Thread: Jackie Wilson..

  1. #101
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    Quote Originally Posted by jackie wilson View Post
    How come you guys make statements and THEN ask the questions, and as for OMC and Mercury funding the development of the safety cell----YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS !!!!!!!

    Let's go back to the beginning. Spalding ---Percival---and Hodges with OMC big bucks, formed a race team with Hodges being the manager ----cum boatbuilder, and Bob and Tom the drivers. Tom had a biggie in Liegge and died a week later.

    Hodges was devastated-------and set about making the sport safer. He had already worked with the formula one cars at Nicholson McClaren and had built safety cells for them with great success.
    SOOOOO with his own money, and no financial help from anyone, he got to work on building the cell as we know it today. He wanted it tested to destruction-so he dropped it from a helicopter from about 100' -it stayed intact and did not damage the mannequin which was strapped in was unharmed. There were many sceptics ---so Hodges strapped himself inside and was dropped . It was a success.

    Meanwhile there were other efforts being made by Velden working with one of the universities in Holland-but he kept getting bogged down and was asking Hodges for advice which he gave him free of charge.

    Another route was being taken by Bill Brown [ex Cosworth director] he HAD funding from the UIM and was working with alluminum. It all came to a juddering halt when he dropped the mannequin from the chopper and killed it a couple of times . [ the dummy was on loan from the british car industry and was full of sensors and trick **** and cost thousands to make].

    Parkinson and Fred Hauenstein got together and squeezed a couple of thousand out of Mercury to help Chris with the escalating cost of the cell. THAT WAS THE ONLY CASH HE EVER GOT FOR THE CELL.

    He GAVE the design, and the drawings, and the methods, and the know how for free to anyone who built race boats. He never made a red cent out of the deal.

    What really pisses me off is the fact that if the 2 factories gave him a million apiece-----It still would not have been enough to compensate for all his own bloody efforts [ OBE ] his innovation saved countless lives.

    So NOOOOOO ---NOOOOOO- a thousand times NO ----- OMC and MERCURY were not in any way -shape or form instrumental in the creation of the safety cell.

    Lars was right in the fact that Spalding and Erickson were the first 2 drivers with cells. think the swede took Percy's place in the team.

    All i want is for the world to recognise the fact that Hodges thought of it ----made it---and gave it to the world.
    Jackie,

    I raced with Tom Percival at Paris in 1976 and 1977 in the John Player Special and he raced on Lake Havasu and in Philadephia in Dr. Phil Wagner's boat sponsored by Colman's English Mustard in 1979 or '80. During that time frame, Tom sent me drawings of a Safety Cell that Chris Hodges was developing. I think these drawings were published by Powerboat and Waterskiing magazine.

    Anyway, I glad you are shinning a light on the people responsible for the brilliant creation of the safety cell.

    Lee

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    Administrator Ron Hill's Avatar
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    Default Amen, Lee

    Does anyone actually have a list of those who died driving V-8 OMC's?

    Note to Rotary John RE OMC Boat Companies....

    Hanging around OMC in the PRE BOAT COMPANY DAYS, I as a young Californian who had no experience in high finance or the real world of business,,,,asked Jim Briggs, "Why would you buy a boat business for several million when you could start it again for a few thousand?"

    His answer was, "OMC is debt free and we are target for a take over by investors. Therefore, we need to be in debt so we don't get taken over,," I said, 'YULP...give me another martini...

    I think OMC was run by a group of "ARROGANT" rich people that had never really made a dime in their lives. So when some "GURU" told them they should do this and that , they did it..... Maybe, they should have asked Roger Penske...

    Jimmy Jost was Evinrude's PR man. He loaned out and sold "MEMO" motors to MOD VP Racers...At Havasu we had 30 Evinrudes racing MOD VP..Jost had sold or given most of them. Evinrudes were selling like crazy out west...So...at Havasu, Mercury brings out a "HOT MOTOR"...30 Evinrudes and one Mercury.... Mercury didn't win....but that was politics....

    Had everyone continued to race Evinrude 235's in MOD VP we'd had NASCAR in boats.....Instead Mercury build ONE fast motor and Evinrude built one fast motor, soon we had two boats racing MOD VP!The bottom LINE is you don't need to race "TRICK" motors...you need a level playing field...

    I'm hoping Jake's new Johnson Racing E-Tec motors level the field here in America...Even E-Tec motors with carbs, could be a great class...

