Trivia Question

[march3stv]

Ron,

Can you name these guys?

Where?

What year?

Good luck with the new site!

[Danny McManus]

...looks like Ron Hill at the wheel, I love that blue windscreen!!!

[Ron Hill]

I'm guess the motor is a 1981, because the picture I'm going to post says, "March 1981" on the back...

That was my 19 Foot Eliminator Daytona with an engine my dad built. We were on the same lap as the leader after the first day, but throttle wire trouble casued me to lose time, but I was fast.

The driver is me, the Old Man, is my dad, the the other is Ted March.

I pulled into the pits when my throttle cable pulled out, new boat, I had not adjusted the stop on the gas pedal correctly. Howard Pipkorn, went into the water to his neck helping me wring the throttle... (Thanksgiving at Havasu is always cold...it took Howard two days to get warm).

When I put the boat on the trailer, I was angry as all get out about the throttle wring, then Freddy Hartman walked up and asked how much for the rig? (Boat, motor and trailer)... I said like $14,000 figuring I'd just built it for less than $7,000. He handed me $5,000 in cash, as a deposit, and ask if I'd drive with him at Parker in the spring....

Here is a picture of Ted March, at Parker. (1981) Jerry Gilbreath and I had driven together. We led MOD VP for awhile, then trashed a prop and gearcase... Ted could never believe all the good equipment that got ruined at Parker....

OK, who held the FH, single engine Kilo record in 1964 of 54.393 with an Allison and a Mercury???? Boat number was H-111

[march3stv]

Can you give me a hint?

[Ron Hill]

Wasn't looking for this picture... but this is after the first day's racing at Havasu (1981)... My dad, Freddy Hauenstein, John Soares...Freddy was telling we were fast....wanted to know what the OLD MAN had done to the EVINRUDE....considering, he knew we had NO CONNECTION with OMC at that time, but our competition did...

[Ron Hill]

Ken Cree owned the PDQ Market in Parker, Arizona...in the OLD DAYS, you got your pit assignment by when your entry was handed in...Of course, Marion Beaver lived in Parker and Owned the Ford Dealership, and he liked to start first, so he helped establish this rule...

Well, when Ken started sponsoring us, he'd go down the day before and camp out in front of the chhamber of Commerence wo we'd get number one..after a year or two of this, they changed the rule about pit location...

We did run those "CLUB FEET" high, considering no front water pick ups...Actually caling a STOCK GEARCASE a "CLUB FOOT" is probably not politically correct...

She'd run 94 with 50 gallons on board...

Interesting and I won't go there, but I called this prop a "CLEAPER"....some note that the MERCURY PROP called a Bravo One that looks like a "CLEAPER" with a fourth blade...As I said, I won't go there...but pictures from 1981 prove this prop was around before the BRAVO DRIVE!!!!

For you kneeler who tell me you can't race a STOCK FOOT...remember, I made a slip on tube to prevent "BLOW OUT" and we made a cresent Nose cone so the case would handle...we also turned left with a right hand propeller...something flat bottoms do all the time, something A, B and C Alkie did for years....ONLY C SERVICE ran left hand in the old days, and that class was reserved for GENTLEMEN..at least that is what Jimmy Hauenstein told me when he won the C Service Nationals...

[Ron Hill]

If you note the transom on the PDQ boat, that Fred Hartman bought from me, you will see it was made from aluminum and bolts...

I saw one of these boats at Eliminator Factory and told Bob Leach, owner of Eliminator, that that 19 would "Haul the Mail" with an outboard....He informed me he had no money to make new tooling... I said, "I could make a transom with aluminum and it would work fine..." Bob said if it worked he's give me aboat... It worked and he gave me a boat...

Here is picture of the first Eliminator with an Outboard on it. John Daley owned this boat. He now heads up the Unlimited Races at San Diego. John and Bill Muncey were great friends. When I raced with John, Bill made me promise to to get John hurt....ironic, becasue right after this race is when Bill was killed...

This first transom was "HELL FOR STOUT" somew hat like 20-H leg, with braces going over the transom down to the stringers...Later, we figured the trtansom didn't need to be that strang, so we dropped the over the transom supports (You can see them in the picture)...

I explained how thses transoms worked to Jake GIlbreath, he went home and made the Gil Brackets, which he sold more than a million dollars worth in Florida, the next year to big ocean boats...No hard feels, good ideas ain't it, work is...Jake did the work!!!

A little irony here... I had built a motor for this boat, which I blwe up three times...Bill Muncey loaned John and I a motor for the race..it was a Stoker Motor, Stoker was still runing V Hulls, and we went right by him..Stoker won Mod Vp this day, but two weeks later was his last V hull ride....I won Puddingstone in the boat, while Al ended up upside down...(It was one of those racing things...no hard feelings...)The Stoker SST by Baker really started on this day!!!

[Ted March]

You ever run a race boat that had lites and chocks and seats for four and fully padded and played all day and barefooted behind it and went out in the evening with your beautiful wife and you three kids and got caught in a storm at low tide and waited it out and finally made it home and it was a 15'2" boat built by the master. Paul Allison. And the year was 1964. And the next year won Albany to NY 1965 in it's class and finished 2nd to Bill Coombs (this is a test) in 1966. Three years down that river took it's toll on the old boy, but that's what we did. And Checkmate biult a 16' V in 1966. And we led, in class till we hit Havastraw Bay and he just blew by us. Back to 1965 Don Raby won JJ, he said it was like roller skakting on a rail road track. (check it NY Times).

I'm just ramblin and havin fun. Was just scrolling thru and started looking at this tread. Sure was a bunch of fun. Thanks to all.

[Ron Hill]

When you look at my 19 foot Eliminator, how high must I have had the transom set....??? The motor was up to the stars...

That blue wind shield was "COOL"...

Chad wore that driver's suit of mine at this year'seker Enduro....Kind of cool!!!