News stories from January 2003
Ron Jones Sr launches
consulting business Another hull from our
"For Sale" page is sold! Ed Karelsen home
following heart surgery Dunk test information! More on the recent Columbus
Park Speedfest Kickoff Party OPBA is the club who, with almost no budget and in very little time (someone said the race was put together in three weeks...) hosted the fantastic Unlimited Light race, "Olympia Speedfest" on Black Lake in Olympia, WA. It was a great party; everyone had fun, talked boat racing, made new acquaintances and renewed others. Energy is high, everyone is enthused, looks like we're heading into a great 'Lights season! Mark also shared photos from the event!
Reflecting on the event, ULHRA President Joe Frauenheim had the following to share... "A great gathering on Saturday evening at the Ul-17's new shop and club house. The Bridgeman's did a fabulous job cleaning and painting since the November move in and we are all envious with the result. The Olympia Boat Club organization has done a superb job of promoting Unlimited Light and inboard racing and we look forward to more fun times with this organization." Join us here on ULHRA.org tomorrow evening
(1/27/03) as we share additional details and photos from the event! You
can also visit the UL-17 team on the web at www.ul17.com. Terry Troxell wants to sell his stuff!!
Email Terry at
troxzilla@aol.com for more details! Thunderboats' will roar to life on Port Angeles Harbor in North Olympic Peninsula,
Washington "PORT ANGELES -- A piston-powered unlimited light hyrdoplane skips along the surface of Port Angeles Harbor. Its roostertail sprays high into the air as the sleek ``thunderboat'' hits speeds of more than 130 mph. The hydroplane makes a tight turn, thrilling the crowd watching from Hollywood Beach, Ediz Hook and other vantage points. This vision becomes a reality Oct. 4 and 5 when the Peninsula Watersports Association hosts the newest event on the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Series -- Port Angeles Water Festival. More than 30 hydroplanes are expected to take to the water of Port Angeles Harbor for the event, which wraps up the 2003 unlimited light hydroplane series." (Click
here for more of the story!) Big news from Joe Frauenheim and Phil Bononcini "Joe and I have purchased the GP-51 boat. This boat is a 24 foot, Jones hydro, built in 1981 and rebuilt in 1986. The construction is aluminum honeycomb. The boat is still located in New York state. Due to the snow, we haven't been able to bring it out yet. We intend to install a capsule and blown engine and run UL-51 as well as the UL-72, this year, at all the ULHRA events." - Phil Bononcini
ULHRA President / ULHRA Historian share an interesting mix of hydro history... TEMPO VI, THE GOLD CUP CHAMPION
TEMPO VI, THE GOLD CUP CHAMPION
Built in 1938 and named MY SIN by original owner Zalmon Guy Simmons, the future TEMPO VI was one of the world's first successful three-point hydroplanes. MY SIN was a lengthened-out counterpart of Jack Rutherfurd's JUNO, which rode on the tips of two pontoon-like running surfaces called sponsons and a fully submerged propeller. In 1937, JUNO set a Gold Cup Class mile straightaway record at better than 84 miles per hour. This bettered the previous mark, established by EL LAGARTO, a step hydroplane, by nearly 12 miles per hour. There could be no doubt that the era of the sponson boats had arrived. The days of the step hydros, which had held sway for a quarter century, were numbered. (Although, the fast-steppers continued to be a factor for another twenty years.) The first three-point Gold Cuppers to follow JUNO's lead were MISS GOLDEN GATE, EXCUSE ME, and MY SIN, all constructed in 1938, Of the three, MY SIN/TEMPO VI was by far the most successful. MISS GOLDEN GATE finished second in the 1938 Gold Cup with Dan Arena driving. EXCUSE ME, on the other hand, was a complete failure and defied the efforts of her driver, the respected Bill Horn. Designed by Adolph Apel , MY SIN had a slightly concave underbody. The 16-cylinder Miller engine developed 650 horsepower. It had previously powered John Shibe's MISS PHILADELPHIA and had been used in Gold Cup boats since as far back as 1924. Before leaving the Ventnor plant, MY SIN was given a trial run and reached a reported speed of over 100 miles per hour. At Detroit, however, engine trouble developed that could not be remedied in time for participation in the 1938 Gold Cup. For the 1939 race, MY SIN was the lone East Coast entrant and represented the Indian Harbor Yacht Club, which had won the 1926 and 1927 Gold Cups with GREENWICH FOLLY. The hull of MY SIN, which carried the APBA registration number G-13, was unchanged from the year before. The Miller engine, however, had been extensively revamped by Charles