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Inflation has hit everywhere but boat racing
- Thread starter T2x
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T2x
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It was called JJ class,twin engines 99 Cu.In ea or smaller. Hulls in this class raced all over the country in the 60's (Albany to NY, Around Long Island, St Louis to Memphis, Chicago to New Buffalo, Chicago to Milwaukee, etc, etc, etc......) At that time the cats were superior to anything else. This was right before the "wings" and the "deep vees" arrived. So your option was a flat bottomed monohull that would pound your fillings out and not run as fast as the cats (sound familiar?)
I raced one of those hulls (15 foot Powercat) with a pair of 100's (those are 80's in the picture) in 1964 ( Albany-NY, Chicago-New Buffalo (yep...on Lake Michigan), .etc, etc). We also raced on 1 to 5mile closed courses on lakes and rivers and "major" events like the Orange Bowl 9 hour marathon, Havasu 6 and 8 hour marathons... Later I raced in the two vees (pictured below)..and finally George Linder and I raced Eltros (also shown below)in the twin outboard classes. In fact I raced the Eltro pictured from Milwaukee to Chicago and back in 1968...,(again on Lake Michigan)..... and did it without a co-driver.
Speeds back then for these hulls were 60-75 mph, but they were quite small and the conditions were at times brutal.
T2x
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T2x
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Some more real racing shots.........
The first is another shot of that early "cat race" in about 1961...........you will notice that the boat in the foreground, Chuck Mercereau's #40, was the previous winner of the St Louis to New Orleans race........ I believe that's about 1100 miles.
The second picture is the St Louis Tunnel boat Grand Prix in 1977. That's only one class folks. By the way, I'm in the picture...
The bottom picture is the Mercury factory racing team executing a pit stop at Parker AZ. The race boats actually came in every 1.5 hours, refueled and changed drivers..... This was a 9 hour marathon on a 16 mile course on the Colorado River.
T2x
The first is another shot of that early "cat race" in about 1961...........you will notice that the boat in the foreground, Chuck Mercereau's #40, was the previous winner of the St Louis to New Orleans race........ I believe that's about 1100 miles.
The second picture is the St Louis Tunnel boat Grand Prix in 1977. That's only one class folks. By the way, I'm in the picture...
The bottom picture is the Mercury factory racing team executing a pit stop at Parker AZ. The race boats actually came in every 1.5 hours, refueled and changed drivers..... This was a 9 hour marathon on a 16 mile course on the Colorado River.
T2x
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Magicfloat
Charter Member
I love this thread.Keep posting Rich:sifone:
Perlmudder
New member
ApachePete
Charter Member
More EVIDENCE that Rich doesn't know anything about offshore racing, because he clearly has less experience than the "experts" on this board who question/challenge/belittle him. :sifone:
He's just an ol' Arm-Chair Racer, with no real credentials.
He's just an ol' Arm-Chair Racer, with no real credentials.
Ratickle
Founding Member / Super Moderator
I have no idea, maybe when the guys get back from Biloxi we can find out....
SteveDavid
Icon / Competitor
Rich,
We'll always have Corpus Best to Darren,
U-1
We'll always have Corpus
Best to Darren,U-1
Ratickle
Founding Member / Super Moderator
Rich,
We'll always have Corpus
U-1
About time you made an appearance, where the heck have you been?
Jassman
Charter Member
Rich,
We'll always have Corpus
U-1
Welcome to the board..Steve.:sifone:
More EVIDENCE that Rich doesn't know anything about offshore racing, because he clearly has less experience than the "experts" on this board who question/challenge/belittle him. :sifone:
He's just an ol' Arm-Chair Racer, with no real credentials.
I would guess his trailers have spent more time in the water than most of our boats!
DaveP
Charter Member
Rich,
We'll always have Corpus
U-1
Steve - WELCOME!!! I'll have to find that Masengil picture you liked so much being that you are here now!
Best Regards,
Dave
T2x
Icon/Charter Member
It was about 3 hours....but I'll have to check my old files to be specific.
Linder ran it the year before on the reverse course Chicago-Milwaukee-Chicago.
T2x
T2x
Icon/Charter Member
The biggest cost in race budgets in the 80's was TV. Typically we had a $75,000-$100,000 budget for the National Races, and the announcers, camermen, and producers were paid quite well plus nice travel and per diem perks. There were multiple helicopters and additional footage was purchased from high quality camera crews like Phil Lewis & Co. (who were there on a separate cash flow from the racers). Since then the cost of all phases of TV production has come down dramatically..... That's why I don't find it so intriguing anymore
.Seriously, you can probably get a broadcast ready show done today for $20,000 or so including a single dedicated helicopter and spaces in some of the team choppers. The announcers are no longer the network guys like Crippen and Eckman (Both of whom represent the best). This cost will escalate a bit if and when real series sponsors step up to the plate and demand higher production values and more viewership through actual national motorsports networks.
As far as prize money is concerned, the bad habit of donating winnings back to the race sites (started when the teams had "excess" cash from questionable sources and continued to this day ) has set the sport back in that the purses would be very valuable in attracting and keeping truly professional racers interested. It also started the worse habit of race promoters never having the cash in the first place. This is what started the trail of bad checks in other areas as well.
T2x
T2x
Icon/Charter Member
Rich,
We'll always have Corpus
U-1
Gotta love that "U-1" designation. It's great that we have at least one guy on here with a championship that actual means something.......
And you have such cute dimples too......
We will always have Corpus......
T2x
T2x
Icon/Charter Member
On that topic....... At Lake George one year we actually launched a guy's boat into a motel pool....trailer and all. Billy Martin was involved, but he now claims a memory loss in that regard....
T2x
T2x
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While on the Topic of Mr. Steve David
The most fun I ever had as a host of anything........ TV or live...had to have been the APBA Annual Banquet that Steve and I co-hosted.
There is video somewhere and it was, arguably, the funniest event in the history of Offshore Racing. At various points in the evening I swear we both channeled Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and the Marx Brothers ....and Steve finally overcame his lifelong shyness.....
T2x
The most fun I ever had as a host of anything........ TV or live...had to have been the APBA Annual Banquet that Steve and I co-hosted.
There is video somewhere and it was, arguably, the funniest event in the history of Offshore Racing. At various points in the evening I swear we both channeled Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and the Marx Brothers ....and Steve finally overcame his lifelong shyness.....
T2x
T2x
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Yes it is in early September......... and we will definitely be there this year.
