Modern Outboard: November 1971

[Ron Hill]

Neal Chambers? Is Neal Chambers related to the Chambers that is Terry Rinker's Crew Chief? Great stuff here...

Only name still around is Jeff Titus, he is Chief Inspector for the APR Super Series and makes Custom propellers.....Well it does mention Jim Hunt and John Schubert...

There was a TV show call "Then Came Bronson"...Mike Osborn raced a Johnson and on the cowling he painted "Then came Johnson" and they almost DQ'd him for not being stock...

[peterse90]

Top photo; Doug Pearl #173. Doug later went on to race SJ class and did very well in a beautiful all natural wood boat - no paint. He was also well known for a 'pony-tail' that flew behind him out of the bottom of the back of his helmet.

[MN1]

Here's a photo of Doug Pearl in SJ at Miami Marine Stadium. The year is around 1977 -1978. Never knew he raced in FJ. Cool photos.
Mark N

[Master Oil Racing Team]

So, I'm guessing this must be Doug Pearl. I remembered that clear wood finish boat.

[MN1]

I had heard he quit racing after a testing accident in FL. Something about hitting a bridge in one of the narrow canals. Ouch!
Mark N

[Ron Hill]

I first met Doug in Dayton, I think 1976 and later at St. Louis...SJ was a big class in COBRA (California Outboard Racing Association). An SJ was a Merc 150, short shaft, with a production gearcase.

I can't recall how fast they went but there were almost 25 boats at each of COBRA's races, and in those days, COBRA raced 11 times a year and were not connected with APBA.

There were a few guys, Ron Eisley, Jim Johnson, Carl Jackson, Pat Murphy and Kenny Hoffman (Rick Hoffman is Kenny's son, Rick, built the Hoffman tunnel boats)...that ventured out to race SJ with the APBA BOYS...

These five guys and maybe Kim Howard would go to St. Louis but when they came home they'd always tell me how bad Doug Pearl and David Lee would beat them.

Most of my customers ran 26 or 28 pitch thru hub cleavers. I found some 28 Offshore, over the hub wheels that I let Carl Jackson test with Pat Murphy driving and they loved the wheels...They also beat all the SJ's in SoCal so they headed for St. Louis...(1976-78) not sure of the year...

Pat ran well, think he was third behind Lee and Pearl...

I snooped at Doug Peral's wheel at Dayton, 1976 and he was running a 30 over the hub, like I'k made for Carl and Pat...

Not long after that, I heard Doug blew over testing and was hurt pretty badly.

At about the same time, we'd heard because of a law suit, Mercury started calling all over the hub outboard propellers OFFSHORES, suggested use OFFSHORE only.

i never knew if the law suit and Doug Peral were related but it all came down about the time Doug was hurt and quit...

The Offshore was a great wheel, Grandpa Seebold and i battled back and forth for years making those things run...

With a capsule, SJ would still be a great class...BOX STOCK MERCURY on a tunnel!!!!

Maybe, with Mercury Racing no longer supporting TUNNEL BOAT RACING....Maybe some people will think of racing box stock motors again!

ADD:

Look at Doug's set back..1977?? Way ahead of his time!

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I remember reading about the COBRA racing Ron. SJ was a big class in Texas too. Here is a pic of a few boats milling around, maybe waiting on trailers. Looks like a thundershower coming through. It was at Clear Lake, Texas on August 2-3, 1975. I can't tell who is behind Doug. Looks like maybe 941. That's Ted May back on the left.

[boatmark59]

Old thread, but thought I would fill in some of the blanks on Doug Pearl.

He dominated SJ in the mid to late seventies in region 5, and I suspect most places he ran. The boats were called Scorpions. Glass tunnel and sponson pads, the rest wood. Built in house by Albert and Lawrence Enzweiller at Pearl's shop.

The Pearl's own a company called Uniweld. They make welding torches, gauges etc. (go out into your shop and check your torch tanks, chances are about 7 in 10 they are Uniweld!) The Enzweiller brothers worked for the Pearl's on the raceboats, pleasure boats, projects for the company, and at times did work on their own out of the race shop behind the Uniweld factory.

Doug's accident happened while testing a radical experimental boat in the narrow canal that ran along SR-84 in Ft. Lauderdale. Way back before they built I-595 and I think filled in the canal.

Anyway, the boat was pretty radical. Forks cut way back into the boat, short tunnel, and a moveable wing running through/across the nose. All kinds of wild ideas. I cannot remember the exact details anymore (Ted Jones would have the best story on this, he was driving a chase boat) but the short answer is that the wing and/or the boat failed and the boat hooked / rolled onto the beach and into the back yard of a house along the canal.

Doug had severe injuries to one of his legs. Spend I think a month of so in the hospital with a bunch of pins holding things together with one of those erector set things and fighting infections. Pins and erector set were in for I think about another six months after he was out. He healed, but it was scary looking.

Doug was not much for sitting around, so he devised a way to move the seat back and climb into his 4x4 Ford van, and used to show up at the original SunDance Marine shop to mess around and help drink the beer.

I haven't seen Doug in forever, but last I heard he was married with kids, and still in the family business which had grown into a corregated box factory and real estate.

Rumor has it that one of those wood Scorpions is fully rigged with a fresh engine sitting in the back of one of the box factory buildings. Wonder if that is still true?

Lawrence Enzweiller died back in the eighties, and Albert I think retired to Arkansas. Uncle Albert's tricks to make those Merc inlines outrun everyone, and the legendary Pearl parties are stories for another day.