Thread: Raceboat and Switzer Wings

  1. #221
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Parker...

    This picture is at an intersting place...it is basically across from the pits, but there was a time when there were hundreds of tree stumps along the shoreline. I'm not sure when they may "SQUAW DAM", but the dam forms Lake Moovalia..where the Blue Wate Casino is today...When they first flooded this area there were tree along the shoreline and when they flooded the area, the tree line gave you an idea where the water got deeper...

    In the 1970 Parker Nine Hour, Alan Stenson and I were in a serious battle for second and third place...with no idea we could win....The last two hours, I could pass him throu the "S" turns but he could out run me int he long "Shoots"....As i'd get ahead of him through the "S" turns, I'd see him coming so I'd hug the treeline, for awhile He'd back off and follow me to the tunr, but, he realized I was getting away from him, so when I "BLOCKED" him using the "TREE LINE", Alna just started running over the submerged trees. To his surprise and mine, he just started "Mowing" the trees do like "POPCORN"...He went flying by me, and seriously, tree branches went flying by my head....

    The raced end up, with Stinson winning by a foot, with my second and Bobby Witt, Witt Marine, Baytown, Texas, third....

    After the 1970 there were no more tree stumps on the back strech at Parker...

    This is about where Freddy Hauenstein's transom came out of Jmmy's Burgess, and he blew over and broke his back..but the capsule saved him....

    This is me in my Scotti, about 1973..."Fast" Freddy Hauenstein was driving with me...If I still had this boat, I'd run her in October at the Parker 300!!!
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  2. #222
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Well, I ain't never seen it...but

    Mike Wallace and I drove together in Paris, 1971...and as I wrote here, somewhere, I broke a crank with 30 minutes left...while leading...

    The next weekend was Berlin, and we didn't get to Berlin until Saturday morning, as the Seebold's, Wood's and Hill's had toured PORTUGAL and Spain...

    When I got to Berlin it was so frigging cold, there was ice in the boats...I had won Berlin, with Jimbo, the year before, so had figured Wallace and I would have a chance to repeat.

    To my surprise and delight, I was TEAMED with Ceasar Scotti...Seems the American Flag was on the boat with the Italian flag.....It was Scotti's call, he wanted me as his co-driver...The problem was when we went to test, I'm 6'5" and Scotti was a lot shorter....By the time they figured out how to get me into the boat, test time was over.

    Unlike the year before, when I'd thrown a "WALLEYED FIT" when Leek wanted Jimbo to start the race, I agreed to let Scotti start the race... Scotti broke a crank in the first hour and I never got a ride.

    Scotti ran the same boat at Havasu that year and when the race was over his boat went to me, which I only ran once and that was at Morgan City, Louisiana. Then, Ted May got the boat and he ran it forever....Until he got the RED HIGH RISE MOLINARI...the one in the posters...

    Scotti's boat and Jimbo's 1971 Havsu Boat were "SISTER BOATS"... Jimbo won Havasu with his Black and White Scotti, with Mike Wallace second...

    After Havasu, Mike Wallace and I (Maybe just me) agreed to be friends...and we drove together in the spring of 1972 to finish 2nd overall in a New Scotti...

    Funny, we ran a brand new Mercury 17 inch pitch prop that I'd bought from Mercury and re cupped it myself...

    So, was I in a brochure???..Maybe, but I don't recall ever driving the boat...with Italian flags on it...

    As for Jimbo's black and white Scotti, I was to run it in January 1972 at Miami. The race got blown out, but my testing told me that it was the greatest boat I'd ever driven....

    After Miami, Jimbo ran the Black and white Scotti, with Ted May, to win Parker overall, with me and Fred Hauenstein second in the black and yellow Molinari that is my avatar!!!!!

    I always felt, had the Miami race been run, I'd have won it easily, as the OMC 8 Carb was "KING" then...and Had I won Miami, I'd screamed like hell to run that Scotti at Parker...and Freddy and Me would have three Parker wins to our credit....

