Quote Originally Posted by John Schubert T*A*R*T
Actually Smitty, Bob Okner from NJ as I was at the time, won DSH. I finshed with 2 2nds. in CSH only to get beat by Stan Arnstrong with a 1st & a 3rd. I finished 2nd in the 1st heat to Don Christie who borrowed Charlie Piper's padded "C" block. Charlie hadn't qualified. We were pitted down towards the dam with the Region 7 guys. Between heats I asked my dad where Dick O'Dea finished in the first heat. He said 3rd, or at least when he made the turn where we were pitted. So in the 2nd heat I had a miserable start and through the rougher water towards the bridge, I worked my way up to second and did what you shouldn't do in a nationals race, figured Stan had a 1st & 4th and me with 2 seconds should have won. I was being congratulated in inspection when we learned that Stan had beaten O'Dea across the finish line.

Bob Okner's boat and mine were identical, as in those years they were "C-D's". When Sid norrowed the boats that's when he made the 11' "D" & 10'6" "C". THe short Sponson boat came later.


I don't agree with Ron's statement that the short sponson boats were faster through the turns. I never liked them & always ran the conventional spon length. I culd out turn those with short sponsons as if they cranked in hard, the sposon would catch. Mine didn't. But Ron is correct about no fins. Sid always told us at least until I began running "C" that because of the chine angles, you didn't need a fin. Sponson fins were not regularly used between 56 - 57 out east. If I had had a fin, I wouldn't have been thrown out in the next to the last lap leading Ed Sonaras' hot rod at the 56 Cambridge nationals.
I forgot to mention that the early Sid's probably up tp the design change when he narrowed the bottoms didn't really have tunnels as we know them today. They were concave sort of and yes we did refer to them as tunnels. But hydros today which were first used by John Yale have a distinctive straight sided tunnel.