Other OPC posts cleared from 1969 Havasu

**mercmack** · 04-03-2008

i think it was 1969 that some guy has a chev corvair on some kind of tower and gear case motoring around the course...sure sounded different...
that had to be the first 4 stroke race outboard...

**Mark75H** · 04-03-2008

Originally Posted by mercmack

had to be the first 4 stroke race outboard

I kinda don't think so:
Soriano 4 stroke 1929

Even that wasn't the first:

**Skoontz** · 04-03-2008

In 1920, when the Johnson brothers made their first 4 hp engine it was an inboard cast from brass. The one detail I lost was that I thought it was a four stroke.... They tested on the banks of the Wabash river in Terre Haute, Ind.

Sam if you know correct me please.

**Mark75H** · 04-03-2008

Skoontz I think you are right, but I think all their outboards were 2 stroke

**MN1** · 04-04-2008

Does anyone have photos or stories from the first OPC Nationals in 1963 at Lake George, NY?
Mark N

**Miss BK** · 04-04-2008

My brother had just come back from Thailand (tail end of Vietnam) with some cool Nikon equipment, and we all went to Havasu for the 1970 World Championships and took a bunch of pictures. (I was only 9)

Unfortunately, they are all color slides.

Just for fun, I scanned one of them to see if a Slide could actually be digitally scanned, and here is how it turned out. Pretty impressive, considering!

This was taken early morning as everyone is getting ready for the start. The haze is most likely from all the "extra rich" outboards warming up for the endurance race ahead.

**T2x** · 04-04-2008

Originally Posted by MN1

Does anyone have photos or stories from the first OPC Nationals in 1963 at Lake George, NY?
Mark N

I believe the Lake George Nationals (Marathon and closed course) were in '66 not '63.

**MN1** · 04-04-2008

Originally Posted by T2x

I believe the Lake George Nationals (Marathon and closed course) were in '66 not '63.

I found this in a web search, looks like it was written by Edgar Rose.
http://tabararacing.com/sportc.com/aboutopc.htm
Mark N

**mercmack** · 04-04-2008

Up On The Point With All Those People Waitnig For It To Start Was Me (mercmack) And Yard Bird..we Never Missed A Race Back In Those Days..to Me It Was Like Going To Merc School All Over Again..you Learned So Much In Such A Short Period Of Time, So Much Brakeing And People In A Hurry To Fix It...its Way To Bad That Its All History Now..

**Beale Tilton** · 04-04-2008

Hate to disagree with Edgar, but the first OPC nationals were at Lake Georg 1966. It was rougher than a cob. They had a problem holding the committee boat at anchor. The first heat of the Nationals was FE and for some reason we all screwed up and jumped the gun.
I only remember a little, like Mike Quayle won FI and was disqualified because a couple of reeds didn't measure correctly.
The marathon was like a ocean race and the shore was soon littered with broken boats.
What I remember most was the long ride alone from Souther Maryland to Lake George at night.