It is a B Bill Van...I have another photo of Dan next to Doug Thompson who won B hydro that year. But that's not to day that it wasn't done with a C too.
The steering wasn't bad because of overhang John. I just think that this was an idea that popped up and was tried in 1972. So far, that's the only year I have pics of such motor setups. It all could have come from a Kirts/Harrison collaboration or who knows what. All those guys in the manufacturing centers of the upper midwest had connections to build things if they couldn't do it themselves. The only time we had handling problems because of pipes was a B hydro around 1971 that was very fast, but it had 4 stationary pipes hanging off of it. It was extremely quick down the straights, but when I would back off and try to put the Marchetti in a turn, the inside chine would lift and I would have to correct a little right, then get back into the turn and do that once again until the boat settled in. I could literally feel the leverage of all that weight trying to pull the boat over. The less weight factor and sliding pipes instantly obsoleted the stationary 4 pipe set up. Although it would have been a real asset for a kilo run at that time. Between the cans and sliding pipes, we mostly ran ZAK STAKS and they were pretty compact and close in to the motor.
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