ICON's: Please tell the story of Cary Marine

[rbhudelson]

Top Banana and Brownie, I would love to read your account of Cary Marine's involvement in the early days of offshore racing. I have a Cary 50 and have heard great, but unverified, stories of Cary's involvement.

many thanks in advance,
Brad

[Top Banana]

Elton Cary was a friend of Don Aronows' and when Don sold Magnum, he was restricted from starting another boat building company for a few years. Don asked Elton Cary to build him a new race boat in secret. The designer was Harry Schoell and the boat built in secret, was called a Cary 32.

This is the boat that became Don's third race boat called....The Cigarette. The first was the Formula 233, the second was a 28 foot Magnum and this was the third and last.

Don never won a professional race in an actual Cigarette built boat, just a local Miami race in a production 36 footer. Brownie's shop, Nova Marine was used for some of the secret construction as it was away from prying eyes and the Magnum shop on NE 188th St.

Brownie has some great stories how that 32 footer grew into a 50 footer by some multiplication of length and beam numbers....But that is his story to tell.

[Airpacker]

Elton Cary was a friend of Don Aronows' and when Don sold Magnum, he was restricted from starting another boat building company for a few years. Don asked Elton Cary to build him a new race boat in secret. The designer was Harry Schoell and the boat built in secret, was called a Cary 32.

This is the boat that became Don's third race boat called....The Cigarette. The first was the Formula 233, the second was a 28 foot Magnum and this was the third and last.

Don never won a professional race in an actual Cigarette built boat, just a local Miami race in a production 36 footer. Brownie's shop, Nova Marine was used for some of the secret construction as it was away from prying eyes and the Magnum shop on NE 188th St.

Brownie has some great stories how that 32 footer grew into a 50 footer by some multiplication of length and beam numbers....But that is his story to tell.

Looking at your second pic, I now realize just how much of a GIANT in the industry D.A. was :)

[catastrophe]

You and Stecz are funny guys.

BUT

Fund is hilarious.

[Dude! Sweet!]

Looking at your second pic, I now realize just how much of a GIANT in the industry D.A. was :)

And we now know that Don's sucess largely stemmed from the money he saved on launching fees and towmotor ownership... :D

Seriously though, great story and a great idea. I see that red Cary 50 (called Rebel) every day and it always makes me smile!

[Magic Medicine]

Very interesting I love reading stuff like this.

Thanks to the icons!

[rbhudelson]

Elton Cary was a friend of Don Aronows' and when Don sold Magnum, he was restricted from starting another boat building company for a few years. Don asked Elton Cary to build him a new race boat in secret. The designer was Harry Schoell and the boat built in secret, was called a Cary 32.

This is the boat that became Don's third race boat called....The Cigarette. The first was the Formula 233, the second was a 28 foot Magnum and this was the third and last.

Don never won a professional race in an actual Cigarette built boat, just a local Miami race in a production 36 footer. Brownie's shop, Nova Marine was used for some of the secret construction as it was away from prying eyes and the Magnum shop on NE 188th St.

Brownie has some great stories how that 32 footer grew into a 50 footer by some multiplication of length and beam numbers....But that is his story to tell.

Thanks a lot Charlie. It is really cool hearing the stories you guys have about our sport.

[Geronimo36]

Awesome and thanks for sharing!!!

[Top Banana]

I'll give a little of the 50 story. Don wondered what would happen if he took the great 32 lines and inflated them a bit, you know added a % here and there....Brownie remembers the exact ratios......so they tried it and .....Voila!!!here is a new 50....or actually a 49, but they called it a 50.

As you can see by the photo below....eventually Magnum caught on and made Don put the Magnum name on the boat along with the Cary name. He just added it on with tape on the bow....hoping it might wash off.

[Magic Medicine]

I'll give a little of the 50 story. Don wondered what would happen if he took the great 32 lines and inflated them a bit, you know added a % here and there....Brownie remembers the exact ratios......so they tried it and .....Voila!!!here is a new 50....or actually a 49, but they called it a 50.

As you can see by the photo below....eventually Magnum caught on and made Don put the Magnum name on the boat along with the Cary name. He just added it on with tape on the bow....hoping it might wash off.

awesome!

[jeffbare]

Great history, I love heating that stuff.

[fund razor]

You and Stecz are funny guys.

BUT

Fund is hilarious.

I can't live up to that Alec! :)

But on topic, thanks Brad for asking and Charlie for being so generous with your stories. I could read them all day.

I am so grateful that you and the other icons are here, Charlie. It is the closest thing that some of us will ever have to being there, and that is a gift that can not be underestimated. It is a profound gift, and we truly appreciate it.

[Top Banana]

Through no special effort of my own, I was just very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time, as all of this new sport of offshore racing was unfolding.

I came from a boat racing background of racing outboards in the northeast and when I ended up in Miami in the early 60's this was like unbelievable. Everywhere you looked there was some kind of really neat kind of boat racing going on and this new stuff called offshore was really wild.....they were doing things you could harldy get your head around.

Brownie...one of my heros, took a 28 foot Donzi (I know I told this story before, but just stop and compare this with today's racers) and installed two engines in it....not side by side, but one engine in front of the other. Now he wanted to have as little drag as possible unde the boat, so he used just one shaft and one prop. That's right two engines driving one shaft and one prop. He did it by using one V-drive...one engine in front and the other engine behind it.

