"Vintage" boats...what do you remember about........

[Bill Gibson]

My first boat, built in 1978. You think the new tunnel’s blow over easily in the wind, this one would blow over sitting dead in the water and it liked to a complete barrel rolls just off buoy 2.
DonB

YEP! that was my first one too! my friend and i would race our hot shots till dark every other night..those things rode so bow high they looked like they were doin wheelies! Great times though!

 

[Tom Foley]

Does anyone remember the CLAIMJUMPER hydros? Those things looked fast just sittin on the stand! Also remember Sightler monos being a very good boat..had a 40, but just didnt know how to set it up.....how about the poorer guys (like me) takin a K&B 3.5 airplane engine, makin a 180 degree header(thank God for brass fittings and silver solder) screwin a water cooled head on it, and go racing! Oh yeah and puttin an Octura flywheel on it! Thats what i ran in my 20 coyote for years!Octura Tomcat wood tunnel..still got it and could run it right now.Remember mini pipes on hydros? 7 hydros in a heat with those pipes would get your attention! Ive still got issues of Flying Models Magazine that go back to 1969....Lots of good memories.The thing i remember about all the hydros back then was how loose they ran on the water compared to nowadays. Made for some mighty exciting moments!

Your wife has told me about all those magazines ....I'm a packrat but ....time for a bonfire brother !!!!!!!

 

[Bill Gibson]

Does anyone remember the CLAIMJUMPER hydros? Those things looked fast just sittin on the stand! Also remember Sightler monos being a very good boat..had a 40, but just didnt know how to set it up.....how about the poorer guys (like me) takin a K&B 3.5 airplane engine, makin a 180 degree header(thank God for brass fittings and silver solder) screwin a water cooled head on it, and go racing! Oh yeah and puttin an Octura flywheel on it! Thats what i ran in my 20 coyote for years!Octura Tomcat wood tunnel..still got it and could run it right now.Remember mini pipes on hydros? 7 hydros in a heat with those pipes would get your attention! Ive still got issues of Flying Models Magazine that go back to 1969....Lots of good memories.The thing i remember about all the hydros back then was how loose they ran on the water compared to nowadays. Made for some mighty exciting moments!

Your wife has told me about all those magazines ....I'm a packrat but ....time for a bonfire brother !!!!!!!

MY PRECIOUS MAGS??????? NEVER!!!!!!!

 

[Tom Foley]

Does anyone remember the CLAIMJUMPER hydros? Those things looked fast just sittin on the stand! Also remember Sightler monos being a very good boat..had a 40, but just didnt know how to set it up.....how about the poorer guys (like me) takin a K&B 3.5 airplane engine, makin a 180 degree header(thank God for brass fittings and silver solder) screwin a water cooled head on it, and go racing! Oh yeah and puttin an Octura flywheel on it! Thats what i ran in my 20 coyote for years!Octura Tomcat wood tunnel..still got it and could run it right now.Remember mini pipes on hydros? 7 hydros in a heat with those pipes would get your attention! Ive still got issues of Flying Models Magazine that go back to 1969....Lots of good memories.The thing i remember about all the hydros back then was how loose they ran on the water compared to nowadays. Made for some mighty exciting moments!

Your wife has told me about all those magazines ....I'm a packrat but ....time for a bonfire brother !!!!!!!

MY PRECIOUS MAGS??????? NEVER!!!!!!!

Post a pic or two of that coyote you Time Warp Victim !! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I like the pic of the twin on the table with all the beer cans and bottles around ,....ahhhh the good old days , slingshots , guns , lead based paints ...never got hut till the 90's !!

 

[SayMikey]

My first boat, built in 1978. You think the new tunnel’s blow over easily in the wind, this one would blow over sitting dead in the water and it liked to a complete barrel rolls just off buoy 2.
DonB

Yep my sewer pipe boat. Ran one up a sewer pipe in the cat tails,almost never found it

 

[Norm Doerr]

Does anyone remember the CLAIMJUMPER hydros? Those things looked fast just sittin on the stand! Also remember Sightler monos being a very good boat..had a 40, but just didnt know how to set it up.....how about the poorer guys (like me) takin a K&B 3.5 airplane engine, makin a 180 degree header(thank God for brass fittings and silver solder) screwin a water cooled head on it, and go racing! Oh yeah and puttin an Octura flywheel on it! Thats what i ran in my 20 coyote for years!Octura Tomcat wood tunnel..still got it and could run it right now.Remember mini pipes on hydros? 7 hydros in a heat with those pipes would get your attention! Ive still got issues of Flying Models Magazine that go back to 1969....Lots of good memories.The thing i remember about all the hydros back then was how loose they ran on the water compared to nowadays. Made for some mighty exciting moments!

