Save the Old Race Tales

[NNRT]

Here's a video from the 1986 Liberty Classic on Barnegat Bay. This is my first race after the stuff on Lake Michigan. This was my throttlemans first time in the boat, so it gets a little hairy. T2X did not narrate this one. Narration is by Steve Berger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNZ5eAjERGc

Hey Rob - your speed is off - as it makes the boat look like its going faster than it is - also I can tell from the voice - higher pitched and a quicker cadence than usual - check it out -

Phil

[Toasty]

wow very interesting! is that kurts brother in the heli speaking? awesome run! what did your dad do in the apache?

[smokeybandit]

Hey Rob - your speed is off - as it makes the boat look like its going faster than it is - also I can tell from the voice - higher pitched and a quicker cadence than usual - check it out -

Phil

And I thought I was flying. Now I know why it looks so fast. I just started playing with the software, so it might take me a little time to get the hang of it. You guys must have had the patience of a saint in that editing room.

Phil, my older son said if he hears that music one more time, he's going to throw my videos in the garbage. I told him to me, that music means racing.

[smokeybandit]

wow very interesting! is that kurts brother in the heli speaking? awesome run! what did your dad do in the apache?

Yes, that's Kurt's brother Steve narrating. I can't recall where T2X was that day. Probably searching out a Switzer.

[smokeybandit]

Here's another one. This is Key West 1985. Without a doubt my best personal memory of racing. There is no feeling like winning a world championship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjDZ9JsZz-0

[Toasty]

how are you guys all related? what are you running now?

[smokeybandit]

No relation. My father was the $ man. In the Chris Cat I drove and Kurt throttled. In the Skater I drove and Tom Newman throttled until our accident.

No boat for me right now. Hopefully this summer, but that could be dictated by the economy.

I just took out all my old videos and started converting them to DVD. Once you start watching, it's hard to stop. I can't wait until the individual races are available on DVD from T2X. I hate to always sound like I'm a pitchman for these videos, but if you have never seen any of the videos by NNRT, you have no clue what you are missing. Phil and Rich's passion for the sport comes out in every tape. And for those who race now, I have no idea what the video coverage is like, but it was hard to beat Phil hanging out the chopper almost sitting on your deck, and Rich telling him to get closer.

[NNRT]

haha - Rob- thanks for the compliment - but it was not Richie to tell me to get closer - THAT was MY Idea- many times Rich would ask me- do we have to be that close ? I would say -get closer ! we always tried to get the feeling of being there - the noise, the excitement of the moment - cant pretend to be excited when you see a boat become airborne -(if you are in a studio over narrating) - but if you see it live- you say what you see - and thats what we did !

Turn the music down - when you watch the video - maybe the narration too - as Richie used to ask me- "did you listen to the narration when you editied" - I would tell him NO - heard it once LIVE - I did not want to hear it again - then I would see steam coming out of his ears - enjoyable steam to watch too ! haha !

Our colaboration was just fun - never seemed like work - it was Team work - Richie, the pilot - did most of the work - I just put it together - and one thing I always did- was to upgrade equipment - Chyrons - digital effects- everything - it all started with an idea and a 100 dollar super 8 sound camera - and look what happened- who would have thought I would have all the same equipment of a full blown broadcast format studio - !

The people I met and the places I filmed over the years were priceless - I took a chance going to Argentina in 1978 - or to New Zealand in 1986 - but it paid off - soon I got invitations to go to Japan, Monaco - Dubai - and also film for U.I.M. in Europe- on their PAL format too - all from a simple idea and a few bucks -

Just goes to show - dreams do come true - and thanks to People like Rich Luhrs, and several Vietnam pilots - NNRT became what it was.

Merry Christmas Rob -

Phil

nnrt.films@verizon.net

[nocigarette]

These are the threads that keep classic offshore racing in my bloodstream.....Great job guys and let it be known that people like me really appreciate what you guys are sharing.....

[boatme]

One of the best threads on here

I live in Grand Haven /Spring Lake and the races here are what got me into the sport

I will do some digging through the holidays to find all my pictures from the races back in the 80's

I was out on the water when the race got black flagged do to big seas I think 50 boats started that year and only 15 finished (lots of damage) Keep up the stories and the old vidieo is unbelievable ahhh the good ol days

[NNRT]

One of the best threads on here

I live in Grand Haven /Spring Lake and the races here are what got me into the sport

I will do some digging through the holidays to find all my pictures from the races back in the 80's

I was out on the water when the race got black flagged do to big seas I think 5 boats started that year and only 15 finished (lots of damage) Keep up the stories and the old vidieo is unbelievable ahhh the good ol days