Just try to calculate how you would have to get that to work right. He designed it...he built it...he raced it....and he won the Miami to Nassau race that year. That's why many years later, when guys like Tom Gentry wanted to break the Trans Atlantic record, they turned to guys like Brownie and had him work on the engineering of the boat.

When we Americans, traveled to other countries to race, you could see the look of admiration of the other people as we unveiled the latest in American technology for all to see. When Richie Powers brought the American Eagle to Mar del Plata, in Argentina, it was the like the coolest boat in the world at the time....everything was super neat and clean. Same race and Bobby Saccenti brought the first ever boat, that was later to be known as ....the Top Gun. We Americans were on the top of our game and proud of it and our country too.

www.historicraceboats.com

[Geronimo36]

that picture of ajac hawk is awesome and probably the best one I've seen!!! I grew up looking at pictures of that boat from my mothers racing photo's she took in the 70's.

I guess this crap gets in your blood at a young age and the sickness just continues... lol

[phragle]

something like this?? thats the nova twin..you can see the exhaust for the front motor...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/phragle/26715260.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/phragle/brownie.jpg

[rbhudelson]

I'll give a little of the 50 story. Don wondered what would happen if he took the great 32 lines and inflated them a bit, you know added a % here and there....Brownie remembers the exact ratios......so they tried it and .....Voila!!!here is a new 50....or actually a 49, but they called it a 50.



Out on the water they don't look so big

[Buoy]

Great stuff!
Keep it coming Charlie.
I love this stuff.

[olredalert]

------Whats left of that 28 DONZI (DONZI Baby) is here in the big "D". The long time owner sold it to a rather unscrupulous guy who managed to screw it up even worse than it was. Then the bad guy went down and the former owner got it back. I believe that DONZI Baby, the actual boat that won the 1967 Miami-to-Nassau could be bought. It can be brought back but it would take a commitment.........Bill S

[Ratickle]

------Whats left of that 28 DONZI (DONZI Baby) is here in the big "D". The long time owner sold it to a rather unscrupulous guy who managed to screw it up even worse than it was. Then the bad guy went down and the former owner got it back. I believe that DONZI Baby, the actual boat that won the 1967 Miami-to-Nassau could be bought. It can be brought back but it would take a commitment.........Bill S

You mean Detroit? Find out if you can...

[duke252]

Great stuff!
Keep it coming Charlie.
I love this stuff.


I agree!! Awesome info!!

[Airpacker]

Great stuff Charlie. Please do continue.

[cosmic12]

yes yes more we need more, alot more. Thanks guys I look forward to all your postings and thanks so much for shareing.

[Magic Medicine]

more more more, thanks Charlie!!!!

[cigdaze]

Too cool. Thanks for the history lesson. :cool:

[Davidmnc]

I love these threads!! Please give us more!!!

[rschap1]

VERY VERY cool! I think that is exactly what I miss most when H_tB_at Mag, f'd up and then ended. Tales from ThunderBoat Row was the coolest column! Why? Why? Did it have to end this way??

[Top Banana]

Don't want to get off the thread, but to give you some ideas how cool the guys were back then.....just let me give you a little background on the winner of the first Miami - Nassau race and some of the other things he did and who he was.

Sam Griffith:

Founded and built Pelican Harbor Yacht Club.....The power boat racing club in Miami
One of founders of Orange Bowl Regatta
Founded Orange Bowl 9 hour marathon powerboat race.
Founded the 6 hour pleasure craft marathon race.
Founded the Gold Coast Marathon and won it twice. (Race inside the intercoastal from Miami to Palm Beach and back)
Won Miami to Nassau race four out of first five times it was run.
Was the first to try a new design called a Deep Vee in a boat called Bertram.
Won around Long Island Marathon race.
Held several world speed records for both gas and diesel powered boats.

Was a full Colonel in the Army Air Force and survived two parachute drops where the chute didn't open.

Smuggled rubies out of India

Was so beloved by the Bahamian people ....they called him "Mr Sam" wherever he went.

Was one VERY TOUGH guy that nobody messed with.....in any form or fashion.

[Brownie]

Elton Cary was our insurance man at Formula and Donzi. He was a personal friend of Don's, so Don never paid him (he did that a lot). Instead, he gave him the mold to 008, the cut-down version of the 28' Donzi. Elton turned it into a first class fish boat. Don later blew up the 32' Cary/Cigarette by 1 1/2 times and made the 48'3" Cigarette/Cary. First one had gas Chryslers and belonged to Jordan Klein, the famous underwater guy. Next two were smugglers with diesels, then Don had another premium due, and gave the mold to Elton. He hired me to run the project. I built about twenty of them. When the frogs ran Cary into the ground, the molds ended up with that, er, eccentric guy, Randy Postma.

[Top Banana]

First one had gas Chryslers and belonged to Jordan Klein, the famous underwater guy.


Jordan Klein had a really neat endurance SK type boat, that he ran in the Gold Cost Marathon called Schatzi.

[T2x]

When the frogs ran Cary into the ground, the molds ended up with that, er, eccentric guy, Randy Postma.

Frogs?

[Brownie]

Persons of Gallic descent...... I was on a demo with some yachtsmen, when they tried to "talk boats" with Claude Bigot, President of Cary Marine. "What is the draft"? "I don't know. Maybe it is because we are passing under the bridge".

[T2x]

al Gallia es divisa en tres partes.............

[Dude! Sweet!]

al Gallia es divisa en tres partes.............

And the belgians make tasty waffles... :sifone: