More about Paris Six Hours 1978
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More about Paris Six Hours 1978
The Havasu Race 1979..
Our Jimbo McConnell is pretty involved with his nice Molinari boat....:D
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That's the other boat Lars. Barry Woods, or (Molinari driving) most likely at Parker. My memory is failing me. When I first thought of 35, Bob Witt came into my head and I thought.....no...that might be Barry Woods, but I didn't think on it long enough and posted Bob's name.
Jepp..You are probably right Wayne and again thanks for helping out with this thread.
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I meet Renato every other weekend for close to fifteen year at the boat races..
Raced in his team, been to his house and purchased boats from him.
Still don't know if he liked me or not..
Renato never showed his feelings.
You did not see Renato in a bar or party with everybody else after or before a race.
I still respected him a lot..Renato was like a racing machine..100% focused on winning races..not friends.
Renato never looked for racing boat customers..they came to him.
The first picture is from Stockholm GP 1983..the second I can only guess 1969 or 1970..Don't know when he raced the Merc with loud pipes.
PS..Ron..Renato did not have a "little mustache" there..!!..;)
Renato won the Rouen 24 hours many times with outboards..but 1979 was in the inboard R-3 class.
A Saffa/Molinari/Fiat Abarth
Great stuff Lars... My Dad and Kenny Stevenson were best friends growing up in NE Ohio. I got to spend a lot of time with them growing up. Kenny was very talented. I love to see all these OMC's !!!!!
Thanks TBuck2003,
The most controversial Saffa/Molinari/Evinrude race boat was the "Molinari Monster" 1979..
I did a complete story about that last year..please click on the link below and read..
The Molinari “Monster”..the real story
http://svera.se/blogg/molinari-monster-the-real-story/
Gary Mumaw took the picture and Margarite Woods gave me this picture at Jack Leek Memorial Service, she said it was Barry!
Great thread Lars. The Cees article is kind of funny - him talking about not having many more years at the top since he was thirty five. I worked with him at Chattanooga one race - 1988 I think - and he hadn't lost any of the intensity that I could see. This was of course early in the safety cell times, and Cees decided this was a good time to go to war with the tech inspectors over mirrors. They were required, but he refused to have them. We finally compromised. I got some $3.00 bicycle mirrors and duct taped them to the sides of the cell. (I mean like flat against the cell) No one was happy, but he raced . . . no idea how he finished but it may have been blown up.
I was working for John Nichols out of Florida on the IOGP (Merc) series, and we were I believe the Veldon importers of the time. We had Cees's composite boat (the one with removeable sponsons) but could never get it to run. We didn't have time to work it out so we ran a new wood Veldon the rest of the year. It was one of those years when whatever bad that could happen, did.
The Chattanooga weekend I was actually on my way to Sacramento with the Champ boat. I didn't have any powerheads in my truck, but John decided since we were there we should run something. We borrowed a powerhead from the Pittsburg guys whose name I can never remember (they owned a motorcycle shop?) and proceeded to destroy it within about five minutes (don't ask :-) - I'll only say drivers should keep their hands in their pockets at all times!)
We tore stuff up, we ran bad, it was so hot the beer wouldn't stay cold . . . . just a lovely weekend at the races.
Thanks for posting boatmark59,
Cees was always fun to hang around..Anything could happen..I am getting to my memories of Velden later..
This is from Chattanooga 1988.
Attachment 52596Some good stuff. Here's one I bet you haven't seen Lars. It's from the December 1965 issue of Boating News. It was the first time I ever heard the name Molinari. When I first started racing OPC was called Outboard Pleasure Craft, and there were only runabout style boats and v bottoms, and catamarans around where we raced. The most popular cats where we ran were Powercats and Kober Kats. Sometime around 1969 is about when I can remember tunnel boats. The name Molinari was the one name always associated with tunnel boats and in the back of my mind I had a memory of that name and the rear view of a boat in a magazine. I remember flipping through the pages of my Boating News and ,sure enough , this was the same company building the tunnels that were popping up all over the place.
ADD: I'm having a hard time figuring out posting pictures. I haven't gotten enough practice lately to remember, so I hesitate to try because it takes so long and I can't seem to get things in order. Oh well, I'll just have to keep trying, but it's much harder now to post rapidly.:confused:
Ah the fastest boats my dad had ever built.
