Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2015 11:00 AM
Subject: RE: Bass Book

Hi Ron—Yes, “Jenks” was my uncle and not only introduced me to the marine business by being kind enough to give me a job at “Jenks Outboard” when I was 14 years old, but put me in my first race boat at 16. As you may know, he designed a boat called the “Wild Geechee” that was first driven by Bucky Morris and then he turned the reins over to me. The “Geechee” was far ahead of it’s time with it’s multistep tunnel hull and pickle fork design. We campaigned the “Geechee” all over the Southeast for many years, competing in several different classes, showing up with one boat and a U-Haul trailer full of engines. We would change engines between races starting with “stock” Sport “J” all the way up to “S” class, which were engines where anything goes. Uncle D.F.. or “Jenks” as he was more commonly called, was a genius when it came to getting horsepower out of an OMC power head, and more often than not, his horsepower that he was able to squeeze out of any engine he touched, paired with the “Geechee”, often embarrassed many of the “factory” rigs that we competed with. To say that we enjoyed tremendous success would be an understatement. When “Jenks” was not working on our race engines, he was “blueprinting” engines for other OMC engine owners from all over the world, who either raced or were competitive bass fishermen. It was during the early days of the performance bass boat boom. This was the part of his business that he allowed me to be very involved in and that led to my first introduction to performance bass boats, set up and engine modifications, which would prove to be the foundation for my career in boat manufacturing and a job with Hydra Sports in June of 1975.
Our success with the “Wild Geechee” also opened the door for me to get a call from the folks at the famed Mercury Racing Team in 1973, joining the likes of racing legends Reggie Fountain and Billy Seebold. I was privileged to race for Mercury from 1973 until March of 1981, when I decided to hang it up in favor of pursuing a career in boat manufacturing on a full time basis. The “Geechee” today has been fully restored and resides on Johns Island, S.C. at the home of Brucie Robertson, son of the craftsman who built it originally, Bruce Robertson. I would venture to say that there are very few OPC class tunnel boats in history that can boast the success of the “Wild Geechee”. I am honored to have had the opportunity to drive it. EB