Your wife has told me about all those magazines ....I'm a packrat but ....time for a bonfire brother !!!!!!!

MY PRECIOUS MAGS??????? NEVER!!!!!!!

Any old ads or pictures of some of the racers we hang out with nowadays? Those were some BIG races back then.

 

[Ray Sametz]

Check " gil sonsino" gallery, some great old ads. B) B)

 

[Zach Davis]

Here is my first boat. Its not as old as the others but neither am I. Got her when I was 10. Been hooked ever since.

Zach

 

[Grimracer]

I to have some fun old boats.. good post guys.. fun to read.

Grim

 

[dr gary turner]

Got bored with C/L and my Falcon 56 and built a Dumas DV10 about '75, that lead to a glass DV20 with a Supertiger 21, discovered hydros and built a Hughey 40 with a K&B 6.5 and about '78 a Gator '40 after seeing John Ackermans' acticle in Flying Models.
A buddy and I went to the '79 Indy Unlimited to try and race it, but at 19 I didn't have a clue what I was doing, remember Don Bilski helping a lot. Almost couldn't afford the gas to get his '70 GTO back to Ottawa! :lol:

Here's some "retro" boats from Jack Lawbaugh:

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=166

Terry, What ever happened to Bud and Ben Beard? I rmember them racing a boat at Memphis that had a motor that they built from a block of aluminum. Doc

 

[Terry Keeley]

Got bored with C/L and my Falcon 56 and built a Dumas DV10 about '75, that lead to a glass DV20 with a Supertiger 21, discovered hydros and built a Hughey 40 with a K&B 6.5 and about '78 a Gator '40 after seeing John Ackermans' acticle in Flying Models.
A buddy and I went to the '79 Indy Unlimited to try and race it, but at 19 I didn't have a clue what I was doing, remember Don Bilski helping a lot. Almost couldn't afford the gas to get his '70 GTO back to Ottawa! :lol:

Here's some "retro" boats from Jack Lawbaugh:

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=166

Terry, What ever happened to Bud and Ben Beard? I rmember them racing a boat at Memphis that had a motor that they built from a block of aluminum. Doc

Dunno Doc, didn't really know them, think they were from FL weren't they? I do remember them at the '83 Nats in Oxford MI though, good runners!

 

[JS_Racing]

Great Thread!!!

Our first boat was a Huntsman 31 Cruiser with a Merco 65 in the late 70's - learned a lot from that. We then got a Huey Hydo 50 with an OS 46 in 87. Still remember those polyurethane sponsons :lol: It ran okay then we discovered outriggers and cut up the Huey into a rigger - it also ran okay but was heavy. We then traded a RC-10 buggy for a Crapshooter 45 - fun boat that use to slide through the turns Then came the big 90 Mongoose - awesome boat - still remember it's first heat in it's first race. Then came the twins - Eagle, Jaguar, Eagle SG. Then came the wife and the kids shortly there after and haven't been to the pond since .

Take Care,

Steve Pas

 

[Bill Gibson]

Does anyone remember the CLAIMJUMPER hydros? Those things looked fast just sittin on the stand! Also remember Sightler monos being a very good boat..had a 40, but just didnt know how to set it up.....how about the poorer guys (like me) takin a K&B 3.5 airplane engine, makin a 180 degree header(thank God for brass fittings and silver solder) screwin a water cooled head on it, and go racing! Oh yeah and puttin an Octura flywheel on it! Thats what i ran in my 20 coyote for years!Octura Tomcat wood tunnel..still got it and could run it right now.Remember mini pipes on hydros? 7 hydros in a heat with those pipes would get your attention! Ive still got issues of Flying Models Magazine that go back to 1969....Lots of good memories.The thing i remember about all the hydros back then was how loose they ran on the water compared to nowadays. Made for some mighty exciting moments!

Your wife has told me about all those magazines ....I'm a packrat but ....time for a bonfire brother !!!!!!!

MY PRECIOUS MAGS??????? NEVER!!!!!!!

Post a pic or two of that coyote you Time Warp Victim !! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I like the pic of the twin on the table with all the beer cans and bottles around ,....ahhhh the good old days , slingshots , guns , lead based paints ...never got hut till the 90's !!