  3. #103
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Sutter View Post
    Oh, how fast did Jimbo and Jeff Brown go in Mod-50?
    Lee
    I do not know how fast they where going over here in Mod 50..
    If I remember right Mod 50 had some limitations and gasoline only.

    In Europe we raced OE-F3 and one of my better boats with the most powerful Evinrude CC engine..Methanol, special gearcase with one pinion only set up for sprint race..

    Molinari/Volvo Penta-König #40... 110+ MPH already 1977

    Burgess/Evinrude CC #1 105-110 MPH 1982..five years later..
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    Lars Strom

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    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  4. #104
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Hill View Post
    Does anyone actually have a list of those who died driving V-8 OMC's?
    ...
    Hi Ron..
    I dont think there is a list..but I remember every one of them..

    What race and year..I can make a list.
    Last edited by Lars Strom; 05-24-2011 at 07:43 PM. Reason: spelling
    Lars Strom

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    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

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    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Hill View Post
    Does anyone actually have a list of those who died driving V-8 OMC's?
    .
    Hi again Ron..

    Here is a list of deadly accidents with the OMC F1 -V8 boats..The way I remember it.

    1981..Racing with the OMC V8 started in Brodenbach/Löf, Germany
    No deadly accidents that year.

    1982 ..Late that year there was a bad accident in Italy..Idroscala..
    Carlo Maria Columbo driving Renato Molinaris aluminum boat crashed with Guido Caimi in his Velden boat..Guido Caimi passed a way.

    1983.. No deadly accidents..Well..I nose dived with my Burgess-Aspen boat "wide open" in Liege, Belgium..Hurt myself bad..spent time at the hospital.

    1984..This was the bad year...Den Bosch, Holland..Luigi Valdano, Italy crashed in the race and past a way.

    Next race in Paris, France a new French man crashed at testing and passed a way..
    I think his name was Gerard Barthelemy

    Another driver from Italy crashed testing at home and passed a way..
    I think his name was Saverio Roberto

    In Liege, Belguim Tom Percival and Fabritzio Bocca crashed and we lost Tom Percival. That accident was at the same place as "my nose dive" the year before.

    1985..In the last race Sevilla, Spain..Bob Spalding was seriously injured in a practice crash and died years later.


    R.I.P.
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/
    Thanks Ron Hill thanked for this post
    Likes Ron Hill liked this post

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lars Strom View Post
    Hi again Ron..

    Here is a list of deadly accidents with the OMC F1 -V8 boats..The way I remember it.

    1981..Racing with the OMC V8 started in Brodenbach/Löf, Germany
    No deadly accidents that year.

    1982 ..Late that year there was a bad accident in Italy..Idroscala..
    Carlo Maria Columbo driving Renato Molinaris aluminum boat crashed with Guido Caimi in his Velden boat..Guido Caimi passed a way.

    1983.. No deadly accidents..Well..I nose dived with my Burgess-Aspen boat "wide open" in Liege, Belgium..Hurt myself bad..spent time at the hospital.

    1984..This was the bad year...Den Bosch, Holland..Luigi Valdano, Italy crashed in the race and past a way.

    Next race in Paris, France a new French man crashed at testing and passed a way..
    I think his name was Bertelome.

    Another driver from Italy crashed testing at home and passed a way..
    I think his name was Saverio Roberto

    In Liege, Belguim Tom Percival and Fabritzio Bocca crashed and we lost Tom Percival. That acciden was at the same place as my nose dive the year before.

    1985..In the last race Sevilla, Spain..Bob Spalding was seriously injured in a practice crash and died years later.


    R.I.P.
    The list of badly injured and maimed is even longer----------tell 'em Lasse !!!!!!!!!

  7. #107
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Hill View Post
    Does anyone actually have a list of those who died driving V-8 OMC's?

    Note to Rotary John RE OMC Boat Companies....

    Hanging around OMC in the PRE BOAT COMPANY DAYS, I as a young Californian who had no experience in high finance or the real world of business,,,,asked Jim Briggs, "Why would you buy a boat business for several million when you could start it again for a few thousand?"

    His answer was, "OMC is debt free and we are target for a take over by investors. Therefore, we need to be in debt so we don't get taken over,," I said, 'YULP...give me another martini...

    I think OMC was run by a group of "ARROGANT" rich people that had never really made a dime in their lives. So when some "GURU" told them they should do this and that , they did it..... Maybe, they should have asked Roger Penske...

