Ron Hill Family: Hill Marine and Signature Propellers

[Ron Hill]

Morgan City promoted a 225 Enduro in the spring of 1976. My Starter Wife and I flew down to New Orleans, then drove to Morgan City. While in Morgan City, Ziggy from OMC gave me a ride down to the pits. On the way to the pits, Ziggy asked me why I drove for OMC. (He was expecting a long answer as to what a "Hot Shot" driver I was. Instead, I just said, "Charlie's mother likes me." That was a good enough answer for Ziggy.

While in Morgan City I talked to Gary Garbrecht and asked where the 55-H gearcase patterns were as I wanted to buy them. By the end of the weekend, Gary agreed to build 50 gearcases, with me buying 25, 12 assembled and 13 in pieces. On the phone after Morgan City, we decided Mercury should buid the 402 XS.



I picked up 402 XS 001 Serial number in August of 1976, at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I later broke both kilo records for 35 SS Hydro and Runabout.

This is the Scotti I drove in Morgan City.

[Ron Hill]

Michael Mackey sent me this today. Mike, thank for finding this picture. It was on the back cover of Sports Illustrated April or May 1978. I have Googled looking for this picture but finally gave up. Two things about it: Fred Hauenstein is actually driving, which is ironic because we did catch on fire at the pit stop, Fred never drove the boat until it was partially burned, but maybe Evinrude touched up the picture. Also, this was quite a blow to my sponsor, as his name was BRAD MILLER, NOT Brad Wilson. Brad owned Crazy Horse Campgrounds and the Del Taco chain, 92 Mexican restaurants. This ad ended Brad's relationship with Evinrude.

[Ron Hill]

We were out to Needles a few weeks ago and we went up to Oatman. I found a funnel in little store up there that I think my dad made in the late 1940's. The funnel is offset so when you fueled the old outboards the "Spilled" fuel would not run onto the flywheel and get into the points. My dad was one of the few, in those days to solder a screen in his funnel to keep water out. If this wasn't "OUR" funnel, it was Austin Secor's from Needles, as my dad and Austin were good friends, and my dad might have made him a funnel.

[Ron Hill]

Ron Hill Chris White, Tom Schwartz, Max McPeek and Vic Brinkman came to Needles for the 1966 Marathon Nationals. After the Nationals they came and stayed at my parent's home. My parents left for a three week vacation. I had just graduated from college and and had made money painting houses before the Nationals , then I won about $1,500 at the Nationals. So I had money and many of my Northern Arizona University friends were from California, SO we started having parties. Everyday, I had at least one keg delivered to my folks house. After the Michigan "BOYS" went home....their lives being changed forever, my parents came home and said, "Gee, we don't remember the carpets being this dirty, we'd better buy new rugs." That was a "CLOSE CALL" but the funniest part, the liquor store I bought the kegs (about 20) sent my dad a calendar every year....and every year my dad would say, "Funny, you know I've never been in this liquor store." Pictures later.

[Ron Hill]

We used to "Test" on Saturday behind Sam's Sea Food, as the Mercury Distributorship was in the building next to Sam's. This is Danny Morehouse, who's dad built all the famous Morehouse Boats. 184-C is my first boat a Terrill Runabout given to me by Ken Scoffield.

[Ron Hill]

At the first Mini Enduro, I built a fiber glass C Runabout with a MOD VP bottom. I made a bottom water pick up nose cone and I think we led the first lap. Bill Sandberg was racing the Mini Enduro and he has said for 30 years he thought John Castelli was sitting in a lawn chair when he came by him as his knees were up to his chin. You can see the boat really had a seat in it.

Looking at my other "TOYS" no wonder I was always broke....

[Ron Hill]

My dad had inspected Mercury Outboard Motors from the time they started racing. What he loved about the Mercury Motors was the fact they really were all the same. So my dad made special tools to be able to inspect the motor and keep motors "STOCK". As boat racing in the Mercury Division was called Stock Outboard Racing. NASCAR, today still keeps the word "S" as in Stock in the name. NASCAR has always tired to keep people honest.

An area my dad didn't like is how people were called for "GUN JUMPING". After being "SCREWED" out of the Nationals in D Runabout, 1960, my dad made it his quest to fix BS calls. My dad used a bar-b-que spit motor, a Gilmer belt to run the clock and solenoid from a '55 Chevy, and hooked up his Polaroid camera to take picture when the clock hit 60.

We often joked that there was no such thing as a perfect start, you were either late or over. And that was pretty much the truth until my dad got the camera going in Region 12.

We used the camerea for years. This was Lake Los Angeles, 1973. This is probably the only photo left from hundreds that SCOA took. Rod Zapf was long gone over the line, Ed Peters, was almost legal. Had I not hit a roller and "POPPED" the nose, I'd have been over. It might be Teddy Whalen or Roger Hewson in my rooster Tail. The camera saved me that day!

[Ron Hill]

8 mins · Edited ·


Sometimes you have a boat you just love. I bought this 20 foot Ron Jones tunnel in mid 1970 from Hillside Sports, they were a Mercury dealer and no one was to be able to buy Jones Boats but Mercury dealers. Bottom Line: Gil Lerma was a friend, he managed Hillside Sports and he sold me the boat. We rigged it in a hurry and went to Galveston, May, 1970, and we managed to set it up too high and burned both motors down.
The next race was the Elsinore 500. I led until I broke a crankshaft. I left after I broke down, and flew to Paris, France. It was only after I landed in Paris that I found out Lou Brumett of Mandella Boats had been killed in the 500.
We went to Havasu that November and the Jones was running 108 MPH and the best OMC twin engine boat was running 92 MPH. I came around 4th on the first lap Joe Fielder "Stuffed" his Glastron-Molinari.
On the restart I ran 3rd or 4th for almost an hour just keeping the leaders in sight and one of my gearcases fell off. Team OMC replaced the gearcase and I really started running the Jones hard, by the two hour mark I was back in the top ten. But another gearcase fell off, the studs just sheared. at the end of three hours, I lost another gearcase and right at four hours I lost the 4th case. I was still in the top ten at the endo of four hours.
OMC said, they would not give me gearcases for Sunday, that they were committed to racing single engine from then on. I never loved single engine racing like I loved my 20 foot Ron Jones.
I sold the boat to Doug Fielder to make into a KT, and he was killed driving his GN at Elsinore. The boat was at Nordskog Marine for years. Bob Nordskog tried to give the boat to me because it was in my name. I told him it was Doug's. I don't know what ever happened to that boat.
It cost more than my house at the time.

[Ron Hill]

I was a "Stud" in those years, 1967. This is the first posted picture since October 7, 2015 on www.Boatracingfacts.com . Liquidweb finally figured out what they had done wrong.

[Ron Hill]

I had met Ted March in 1967, OMC had recruited him to ride with me in my 17 foot Glastron with twin EVINRUDES. In 1977, Ted March contacted me and bought a prop. He told me he worked for Playboy and could I bring the prop up to LA to a Playboy Party. At this time, I didn't know he had riden with me in 1967.