I think it was 1985 - rough water - Arneson was racing Kaama for the win - lots of dammage- I can remember landing our helicopter across the river from the Marina - great location- wonderful people lots of help - great time there - its also the race where I captured a still shot of a compass coming out of a boat - Sheer Terror - Bobby Sheer and his flight marine cat - the Lakes sure can kick up at times -

Phil

[smokeybandit]

One of the best threads on here

I live in Grand Haven /Spring Lake and the races here are what got me into the sport

I will do some digging through the holidays to find all my pictures from the races back in the 80's

I was out on the water when the race got black flagged do to big seas I think 5 boats started that year and only 15 finished (lots of damage) Keep up the stories and the old vidieo is unbelievable ahhh the good ol days

That's one of the videos I can't find. I remember how rough it was. We had a huge lead, but we broke a prop. That lake is just a freshwater ocean. When it's big out there, it's really big.

[Steve 1]

Here's another one. This is Key West 1985. Without a doubt my best personal memory of racing. There is no feeling like winning a world championship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjDZ9JsZz-0

Very nice Job!!

[MikeyFIN]

That's one of the videos I can't find. I remember how rough it was. We had a huge lead, but we broke a prop. That lake is just a freshwater ocean. When it's big out there, it's really big.

Thanks for the Vid..seems you were taking it safe.
And Nice to boot.

Yes all shallow waters sink ships fast...coastlines or lakes or seas.

[Philip]

Okay, my DVD Recorder/VCR is on it's way. I can't wait to convert all of my tapes to DVD. I will try to post some clips and not infringe on anyones copyright. I was watching some great racing between Jesse James, Rolling Thunder and United Racing Engines. Mark Lavin was extremely talented. When Mark was killed in 86, I believe it was like a punch in the gut to the whole sport. That's not meant to take anything away from any of the others whose lives were tragically cut short, but Mark was taking the sport of offshore racing to new levels.

Is this the video of the 4 engine Conquest Rolling Thunder running with Mark and Chris in their 30 Chris Cat?

Philip

[baywatch]

Keep the stories coming!!!

This is what these forums are all about. I loving hearing about the good ol days!!!

[boatme]

That's one of the videos I can't find. I remember how rough it was. We had a huge lead, but we broke a prop. That lake is just a freshwater ocean. When it's big out there, it's really big.

One of the announcers that year was Peter Hledin somthing you dont see much

Some great shots of the YOUNG Peter

I have no idea how to post it on line but i am going to put it on DVD this year to preserve it along with the Systems promotion video i have (real cool ) then maybe i will figure how to Put it on the net

[NNRT]

One of the announcers that year was Peter Hledin somthing you dont see much

Some great shots of the YOUNG Peter

I have no idea how to post it on line but i am going to put it on DVD this year to preserve it along with the Systems promotion video i have (real cool ) then maybe i will figure how to Put it on the net

Peter did narrate for us - actually he asked what he should do- I just said - "Say what you see" - for a quiet guy - he was perfect - He was fun to work with - as he is with boats, a true professional -

Phil

[T2x]

I had dinner with Peter Hledin on New Years night a few weeks ago, and he was remembering his announcing experience. We laughed about the fact that it's a lot harder than it sounds. I always enjoyed listening to other guys try it and hit what I called the "7 minute wall"..... No matter how many notes they brought, nor how many sentences they rehearsed....they basically ran out of things to say after 7 minutes of narration and began to repeat themselves or throw out platitudes like "Wow!" or "Holy cow!".

I was lucky enough to have a stream of consciousness thought process that paralleled the racing action...... and I also was watching the action elsewhere on the course so we knew were to go next in the context of the stories that were unfolding before us.

I am proud of the fact that we did manage to tell a story at each event, rather than providing required footage of specific boats and a vanilla, scripted narrative that was over dubbed later. I was constantly challenged by people who were sure that we did the announcing after the fact....... not true....it was done live, unrehearsed, and unscripted. There were times when Phil wanted me to say something about an owner or boat and it never really worked as well as the spontaneous stuff. If a boat was doing well, I said it...if it was stinking up the course, I either went into a bored monotone or made a joke about it ("We seem to have a navigation problem here folks. One of the crew wants to go left, one wants to go right, and the third wants to go home!")..... We were true to ourselves and, in the end, I'm most proud of that.

On behalf of our pilots Walt Mistyn and Frank DeBoard, our still photographer, Peter Lewis, our executive producer/cameraman, Phil Lewis and our technical advisors Darren Luhrs and Fritz....... This is T2x...wishing y'all........ Good Racing.

[T2x]

By the way....Phil would keep saying "get closer" until fish were swimming in front of his lense..... He never took his eyes out of the camera's focus field, we actually almost went in the drink during the Atlantic City World's and, to this day, I swear, only the pilot, Frank De Board, and I were aware of it, but we got great footage of the sinking boat we were covering. It never dawned on Phil that he was looking up at the drivers on the deck.

T2x