What Does "MOD-VP" Mean? Evolution/History Lesson

[Ron Hill]

We won Parker overall in 1978, in 1979...Freddy went to work for Mercury, but we, with Brad Miller's money could not buy a fuel injected V-6 Mercury...Brad had enough money to buy OMC.....but we could not buy a motor like Seebold's, Bentz....Fountain...so, we exited tuneel boat racing...

I went MOD VP racing where you HAD to run production parts...

[Ron Hill]

Charles Revson made cosmetics, he's dead now, but he wrote a book called
"Fire and Ice" in he book he explained he wasn't selling cosmetics, he was selling HOPE....Every woman that saw his beautiful women in his ads HOPED they would be that beautiful.....

He believed that PACKAGING WAS EVERYTHING.

He explained that he like, Lady Clariol hair products but notes they were last in sales... He bought the company and took the product off the market. He doubled the size of the package and doubled the price and rasied sales to the number one hair conditioning product on the market...

Bob Brown, through Powerboat Magazine made Al Stoker a TRUE AMERICAN HERO, someone that everyone would want to be...New V-6 motors with no FACTORY DOMINANCE gave hope that they could race, equally, with everyone and maybe be like Al Stoker...

We had maybe 30 Mod VP's Nationwide, and 15 at local races....Stoker missed the local races usually, but at the Big races he was the guy to BEAT...and he usually won...

MOD VP BOTTOMS WEREM'T new to Jet Boat racers, but they were new to east of California....V-6 outboards were not really selling, but promoting racing wasn't hurting sales... and as I said before, Jimmy Jost sold us engines for 60% off, after memo billing them for a year....

So, we could sell our old motor at a profit and borrow a new one...for nesxt season... New motors brought HOPE for, and I was one most of the time, BACK MARKERS that this year, I'm going to win more local races and I'm going to win Parker and Havasu.....

Mercury on had 122 Cubic inches and Johnson/Evinrude had 161, so really the Merc were non players...

Then comes Freddy Hauenstein.....and Mercury Racing....

[Ron Hill]

Stoker was advertising in Powerboat, so besides doing well in MOD VP they (Powerboat) saw potential in MOD-VP.... So, did Mercury, they came in slowly with only a little help...

Louis Collins came to Havasu, was the fastest boat there and he was the only Merc. I alwasy thought Freddy built the motor, Louis said he did....Seems I recall overhearing a phone converstion, after the first day of racing at Havasu, and the man (Louis) was talking to another man (???) about jetting....Seems to me the only person not at Havasu that year, who would now about Mercury Racing Motors, would have been Freddy....

OMC stepped help their support, Stoker built engines, I know Stoker, as an Evinrude dealer, got help from OMC Factory...Mercury had guys racing bridgeports, when they claimed they didn't make them, Stoker used the Triple C crank and was the only Even Fire OMC.


Mercury built and actual MOD VP motor with nose cone.

AND they listed all HIGH PERFORMANCE PART IN EVERY DEALER'S list, which, in effect, made all racing parts "PRODUCTION"... This is where Dick Sherrer and I should have said, NO....Production parts aren't CCC cranks, and aren't racing pistons" But we didn't. The class was strong, Stoker put a capsule in his boat and was able to win races with it....Things looked good....

Then, someone built and tunnel boat and put a pod in it...It looked like a tunnel boat...but was much slower...but it was faster than our Sleek Crafts, our Laveies, our Hydrostreams...

Then, the topper for me, was the OPC Commission allowed racing heads on the 2.4 Mercury and the Yamaha had to run stock blocks....Mercury rented motors off the truck that were faster than anything we had ever seen, but you couldn't buy them. Ted Bravo, Muscle Boats, finished third in Minnesota, looked at the RENTED Motor and said he didn't think it was legal...It passed inspection...He was a Mariner dealer, so he said he'd buy the motor...it wasn't for sale...that was Muscle Boat's last MOD VP race.

You had to have STOCK BLOCKS and Mercury said what was stock and you had to have a boat that looked like a tunnel...Where had MOD VP gone???

Stoker sold 58 MOD VP ski boats one year.......

