Some Classic Bad A%$ pictures

[Gladhe8er]

He are some pictures your father might want to see. As you probley known back in I think it was 1987 at the race in Michigan a power head blew and cut a gas line the deck of the Black Duck was burning so bad the Coast Guard sunk the Duck to put out the fire. It was the end of August now and we would be going to the Worlds in Key West as National Champ P-1. But had no boat. A new company Malelstrom stepped up to the plate and gave use a boat to run ( Hole anther story) While we ran a couple of differant Maelstroms for a little over a year. During that summer ( I think it was 89) a deck was put on the old Black Duck. I have picture of us rigging it but haven't scanned them yet. Below are the pictures of the new deck on the Shadow. First pic. is the first deck built notice upper deck behind cock pit closed in as E&B marine. Second pic the first time the boat was raced after the fire. I think its Alantic City 89 or 90. Third and fourth pic is after deck change opening up side for air intakes. This is the deck style that we kept till the end of the Black Duck racing career. I think she is still the most winning boat in offshore history

Yes, I remember seeing the pics of the boat burning, although I thought it was in California? Maybe I remember things incorrectly. I remember being down in Key West that year when Nicky was running the Maelstrom with those 2 big Evinrudes. Sadly, I also remember him limping home dragging one of the motors off the transom!

I think it is still the winningest boat of all time. That thing certainly spent all of its 9 lives. I remember seeing the boat in his shop after the deck was ripped off in '93(???) down in Key West. What a mess that was.

Your last pic is a new one to me. I never saw it yellow with blue deck with Boardwalk on the side. Was that after the deck was repaired for "show" in the mid 90's?

P.S. I will show these to my Dad when he gets back from key West in a week or two. Thanks for posting.

[Gladhe8er]

Mike's friend Leo's sweet 32' Midnight.........MIke at the wheel in KW

What year is that boat? Nice lines...

[Mange]

Mike's friend Leo's sweet 32' Midnight.........MIke at the wheel in KW

WOW, that's a sweet boat Look's like a bigger 27 Mag sport, and it's
what it is
Is that Verados?

Mange

[Clustergear]

Not after wreck. After E&B Marine we raced under Boardwalk again till picking up Pennzoil. Here is boat before it was all yellow

[Clustergear]

Whopps forgot to attach pictures

[Sea-Dated]

Mr. Howard Arneson was usually at the events to 'light things up' in his early Alley Cat behind the classic Cig 28.

That 28 Cig is on Grand Lake now and looks like it is new.

[Gladhe8er]

Not after wreck. After E&B Marine we raced under Boardwalk again till picking up Pennzoil. Here is boat before it was all yellow

Hmm, I never saw it as the blue/yellow boat. Reminds me of the old Chris cat "The Galleon."

[Anchored]

The Spirit of Panama and Daddy Cool are the same cig.?

That's right.

Jeff

[NJgr8ful]

The Spirit of Panama and Daddy Cool are the same cig.?

That's right.

Jeff

And currently it's CrazyGreek .. which is for sale

[NJgr8ful]

Nice pics guys! GoCiggie unreal!! Love those SF, CA shots especially Island Runner 41' Apache on West Coast

Thanks for posting!!!

[NJgr8ful]

WOW, that's a sweet boat Look's like a bigger 27 Mag sport, and it's
what it is
Is that Verados?

Mange

Verados .. Yup Mange Looks like a sweet set-up with twin supercharged eggies. Really like those Midnights. This one is Tony's 37' from down in MD. Over on OSO he's known as Enforcer2

Supposedly last 37' closed deck popped from mold.

[NJgr8ful]

Couple few more of Tony's .. he should be finishing up project this spring to take me for a ride!!

How about that custom logo?? "When it absolutely, positively, has to get across the GulfStream overnight"

[NJgr8ful]

Here's a 41' ME that was on eBay not long ... got some chit for posting it for all to see, but the threads are still down in the Midnight Owners Section or For Sale Section.

Didn't hit RESERVE at $21K

[chris sunsation]

Interesting...

My Dad sold his Shadow Cat to Nicky. Nicky still does all of the work on my AT, my brother's Fountain and my Dad's Progression. I cranked a bunch of beers with him Columbus Day weekend after I got kicked off the lake for noise. Here are pics of "The Duck" as it originally looked.

This boat is where the Aero/Predator cat came from I believe Sparky at Vicious has the molds now. Nicky owned the boat and it caught fire at the Port Huron, Michigan Race. Klemm leased the boat from Nicky and pulled a mold off of it. My Dad went against his better judgement and bought the first one, fast boat but Klemm had no clue. My dad and Wayne (Sunsation) re-did the entire boat. It was a fun boat with big turbo motors and Arneson Drives that boat moved!

[Gladhe8er]

This boat is where the Aero/Predator cat came from I believe Sparky at Vicious has the molds now. Nicky owned the boat and it caught fire at the Port Huron, Michigan Race. Klemm bought the boat from Nicky and pulled a mold off of it. If you know Nicky I'm sure you heard how Klemm treated him. My Dad went against his better judgement and bought the first one, fast boat but Klemm had no clue. My dad and Wayne (Sunsation) re-did the entire boat. It was a fun boat with big turbo motors and Arneson Drives that boat moved!