Zumbach. Not wishing a repeat of 1938, owner/driver Guy Simmons had MY SIN ready to run well in advance of the race. Simmons logged many hours of testing time on the Hudson River during the months of July and August, 1939, in anticipation of the Gold Cup event at Detroit, scheduled for Labor Day weekend. The other three-point hydroplanes in attendance were Bill Cantrell's WHY WORRY, Lou Fageol's SO-LONG, Marion Cooper's MERCURY, and George Davis's HERMES IV. WHY WORRY and SO-LONG were Ventnor hulls., while MERCURY and HERMES IV were home-built. All of the pre-race preparations paid off. Of the six starters in the 1939 Gold Cup, only MY SIN lasted the 90 miles. Simmons won all three heats. MY SIN thus became the first three-pointer to finish first in a heat of Gold Cup competition. MY SIN's victory signaled a complete sweep of the Detroit River by the Ventnor Boat Works. In addition to the Gold Cup, the Ventnor three-pointers won the top prize in each of the 135, 225, and 725 Cubic Inch Class races at the Detroit Yacht Club-sponsored meet. (The winning boats in question were Andy Crawford's EDNANDY, Jack "Pop" Cooper's TOPS III, and "Wild Bill" Cantrell's WHY WORRY respectively.) In the 1940 Gold Cup, at Northport, Long Island, MY SIN suffered damage, apparently from some floating debris, and was unable to finish the race. In 1941, MY SIN repeated as Gold Cup champion-this time at Red Bank, NewJersey. But due to the imminence of the war crisis, over in Europe, the Guy Simmons team was the only one to show up for the event. MY SIN ran one 30-mile heat all by herself and was awarded the trophy by forfeit. After World War II, Simmons sold MY SIN to
Lombardo who had been a champion 225 Class driver before the war. Renamed TEMPO VI, the boat retained the G-13 racing number and also the Zumbach/Miller engine. Although, in later years, an Allison V-12 would be substituted. Lombardo modified the hull from a two-seater to a single-seat configuration. In its first race under Lombardo's ownership, the G-13 scored an easy win in the 1946 National Sweepstakes at Red Bank. She was the only Gold Cup Class boat there and ran against a fleet of 225s. Also in 1946, TEMPO VI raised the Gold Cup Class straightaway record to better than 113 miles per hour at Miami, Florida. This was the fastest speed ever recorded by a 732 cubic inch "G" boat of pre-World War II specifications. The race for which TEMPO VI is best remembered is the 1946 APBA Gold Cup on the Detroit River. This was the first major Unlimited event to be run after the war. The 732 cubic inch piston limitation was abolished. And virtually all hull restrictions were abandoned. For the first time since 1921, the Gold Cup was truly a wide-open race. But Lombardo chose to stay with the same Miller
engine set-up that had worked so well before the war. But the old MY SIN would not be denied. She became the first boat since EL LAGARTO (in 1935) to win three Gold Cups. And, in so doing, TEMPO VI broke the long-standing Gold Cup heat record of 70.412, set in 1920 on a 5-mile course by Gar Wood in the Liberty-powered MISS AMERICA I, with a mark of 70.890 for the 30-mile distance on a 3-mile course. It was a long time in timing! In 1920, Lombardo had been a youthful witness when Wood set the record. Now, twenty-six years later, their positions were reversed, as the cup was presented to Guy on the Judges' Stand by none other than the great Gar himself. Following the 1946 Gold Cup, it wasn't long before the newer, larger, more powerful Allison-powered boats rendered TEMPO VI obsolete. Nevertheless, the G-13 managed to win one more major race-the 1948 Ford Memorial Regatta at Detroit. TEMPO VI also won close to a dozen "free-for-all" races, which do not count in today's records. Owner/driver Lombardo was one of those rare individuals who could generate newspaper headlines by his mere presence at a race site. As a result, TEMPO VI became one of the most photographed race boats of all time. Guy never came closer to meeting his Maker while driving a hydroplane than he did at the 1948 Gold Cup in Detroit. That was the time he crashed the boat at the start of the race. Lombardo described the near-tragedy in his 1975 AULD ACQUAINTANCE autobiography. "I had TEMPO in a favorable starting position for the first heat, nursing it along, planning to get up to 125 mph before we hit the first turn. In front of my boat was Morlan Visel's HURRICANE IV from California, untested in major racing, a big humpbacked affair that seemed perpetually airborne. My plan was to hit the starting line at full speed, cut across his wake and go inside at the first turning buoy. "And so it went as the starter's gun went off. I was flying at 125 mph at least, heading for Visel's wake, when his boat's rudder and prop suddenly failed and veered into the path of the oncoming TEMPO. If I kept going, I would have crashed into him at tremendous speed; if I swerved in the opposite direction, I would have hit a pier that jutted into the river at that point. Hundreds of spectators crowded the pier and my boat would surely have killed some of them. Hardly thinking, I spun my wheel and shut off the engine, sending TEMPO into a broadsiding stall. "For a moment, it seemed my beautiful boat would achieve a miracle of stability and stay right side up. That was the last thought I can remember. "TEMPO dug her port sponson into the
