Valley Joe would screw up my chances for DU High Points....

    In those days, well actually today, San Francisco is a long *** haul from SOCAL...Well, I teamed up with Erine Dawe and his dad, Ruben, and we headed for Valley Joe...on Friday morning.... Jimbo and Ted decided to leave Friday night...because Jimbo was coming from Needles...

    Well, Ernie, Ruben and I got to Vallejo Friday evening and got a motel near the race course. We went down and looked at the race course, and it looked somewhat like the ocean, with submarines cruising up and down the bay....

    Well, California, as then and now, had a speed limit of 55 with a trailer... Jimbo is driving at about 2 A.M. pulling a trailer up the old 99....Ted was sleeping....Jimbo says, "Ted, the guy behind me has a red light on, should I pull off?" Ted says, "Yes, and how fast are you going?" Jimbo says, "55". The cop comes up to the car, Ted get out and starts yelling at the cop saying, "God Damn it, he was going 55 miles an hour, I was watching him..." (Ted had been asleep and didn't have a clue as to how fast Jimbo was going....)..

    The cop says, "Sir you are right......he WAS going 55 miles per hour, right through that STOP SIGN...".....

    Ted got back in the car and went back to sleep...

    Saturday, we kind of fooled around in Valley Joe and went bowling.....Ruben drank too much an did a lot of singing about..."when it comes to lovin..he's a human oven.." When Ruben drank he could sing and recite poetry like you couldn't believe....As he said, "He had them all cheated because he was steam heated..."

    Anyway, on Sunday, Ruben was still drinking a few...so he went to watch the races from the pier....Well, he made friends with a few fans on that pier, and as the first race came up, he bet on TED MAY..Well, TED MAY WON..Next heat, ERNIE DAWE came out and Ruben bet on him...Ernie Dawe won...Well, the next heat, Ronnie Hill came out and HELL, he won...These guys that Ruben was betting with wanted to take him to the horse track...they thought he had a way of picking winners...As it turned out Ted, Ernie and I won every first place trophy....Jimbo had A FEW SECONDS...I never raced in Valley Joe again... that was 44 years ago, and I never forgot that race....Maybe, because, in he middle of a C Runabout heat, a submarine decided to surface right in the middle of the course....Holly Crap, I'm coming around the first turn and here comes a submarine out of the water....scared the crap out of me...
    Last edited by Ron Hill; 03-18-2014 at 10:15 PM.

  6. #26
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Ted May...

    Ted May played football for Manual Arts High School for seven years. He palyed quarter back to seven straight City Championships. In 1941, California passed a law that you couldn't be over 21 a play High School football. Ted turned 21 in November 1941.

    He joined the Navy, December 1, 1941. He ended up being shipped out to the South Pacific. He spent 5 years and 2 months over seas.

    When he returned he played quarterback for the LA Dons, a pro team that was equal to the Rams at the time.

    In 1955, he got the boat bug and started racing with "US"... Ted didn't work in those days, as he had income from various sources...many related to the war.

    In 1962, his wife was the original model for Playboy magazine...(The model on the joke page with the gloves and hose....Ted's wife was the original model)...

    Ted raced every class and pulled his trailer with a 1955 T Bird...six engines in the box and three hydros on the trailer...He drove for anyone...Doc Collins in ARR, Harry Bartolomei in BRR and CRR, too...

    In 1966, Jack Leek asked him to drive at Havasu and also asked him if he knew anyone who could drive a runabout...Ted said, RON HILL." At Havasu 1966, OMC had four boats, a Switzer that Ted drove, a Style Craft that Burt Ross drove, a 17' Glastron that Paul Kalb and Fred Miller drove, and a 16' Glastron that Ron Hill and Ernie Dawe drove...(Ernie never got in the race because I broke it)..

    128 boats, 4 OMC rigs, and Ted May was the leader after the first day of racing. Ted, in 1966, is already 46 years old.

    Ted runs every remaining Havasu races......into his late 60's....

    But before that, he co drives with me, Fred Hauenstein, Bob Nordskog...He drives Nordskog ET Tunnel at Parker until it breaks, like three years in a row. Then, jumps in my boat, with two pillows so he can reach the gas pedal, and lapped with in 5 seconds of my best time...or Fred Hauenstein's best time.....(We do 8:32, Ted does 8:37 with no time in the boat...and never crashes it or breaks it).. I pay him by the hour for driving and he loves it!!! (Ron Hill giving Ted May a check)...
    He never had great equipment of his own....when he ran OMC's stuff he never broke it, he never turned it over....in the old days finsihing was important....

