Bobby Switzer's Canton, Ohio Boat???

[Ron Hill]

Dear Ron,

In your one of your emails, you said: " you remember Canton OH. like it was yesterday" by any chance do you have or know of anyone that may have a photograph of me in that race...? I was in an expermantal "reverse 3 point tunnel " boat that we designed for single engine, and one of our employees rigged it with 2 motors and said: " why don't you enter this combination in the twin engine class? I headed east to "Canton" without even a pair of matching props. I stopped by Jan Schoonovers in Lima OH. where he loaned me a pair of 17 pitch props. I went on to Canton, gave her one test, where she peaked out at and instant 87 mph, and the rest was history, alaha...a 1st place victory in the unlimited class.

I'd really like to have a photo of that boat running.

Looking forward to your findings.

Yours truly,

Bob "Switzer"

ADD:
Ron,

I would really appreciate it if you would post a message asking your following if anyone has photos of our Reverse 3 point Unlimited class boat from the Nationals in Canton Ohio.

[Michael J Gwaltney]

Dear Ron,

In your one of your emails, you said: " you remember Canton OH. like it was yesterday" by any chance do you have or know of anyone that may have a photograph of me in that race...? I was in an expermantal "reverse 3 point tunnel " boat that we designed for single engine, and one of our employees rigged it with 2 motors and said: " why don't you enter this combination in the twin engine class? I headed east to "Canton" without even a pair of matching props. I stopped by Jan Schoonovers in Lima OH. where he loaned me a pair of 17 pitch props. I went on to Canton, gave her one test, where she peaked out at and instant 87 mph, and the rest was history, alaha...a 1st place victory in the unlimited class.

I'd really like to have a photo of that boat running.

Looking forward to your findings.

Yours truly,

Bob "Switzer"

ADD:
Ron,

I would really appreciate it if you would post a message asking your following if anyone has photos of our Reverse 3 point Unlimited class boat from the Nationals in Canton Ohio.

I don't know if that was Bob's prefered name for the boat but, for sure he seemed to have the UU field covered by 10 mph and it would turn. Ken Soller told me after a test run Bob took off his life jacket and walked through spectators asking questions. He found a guy that had watched it run very carefully. "Was there spray coming off the center pod?" Guy said, Yes! Bob went over and kicked engines out a little.
I had a picture of Fred Miller sitting behind the wheel with a big straw hat on and another with "Charlie" standing behind the boat draped with cameras. Sorry no running shots, just good memories.

[Skoontz]

That sounded like a classic Bobbyism. He could sell an eskimo ice cubes and there he was, doing his thing for Switzercraft once again!

[Ted March]

1967 OPC Nationals, Canton, Ohio

Swittzercraft's unique reverse thre point hull that Bobby drove to victory in the Unlimited Twin Engine classs.

[Ron Saxvik]

Dave Little of "All American Hot-Rod" fame and I were working the
judge's stand at that race. I will check with him to see if he has
any footage of that boat running. I go by the lake quite often and
brings back a lot of memories. We raced Stocks and OPC's there in
the early/mid 60's. I remember Guy Lombardo was playing at the
Moonlight Ballroom at the lake and took my dad's "B" runabout for
a ride on a pre-race Saturday test day. He came in and told my dad "you
guys are crazy, there is no way I would race one of these things !"

[ssmith007]

What Lake in Canton is that? Thanks.Smitty

[Ron Saxvik]

What Lake in Canton is that? Thanks.Smitty

That was Meyer's Lake which is located inside the city limits. There
used to be an amusement park there and was famous for the "Moonlight
Ballroom" where a lot of the big bands played in the 40's and 50's.

[ssmith007]

I never knew they had races there. Did they also race in Akron? Thanks. Smitty

[Ron Saxvik]

They ran OPC's and stocks on the lake up until the late 60's.
The Akron area hosted quite a few races at Summit Lake and
Turkey Foot......OPC's mostly but they used to include some
knee jockey stuff on occasion. Thinking that they might have
run some OPC's at Summit Lake into the late 70's.....have
heard that they had a permanent course set up there so they
(OPCers) could test during the week.
We are currently running Stocks and Mods on Springfield Lake
which is just east of Akron in the village of Lakemore. Ran there
in the 80's and into mid 90's......had a bit of a problem with
racing there until last summer and all things seem to be a go
for '09. Check out the Three Rivers site for dates:

http://www.trora.com/index.html

http://www.trora.com/Site_Pages/Akron-OH.html

[Sea Bat]

I remember racing on Meyers Lake in Early 60's. I believe it was a TROA race. My brother Bert lost his "A" lower unit and prop in the lake during that race. That kinda finished his short racing career. We were from Lorain, OH and my APBA boat numbers were 14S and 16S.