I can remember those being built.
Wahoo..!! That is real "Molinari racing boat history" Wayne..from 1965 and the writer is Phil Rolla..Pretty sure Ron knows him..
Thanks..it makes the thread so much better..remember this is Boatracingfacts..
Ron..I don't think that Molinari booze has anything to do with Renato.
Well..I know that Italian Grappa booze make you pretty stupid after a bottle..;)
One more interesting thing..We drove the same type of Molinari OZ boat 1978.
We both used the 2.4 liter Evinrude..you and Fred won in Parker and Angelo and I came fourth in Paris..
Pretty sure you used the right propeller..Jack Leek forced us to use a really big prop. to hold the rpm down..made the boat hard to handle..
The Rasini brothers drove a Molinari boat to the overall win i Paris Six Hours 1967
I'll try to attach a photo of the current condition of the CCC used by Bob Hering and Renato in post #14. Waiting to get that boat back from Gary Pugh - having a new transom installed and putting the after-planes back on that Bob Larson removed for some reason. Motor was started on my other Molinari (O'Berry Marine #854 / #60) so looks like we'll be ready for Tavares FL on March 15-17th. It will run again!!
Had to replace the block and used new low-ring pistons - ported of course. Hand worked the block like original - sounds good thus far.
Attachment 52600
Interesting read, I have a question, is Bob Hering the same guy that builds the worlds fastest propellers now? I have been a Hering dealer for several years and never knew? BTW, the drop forged Hering cleavers are attached to almost every 185-200+ mph cat in the world. (No one else's will keep the blades from coming off!!!!)
I think Bob Hering started the Hering propeller company and sold it a few years ago. Ron knows exactly how it is...Ron..where are you???
Yes Bob Hering is the guy who started Hering Propellers and the company was sold a few years back. I believe his son is still running the operation. As far as the 200 mph cats are concerned, while many of them do use Herings some use props from Rolla and a few are using wheels from Dave Vilwock I believe.
A Molinari/Mercury powered boat won again in Paris Six Hours 1968. The drivers was Renato and Leonardi.
American drivers came in second and third..I think we know the one of them pretty good..!!
I guess some of the Swedes did not turn very good..:D
This is from the Havasu race 1969. Renato drove a two engine boat but crashed..
I got the pictures from Gene Lanham (Thank you) but have no more info.
My Italian friend Matteo Colombo just wrote this on FB... In 1969 at Havasu won his cousin Cesare!!
After the 1968 Six Hours of Paris ended, I went to buy a bottle of water, water was like five bucks, a bottle of wine was a dollar. So, I bought the wine. The wine bottle looked like a champagne bottle but it was just wine. I was taking a big drink of it when Ann Strang happened to walk by (Ann was Charlie Strang's mother, and most knew SHE ran the OMC race team....including me...). She said, "What are you celebrating, Mercury won?" I said, "Celebrate, hell....Those Mercury/Molinari's lapped me 7-8 times. The river is full of 'Crazy Sumbitches' going every which way but straight. I added, hell, I'm lucky to be alive." Ann looked at me, and said, "Give me a little drink."
It didn't matter then and it doesn't matter now, but we ran second all day and got third. One lap, I went behind a river barge (The barge was between me and the scoring stand) and I didn't get counted.
Lars, those pictures bring back memories of how rough The Paris Six Hour was in those days....
How come you don't have any pictures of Rasini's daughter??? She was a beauty!!! She was going to college at teh University of Wisconsin, Madison and vowed not to return to Italy after graduation as she liked America. She could go places without a body guard!
Here is a long video about the Havasu race 1969.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=ylE-w_38wOI#!
Lucky Molinari..Paris Six Hours 1969
Molinari Boats were more like stradivarius violins. Americans build boat like "Brick **** Houses" , Americans built boats to run through waves. Molinari built boat to play a "TUNE". They were build like a violin. They were like a ballet in action. I never played a violin, but I know they are delicate. Renato's "TWIN" probably weighed one fourth what the average American made "TWIN" weighed. I had a Hallett Four Point for the 1969 Havasu World Championships. I was running about 89 MPH. Renato's "TWIN" looked and sounded like 100 MPH. I'd run against Renato before and knew he liked to win. I have to admit, when Renato blew over "TESTING", it made me happy. I was glad Renato wasn't hurt, but I was glad he wasn't going to be in the race.