Actually I am not sure who Klemm is. After The Shadow spent its ninth life, Nicky bought a 32 skater and ran that as Pennzoil/Mercury Racing for a few years. When it came time to sell the skater, he threw in the old shadow cat to get the deal done(it was a "showpiece" at this time with dummy motors). Was this the sale to Klemm? Since then I have seen the Shadow on Ebay and about a year ago somebody popped up on OSO and said they had it and were refinishing it. The Shadow cat/Chris Cats spawned the American Offshore and Awesome cats. If this guy Klemm popped a mold off the old Black Duck/Pennzoil, good for him because that boat was effed up! Any pictures of the boat you had? Who was the official manufacturer on the bill of sale?

[Clustergear]

I not going into to much detail as don't remember the whole story. And don't want to give wrong information out. There was some guy in NJ that bourght the Shadow molds. Nicky had a a guy who was sponsoring the boat and he was the driver. He sold some kind of sports wear and sunglasses & had Limo company.. He was going to buy the boat, full of **** never came up with any money. The boat was in yard in NJ between races and he took it to a race without Nicky's permission. Nicky didn't even known. Till he crashed at the race. That guy took it to the guy who had molds to repair it. Didnt pay the guy. Nicky didn't known where boat was. The guy who had the molds called Nicky and Nicky when down settled up with him and got boat back. OK the scum bag still had one of Nicky's trucks hidden in warehouse in northern NJ. After we found out were warehouse was. Nicky and one of the guys I work with who the scum bag didn' know waited for him to open. Than Jeffery went in and came with the truck. That may answer some question. There was someone in NJ who was going to build Shawdows. If I remember right when the 32 Skater was sold I think to someone in western NY

[Clustergear]

OK Now about poping the mold Nicky and I were just talking trying to remember some of the old history of the Duck. You got it right about someone making a mold of the Duck. When the boat burned in Michigan some one leased the burned hull from Nicky can't remember the name. While we were racing the Maelstroms for Bernie Rice & Mike Gorletz (may have name mispelled) the guy made some changes to the bottom of boat andmade a mold. Nicky got the hull back after he was done. Think the new boats made from hull of shadow were called Action or something like that. Remember all this was about 20 years ago so just going be menory which isn't that great these days.. Do know if the guy in NJ that had the real Shadow Molds ever build any boat. Me be someone could let us know.

[SHARKEY-IMAGES]

Do know if the guy in NJ that had the real Shadow Molds ever build any boat. Me be someone could let us know.

Yes.
If I recall correctly I think Bill Gazell may have got a real light one from him. Another 21 vee was built also. I remember it coming to the shop with the whole one side of the bottom that appeared to have pre-released from the mold and had a nasty hook in it. It had to be sent back to be repaired.

Since those days, I know someone that took ownership of the 21 and the 30 ft cat molds. Built one 21 and just held onto the molds at that point. They were stored in a warehouse in Manasquan, NJ.

Now I was under a different impression about Penzoil. I thought the boat was badly damaged and someone from Canada picked it up to restore it... I went through many emails with the guy and pics. I would have to look back to see if I still have them...

[chris sunsation]

OK Now about poping the mold Nicky and I were just talking trying to remember some of the old history of the Duck. You got it right about someone making a mold of the Duck. When the boat burned in Michigan some one leased the burned hull from Nicky can't remember the name. While we were racing the Maelstroms for Bernie Rice & Mike Gorletz (may have name mispelled) the guy made some changes to the bottom of boat andmade a mold. Nicky got the hull back after he was done. Think the new boats made from hull of shadow were called Action or something like that. Remember all this was about 20 years ago so just going be menory which isn't that great these days.. Do know if the guy in NJ that had the real Shadow Molds ever build any boat. Me be someone could let us know.

The name of the company was Aero and you are correct the one we had was actually stretched 1 foot and it took an aweful lot to make that boat right. I was under the impression that he was supposed to build Nicky a boat and screwed him over. It was over 20 years ago the year of my dad's was a 1989. Aero was sold to Bob Metzler and renamed Predator. Later the original owner of Aero Jim Klemm started Awesome, I don't know how he got the molds he used to build the Awesome (Chris Cat). I'll see if I can come up with some pictures to post of our boat. We ran the boat on Lake Saint Clair in Michigan and the boat was called Campbell's Sloop I believe the boat is now in the Charleviox Michigan area now.

[Gladhe8er]

Now I was under a different impression about Penzoil. I thought the boat was badly damaged and someone from Canada picked it up to restore it... I went through many emails with the guy and pics. I would have to look back to see if I still have them...

The Pennzoil Shadow was sold to the guy in Western NY along with the 32 Skater. A few years ago he put it on eBay. I wrote to him but did not recieve a response. I'm not sure if he was being completely honest about teh boats history. After the deck was ripped off in KW in teh early 90's the boat was reassembled to be a showpiece...never to be raced again. Then, about a year ago somebody from Canada started a thread on OSO about the boat saying he had it and was going to restore it. I wrote to him as well with no response.

Oh BTW, very shady story down in NJ with this boat. Unbelievable that somebody would race the boat without Nicky knowing it!