It was 1989, my wife was tired of the MINI BOAT BS, noted otherwhere here...I was tired of MOD VP....Speeds went up, people got killed, expenses went out of control and anyone in there right mind knew only a few people had the GOOD STUFF...

I blame myself, for not saying to APBA....wait.....this is Dick Sherrer's and my class....and this is how it will be...except we had NO POWER!!!!

1. Boats will look like ski boats
2. Boat will have capsules
3. 100 is fast enough, we'll slow them down with transom heights...
4. Motors will be off the regular assemblyline and Dick Sherrer and I will tell YOU what is STOCK.

Picture is 1967...One of four OMC entires, of 126 entries, only four factory boats...Look out when the government comes to help you!!!!

[Ron Hill]

Big John of Sea Witch marine, mixes our fuel...

[Ron Hill]

Sally, Big John's wife, after scoring at Parker...Our PDQ Sleek,is on the trailer was a very broken motor...We were leading with 30 minutes left....ruined a new short block...no parts left, not even a crank....

[march3stv]

Ron Hill and John Castelli - Eliminator/V8

[Ron Hill]

Bob Leach brings this brand new V-8 Evinrude to Havasu...John Castelli and me are going to test it....(John and me both could have been brain surgeon had wenot spent our time racing boats...

Anyway, we get in the mother idle out passed the 5 MPH Zone and nail the throttle...She takes off so fast whe almost throws us in the back seat....at about 80.....she just won't go any faster....

We decide, another prop, big one...We take off, she almost throws us in the back seat...but about 84 she won't go any faster....

I tell John, "She must be blowing out. When we get her up to speed, get in the back and look at the gearcase...see if the prop is in a bubble...

John says, "He doesn't see a bubble...maybe I should look....So John is going about 85 and I'm sticking my head over the transom looking at the gearcase...

Hell with it, we decide she sounds like she's loaning up...Let's go put a smaller prop on....This time, the boat really does a "Wheelie" on take off and I can harly hold the wheel to about 75.....then, she flattens out...I stop..We decide, we need to make a long run, maybe she'll clean out as it seems to have good low end, but maybe the top end jets are too fat...

So we go down the river about 10 miles at 75 MPH....


As it is getting DARK...we say, "Wow, every prop turned 6250 RPM....wonder if this sucker has a rev limiter????

She did!!! We got the rev limiter off...and with a light boat, John went through the kilo at 118...without a capsule...I sold the boat and decided that was too fast for my friends to be going...without a capsule...

Well, it wasn't the first day I wasted fooling with boats!!!!

[Mark Poole]

Mod-VP was boat racings best link to the public. NASCAR fans go to watch Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge. How many average people go to a boat race and even know what a Burgess, DAC, Velden or Seebold is? Many of the fans at an IOGP race were there to see production boat names such as Allison, Hydrostream, Sleekcraft and STV compete. I know, I was there and heard everyone else talking about it. There were more Mod-VP fans there than Champ. I think part of the problem was that Mod-VP stole a lot of Champ boat thunder. On top of that, put a fast OMC out there and OMG! we can't have that!! Quick, somebody change the rules!!

[Ron Hill]

They always said the South would rise again...but I believe that MOD VP will rise again.....

Do you thin King Richard (Richard Petty) ever had more horse power than the Ford's or Chevy's.

MOD VP will return , as STOCK OUTBOARD, and it will be in MARATHONS...

[Ron Hill]

Chris has been working under contract with Polaris Personal Water Craft for ten years....to quote him he says....or close...Snowmobiles, Offroad Racing and Moto Cross has grown, and Boat racing has taken a "DIVE"....

Moto Cross has a FOUNDATION...125's and 250's...

Offroad has a VW base...Snowmobile has???

Chris thinks he has a formula for a FOUNDATION to bring back MOD VP....And he'll send it to me to post!!!!

I'm ready toi go MOD VP Racing...

Questions from Bush..(Chris, not George)...How many Chevy parts on Jeff Gordan's Chevy??? Answer: ZERO

Forgot the other question..

Oh, The most popular racing series in American used what system to put fuel into their engines??? Anwers: NASCAR, carbs, because a carb can be controlled...