    No clue what happened to the Black and White Scotti, but Ted May's (The one in the brochure) ended up in Jay Root's hands (in San Diego) and he installed a Mercruiser outdrive and beat the fire out of the 150 hydros, so they kicked him out of the class...He may still have that Scotti in San Diego!!!!

    Top picture is Jimbo, close up and the second one is from the 1972 Havasu Program (full page)..
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    Last edited by Ron Hill; 03-28-2019 at 07:50 PM.

  3. #223
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Hmm..

    Gues the second picture didn't post...

    Something about these pictures, maybe it is because I was in this race, but the pictures give me the feeling that you understand we were "RACING" for the win, four hours at a time...Singles, twins, and triples...

    120 boats on a four mile course...
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  4. #224
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default I was ready to win...

    After breaking down in the late stages of Paris and not getting a ride at Berlin, when Havasu came, I decided I was ready to win...

    Omc had four new "BIG CRANK" motors with 8 carbs...Everyone else with OMC's had four carbs...

    After Paris, standing in front of the Hilton Hotel, Gary Garbrecht and I started talking...I told him we were heading down to Portugaul and Spain with Woods and Seebold....(Actually, they were coming with us, as my wife had the trip planned out for she and I....I invited Woods and Seebold...

    Gary said he knew how I liked the Strangs, and how much ann liked me, but would I like a good Molinari for Havasu? (Of course, with a Merc). That was the first of many serious conversations with Gary. I told him, my dad raced Evinrudes, they had given me more than I ever expected...and besides, we had more power than the Mercs.... we shook hands and parted friends....friends for another 24 years...

    I got to Havasu, had I had Scotti's "SPRINT" boat that he'd won Miami with that summer and I had one of the new 8 carbs...(Jimbo, Scotti, Wallace and me)...you can tell who had them if you look on the front of the cowling on Mike Wallace's picture.....The 8 carbs, pre Strangler/Stinger has a custom aluminum air vent...Notice Ted May's boat (Uncle Ted as Miss Bk calls him, boat #34, has just a regulare cowling).

    This Scotti "ROCKED". It was going 95-97, which I thought was fast enough to win, but then Don Hendrich, OMC's prop man, decided to work on my prop...basically over my dad body....but he jumped the speed to 107.

    (Hendrich calims to this day, that it was right then that I went into the prop business, in fact, I had started my business in 1969.....BUT he opened my eyes when he pounded on that prop....)...

    They wanted a few boat for a photo shoot, and of course I volunteered....there was about ten boats half OMC's and half Mercs...the water was like glass that Friday evening...and I had a light load and I could "Blow By" everyone with about 15 MPH on them...The engine just HUMMED...

    Keep in mind, we we running singles, others were running twins and triples...but the year before, I could run 108 in my Jones twin, and when Joe Fielder nose dived of the first lap, I was first OMC, and fourth around the first lap....So, in my mind, I thought I could win this rac overall...I KNEW I could win Single, but I wanted the WHOLE ENCHILADA.

    I have no way on really knowing where I was, but at the two hour mark, I came inside Mike Wallace coming out of the far turn, and I knew that I was lapping him for the second time.....I was looking at Mike over my shoulder, when I realized I wasn't going up hill, I was going down hill..

    I had seen the patrol boat hooked on to a Twin Molinari, but what I didn't realize, there had been another patrol boat that had "HAULED OUT" and left a mother wake... Dick Summerfelt, from Canad, had blown over, he only had one leg, as a result of a Paris accident, but the patrol boat thought he'd just lost his leg and he was a little punchy.

    As soon as I hit the wave, I knew I was going on amy ***. I pulled my feet out from under the cowling and put them on the dash and held on...I watched the nose come off, I watched piece fly off that boat...ripped the elbows out of my new driving suit...but I never left the cockpit.

