$62,750 Outboard World Championships: Havasu 1971

[Ron Hill]

I've had this list since 1971, wondering what to do with it...Seems like posting it is a great idea...

I see I got 31 laps in before I blew over....I was dumb enough to think I could beat the twins.....I was lapping Mike Wallace when I blew over... Ted May made 75 laps the first day, and he had the "OLD" motor....Ted was down one lap from Wallace and 2 up on Renato.

The "WORD" came down to take HILL's motor off his busted Scotti and put it on Ted's old Molinari...Ted really didn't want my "KILLER" motor, as he'd had trouble with "KILLER" stuff in the past..and I didn't want him changing a motor that was working, plus I'd turned a few boats over in my life and gettting the water out of them wasn't EASY!!!...I knew that...

But, 5:00 A.M. November 28, 1971, Ted May and I are testing Ted's Molinari with my "KILLER" motor....Thing runs hard...I'm to take over for Ted at two hours, but no one lets me test..."Everything is fine, don't worry..." I am told...No one at OMC knew if the "KILLER" motors would run 8 hours.

Ted and I look at each other and talk a little....He'd driven a close to perfect race on Saturday and had a great shot at winning Single engine....I say, "Ted, you bring it back and I won't wreck it...I drove this boat at the Enduro in March."....$5,000 for first single would have gone a ways with Ted.....I was doing OK teaching and all, but knew Ted wasn't as "Flush" as he'd been...


We both kind of say, "Well, these aren't our boats, motors or propellers...we are lucky someone is giving us stuff to race and paying our expenses......Let's have fun..."


At the start, Ted roars off the line like he always did....He's been a California State Champion as quarterback, and at 50 years old, he had reflexes like lightening...me, at 27, never "BLASTED" off the beach, I figured I'd catch up later....

Anyway, Ted was first single to the turn, he got about a hundred yards and went dead. I hoped he'd pulled the kill switch....Ted finally got a tow to the beach. He borrowed some tools from a spectator and took the power pack apart, and dried it out....He finally got the motor going, by himself, but only finished 40 laps....

Ted never said a word about that race. I know he knew he'd have had a top three without RON HILL'S help.....He did mention one time, that when Jimbo stuffed in 1967, that he'd finished the last two hours and never got any credit for the win.....

Ted never stayed MAD....By Monday, he was out running up and down the channel in Long Beach testing for his next race......Many that knew Ted thought his trailer was welded to his Ranchero, as no one ever saw Ted May without a boat on the back!!!