    Ted May, had he lived at a different time....would, without doubt, be in the top 5. The Pollock...Tedious Mayovich was his given name... Came to more of my High School football games and practices than my dad. He taught Jimbo McConnell and I the value of staying alive. Ted had seen some stuff in war that was real and he didn't mind telling us to look out for ourselves...especially on the race course....He always said you have to be alive to race again next week....He was a very talented athelet, quick reflexes, great eyesight....

  7. #27
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default October 1963: Needles Marathon

    Maybe because Ernie Dawe and I were together for five straight days, maybe, it was becasue of the holidays...(I spent many a holiday or two with Jimbo and Ted....in Needles)... But I got to thinking about Ted, the other day...

    When you think of how safe our modern cars are, it is really hard to believe that TED MAY DROVE HIS 1955 T-BIRD OVER 192,000 MILES. And many of those miles were pulling race boats. Who in thie right mind would pull a triple deck trailer, with six motors in the back, with a T-Bird???

    I drove that "BIRD" with the trailer on it several times, and everytime I ever got over about 55 MPH, the damn trailer would start going where it wanted to...That trailer kept me from speeding for sure....

    In the SPRING of 1961, Jimbo and I "PROMOTED" a Boat Race at Rainbow Beach. We made a program and got trophies donated.... First heat out was B Hydro. Ernie Dawe was a LOCAL HERO, driving B Stock Hydro, on a DeSilva with the new Kit on is Mark 20-H. Ernie probably jumped the gun, but he was leading down the front straightaway, when he and his boat parted company. Ernie went *** OVER TEA KETTLE, his boat went left and Ted May went right, then his boat went right and Ted May went left. Finally, Ted's boat "T-Boned" Ernie's motor and the Ted's boat stopped in about a foot but Ted kept going. He did a perfect 1 1/2 front flip and put his hands together and dove in the river without a splash.....Looked like an Olympic Dive....

    Ted had always told us guys, he and his brother and few others would sneak into the Olympic Pool by USC and swim at night. Ted always told me not to look down while jumping off the high dive platform at night, as he said you can't judge the water and it will blacken both your eyes....when you hit the water. Well, I told Ted several things, one, I wasn't going up on NO HIGH DIVE PLATFORM in the first place, and in the second place, I wouldn't do it at night and third, if I did jump off, I sure as hell wouldn't look down.....I always assumed Ted learned the hard way about the BLACK EYES, but never really asked. As Ted told great stories, who really needed to know if they were true..???

    Anyway, after Ted did the perfect dive into the river, everyone was saying he should get a 10, Tehn, we all realized Ernie Dawe was floating in the river without his helmet.....Ernie ended up with a few stitches...but didn't get to race the rest of the weekend...We taped the nose of Ted's Gilmore hydro, and he won A and B hydro with a duct tape nose...orange boat, silver tape, looked good, out front.

    Ted used to tell us when he was a kid, they "HITCHED RIDES" behind buses, when they were on roller skates. I kind of forgot about this until one time we all went roller skating and Ted told us he couldn't skate... Ernie Dawe, Val Sneed, Glen Chambers, me and a few others decided to go skating at San Diego, so Ted said he wanted to go along....but he said he couldn't skate.... Well, I wasn't a great skater, but had spent time in the Cub Scouts and we used to go skating all the time, so I'm "HELPING" Ted. His feet are going about 200 miles per hour, his skates are, sometimes over is head....He looks like a TOTAL ACCIDENT ready to happen...but he'd catch himself before he fell...he'd skate about ten feet, and christ, feet would go everywhere. his arms would be swinging...everyone in the skating rink would be expecting to see a BIG "SPLAT" on th floor....After about six laps, and everyone in the place laughing like crazy people and trying to help this "MAD MAN".....They, and I, realized that Ted May could ROLLER SKATE LIKE THE WIND. Hell, he could skate sideways faster than I could go forward. He could turn, he could jump, he could fall and slide and get back up. He said he hadn't skated in 20 years, but there was no one in that skating rink that could do what he could do....All us boat racers just watched in AWE....Like how could someone be that good, and not have skated in 20 years????