    After, I got to the pits, I was stilll listed as leader of "S" Class or in the top ten.... So much for winning overall...

    At the end of the first day, it was Jimbo, Wallace and Ted May, 1,2,3 in Single...

    It was decided that we'd take my motor off my boat, and put it on Ted's boat, hen at the two hour mark, I'd co-drive with Ted...Ted begged them not to change his motor...he said, "She's running perfect...I as coasting all day..." (which is something many of us did in marathons, you'd find a groove and stay in it...no abuse your equipmetn and Ted was a master of keeping things running...

    We got up early and tested my motor, but Ted would not take my prop....Test seemed torun fine, but when the race started, as soon as Ted made the first turn, the engine quit...

    Ted, with the help of spectators, took a little "BLACK BOX" apart and dranked the water out and the motor ran....but Ted dropped from third to tenth in class...

    After Ted dropped down in the standing, Jack leek had me suited up to drive for Mike Wallace....but at the pit stop Walllace refused to get out...(Pay back for Paris)...

    Mike drove a nice race, Jimbo was leading with only about ten laps left and he barrel rolled, but got back in....and finished third...Great story teller here, Wallace got passed for the win, by Renato, not Jimbo, after Jimbo had barrel rolled and climbed back in...Renato took the lead on the next to the last lap....

    But, in my mind, Mike drove better than would have...as I was really beat up from my crash the day before, and I surely wouldn't have wanted to admit it, but I could hardly move, there was talk that Ron Hill might have won it for OMC.....but I told MIKE, I'd never driven the boat with a 1:1 and I might have lost more time learning to drive...as those boats get light, Jimbo crashed....I told Mike, maybe I wouldn't have been as lucky as Jimbo...Right here we set our sites on Parker in the Spring...
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    Last edited by Ron Hill; 02-20-2005 at 11:09 AM.

  5. #225
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default 33 Scotti

    Here is pictue of the boat that Scotti and I were to drive together in Berlin.

    The second picture was when we did a photo shoot for the program, and Ted has been driving the old #33 all year...This is the boat that Jay Root ended up putting a Mercuriser in....

    Does this look like the brochure picture...
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  6. #226
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Renato pits...

    1971, Bobby Herring is telling Renato who he needs to pass to win Single engine...

    I always look back and think, if...Because I had a two lap lead on Mike Wallace at the two hour mark...One must finish first, to finish first...
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    Last edited by Ron Hill; 07-21-2010 at 07:33 PM.

  7. #227
    Able to break anything T2x's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by John Sherlock
    T2x, is that not Fred Hartman standing at the front of that boat?
    Howdy folks.......... Ron I'm sorry it took so long to get over here...Let's just say I've had a hectic winter.

    John...That is Freddy...himself.......... and that picture is of the boat that Dick O'Dea and Johnny Covals ran in the race...... we ran an identical Powercat that year and the next. Did not finish in 63.

    T2x

  8. #228
    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default T2x, help me with names...

    This is Jim Hunt, Powerboat, 1968....

    Those Jones had a habit of once reaching a "SWEET FEEL", they took off... I think they needed more set back, because, they had none, except Pruett's Triple, and she rode nice...
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  9. #229
    Team Member B VALACHOVIC's Avatar
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    Default 63 Marathon

    Friend of mine Ben Price front , My cousin Mike left background entered in the Traveler 18 foot "Saturn" twin rig New York Marathon June 63. Brand new boat and engines. As the 100s were hard to get at the time,they just received the engines in time to make the race. This boat was converted to the Aqua Batic Ski Team tow rig after this and performed many spectacular ski shows over the years with Ben Price heading the twenty plus member ski team.
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  10. #230
    Team Member B VALACHOVIC's Avatar
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    Default New York Marathon

    Another shot June 63 at the finish in N Y C
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    Last edited by B VALACHOVIC; 02-22-2005 at 09:10 PM.

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