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You were probably racing by then David, but then I haven't looked ahead. I'm not sure I raced Vibora De Cascabel at Alex. Can't say for sure yet because pics after 1979 are all mixed up.
I think the conventional hydro on top may be a contribution from Bill Van Steenwyk for the drivers that brought a motor and needed a transom to bolt it on to.
That would explain why I don't remember it.Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team
Just a side note (for everyone) - this has nothing to do with Wayne or even this thread: I remember boats and trailers more than anything else. My Dad always turned me loose at Alex but told me to stay out of the way. I did. The only driver that I remember ever talking to before I started racing was Paul Christner. He saw me trying to take pictures from a distance with a Polaroid and invited me in closer. (He took the time to talk to a spectator/kid.) I'll never forget that. Other drivers may would have done the same thing had they noticed me. Just so happens that Paul did notice and did take time to talk to me. I always try to remember that when I'm at a race.
That is some good advice David. I always tried to do the same, but one time at Forest Lake, Minnesota me and my pit man put some BS on a couple of curious spectators. That is not good, and we had a laugh over it, but it doesn't help our sport. After the last race we had at my Dad's house in 1977 a kid showed up at our house. I was living in a room off the carport at the north side of my Dad's house. It was about 10:00 in the morning. The boy was about 10 to 12 years old I think. It was hard to tell because he was articulate and knew what he was about, but he was small. He had watched the races the day before and was very intrigued. He liked what he saw so much he got his grandmother to drive him to our house.
His grandmother didn't really talk except to introduce herself and her grandson. I don't even remember her saying much except she drove her grandson to our house to meet me. What I remember about her was that she had brownish strangely fixed, died hair and mostly I recall her lipstick. It was very red and smeared around her lips without any thought to keeping any lines on her lips. It was very distracting to look at her, and I wondered how she even knew how to find our house. The only way was that the boy told her where to drive.
That kid was so enthusiatic about racing though, I talked to him for about 30 minutes. He asked all kinds of questions and was very complimentary on my racing. I don't remember his name. I never heard from him again. I do know that he was a little embarrassed by his grandmothers appearrance, but he had a mission and with her help he accomplished it.
It would be easy to walk away and pretend to be busy, but like Paul took the time to talk to you David....your post shows how much such a simple thing can mean to a kid in awe with race boats.
I found a couple of letters from Erwin Zimmerman. He had a busy racing schedule. The Sunshine Series in South Africa must have been coming to an end. Their summer is during our winter. In the handwritten note, he just signed on with Mercury and was going to run at Parker.
I also included a layout of the course. Would have been interesting. The printer did a typo on Fred Hauenstein, Lee Sutter and Judy Jones' names.
I decided to post the rest of that info sheet. Most of it I aready talked about, but there is some stuff I haven't. Also I have included a letter from Ernst Koszienski. He gives his boat racing bio and then says this will be his last boat race. The PS gives info on when and where his boat will arrive.
About a month ago I came across some notes I had forgotten about, and I put them in a safe place so I would have them when I got to this point. You know how that goes.. I've been looking for a week and can't find them so I'll continue from memory, and some of the stuff probably won't make it.
A lot of the teams were in town but not all. There were enough for a good press conference, so it was arranged. We all went in a limo. I had some notes about how much Jim Stone enjoyed this. From what I remember it was Jim Stone, Dieter Konig, Hans Krage, Tim Butts, John Yale, Elmer Grade, maybe Jerry Petersen, Steve Jones,myself and a couple of others that attended the press conference with newspaper, TV and radio people. I wish I could find those notes because I am missing some stuff, but I need to get this going again.
By April 10 all the teams had arrived. If you read the circular you would notice that all entries had to be received and paid in full by March 10. We wanted dedicated drivers that would commit to our racing series. My Dad didn't go by postmarks. If it wasn't in his hands by then, the entry would be sent back.
Wilfried Weiland and his crew had arrived from Austria. Wilhelm Dickoff, Ernst Kozienski, Dieter Konig, Hans Krage, Petra Castens, Hans Koehler, Joachim DuCoffre and a few other that I can't remember were there from West Germany. Although he didn't drive, I am almost positive that Leif Ahlborg was there from Sweden. He had been talking to Tim Butts for awhile about making him a boat and shipping it to Sweden. Of course our friends from Berlin, Harry Splettstosser and Jenny Scwhartz-Nitka were there. The Canadians and South Africans didn't show except for Jerry Drake who was now living in Georgia.
I mentioned earlier some of the Americans who already arrived. On the 10th Mel, Mary, Danny and Jerry Kirts got there. Also Ralph Donald, David and maybe Richard Westbrook. Clyde Lafitte was there with Bruce Marionneaux and they had a little reunion with Papa Smith. Don Nichols and a lot of the other Lone Star Boat Racing Association members were there along with the Safety Crew and officials. We had several officials from FMM...the Mexican boat racing federation--Federacion Mexicano Motonautico.
Everything was falling into place and the Elks Lodge overlooking Lake Casablanca was buzzing with activity that evening. Not long after we left to clean up and go to supper Mary Kirts had a heart attack. She was rushed to the nearby hospital but passed away around 9 or 10 O'Clock I think. We didn't know about it until we got to the pits the next morning. I can tell you it was a somber day looking at us when we began preparations for time trials for the American drivers beginning at 1:00. There was no joking around, laughing or any of the fun that goes on in the pits prior to upcoming qualifications. Mary Kirts was a big part of all of us American racers going way back long before I ever started. It was a terrible loss and it set the tone for the rest of the event.
I sure remember this race weekend. I flew into Houston, Tim picked me up, and rode with him to Larado. Wayne, you mentioned elsewhere about different Texas landscape. That sure was some desellet land in between Houston and Larado. I had been pumped for months to see another Wayne, Tim, Dan, and Jerry show. Tim had told me there would be others in the mix, Jim Stone for one. When I got in, Tim told me there was a problem with the Kirts entry, they were coming but weren't going to be able to run and to be ready for some fireworks when we got to the racecourse. Mary had a heart attact, passed away, and thats what i remember. Entries at that point didn't mean sh?t. I too remember the feel in the pits that next morning before qualifing. This race that I had been looking forward to for months had taken a very bad turn, and it was going to get worse
Yeah Bill, that's right. And we also had John Yale from New Jersey and Jerry Petersen from Iowa in the mix. Mel Kirts was PRO VP at the time and very supportive of what we were doing with Hydroplanes International. Mel passed away not too much later. I don't believe I ever saw him again after Laredo. As far as landscape goes you are right. The country really changes and that was one of the beauties of having this world championship in Laredo. Not only did the drivers and crews get to see a different part of the U.S., but the people in Laredo had never envisioned boats such as we were bringing in. They were very excited on both sides of the border.
Races are always considered successful when you get full fields, lots of action and no one hurt. If you get a big crowd to go with it, then it is truly a memorable event. We had lots of media involved to get the spectators out. Lake Casablanca was very close to the city. Only minutes away in contrast to many of the lakes I have raced on. During one of our stays in Laredo for meetings prior to the races I picked up a copy of TRAVELHOST JOURNAL. It was the nation's number one travel magazine reaching over 1 million travelers per week. The weekly publication had national and regional articles along with local stories as well. It is in all the rooms of the major hotels and motels. I submitted a story and a press release to TRAVELHOST and they appeared the week of Sunday April 6, 1980. So it was there in our rooms to greet all the drivers, crew, racing support and traveler's that might want to check out something different.
Here's a few pics of Tim's boat with you checking it out Bill.
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