Ken Hoffman Family and Rick Hoffman Boats

[Ron Hill]

Kenny Hoffman was the kilo record holder is SJ. His son Rick built the Hoffman Tunnel boats.

The family has a long and rich history, of which I don't know all of it. I can tell a story about this picture I have....I also know that Rick Hoffman won several 45 SS titles, co drove with Brian Daley to win Parker and drove for the Second V-8 Outboard team.

This prop is actually Ted March's. It had won the Powerboat Magazine MOD VP Shoot Out earlier that year when it was on Al Stoker's MOD VP.

At the Thanksgiving Kilos, Travis Chapman and Kenny Hoffman both had SJ boats built by Bill Seebold. They used Mercury 150XS motors... For closed courses they usually ran 28 pitch props, sometimes 30's...

Kenny and Travis were trading records back and forth. Both using 30 pitch props. I tried to get Travis to try this 14 X 34 MOD VP prop of Ted's and he said he would think about it, then passed...I was also offering it to Kenny. Kenny finally got about half mad at me for pestering him about the prop and finally said, "He'd put it on and go up river and test it real quick."

Well, he hauled out of the pits and in about 15 minutes he was back...I figured, "TOO MUCH PITCH.".... When he got back, Kenny didn't say word, he just pulled the cowling off the nose of his Seebold and put his whole tool box under the cowling...about 50 pounds, maybe a hundred.....He said, "She'll go, I just need something to keep the nose down." I say, "A hundred pounds???"

I say, "Kenny you dummie , when you crash you are going to lose your tool box."

Anyway, Kenny went out and broke the record that had been right at 100 MPH. He went 107 or 109. As long as SJ was an APBA class this record was never broken. The whole time Kenny ran the KILO I thought for sure he's nose dive with all that weight in the nose....and lose his tool box.

Lee Sutter was the next person I ever saw put lead the nose of a tunnel...Of course, John Drake had put 25 pounds of lead on the nose of a DeSilva F Hydro, twenty years before...

Ted March sold this prop to Chet Herbert, Doug "TOP FUEL" Herbert's dad. He put it on his MOD VP that Greg Foster drove and they threw at blade after running her for several hours at Havasu...

ADD: Kenny could drive them old Kober Kats.....ran them on a 45 degree angle....

LAST ADD: Ted, I was thinking about you when I saw this old picture....It was like yesterday you had that 235 on your Hydrostream...and you'd come to California on business (Playboy Magazine was Ted's boss)....and we'd hit a few parties... Ted's business always seemed to work out around Havasu, Parker, St. Louis....well you get my drift!!!!

[Ron Hill]

Rick,

Seeing your pictures on the Mini Boat Thread, it reminded me, how your 45 boats changed 45 SS racing forever. You, Jimmy Johnson, with the help of Ed Lane, were total pioneers of mini boat racing. Thanks for the memories...

[swmjake]

Ron - totally agree with you. Rick's SST-45 boats from the beginning made the motor work for OPC racing. I would bet that after he built his third or fourth boat - not much has changed in the design of the boats today. He pioneered the premium design of the SST-45 boat and made it look easy to win.

[RICK HOFFMAN]

Thanks you guys. I would love to post more pics and memories but all of our pictures are at my dads house in lone pine. Those were great times in my life that's for sure. Next time i go up there i will go through and bring some home to post.