Hydros in 1965 to 1980 - Ogier Hydros and Mercs

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

For many it is at times hard to visualize what technology was like back in the early to middle 1960s. It sure did run the extremes and the numbers of makers then far surpass the numbers of today but there were more racing and active racers back then too. It was those heady days when the Mercury H series of engines took it all and they were sure looking at controlling the next decade too. Out in western Canada we had a few Ogiers that were copies of those used in Eastern Canada. They were a nice raceboat with a great ride. Once here they were made the targets of racers with their measuring tapes that seen them built as modified copies from 10 ft 3 inches to an even 11 feet in length. They were the last great conventional hydros in this neck of the woods when Bill Giles of the USA changed all that and everything here would soon look to the pickelfork hydro to set the standards for not only performance but also safety as blow overs real common before that nearly entirely disappeared. The following are pictures of a 1965 Ogier with a Merc KG9-H on it that got me from being pitman to racer for the grand sume of $350.00 complete and ready to run. The second picture is going racing early spring in 1979 and yup its a all aluminum stepvan with a hopped up turbocharged International slant 4 powering it and a trailer full of raceboats and engines. The third picture is a real cold September weekend day in 1980 for the last race of the season south of Edmonton, AB. Yes, we wore winter jackets! Brrrrrr! 144CP was the last and newest modified Ogeir hydro built strictly for DSH in our neck of trhe woods. Pickelforks from there on in became the hydros of choice.