Bill Holland

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-28-2006

He was running on the edge, actually on a 2" by 12 " pad at the extreme aft of the "Unlimited" bass boat. Approaching the end of the run at an estimated 119 mph the nose lifted slightly. He just touched the trim button and instantly the whole atmosphere changed as the boat launched skyward. Going from a feeling of exhilaration and relief of almost being there to a feeling of "no way out"....this is going to hurt! As the boat gained altitude, his mind was racing. Racing so fast that everything going on around him seemed in slow motion. No longer a wind tearing at his face and cheeks, but a silent, eerie feeling; the wind now blocked by the hull going forward and up until somewhere around 30 to 40 feet its flight was done and it became earthbound.

He skipped and tumbled along a surface like wet concrete with hands. Grabbing, tearing, and pulling until finally he skidded to a stop. There, laying within reach was one of his shoes....floating upside down. He started to grab the shoe, then thought better of it. Maybe a foot might still be in it. It was still too soon for the pain to set in and he had to take stock of himself. He had worn his lucky shirt that day. He still had it on. Barely. The collar was still around his neck, but the rest was hanging out the backside of his life jacket. He ended up with no broken bones, but every ligament, every muscle, every joint was pulled, twisted, torn or stretched. It was thirty days before he could get out of bed without pain.

It was 17 years after Bill Holland quit racing alkies that he took that spill. He had made a couple of successful runs the day before in the production bass boat, and that day he was going for an ulimited bass boat record. The night before he had stripped all the unneccessary items and rebalanced it for the unlimited run. When they had wired the boat, the trim switch was backwards, but Bill figured that he would be able to remember just trim it in reverse. When the boat seemed to be trimmed right and he was nearing the end of the run, he just automatically touched the trim as he normally would when the nose came up.

Bill Holland actually started racing in 1950, but he got hooked the summer before when he raced and beat some other boats with his fishing rig. Like quite a few boat racers, he was instantly drawn to speed on the water when he was out fishing one day and saw a racing boat. He beat some of them that summer with his fishing boat, and the next year he had a race boat and won his first race. It was estimated that during his racing career from 1950 to 1965 Bill won more than 500 races.

This is but one of many stories of Bill Holland's boat racing.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-29-2006

Ted Williams was hired by Sears to help with merchandising it's sports products. After a while, Ted realized that he needed help in sports that he was not sufficiently involved in to make the highest recommendations. He put together a team that served as an advisory board. Look Magazine did a story on this team, as well as Reader's Digest. Needless to say, Bill Holland felt very proud to have served with the caliber of people that were chosen for the advisory panel.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 05-02-2006

Bill Holland started racing in the midget class. He won all the races he entered in his first year. After continuing to dominate that class for awhile, he quit racing in it and moved up to the next class. That's the pattern he set for the rest of his racing career. After his successes in a class led to continous strings of victories, he would move up. The hydro in the photo was taken at the Lake Worth races in June 1952.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 05-04-2006

I asked Bill about his driving style and what he thought contributed so much to his success. He said his strategy was to get the the turn first. "They would play hell getting around me.", he replied. Of course everyone knows that is the greatest advantage to have in circle racing boats. But remember, the whole field is thinking that way and knows it. So why was he so often the one that pulled it off? One thing Bill did was take a stopwatch out on the course when he was testing and got the time it took from certain identifiable spots around the course. At any given time he knew how long it took to get to the start/finish line.

Bill also spent a lot of time testing. Just about all the wheels were stainless steel, except for the Martin motor. Only brass was available. He would go down to the river with Louis Baumann, Sr. and they would spend a half day testing props and setups. Louis would have his pitch blocks with him and they would make adjustments and try each out until they were satisfied they had worked out the best combination of speed and acceleration for racing. He had quite a few props, but generally ended up with two or three he would take racing for each motor that would work best.

Bill preferred starting on the outside. He figured if he could get to the turn first, he had a good line and speed from the outside that no one could get around that way, and he had an advantage on the inside boats. He wouldn't chop them off, but he could hemm them in so that he could exit the turn faster, then he would be gone. His mechanical ability was such that early in racing so many drivers were coming to him for help that he started an outboard mechanic shop at his house. So if he came out of the turn first, the win was his. Unless he had mechanical trouble, no one could catch him.

**Thumper** · 12-21-2011

I recently found and purchased, Bill Holland's record boat ......I am currently interested in finding any and all Pics,articles,film etc.... related to Bill Holland and this Record Boat....Please help if you can and enjoy my photos......Boat was found in a barn in Texas....Many Thanks to Albert and John Snell for letting me take this piece of History that they have had for so many years tucked away ..... to a new home.....

Photo of Mcculloch 590 found/purchased in Knoxville,Tn.... where Hollands record run took place

**Mark75H** · 12-21-2011

A great find!

**tahawk** · 12-21-2011

you may want to call bowden marine in houston tx. bills daughter work there.she may be able to help out. .try calling 281 636 2011

**Gene East** · 12-21-2011

Originally Posted by Mark75H

A great find!

The boat is in amazing condition.
For obvious reasons the throttle caught my eye.
Notice how it's mounted flat on the bottom of the cockpit. No way to squeeze it. Must have just pushed it with his palm and then cupped his fingertips over the grip.Clearly not the way it was designed, but obviously it worked!
Truely a piece of history.
How many more jewels do the Snells have tucked away down in Texas?

**Thumper** · 12-21-2011

The Snell brothers had some neat stuff.......Nothing for sale tho.......Even parting with the Holland boat was very hard for them......They are fun old Gents and are full of Stories......True collectors and Racing enthusiasts .........Making a CLEAN spot in the old barn was damn tuff for them.......

This was not a sale in the normal sense of the word........This was handing over a piece of History to be looked after like a child needs to be cared for.

Even at 80 years old .They helped me load the boat, strap it down,and were worried about it not getting wet or damaged on the way home..

Brad K