An Amazing Story: Part 2

[Master Oil Racing Team]

After the Western Divisionals were over, Steve Jones and I loaded our boats, motors, props and everything we needed to race on Artie Lund's trailer. Artie would be towing his big trailer to Acapulco for the exibition race. Everyone was driving down except me and Elmer Grade. Elmer would be flying in from Florida and I caught a plane out of San Antonio two days after the race at Beaumont.

Carlos Sandoval was in Laredo and would get them through the border. If you don't go more than about 10 miles in it was no problem to come and go. Further than that required passports, a temporary visa and they had to go through customs to declare what they were bringing in. On the way to Acapulco they would stop and stay overnight at dormitories at Mexico City where atheletes stayed for the 1968 Olympics.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I was looking for my Alcapulco pictures and came across some negatives with no contact sheets. These are from Tim's shop right before the Western Divisionals where he added his and my bubble shields to our boats. He preferred the tinted.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I also found some B&W from the Laredo race. I had thought I took some, but they were not where they were supposed to because I never made any contact sheets.

[F-12]

That is some MAJOR LEAGUE water you are racing on. I think I have seen calmer water on the Atlantic during the Offshore races in Daytona. Glad you survived...............

[Jerry Combs]

That wasn't a race, that was an enduro contest!

[David_L6]

I was looking for my Alcapulco pictures and came across some negatives with no contact sheets. These are from Tim's shop right before the Western Divisionals where he added his and my bubble shields to our boats. He preferred the tinted.

I've been there a time or three!

I was tough on those bubble shields. I broke so many on that little blue hydro that Tim gave me the address / phone number to the place he was buying them from. If I ever got out front in that boat I was tough to beat on a short course. The boat was too much of a hand full on a long course but I did try a few times. I ran a larger boat that Tim built for me (first new hydro I ever bought) on long courses. If I was in rough water it was a different story though even if the course was short. I ended up going back to using the larger boat for all courses because I'd just about destroyed the little boat plus I was tired of drying out motors, and buying bubble shields, and swimming in the race course.....
I switched to B&H hydros not long afterward and ran them until the last 4 or 5 years (with the exception of one Phoenix Flame, but it was pretty much a copy of a B&H).

If Paul sees this picture I bet he can identify the throttle and the adapter plate under the powerhead.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

How were you busting them & going swimming David?

[David_L6]

How were you busting them & going swimming David?

Trying to turn with the throttle clamped wide open. (Barrel rolling at the center pin usually.)

I think that the 4 cylinder Mercs were just too top heavy for the narrow bottoms of the Aerowings and the way I was setting up. Back then we had to run the 30H/55H tower height and with the 34" bottom that the Aerowings had there was a lot of leverage working against us. B&H hydros have an offset cockpit and a wider bottom. Aerowings had the cockpits centered up. I finally learned to offset my motor an inch or so on the Aerowings. Delaney had Tim build his boats with 35" bottoms. Bayer copied Tim's boats except he built them with 35" bottoms. All the B&H hydros (except for one that had a 35" bottom) and the Phoenix Flame hydro that I had had 36" bottoms. That helped. Now we can run short towers and that helps too.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Vibora de Cascabel had a very low transom and had such an angle that we didn't need the aluminum outriggers that Jack Chance built. That boat had the lowest center of gravity of any that we ever owned. I wished I could have raced it more to see what it could do.

I also wished I could have been around some of your races, maybe I could have had a pic or two of you for the splash section David.

The race course was just up the coastline from Acapulco on the Coyuca lagoon. We pitted in the southeast corner and the race course was alonside the eastern bank. I am not sure, but I think it is the same body of water that Bill Muncey was killed a year and a half later. Our hotel was up in the hills in the center overlooking the city and the bay. I was the only one of our group there for a couple of days, but I met some other racers...inboard flatbottom guys and some OPC racers. That was the official hotel for racers and I met the manager Francisco Silva.

[David_L6]

I also wished I could have been around some of your races, maybe I could have had a pic or two of you for the splash section David.

Something like this? The wind does strange things just past that point at the launch ramp. Almost as bad as at the end of the back straight. That was the first time I raced that boat. It got up right there every lap. I got it back down the first two times. A race is three laps though.....