An Amazing Story

[Bob Valachovic]

This is what we pay through the business plan per month in New York.
individual--316.62
two person--633.24
family--823.22
This is a 17.3% increase from the previous year,and I have been informed that another increase will be for the upcoming renewal.

[Dago Fast]

I just got word from the OPC chairman at the OPC nationals this weekend that they have the largest SST 120 and SST 60 field ever. These are both capsule classes that have gone up and down in membership over the years.

SST 60 class uses ONLY the special OMC sst-60 motor - which hasn't been produced for many years. So it's really amazing that they have 15 entries at the Nationals!

The boats in these classes cost way more than a jet ski, and some of the drivers who run the Superleague circuit in SST 60 are brand new to the sport - including two girls - one from Canada. Some of the names I've never seen before - so they must be new as well. If I was going to start racing again -- this is probably the class I'd join. Safety is a big thing with me, especially having two boys. And I feel it's a big factor on whether new people will decide to start racing - lesser chance of dying is always more attractive than the opposite.

The races are being held this weekend in Kankakee IL.

Keep in mind that every tunnel boat class at the Nationals has a capsule except for the Sport C, which have mandatory reinforced cockpit walls, and still, the entries are high. Many of the Sport C and SST 45 boats are coming all the way from Calif. I haven't heard numbers of entries.

SST 45 also uses a specific OMC motor that stopped being produced long ago -- availability of new equipment is a major hurdle to get people to invest in racing! To get a new person to invest in a class where you will never have access to new motors -- not much incentive there.

But I wish I was in Kankakee right now.

Keep watching the APBA site News page - Mike Wienandt, OPC Chair, contacted me and is going to be sending me updates every night and I'll post them as quick as I can.

Val

Any updates available for Kankakee?

[Miss BK]

Yes -- Report from Saturday is now posted on the News page. I stayed up til 1:30am waiting -- then I went to bed. And wouldn't you know it, the report hit my mailbox at 1:55am. lol

It's here: http://www.apba-racing.com/apps/news/index.php

[Dago Fast]

Thank you ma'am.

[Tim Chance]

Wayne - That is quite the story. I want to add my Konig story. I'm picking up a 500 cc at Raleigh, however I want it mainly for the towerhousing and gearcase to put under the Super E (Formula E in APBA) that I'm building. Going to Florida this weekend to pick up a Pugh hydro to run it on (the E not the 500). I know I've lost my mind, but I didn't have much of a mind to start with. And to Doug Hall I never felt safer in a boat than I did strapped into a capsule with my SST-140. And another thing, I saw a post awhile back wondering if Jack Chance and I were related, we thought yes, very distant, Both our family trees originated in Virginia, then to Oklahoma, Jacks' went to Texas, mine went north. We figgured 34th cousins 10 times removed. - Tim Chance

[Jeff Lytle]

If I could make a suggestion......................Wayne's idea about evolving this thread into his history with his engine and Marshall's association with it seems like it has been lost in the shuffle. Not that you alll have been posting trash to mix it all up, It's all good stuff, but the original story has been kinda' stepped on. Perhaps one of you can suggest a new thread title for your insurance concerns and either Sam or I can shift it all over into a new home.

Agreed?

[Skoontz]

Sorry guys and gals...My jaws got to flapp'in about a touchy topic...Good idea about insurance concerns!

[Miss BK]

If I could make a suggestion......................Wayne's idea about evolving this thread into his history with his engine and Marshall's association with it seems like it has been lost in the shuffle. Not that you alll have been posting trash to mix it all up, It's all good stuff, but the original story has been kinda' stepped on. Perhaps one of you can suggest a new thread title for your insurance concerns and either Sam or I can shift it all over into a new home.

Agreed?

I quit talking about insurance four days ago! LOL

But yes, just as I hit send, I remembered what thread I was on...and do feel guilty about messing up Waynes great story.

His story is cool! It lets me dream that someday my pretty white Tom Cat will show up...and my boat and I can be reunited again! But I hear it went to Tahiti
Not much hope.


Resume...I'm enjoying this one....

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Miss BK...I can't think of a better excuse for a South Pacific vacation.

Tim, That's cool about you and Jack. & I always thought Jack Chance was a good name for a boat racer.

Don't have a guilt trip guys. There was a lot of good stuff on that side trip.

O.K......Back to the story. It gave me time to find a couple of slides filed in non boat racing binders.

During 1974 it became apparent that "Honcho", our D/F boat would not be the same success story as "Hookin' Bull", Tim's first C/D/F Aerowing. As motors got more powerful, we needed a different boat to hang our D & F on. Honcho was just too much boat. So in November 1974 I took Honcho to Romeo, Michigan for Tim Butts to make some modifications and also pick up Tim's World Championship rig "Ruthless II" along with two new boats. I think the "B" boat may have been "Que Pasa" and the D/F Aerowing was "Texas Tornado.

I spent Thanksgiving with Tim, Ruth, his Dad and his brother & family. It snowed on the boats, two finished and two unfinished. After I left Tim, I drove down to Chicago and spent a couple of days with Anne Finkle who I was dating at the time. Snow remained on the boats until I got between Dallas and Waco where it finally started melting and blew away.

The only boat that was affected was Texas Tornado. It turned out to be a very appropriate name, as we spent more time fixing it than racing it. The plywood delaminated and there were dents on the deck. Tim didn't like my Dad's method of fixing it with three pieces of halfround glued and screwed to the deck. He got it back and fixed it properly. This was probably the hydro that Doug Hall remembers seeing inside the house when he was a kid.

Texas Tornado was on the middle rack of the boat trailer.

[Skoontz]

You're gunna think this is beyond weird, but, A day or two after turkey day in1974, my buddy and our girlfriend's were heading into the Chicago Ampitheater on south Halsted to watch a rod and custom car show. I remember seeing a suburban and trailer similar to that driving down the Dan Ryan expressway and made comment to my friend! He too remembers the boats and the rig....Small world I tell you!