Around a year ago I posted on the H.A.M.B. asking for vintage boat i...<P><P>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
Wow! Good post here, brings back memories......... When I was a kid, in St.Louis, they started racing boats similar to this one at George Winter Park. My dad worked with Bill Seebold in this race's infancy, it grew to bring in racers worldwide. His boat was Old Blue. My dad didn't race, he helped with safety patrol. These guys would bring in boats and props of unproven designs, try them out to see what worked. Keep stuff under wraps until it was in the water, etc.... Even with all the secrecy and factory involvement, camraderie was prevalent and having fun was the bottom line.
My dad is a professional b*** fisherman, so I've been in boats since I was potty trained. I've had a few, some for fishing, and a couple of fast ones. Going fast on land is one thing, doing it on water is a whole other animal. Seems about twice as fast on water. I've been up around 115 in a 18 ft flatbottom with about 800+ hp behind me. 4 inch open headers at about 8000 rpm from a 396 is truely heaven, but sounds more like the apocalyps. Would have liked to have gone faster, but thats all the boat was safe at. I'm hoping that one day I can find a nice old Chris Craft or some other wooden boat of that nature to fix up and enjoy with my kids. I'm sure it wont be lacking in the horsepower department, either.
Cool stuff on that site. There is also a neat article in this months issue of Hemmings on a Dodge boat. Beautiful thing, I guess that it was a pleasure boat, but it was also raced in the same cl*** as the Miller powered boats. Anyway, love those old wood boats.
Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em. That website is one of my other favorite haunts. I grew up watching the old hydros race in NZ and it is one of my desires to own one soon. Derek Mitchell, how about sharing a pic of your flattie?
I used to go to a vintage boat museum in Clayton NY on the St Lawrence river every year. In I think August they have a show and auction. Some really killer boats up there. If your even within five or six hours from there, its worth the trip. Tim MBL
Got rid of it about 9 yrs ago, wish I hadn't. But it only seated 2 and I got 4 kids, so it wasn't so practical anymore. And I had to start being "responsible". I have no pictures of it, to many moves and they are gone. 70 Hondo compe***ion hull, 396, 13-1, built to the tilt, Casale 10 degree V-drive. It would jump a foot and a half out of the water on take off if I gunned it.
Man, all this water talk makes me want to get another boat. I'm thinking older model Boston Whaler. Anyway, I used to work for a guy here that's 80 years young and he raced boats back in the 50's when a 50 hp motor was the biggest OB you could find. Small boats with powerful little motors. He said that they would start the motor in gear while two guys held the back of the boat up out of the water. When the motor fired, they dropped it in the water and away she went. The stories this guy tells are amazing, these guys had huevos grande. Safety was secondary to speed and competing. I need to go visit that old guy and show him the A when it's driveable. He has an original A in his garage and loves this stuff. Last time I talked with him, he had a Saleen Mustang that he raced up and down the freeway. Before that he had a supercharged Mustang convertable. Can you imagine, white haired old guy racing those rice burners and blowing them away? He still has the spark!
i had a mold to make the engine cover and seat/tail section simular to the one pictured (minus the fin)and 1 set of pieces pulled from it ... it came from a friend who p***ed in the 80's he was a drag boat racer and this was leftover and remnants of one rotting hydro that ran a big block chev... wish i had saved it now sold all for $100.00 did save the moon tank and gas pedal tho.... the tach and gauges were early fariah...people were fighting over this tach ... now i find out it was a rare piece.. my dad ran tests for mercury outboards when he was a kid ... foolish speed and reckless youth old boats r cool too
used to work at a place in south seattle called delta marine. we built fishing boats, 48'and 58' ones and sometimes a custom yacht(100'+) always thought it was neat when the miss budweiser would be brought in for repairs during time trials during sea fair. the owners jack and iver jones had a speed shop and raced flat bottom boats. nothing like a ride at 75+ to remind you just how tight your *** can pucker closed. plus if you have ever been to a boat launch mmm! can't seem to remember....
Check out the framework on the Miss Supersonic II restoration! http://www.vintagehydroplanes.com/misssupersonic2.html
-I've got one hanging in my shop... It's one of those projects my heirs will probably finish some day (or sell at auction...). I bought mine from the ba*****t of an antique shop, where they had purchased it from the original builders widow. I've really wanted to throw my 25 horse Johnson on it and go for a spin, but I don't think I have enough life insurance at this point... Tony B.
Boating's big fun. Twice the sensation of speed as on land! 100MPH on water=big thrill. Really. Unless it's in a bigger boat. I'm talkin 16-18 feet. Pickle fork Hydro, flat bottom, etc. That little "dude" in the picture looks like a ton of fun.
They held a vintage boat show and races here in town a few weeks ago. Lots of killer stuff. Wish i had taken some pics.
Here's a pic of Bill Seebolds boat, probably from 30 years ago. He owned Bill's Marine in St.Louis, really nice guy.
More than any car deal I missed, or car I've sold, it's an old wooden boat that's "the one that got away". 12 years ago, I'd been married for a month, living in a house I could just barely afford, with 3 cars stuck in a 2 car garage. One day, the neighbor up the street put a 1957 Stevenson Brothers wooden speed boat up for sale in his front yard. It was 100% original down to the tires on the trailer, and plates from 1968. It needed a motor, otherwise, it was 100% complete. The upper deck had some rot, otherwise it was solid. It was an awsome twin ****pit runabout style. I desperately wanted this boat, but the space, and the money just wasn't there at the time. The worst part...He was asking $250 for it! And now, 12 years later, I have plenty of room(3 car garage+40x60 polebarn)/money/desire, but no boat. I still think about that boat all the time, and wonder if it ever got restored or just used for firewood. I keep hoping that one of these days, one of my neighbors in my new 'hood will park the same boat in their yard for sale!
Hondo huh, nice boat. Was it a T-deck? I know the deal on "upgrading for capacity", I had a Sanger hydro; 468 etc. Now in a 21' Schiada, 511", twin turbo with nitrous - got to have the extra room these days. Buddy here on the lake is about two weeks away from finishing the restoration on his Hutchinson. It is a Hacker design, one of three built and two remaining, has a 392 Hemi that is not original but common when repowering back many years. The thing that sets this boat apart from most is that it when it was built it was stained very dark, almost black, unlike most of the lighter mahogany boats you see. Pics to come in a few weeks.
You Guys Realise That The Parachutes Were On The Drivers Backs Of Early Drag Boats Not The Boat/engine...the Driver Wanted To Be Slowed Down Before Becoming A Skipper....
Hahahahaha. Thats only if the driver comes out of the boat, to stop him and the boat keeps going is the theory behind that. bubanite, No T deck, just the flat deck compe***ion hull, a little shorter, and narrower than the standard. It wasn't much over 17ft.
The Jalopy Journal