churning wake, whirled on her side, and flipped over in a huge cascade of spray,
splotched with debris and the floating form of a forty-six-year-old orchestra
leader turned racing driver." Retired from competition since 1953, the boat
that began life so many years ago as MY SIN is now enjoying a second career.
Restored to running condition by Joe Frauenheim of Issaquah, Washington, TEMPO
VI, the Gold Cup champion, is one of the regulars on the antique boat circuit
across the country. The G-13 is an eloquent testimonial to that pioneering first
generation of non-propriding three-point hydroplanes that forever altered the
course of competitive power boating.
Patricia Darling reflects on the funeral service for Doug McIntosh "Doug would be pleased. A week ago Thursday we had his service at which the family asked me to speak. It was most gratifying to see so many Unlimited as well as Unlimited Light folks there. The church was quite full and the family was very grateful." We bid one last farewell to Doug McIntosh, a friend who will be dearly missed. Jon (JC) Courtright remembers Doug McIntosh
So getting back to Seattle on Sunday night, I was moved to read all the mail on the various lists in reference or rather celebration of Doug’s life & racing career. I don’t recall when I first met Doug, but it was a number of years ago. I remember going down to the old shop in the back of associated grocer, Allison parts and race boats galore. I was truly in heaven! He was also a great inspiration when it came to helping with the festival called Tastin’ n Racin that I am somehow associated with. He and Chris, my wife, even made a couple of big pitches together over the years to potential sponsors in order to help get the festival off the ground. But that was Doug, he was always wanting to share advice and help out. Help the sport grow in the right direction, give something back to the sport, help the sport that he loved so dearly. Oh he had his opinions and sometimes you agreed with him and sometimes you just didn’t. The sport of hydroplane racing truly embraced Doug’s enthusiasm and he was totally engaged with the passion of the sport. The same passion that has swept a lot of us up over the year, the same folks that read on these various web sites looking for information about the boats, the racing and the gossip that surrounds the sport -all winter and summer long. Getting back to the TnR festival he put together one of the best web pages for the unlimited lights, that featured and promoted this family festival. It totally outshined our own official TnR web site! Even up to last year we talked about items and how they might pertained to the event. But then there was the racer side of Doug. Sometimes he had a temper that could be judged between either a ‘pin’ or a ‘fuse’ I don’t know which! One year at TnR when he had the Jones’s boat leased from Hopp’s, he came to Sammamish for the first race of the season with his chest sticking out like Tarzan or something. He yelled at me from across the beach at first light on Saturday morning…”JC…, where the hell is the electricity and running water”!? I mean he was unhappy. I told him to pipe down that we have never had those amenities and that he ought to know that. He then smiled and said ‘yeah', but that was Doug. When he went into Racing mode he was all business, probably like the rest of us want to be. One of my favorite stories about Doug
happened acouple of years ago. It was October after the UL season and for some reason unbeknown to the both of
us, he and I thought that the Museum boats where suppose to be in Chelan. So he had bought that new
little red truck, and he said ‘JC we ought to go to Chelan, will you drive with me over’? I said yeah,
Chris was over there and that we could stay at her folk’s house. So the both of us headed over. Doug
was full of racing stories, and that’s one of the best parts about being a racer is being able to share
racing stories. So for the 3 hours drive we shared stories of how you set the static timing on a Allison