Bill Thomas
36-R

[ELMER]

Ron, I Was A Kid At Canton Or Akron And There Was A Twin Tunnel Racing There With Twins. And In The Final Of The Big Boy Race, Two Brothers Stepped Up In A Round Bottom With A Single..they Hit The Clock Perfect And Beat Everyone To The First Turn But Barrell Rolled And Switzer Or Some One In A Twin Tunnel Ran Right Over The Top Of Them.. We All Thought They Would Be Killed Or Cut Up Real Bad.. It Seemed Like An Eternity But They Popped Up And Were Unhurt.. Their Boat Was Torn In Half And Went To The Bottom. See If I Am Right And That Was Bobby..the Lake That The Race Was At Had A Point That Stuck Out And There Was A Tree There And You Could Stand There And Get Water Thrown On You From Guys Going By.. Jerry Rinker

[Ron Saxvik]

I remember racing on Meyers Lake in Early 60's. I believe it was a TROA race. My brother Bert lost his "A" lower unit and prop in the lake during that race. That kinda finished his short racing career. We were from Lorain, OH and my APBA boat numbers were 14S and 16S.

Bill Thomas
36-R

Bill.....thinking that Akron Outboard ran most of them but Three Rivers
might have done a couple there as well. There were some pictures of
you posted a year or two ago on BRF and didn't remember you but
got ahold of Jack and Joan Brewster and they filled me in on who you
were......I was pretty young then and didn't pay close enough attention
to those that I didn't race with every weekend.
They had two races there in '66 and I raced ASR,ASH, and BSR. Boat
numbers were 15-S in the A's and 55-S in the B. Still have a waist
high trophy that I won the last time I raced there......was the "Mort
Brown Special Trophy" (commodore of Akron Outboard at the time)
for the winner of the class with the most boats in it (ASR). I currently
live about three miles from the lake and can't pass it without it
bringing back very pleasant memories from days gone by.

[Ron Saxvik]

Ron, I Was A Kid At Canton Or Akron And There Was A Twin Tunnel Racing There With Twins. And In The Final Of The Big Boy Race, Two Brothers Stepped Up In A Round Bottom With A Single..they Hit The Clock Perfect And Beat Everyone To The First Turn But Barrell Rolled And Switzer Or Some One In A Twin Tunnel Ran Right Over The Top Of Them.. We All Thought They Would Be Killed Or Cut Up Real Bad.. It Seemed Like An Eternity But They Popped Up And Were Unhurt.. Their Boat Was Torn In Half And Went To The Bottom. See If I Am Right And That Was Bobby..the Lake That The Race Was At Had A Point That Stuck Out And There Was A Tree There And You Could Stand There And Get Water Thrown On You From Guys Going By.. Jerry Rinker


Jerry.....have been to both lakes but can only remember a point like you
are talking about at Meyers Lake. That is not saying there wasn't something
like that similar at Akron but just don't remember it. Know that I missed
that wreck if it were at Meyers Lake.....surely would have remembered
that one ! I have several good photos of me racing there that were taken
from that vantage point by Fred Eckert.

[ssmith007]

Think the wreck is still at the bottom of the lake? I don't know if they recovered it or how deep it is there. Smitty

[ssmith007]

Can someone post pics boats running at Myers lake and/or any Akron Lakes. Remember going to these as a kid and still remember one boat. "Catch it if you Can". Thanks. Smitty

[Ron Hill]

Somewhere here on BRF is my story of Bobby winning the 1953 Winnebagoland Marathon and also winning the 1952 D Runabout Nationals, thanks to my dad.

Bobby stopped by my shop, maybe 12 years ago, he had appointments, but we talked and we talked...two hours later he left.....saying, "Your dad was a gentleman".

My dad had disqualified Bobby in the 1953 Winnebagoland Marathon.