Lake Maggiore

[Andy Greene]

Drove by there today and swore I heard a rumble from the past -

Perry you ever run any laps there ????

 

[Dick Loeb]

What a fun place to race,Perry ran alot of laps there.

 

[Ronald van Essen]

Nearby is Lake Como, the home ground of Renato Molinari.

 

[Tom Foley]

Kind of funny St. Pete can tear down the pier , build the new "Lens " BS with money they don't have, but you can't possibly race boats , like they did for decades , because of an eagles nest ?? and all the obamans living nearby . St Pete sucks !

 

[Andy Greene]

Kind of funny St. Pete can tear down the pier , build the new "Lens " BS with money they don't have, but you can't possibly race boats , like they did for decades , because of an eagles nest ?? and all the obamans living nearby . St Pete sucks !

Was it an Eagles nest or the decline of the neighborhood that killed it ?

I only got to go over there and watch one time before it ended, was really cool though. Think that was my first real taste of boat racing, although from what my dad says, back in the day Bernie Little used to keep the one of the Miss Bud boats down the street from our house on Davis Islands- claimed he even got a ride once.

Andy

 

[Bob Blazer]

Back in the day 1962 we set a world record on that lake!

Bob

 

[Andy Greene]

Back in the day 1962 we set a world record on that lake!

Bob

Would love to hear more about that Bob.

Andy

 

[Bob Blazer]

Back in the day 1962 we set a world record on that lake!

Bob

Would love to hear more about that Bob.

The boats name was Little Mogul driven by Gene Whip a 150 cu in hydro A21. We set the record in the first heat but jumped the gun, so the next heat we held back on the start and set the record for the second time.

Good times, Bob

Andy

 

[Bill Gibson]

I was a LOYAL fan for those races for years! The Southland sweepstakes was an awesome race to watch! Names like Jim Kropfield, Wheeler Baker, Andy Coker, Willard Wilson, Larry Lauterbach, PERRY WALTER, and Yep, like em or not, Dave Villwock (he was a multi time US -1 FLATBOTTOM driver way back when!) There were also some SUPER Canadian drivers that would come down with they're GP hydros.....there was nothing like the sound of a bunch of 7-litre DIVISION ONE drop sponson, conventional hydros full throttle in the back chute, which was LOOONNG, approaching speeds well over 150+mph! You could see the drivers so easily! The course was HUGE....i believe 1 2/3 mile? Lots of records fell there! division 1 hydros were blown, or fuel injected big blocks i believe, and man they were VIOLENT!The guys that piloted them had BIG ONES!! I had a chance to buy a turn key, ready to race 280 hydro for 5 grand cash...didnt have it....DARN IT!! Would have loved to drive one JUST ONCE!! Great times at that place....anyone remember Ray Gassner?? He was the biggest sports celebrity Tampa/ St Pete had WAY back in the day!