Phil Kunz and I were discussing the Miss DeSoto boats (pic further down this page) and Phil mentioned he had a crazy photo that he got (from somewhere) showing when one of the iconic Miss Desoto hydros was put to the endurance test by racing in one of the 9 hour endurance races back-in-the-day. Thinking possibly the Miami to Bahamas and back, race?
Note the extra fuel tanks placed in front of the motor and behind the driver. Also looks like the Hemi is running, but with 6 carbs and not the Potvin supercharger it campaigned with for years
Can you imagine driving a hydro for 9 hours in the open water?
If you have any info on this, please chime in…would be great to read some background on this!
1962 Shepherd
I found this great pic of the two-seater that got into “some trouble with the law one night” and hit a buoy and sunk. Article below. I remember folks talking about the hydro on our old message board.
Living next door to a gearhead
One of my co-workers told me he snowblowed his driveway before he came in to work today. He was out there at 5 am. I told me his neighbors probably hate him. He agreed.
That reminded me of this movie…and what the neighbors probably think of “that guy in the neighborhood”. You know the guy (probably quite well), he’s got race boats, cars, test firing the motors, etc.”
Directory of Former & Current Vintage Raceboat Members
Well, I don’t get to it and update it often enough (been quite awhile), but I finally updated the Directory of Former & Current Vintage Raceboat Members . We currently have 176 folks who have filled in our online form to be added into our Directory. Many folks have registered their fathers who have past away looking for info on their racing careers. If you can, make their day and send them an email with whatever memories that you can share.
Update 24-Feb-2018: I am glad I posted something here about our directory. Since this posting – eight more folks have been added bringing the total now to 184. Getting yourself or a loved one into our Directory is easy to do and makes for enjoyable reading. Thanks!
Racing returns to the Miami Marine Stadium
April will see the Miami Marine Stadium open its doors to powerboat racing action for the first time since its closure in 1992. Click here to read more.
According to APBA Oct 1963 Propeller: The new stadium will be used for the first time for the APBA sanctioned Orange Bowl Regatta, Dec. 28-30 and Jan. 4.
Largest Wood Structure in the World
Does the guy who built this thing know something we don’t?
Anyways he built the Ark (510′ length x 80′ high, sorry don’t know what that is in cubics) from lumber sourced and treated by Accoya (google it). We made samples for this company years ago and it is impressive how they treat the wood so it won’t rot. I am amazed that more wood boat builders haven’t started using this treated wood. Their claims are: Lasting 50 years above ground, 25 years in ground/freshwater Class 1 durability, surpassing even teak, Virtually rot proof, 70 year minimum service life stated by TRADA