Breakthrough cat.

[T2x]

Esay Rich not trying to rile you up what I mean there were alot of claims for alot of things back then that really had no merit to them....I remember the interview and was chuckling abit as it played along.....You guys should bring back the blooper reels of those days....Now I would pay alot to see those!!!!!

What you really want to hear are the arguments that Phil and I had........

It usually started with Phil saying into my ear piece in the helicopter----or on a dock.... "Richie...at the risk of annoying you.....etc, etc"........

Have him tell you about what I did with a rental car in Northern Michigan when one of our crew wanted to stop for cigarettes.

There are dozens of other Kodak moments that will be forever lost in the NNRT archives. The bottom line is that we were both passionate and, some might say, talented in a quirky way. We fought like cats and dogs but the result was often worth it. Later on when I got to sit in voice over studios at production companies for ESPN, Speedvison, Prime, MSG, etc..... it became slicker and more professional and I learned a lot, but Nothing beats the raw, honest realism of those original live to tape airborne moments. No video today compares to it...and probably ever will.

T2x

[Jamie B.]

Why? The Apache Cat was a pretty good hull especially for the era.

T2x

Can you recall any races that one did ok in ? I seem to remember...maybe one...?

[Sean Stinson]

It was a champion back in 86 I believe.....Lorne Liebel's boat ran well in 89 and just missed a championship!!!!!

[T2x]

It was a champion back in 86 I believe.....Lorne Liebel's boat ran well in 89 and just missed a championship!!!!!

That is not exactly correct. The '86 boat was a shaky wooden prototype and raced only a limited schedule. It also was in a stuffing accident in the Rochester, NY race that almost killed Bobby Saccenti. In fact Ben borrowed Sal Magluta's Cougar for the final '86 regular season race.

An Apache Cat, owned by a New England electrical contractor ("Wildcat" I think?) did win a Championship. Lorne's hulls were also quite competitive and one races to this day. I clearly remember watching Bobby Idoni throttle one of the glass Apache Cats in a rough race in Michigan and being very impressed with the rough water it was getting over and the speed it was maintaining. I also remember being very impressed with Idoni in that race as he never let the bow come up and kept the boat completely out of harm's way.

T2x

[Sean Stinson]

Harold Street or Streep wasn't it & Smitty throttled it I believe!!! I just remember seeing the US-1 logo on one of Kramers glass cats with the small canopies on it....I have pics of Bobby being pulled out of the water in Rochester with Benny on the deck of the boat washing up on shore all busted up

[Dude! Sweet!]

Harold Street or Streep wasn't it & Smitty throttled it I believe!!! I just remember seeing the US-1 logo on one of Kramers glass cats with the small canopies on it....I have pics of Bobby being pulled out of the water in Rochester with Benny on the deck of the boat washing up on shore all busted up

Sean, were you at that race? That was the first offshore race I'd ever been to ('86 seems like it was up in Charlotte but a million beers have gone through my brain since then) Typical of being at an event, we didn't really have a clue what happened until we read the paper the next day. Even though I'm a Pacific Ocean boater now, you'll never hear me talk sh*t about the Great Lakes not being "real offshore" they'll break your ass just as quick as the ocean (maybe quick if you consider that the conditions seem to be capable of changing more rapidly). Prior to that, the only "real" boat racing I'd see were hydros on Onondaga Lake.

[NNRT]

Sean - his name was Dave Street- he owned an electric company in New Hampshire -

Richie - Thanks for the words- you always are good with words - too bad i never listened to you when editing - i would just turn off the sound and go for what I saw ! think I head enough when in the Chopper ! haha ! anyway - fun doing it all - and you were quite a Challenge - do you remember what color a bouy was in California - I can remember you and my brother Peter arguing about what color it was - i said to myself - WHO CARES ! hah !

As for the story in Rochester about buying Cigarettes for Dave Herbert - well- all i can remember is: I am not Thirsty ! - you can tell the story- others might enjoy it -

Phil

[Sean Stinson]

Sean, were you at that race? That was the first offshore race I'd ever been to ('86 seems like it was up in Charlotte but a million beers have gone through my brain since then) Typical of being at an event, we didn't really have a clue what happened until we read the paper the next day. Even though I'm a Pacific Ocean boater now, you'll never hear me talk sh*t about the Great Lakes not being "real offshore" they'll break your ass just as quick as the ocean (maybe quick if you consider that the conditions seem to be capable of changing more rapidly). Prior to that, the only "real" boat racing I'd see were hydros on Onondaga Lake.

I was there and if memory serves me correct they had made a last minute decision to run the cat instead of the V bottom boat all in all Bobby Saccenti suffered a basil skull fracture and is the only one to survive that kind of injury Rich has more input on that I believe!!!

[Sean Stinson]

Sean - his name was Dave Street- he owned an electric company in New Hampshire -

Richie - Thanks for the words- you always are good with words - too bad i never listened to you when editing - i would just turn off the sound and go for what I saw ! think I head enough when in the Chopper ! haha ! anyway - fun doing it all - and you were quite a Challenge - do you remember what color a bouy was in California - I can remember you and my brother Peter arguing about what color it was - i said to myself - WHO CARES ! hah !

As for the story in Rochester about buying Cigarettes for Dave Herbert - well- all i can remember is: I am not Thirsty ! - you can tell the story- others might enjoy it -

Phil

You're right Phil I was thinking of Smitty when I was typing and typed his real name instead....Its that whole thing of typing slower than you think or something like that....

[Sean Stinson]

Here's a link to Liebels Apache Cat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc4kK...eature=related

[Sean Stinson]

Sorry Rich I just had to do it to you I couldn't resist after finding this......I will take all the onslaught from you my friend....I just cant resist!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf_-H...eature=related

[Dude! Sweet!]

I was there and if memory serves me correct they had made a last minute decision to run the cat instead of the V bottom boat all in all Bobby Saccenti suffered a basil skull fracture and is the only one to survive that kind of injury Rich has more input on that I believe!!!

Ask my buddy Shawn ("Insurance God" on OSO) (who's parents inexplicably saw fit to spell his name phonetically rather than correctly) about living through a basal skull fracture... But I agree, incredibly low odds of survival.

I thought the guys who have that yellow "Apache" cat (with the cockpit back towards the stern) have had it running pretty decent over the last decade?

Thanks for those video links... NJPPC has some great stuff up on youtube! I know what I'll be doing on my next two hour conference call...

[Sean Stinson]

I wasnt aware that he survived one as well......god bless him!!!!! Now we need to teach his parents how to spell correctly

[Dude! Sweet!]

I wasnt aware that he survived one as well......god bless him!!!!! Now we need to teach his parents how to spell correctly

Yup, he's 10 feet tall and bullet proof.

[mark30h]

I was at the Rochester NY race. I believe it was called the Coca Cola 313 or something like that. It was run out of Sodus Point, east of Rochester.

I remember that it was absolutely freezing cold that day. I think it was only about 15 minutes into it when the race was called after the Kramer/Saccenti crash.

An aqauintance had their 21 Liberator out on the lake to watch the races up close. Came in with the swim platform dragging off the transom after the beating it took on the lake that day.

[Dude! Sweet!]

I was struggling to remember if it was Charlotte or Sodus. I was 15 then (just before my 16th b-day)... Now I'm an old fart who can't remember anything! At least I'm told I still don't look a day over 50!

[catmando]

Mr Arneson likes that color combination, He had a boat called Sea Sweep at the old Bushmills race.

I like it too.

[chewiekw]

Didn't Gentry start using his own version of the Arneson drive? I think it was Gentry surface drive?