in comparison to a Merlin, aux stage blowers -all the One specific story that comes to mind is of when Chip was driving for Tad Dean and he needed to hitch a ride back with Doug from the east coast, and how he and Michael -who must have been like 10 at the time, wrestled in the back of the motor home for most of entire trip back home (-cool huh?). So anyway we get to Chelan and we were told to look up John Walcker from the Caravel Resort because there was some sort of party or something down at the Eagles. So we get a hold of Walcker and get some passes to the Eagle which included dinner. We go thinking that we are going to see a bunch of familiar racing faces and we get there and there isn’t a sole that we know. Like Nobody! But we get in the food line anyway and grab a seat. It was like being in the middle of somebody’s wedding party or something. So I look at Doug and ask, ‘what the hell are we were doing here’? And he came back with a one of his great replies and delivery that was so cool and nonchalant, as to “JC…,just don’t worry about it, you get a plate, you load it full and you sit down and eat. It’s no big deal, this is how we use to go racing sometimes in the old budget days”! Ah the ‘old days’, I love it! So we ate up, I even
knocked back a couple of beers (Doug was dry), and we headed back to Chris’s folks place and sat on the big
front porch on the bench swing and watch the Chelan sunset against the mountains
and the lake and talked about boat racing. Nevertheless, we were a week late or a week early and there were no Museum boats, but
the region 10 races where going on, so we were in good shape with nothing lost. We just hung out in
Chelan for the week-end and watch a lot of good boat racing. While on that front porch that warm October
evening between drags off a smoke, Doug said to me ”you know, I've been through some very hard times
in my life, I’ve had major organ transplants, I survived a couple of heart
attacks, JC what the hell am I still doing here?” His very words as I Well my good friend and fellow boat racer, you are now in a better place than the rest of us, Sue and the your boys and their families and the rest of us are left feeling the pain and the suffering of your departure. Your great replies, your great racing stories that I could listen too over and over. Doug you’ll always be in the back of our minds, you had a lasting impact on a lot of us racers. Finally, may you get the Good Lord’s Allison 1710 ‘tuned’ just right before you send him out there, so he can put down a big number for the fans. Your pal…, All the latest details on the Annual Meeting in Detroit As everyone knows, the APBA Annual meetings are coming up soon. It's the 100th Anniversary of the APBA! We will be having our annual meeting in Detroit and we have a room reserved for our group. Please make a note of the following schedule information... Friday, January 31st, 2003 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
- Safety Meeting Watch the APBA website for a complete schedule for all
meetings. Happy New Year, ULHRA Commissioner Patricia Darling remembers Doug McIntosh Doug McIntosh LOVED boat racing, and he also loved all that went along with it. Much of his early Unlimited ownership was "sponsor of the weekend" and really cheap motels--but it, and he, were FUN. Though Doug's boat(s) weren't considered front-runners, he was just sure they could win first place. He also loved his family very much. Wife Sue understood his passion for racing and supported him. She, along with Kelly, Kevin, Scott and Michael, attended as many races as they could. Now all four have children of their own and Doug was one happy Granddad. As his health became a larger issue, Doug maintained his great attitude. Doug gave up the Unlimiteds, but never lost his interest in the sport. He raced the UL-14 the past few years and continued to show his enthusiasm, especially when he earned a fifth place trophy for Unlimited Light National High Points just last year. Doug's favorite line--whether there was a truck to pull the boat, or money to buy gas, was always: "Let's go boat racin' ". Doug was a friend of mine for more than 25 years, and I will miss him. Patti Darling Click here for updates from December, 2002.
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One
of the most significant boats in Gold Cup racing history was bandleader Guy
Lombardo's TEMPO VI from Freeport, New York. A product of the famed Ventnor Boat
Works of Ventnor, New Jersey, TEMPO VI won the 1946 APBA Gold Cup at Detroit,
Michigan, and went on to generate a lot of favorable press for the sport of boat
racing in the years following World War II.
I just wanted to reflect for a moment on the passing
of Doug McIntosh. I’d been over in Chelan for the last two weeks and Nick Badoloto called me on the Dec
31 to tell me of Doug’s death…, I was truly sadden. Believe me if I could have been at the memorial
service I would have. 