Byers' race boats

[Tomtall]

Had a phone coversation with Jerry Oberlin this evening and he stated that Richard Byers got alot of his Aerodynamic ideas from being a stunt pilot of airplanes. He gave rides to those crazy enough to ride with him.

[M721son]

Tom
I got another little bit of information for you. Byer's built one Hydro that I believe was 15 foot, yes 15 foot. It was built to put an 8 cylinder Koning on for the Kurts family they were going to try and set a speed record with it. I seen the boat at Byers shop when we were having him build a trailer for us. I might be mistaken about the exact length of the boat for I was rather young, compared to you that is LOL
Jerry L. Oberlin

[Tomtall]

Interesting Jerry. I wonder if it was being built to run the 8 cyl Konig that now resides with Mark Sutter in his collection. Bye the way. What ever happened to Mr. Byers?

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Jerry, that is very interesting. That 8 cylinder Konig is undoubtedly the one Marshall Grant had. Marshall had a Byers that he originally ran that Konig on. The first one to drive it was Charlie Bailey. I think Marshall probably tested it himself afterwards and concluded it would take three takes of boat
designs to work it out to just be able to race it. It may be that he had Byers make that first long boat. About that same time we had a big Aerowing that Tim had built for us as an experimental D/F hydro for the high speed courses. We took delivery of it at the same race that Marshall got the 8 cylinder Konig from Dieter. We named it HONCHO. We raced it for a year, but it didn't have much lift at all for the racing we did, so Tim built us another boat.

At this time, Tim had never driven any boat larger than 350cc, so the designs were all best guesswork. My Dad gave HONCHO to Marshall and even though the motor was still more than HONCHO could handle, it was much better than the smaller Byers that had a lot more lift. Before the year was over Marshall got out of racing altogether so we never saw that Byers on the race course.

Dan Kirts continued to run the 8 cylinder Konig on the repainted HONCHO for the next couple of years, so I don't know what happened to the long Byers. Dan Kirts used to run Byers hydros as well, so maybe he might know what happened to it. If it was ever on a race course with the 8, it must have been at a regional race. I know that Danny raced that Konig at Constantine that opened some eyes, but no one said what transom it was hanging on.

[M721son]

Tom
Last I heard he still resides in PawPaw. I believe he got out of the boat building and started building trailers. He built the frame for a trailer for my dad It went to a Mr Buchanan in Kentucy I dont have any pictures of it, I believe he built some of the first enclosed trailers for Kurts.
Jerry

[M721son]

Jerry, that is very interesting. That 8 cylinder Konig is undoubtedly the one Marshall Grant had. Marshall had a Byers that he originally ran that Konig on. The first one to drive it was Charlie Bailey. I think Marshall probably tested it himself afterwards and concluded it would take three takes of boat
designs to work it out to just be able to race it. It may be that he had Byers make that first long boat. About that same time we had a big Aerowing that Tim had built for us as an experimental D/F hydro for the high speed courses. We took delivery of it at the same race that Marshall got the 8 cylinder Konig from Dieter. We named it HONCHO. We raced it for a year, but it didn't have much lift at all for the racing we did, so Tim built us another boat.

At this time, Tim had never driven any boat larger than 350cc, so the designs were all best guesswork. My Dad gave HONCHO to Marshall and even though the motor was still more than HONCHO could handle, it was much better than the smaller Byers that had a lot more lift. Before the year was over Marshall got out of racing altogether so we never saw that Byers on the race course.

Dan Kirts continued to run the 8 cylinder Konig on the repainted HONCHO for the next couple of years, so I don't know what happened to the long Byers. Dan Kirts used to run Byers hydros as well, so maybe he might know what happened to it. If it was ever on a race course with the 8, it must have been at a regional race. I know that Danny raced that Konig at Constantine that opened some eyes, but no one said what transom it was hanging on.

If i recall correctly they ran the boat in testing it kept going Airborne they never did get it completely opened up. I don't think the boat was ever run in competition. I know that there was allot of discussion on the design of that boat and its shortcomings between Byers and my Dad. I dont know if Byers built another hydro for the 8 or not. I do recall that it was a conventional styled Hydro though not a pickelfork

[David Mason]

Dick is still kicking around. So is one of his helpers, Phil. Together they drove a gazillion brass nails home. Phil still has his small hammer used to build the boats.

I know my dad raced Byers boats and did very well with them, very well. It helps that Byers is only about a 30 minute drive from us too.

I will let Dick and Phil know that the boats are now listed on the history of boat racing.

I shoot trap with Phil on Tuesdays, well I have not been in a while, so if any of you want to get a message to Dick or Phil let me know. I will go on a Tuesday eve and pass it along.

I always was in awe of Dick Byers, as he was the only builder I knew of when growing up. I know there were lots more, but as a kid things kind of stick in your mind when you actually meet them.

I also agree with Eric and Marc, I doubt you can contribute Hydroplane Design to any one person. Everyone borrows from others, and tries to improve on what they saw. That is what makes it so cool.