    I probably could do a GOOGLE search and find out, but what if this wasn't true...? Ted said when they'd catch rides on the bus (Being pulled on skates), that Poncho Gonzales (Who later was a World Champion Tennis Player) would catch rides with Ted and his friends, and Poncho's brother played football during the seven years Ted went to high school. But Poncho was the little brother and in tring to keep up with the BIG BOYS, he fell off his skates and tore most of the skin off the side of his face, which left some bad scars. Ted said, that when Poncho was healing the bigger boys told him that from now on, he couldn't go with them as he was too small. They told him to go to the park and play tennis. So, Poncho started playing TENNIS. I do know that Poncho Gonzales was a great tennis player and I do know he had scars on his face. Many thought the scars were from growing up in the tough area of LA.....

    Ted said when they were kids, they'd sleep on top of the rest rooms, before SC games...When the crowds started showing up, they'd drop down and watch the games.....

    I miss TED.......no matter what we did together, we seemed to always have so damn much fun, it never seemed real....

    Here is a picture of Ted, BU Winner, Needles Marathon 1963...Mrs. Hill life Jacket...always full of life, always the life of the party.....

    ADD TED MAY: I was thinking, one reason Ted was so well liked, he was as good of loser, as he was a winner. Life wasn't always good for Ted, maybe it was playing sports and all, but he took losing in stride, and alwasy came back. Ted had a very bad temper, but generally, it was only verbal....He usually cooled off as fast as he got mad....Unless, he was fishing with JIMBO!!!!
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    Last edited by Ron Hill; 01-09-2007 at 01:28 PM.

  8. #28
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Ted May Story

    Miss Carrot Top


    I actually remember Ted May's boats that were called Miss Carrot Top...He usualy had a painting, of his wife, topless.....with red hair...

    But seem to remember, a blue dlophin on the bottom of his B Stock Hydro....Ted REALLY races a lot, but very seldom would he be upside down, and because he pulled his triple deck trailer with a '55 T-bird, he put the B hydro on the bottom (So it didn't hit the car), and his D Hydro in the middle, then either a Collins runabout up top or his A hydro (Gilmore)...

    This picture is of Ted and myself, September 1967, well, maybe '68...We had gotten our passport pictures....

    I remember Ted worrying that we wouldn't get back from Paris and Berlin in time for Halloween.

    Ted never grew up, so Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July.....All holidays, were Ted's GLORY days... Every year, at Halloween, he'd rent a GORILLA suit and his wife, Pat, would dress like Elvira....only maybe have a lower top...anyway, kids would come to their door to Trick or Treat, and they'd be beyond spell bound with Pat, and when they'd finally turn aournd, Ted would be there in a gorilla suit...I actually watched kids, turn around and run into their house....screaming like crazy.... Now days, there is probably some law against scarying the be jesus out of kids....Usually, Pat would invite the kids and thier parents in for treats and all...Ted and Pat usually had a big Halloween Party...Pat was a great "HOST"...She could always embarrass the fire out of us YOUNG men.....but we loved it and loved her...

    NOTE: I was looking for a pictre of Ted and me "Racing"...with the hydro with the dolphin on the bottom...when I found this one...
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  9. #29
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Like I Said Before...

    Ted May never really grew up....Everyday was "PLAY DAY"....He did 90% of his Racing testing....We'd go out and RACE before the race...

    I was at DeSilva's boat shop, one day, and I see this 12 DeSilva covered up in the yard. I said, "Where's that boat come from?" The Boys (Ralph and Billy) said, "That's Bob Smith's boat...He wants us to sell it, while he'd in Vietnam. When he gets home he wants us to build him a new D Runabout"

    I say, "Hell, you guys will never sell that thing...Why not let me take it and race it and I'll show people how fast it is...?" They say take it... I throw it on the top of my Chevy wagon and haul out, thinking I just did pretty good...a free boat...rigged...

    On the way home, I have to go by Schwarzenbach's Boat Shop at Century and Western, not that far out of the way, really.....and Dan always had FREE COLD BEER... So, I thought, damn, going to show Danny my new 36!!!! (Not really a 36, but I'd always get under Danny's skin telling him I was going to be racing 36, again....AS I did beat him when I drove Carl Meyers "Turtle Express"....).

    Anyway, at Danny's, I a see a 30-H a part, in a box under the bench. When I say apart, I mean it was a part, foot was apart, carbs apart...I say, "Where'd you get that junk?" He says Joe Schulte...... I say how much? Danny says, "$150." I ask, "CASH?" He says, "No." I say, "OK, I'll take it.."

    So, now I'm on my was home, FREE DeSilva, a $150 Mark 30-H that I owe $150 for....and a few free beers...

    This is mid January, 1968. I take the motor to my dad's and tell him to put it together, so I can run at Needles, in mid February.