Go Fast...ill bet youd give ANYTHING to get your old Dragonfly back!! ive heard you speak of it more than once...CMON! ADMIT IT YOU OLD GEEZER! Ill post a coupla pics of my old stuff...not very impressive but definetly OLD!

 

[AndyBrown]

Built my first boat in 1973. It was a Dumas Dragonfly .40. Used O.S MAX .35 for power to start than graduated to a SuperTigre X-40. Next boats were Pinckert Gators then Marty Davis Crapshooters, and an Octura WingDing.

Later modified all of those hulls and then started scratch building my own designs.

I'll have to scan the pics of those boats.

Claimjumpers were cool looking glass riggers.

Anyone here ever build one of the Joe Bishop riggers or candard? I forget what he called the riggers. EVERYTHING was fully adjustable, even the single solid shaft, both in depth and angle.

There was also the Ed Keedy 'Climax' rigger. Ben and Bud Beard ran Ed Keedy hulls. There is a pic of one in Jack's gallery.

Pinckert Ground effects Machine? AKA Ground-e-Fix. Anyone?

Built a Dumas DV10 for John way back in the begining. He was 10 at that time.

 

[Billy Blackwell]

Anyone remember the Norco Eaglet? Or an outrigger called Creeping Charlie? Reminds me of the late '70's when I used to go to the pond every weekend to watch guys like Ken Riley, Ed Winfeld and Jones run thier fast stuff. There was also this interesting wood hydro kit by Hobbylobby, I think, that looked a little like a Claimjumper. Good times. Great thread!

 

[Kelly Miller]

My first boat was a dumas 20 dv with an outboard, they let me run it with the tunnels. Next boat was a prather 40, we ran a ops 40 which Pops made a new front case and put a different crankshaft in, motor ran well. I remeber the competition was strong in 40 mono some Daniels, Mucks, and Ward was some that stand out to me. I remember making a trade when I was 13 or 14 for a wood tunnel...I think it was a litlle lightening. ran some sightlers. I still have My Dads first boat, A 50 inch Daniels with a mahogany deck clear coated and a steerable strut he engineered. It was the late 70s and I think it was a dumas hull of some sort but at most races I would pit for Stuart Russell but the boat must have weighed 30 lbs. Charles Mobley? ran 40 mono and all I remember was the last name of Baker and they had some very quick riggers crapshooters I think we traveled to Amarillo, Lubbock, OKC, Wichita, KC.....Fun Stuff. I will try and find some pics.

 

[garrett randall]

Anyone remember what brand of mono THIS was? - its a .21 on the back...

This was "technically" my FIRST mono, even though I never raced it (dad hated it)

MY first racing boat however...and I consider it my first... was the Lil Streaker...(still have big brother 40 size available for pictures)

Either way...go figure...my first was green...



Garrett

 

[GRoth265]

I really enjoyed reading this thread! It brought back alot of memories I still have Ed Fishers Original .19 Northwind with Veco .19 I think I was the 4th owner. Dragon Fly with Super Tigre X-40 then OPS 40. Ruff- Stuff Deep Vees. How about JD's Original Glass Tunnel called Excaliber. Gator's,Claim Jumpers and JVC hydro's. We had them all! But one of the most awsome sights of the day was Mike Meelbush and his twin Wing Ding and John Bridges and his Lead Sled twin at the 75 IMPBA Nats. Still gives me wood! Greg

 

[SayMikey]

I really enjoyed reading this thread! It brought back alot of memories I still have Ed Fishers Original .19 Northwind with Veco .19 I think I was the 4th owner. Dragon Fly with Super Tigre X-40 then OPS 40. Ruff- Stuff Deep Vees. How about JD's Original Glass Tunnel called Excaliber. Gator's,Claim Jumpers and JVC hydro's. We had them all! But one of the most awsome sights of the day was Mike Meelbush and his twin Wing Ding and John Bridges and his Lead Sled twin at the 75 IMPBA Nats. Still gives me wood! Greg

Were those gear drive? I remember a guy racing with twinOPS 65s geared to one shaft. The sound of the gears was way louder than the motor. Talk about an Excedrin Head ache

 

[GRoth265]

The pictures I have of John's boat was I believe, Twinn Super Tigre 65's with open headers on a gear drive to 1 prop. You talk about sound! I think my ears still ring!Greg