His "Blow Over" was one hell of a crash!
Sidestepping the thread from Rons "Record" prop line.
I was over at Don Hendriches home in Lake Villa, Illernoyzz picking up a chopper prop he worked his magic on for me....He was at his kitchen table sitting with Ziggy drinking some scotch with their wives. Since I had come over to pick up my prop, we talked props breifly. I made a comment to him about if you wanted tom make your OMC motor run to its potential it seemed you had to run either a Record, or a Merc prop. Understandably he became somewhat defensive, Ziggy said a few lines, and the jist I got was that he may have been held back from doing what he knew best at OMC. I could be really wrong and off base here, but, if thats not so, how come I could buy a Record, or a Merc prop and gain exactly what Ron said, 8-10 MPH???? We moved on, Ziggy sipped the scotch again looks at Don and says, "Damn this is good booze" I paid Don and drove home to put the prop on and try it out.....
1977 Bristol Embassy Grand Prix was the first time i saw the saffa boats race i got to watch it that year because my engine failed in practise and OMC Brugge didn`t have spares.The race consisted of two races on saturday and two on sunday Molinari himself had a good weekend he won in the OE 3cyl class but did run his engine on nitrous? in the OZ class he won three races Hering followed him round and finished in 2nd place in all 3 races the last race on sunday Hering was in his boat ready to start when Molinaris crew physically lifted him out of his boat with all the spectators watching. Molinari had decided he had enough points to win the race overall without running the last race` now was Hering paid by Molinari or OMC?
Molinari history: Bristol 1977
Yes Steve..I remember Bristol very well..My first race with the Molinari/Volvo Penta/Konig F3/OE and Renato was extremely upset with me..He asked me to give the Molinari boat back to him.. the one I paid big bucks for..!!
I was also slowly understanding that the engine build in West Berlin was pretty
unreliable;)
http://svera.se/blogg/racing-histori...g-racing-1977/
Well..Renato wins the 1980 Rouen 24 Hours in is Molinari/Evinrude CC this time.
Ann Strang sponsored Jerry Waldman and Bobby Hering for years, in kneel down hydros. Jerry was the "STAR" and Bobby was the "Back Up". Waldman and Hering were the "TEAM".
When Bob started driving with OMC Renato was the "Star" and Bobby was the "BACK UP". Truth is, Ann Strang was still probably in control of the "Purse Strings". But, racing ENDRUOS motors sometimes broke. When I raced for OMC I was always given the "SLOWER" motors, but mine were "DEEMED" finishers. Frequently, I finished better than my motor was supposed to finish.
Truth is, Renato got paid well.....everyone else made a lot less. A far as I know the only OMC driver who was ever on "PAY ROLL" was Jimbo. And he was always an "HOURLY" employee.
Thanks for making that clear Ron..
Pretty interesting to read about Molinari´s contract with Mercury in post #21..Renato was promised by Merc to get someone else engine if his broke down at the race..
http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ormation/page3
Molinari F1-V8 two seater race boat.
More mixed F1-V8 pictures here:..http://svera.se/blogg/f1-v8/f1-v8-pictures-mixed/
Was aluminum a better boat or just an experiment?
Interesting to hear Don Hendricks name mentioned i can remember Paul Kalbe head of OMC Brugge racing in 1976 he had props on order from Hendricks for over 18months he wasn`t allowed to buy from anybody other than Hendricks orders from Strang.He tried to run the race team but had a poor selection of props in 1976 they still ran the early 2 liter engines still competitive in some races` i used to test with the props he had available and it could have been much better it goes from bad to worse in early 1977 when the new 2.4 crossflow engine came out for OZ class we used the same props i do know he managed to sneak one or two in i think from Ron Hill but i am sure these were for the 3cyl engines the first order of Hendricks props came in oct 1978 by now the 2.4 engines were history in sprint races because Mercury found much more power from their OZ engines.I always wondered which props Molinari used I am sure he wouldn't wait for 18 months.