    I should add, I only had my D Stock (Sid Craft) hydro at the time (I had just got the deck painted....from Dave Mayer's bumper....and my blow over at Lodi).....and my May Craft C-D Alky Hydro..... that was about all my boats...Well, we had the 18 foot DeSilva V-Hull that DeSilva's had built for Jack Leek...And Mayer's A-B Sid Craft...


    Anyway, I had several 30 blocks that weren't too bad, my dad put the motor together and said, "It ain't going to be very good." Anyway, I go to Needles.......Cold, rainy..... Dave Mayer puts his daughter in a J Runabout, first time out.... Dave doesn't check to see if the throttle returns and Robin goes out an runs a few laps, then runs on the beach and takes the nose off my Sid Craft.....(Friday)...

    So, Saturday morning, I....(Ron Hill, set the course up...car crankshafts to hold the bouys in the river's current)...First thing, someone BITCHES about the bouys...

    So, I get in my NEW DeSilva and decide to "TEST" the course...Of course, I'm SUPPOSED to go out by myself, but Ted May never listened or never heard....so, as I go out in my C Runabout, I hear a 20-H behind me...

    Well, it is fairly rough as the storm had kind of moved on... Well, this 30-H seemed to run Ok and the 22" bottom DeSilva took the water pretty well. A good 20-H, with gears should beat the fire out of a C Runabout....But, Ted wasn't really gaining on me, and I could hear him behind me....If he went wide, I'd slider her wide, if he started to dive in on me, I'd slam the door...I actually figured, I'd rather tip over testing with Ted May behind me, than to tip over in the race with the rest of the LOONS behind me....

    We ran about 15 laps, before he got around me...That's when someone got a picture...I think Edgar Peters took the picture...

    When I came in, I asked Ted....Hey, when did you go on the course??? He said, "You LOON, I was out there the whole time that you were driving like a Maniac" I said, I never saw you...I was SUPPOSED to be testing the course....

    We had a good laugh. He knew damn well I'd seen him from the beginning...

    Anyway, that 30-H ran good, I feel in love with the boat...I made it 13 feet long by taping some 1/8 inch plywood on the nose...I ended up winning C and D Runabout that weekend, and D hydro (With a duct taped nose)........The next race was at Hansen Damn.... Jim Ferninberg from Michigan had sent me a C wheel to reword for C Runabout... I threw that prop on my $150 Mark 30-H on my D Sid Craft....and won C Hydro...Sold the motor at Puddingstone for $350.00.

    I went a paid Danny his $150.....(Gave my dad $50 for putting it together)...and borrowed his Mark 30-H, that I kept until 1974......and ran it at also every race for six years....Sold it to Lloyd Mize.....Should have just kept borrowing it...

    ADD: Ted May and I raced hundreds of laps...most were not in an actualy race. He always had big balloons...and we'd make bouys out of them...

    I later sold the DeSilva to Ed Peters.... I had DeSilvas build me a new C-D Runabout...The new C-D runabout, I won the D Marathon Nationals with in Trenton, Michigan and sold it to Ray Link...

    In those days, I called my TEAM...The FOR SALE RACING TEAM, as I financed my racing by selling stuff....and props...That is how I got the idea of going into the prop business...but didn't start the business "OFFICIALLY" until November 1969..

    Major Bob raced his new DeSilva at the 1968 Marathon Nationals...But he was now Captain Bob, but I still call him Major Bob...
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    Last edited by Ron Hill; 02-04-2007 at 11:23 AM.

  10. #30
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    Oh I am loving reading all these stories about Ted...what a character. There is a house in Vancouver, Washington that probably still has the outline of a boat on the garage floor on it. Ted drew the pattern on the floor and then built a boat - sometimes at all hours of the night - something our neighbors didn't love too much. He hung out with a guy named Paul, I think - they were the odd couple. Ted said Paul had the whitest whites in Long Beach, while Ted could have cared less.
    When Ted first came to live with us we were in a rental house in Vancouver and he slept on the couch in the kitchen and didn't care. One night I, not a good cook at the time, served him dinner and he said "I've had dog food better than this". Well....we didn't have a dog but the next day I went to the store and bought a bowl and some dog food. That night I served dinner to everyone except Ted. I put the dog bowl on the floor with the dog food in it and said "here Ted, here Ted". He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and never complained about my cooking again. LOL
    I remember that I rode with him in his boat...riding with Barry made me too nervous but I didn't mind getting in the boat with Ted and it was so smooth and lots of fun.
    I remember the kids loved him probably because he was basically just one of them.
    Good times!

    Margarite

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