    Jimmy Jost was Evinrude's PR man. He loaned out and sold "MEMO" motors to MOD VP Racers...At Havasu we had 30 Evinrudes racing MOD VP..Jost had sold or given most of them. Evinrudes were selling like crazy out west...So...at Havasu, Mercury brings out a "HOT MOTOR"...30 Evinrudes and one Mercury.... Mercury didn't win....but that was politics....

    Had everyone continued to race Evinrude 235's in MOD VP we'd had NASCAR in boats.....Instead Mercury build ONE fast motor and Evinrude built one fast motor, soon we had two boats racing MOD VP!The bottom LINE is you don't need to race "TRICK" motors...you need a level playing field...

    I'm hoping Jake's new Johnson Racing E-Tec motors level the field here in America...Even E-Tec motors with carbs, could be a great class...
    .

    Finally Ron,---the penny drops-----LEVEL PLAYING FIELD-------same for everyone.
    The Japs have been doing it for years---------20 identical hydros in a marine stadium.
    After the first heat, all the drivers draw numbers for which boat they will run.
    Same again for the next heat---huge amounts are bet at these events , and they are televised. If i remember rightly--they are mostly run in the evening , for maximum exposure.
    \
    The FONDA series was fairly OK-----But being a UIM -O series meant the engine and hull could be fiddled with----which is not what i wanted----------but Mercury supplied the motors so the series was a development exercise for Oshkosh.

    Don't have to be one manufacturer-----just give them a tight formula----- give the boatbuilders a set of parameters and make it stick for 2 years before anything can be altered . Pump fuel and a rev limiter and a swift kick up the jacksie for rulebenders the first time--------then 2 strikes and your out.

    All it takes is something that's been lacking for years in our sport---COMMON SENSE>

    Would any sane person think of a class where there are no engine limits--------so you could put 10,000 HP on the rear if you wanted---------- MULTIPLE ENGINES no hull limitations--------any kind of fuel--- in fact no COMMON SENSE.

    The class exists today----------it's called --------------OZ.

  8. #108
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Poole View Post
    I have a tech question about the F-1 V-8 tunnel boats that you guys might can shed some light on. All of those oversize tunnels that were built for the V-8's had FLAT top decks. Now, I race RC tunnel boats and the flat deck principle just don't work. Without any "droop" in the front half of the deck and some taper in the rear half, our RC race boats will not stay on the water. Kinda like slinging a sheet of plywood into the wind, once the angle goes positive it turns skyward. Did these boats have so much power that they just kept the boats on the water with neutral or negative prop trim?

    Jackie, I have a copy of the racing history book by Kevin Desmond and enjoyed reading your stories about the Cosworth boat!

    Mark
    Sorry Mark whilst i am not a boatbuilder --seems to me the more power you got the further forward you sat and the angle of dangle was reduced so the lump did not waste any horsepower pushing you back down------heard some wonderful variations on the curves and twists in a tunnel ---Double diahedral ----s tunnel----double s tunnel. Think the idea was to put as little curve in the deck that it didn't snap at you all of a sudden -------but not too much 'cos you would have a slower boat----------------how's that for a bit of bulls--t baffling brains ???????????

    Kevin D has another good book---A CENTURY OF OUTBOARD RACING------

    He was like a ferret trying to find all the info he could from all sources.
    Bedford Davies helped him with the cost of publishing.

  9. #109
    Able to break anything T2x's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lars Strom View Post
    I do not know how fast they where going over here in Mod 50..
    If I remember right Mod 50 had some limitations and gasoline only.

    In Europe we raced OE-F3 and one of my better boats with the most powerful Evinrude CC engine..Methanol, special gearcase with one pinion only set up for sprint race..

    Molinari/Volvo Penta-König #40... 110+ MPH already 1977

    Burgess/Evinrude CC #1 105-110 MPH 1982..five years later..
    Lars:

    Interesting to see the Molinari/Konig in 1977. Didn't OMC have some form of exclusive agreement with Molinari, or was that only in the US?
    OBSOLETE AND PROUD OF IT

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    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by T2x View Post
    Lars:

    Interesting to see the Molinari/Konig in 1977. Didn't OMC have some form of exclusive agreement with Molinari, or was that only in the US?
    Hehe.. T2x..That is a very good question...

    No..I was suppose to use an Evinrude for my new Molinari OE-F3 boat, but was so upset with OMC. Left them and signed a very good deal with Volvo Penta in Sweden to race for
    V-P/König..1977.

    Renato was extremely angry and wanted the boat back..
    Well I paid for it..
    There is much more about all this on my Racing stories thread here at Boatracingfacts.
    Starts at post # 200

    http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...t=6727&page=20
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

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