Bill and Mary Koch: BU Boaters
It has been awhile since I have written any real BS, Big Stories, but some how Bill and Mary Koch's name popped into may head.
Bill was kind of tall and lanky with red hair and side burns. Had he worn a cowboy hat he'd have looked like a cowboy, don't recall what his wife looked like, but I once escorted their daught to a school dance.
Bill had raced B Hydro with a Swift, I think, with little success. My dad was trying to help him, and talked them into buying a new DeSilva. His wife, Mary was going to race the new DeSilva in AU, all stock runabouts in those days had open cockpits for a front seat.
Bill got the new DeSilva and went to Long Beach to test.
About two days later he stopped by our house and he looked like he'd been in a hell of a fight and lost. My Old Man asked him if he wanted some boxing lessons?
Bill said, "No, I was testing at Long Beach and hit a ski boat roller and I went so high in the air that when I came down I sheared a pin, and I flew into the front seat. Just as I was grabbing to hang on a piece of the shearping that was still in the prop shaft caught the prop and threw me into the back seat, as I grabbed the steering wheel, that part of the pin sheared or flew out and into the front seat I went again.....
Now that is a NO **** STORY!
Our first race that year was at Carlsbad, and in BU, Bill broke out front with his new DeSilva, and Hill Mark 20-H. He'd never been in the lead before, and lead almost all the way to the first turn. Bill kept looking over his shoulder like asking when is everyone going to pass me??? He was pulling ahead. It appeared from the shore that he reached back and pulled his spark lever and the boat stopped and everyone passed him.
Bill raced A and B Runabout at Long Beach about a month later. But I never saw Bill and Mary again. Some people go to races to have fun. Some people go to races to win.
The story of the shear pin has been stuck in my mind for 53 years.
Berghauers, Jimmy Dean, Ted May and Jimbo...
I have trying to figure out where to post this but decided Big Stories is probably the best place.
I pretty much traveled the whole summer of 1967, the last race we went to was Essex, Maryland for the Stock Nationals. Stocks were still big on those days as guys like Jerry Waldman and Bobby Herring would show up and run the Nationals, usually in the Hedlund Marine equipment.
I was defending Champion is DSR but had sold my boat and was running my marathon boat. I did finish second to Don Pontius. I had no D Hydro so I borrow Buzz Godfried's Sid. I went over and measured the Berghauer's air traps and cut mine to match (Borrowed boat but what the heck, Berghauers knew their stuff...).
Bottom line, I got to the first turn first and Dewey Berghauer saw the New York numbers on my deck and figured he'd just pinch me off at the first bouy....About the time Dewey started to squeeze me, I dumped my sponson and the spray damn near blew Dewey out of the boat. By the time he recovered I'd won the heat. It was only in inspection after the second heat, that Dewey figured out that New York boat was me.
As it turned out I was the SLOWEST qualifier in the finals. The Berghauer were the CLASS of the field...In fact they ran 1, 2 and 3 in CSH in the finals and Dewey and Dee moved over to let brother Denis win as it was his equipment....No matter they were FAST and LEGAL...
In D Hydro we had like four restarts, and every time I was last. My Old Man said, "Let's get your motor inspected and head for California..." I said, "No, I'm going to win this thing..." Next restart Denis Berghauer and I pile into each other in the second turn and I knock a hole in my side chine and sponson chine and my props chewed a hole in Denis's boat..
My old man is cold, wet and tired...No more boat gas and now I've wrecked a borrowed boat.
We when we restart, I start legal because I know I'm SLOW...BUT I START PASSING GUYS. I end up with a 5th overall behind Dewey and Denis Berghauer....and one blade looks like a 575 wing. I never straighten that blade but won probably 25 D Hydros races with if after Essex, Maryland...
Two weeks later...Deny, Dewey, and I are in New York when we met Jimmy Dean! Mr. Big, Bad John...
I Think You Straightened Me Out
I think you straightened me out on this before. It seemed we ran D Hydros for two hours, and the last heat was very "DUSK"...I did get a trophy, after being the slowest boat in the race and I feel it was becasue my prop got bent on Deny's boat.