Major
Accomplishments
| National Champion |
1956, 1958, 1959,
1961 |
Frank Neely
(owner) - Jack
Salmon
(driver) |
| National Champion |
1966 |
Wayne Thompson |
| Speed Record - 5
Miles in Competition |
May 21, 1967 -
San Diego, CA |
Wayne Thompson -
80.717 mph |
| Speed Record -
Straightaway Kilo |
November 26, 1966
- Parker, AZ |
Wayne Thompson -
111.962 mph |
The Pop Cooper Memorial
Trophy was retired by Wayne Thompson for winning it
three times in a row with the "Baby."
The first time I
saw Cumon Baby was at Lake
Washington during the 1966 Inboard Nationals
with Wayne Thompson.
Cumon Baby
was love at first sight...
.....and also the
winner and 1966 National Champion. |
 |
I purchased Cumon
Baby from Wayne Thompson a year after
his accident (1969) in the Going
Thing. We had negotiated the
purchase a year earlier when I had heard he
had a new Ron Jones Sr. hull being
completed, co-owned by Bud Fox, John Wolf
and Wayne Thompson. John Wolf built the
engine for the "Baby" as he did the Going
Thing. |
| I originally
began racing in the 150 cu. in. class in
1965 with a V-8/60 powered Hickling hull. I
saw the "Baby" in 1966 and again in
1969 at Green Lake, Washington and told my
wife Linda that someday I was going to own
that boat......she said, "Yeah sure!" I took
a chance on writing Wayne about purchasing
his "Baby" and was surprised as to his reply
that he had never considered selling it but
would for X$$$. |
 |
 |
I almost changed
my mind after going to Harrison Hot Springs
B.C. Canada to watch a race because I
couldn't come up with the cash. However,
Wayne allowed me to make payments and we
worked out the details.....I'm glad he did
as it really changed my life. The Cumon
Baby is the most fantastic hydro ever
made in my opinion and accelerates very
fast. |
This Cumon Baby
15-A team captured 4 National
Championships in 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961.
Driver - Jack Salmon (left) and Owner/Designer/Builder
- R. Frank Neely
|
Mary Belle & R. Frank
Neely
All four drivers won
National Championships on Lake Washington, engage in
some after-race horseplay at the boat pits when it
was all over.
From left: Henry Vogel, Webster, New York - 225 cu
in N class, Time
Flies
Jack Salmon, Whitier California - 135 cu in A class,
Cumon Baby
Ron Musson, Akron, Ohio - 266 cu in F class, Wa Wa
F.C. "Doc" Moor, Miami, Florida - 48 cu in Y class,
Southern Air
AP Photo 1958
| The hydro has an
awesome ride as it literally flies across
the water as the pictures attest. I was
never afraid of it's sponson walking or
torquing off the corners or high altitude on
the water as it would always settle down. I
had a conversation with an engineer from
Boeing in 1971, who was was very
knowledgeable about wind tunnel &
hydroplane design. He commented on the
unusual design of each of the sponsons and
how the deck rolling down eliminates the
vacuum directly behind each of the sponsons. |
 |
Wayne Thompson
Green Lake 1968
Frank Neely built &
designed this one of a kind hull and raced it with a
modified V-8/60, winning 4 National
Championships.
The next owner, Wayne
Thompson installed the Falcon in 1963 winning one more
National Championships and setting the kilo &
competition records.
The craftsmanship
is perfection! |
 |
At the Marine
Stadium in California Wayne stepped up &
ran with the 225 and 266 classes & won
many times against the higher cubic inch
displacement hydros. |
Wayne Thompson
Green Lake 1968
 |
"Riding the Rollers"
Wayne Thompson driving.
Parker, Arizona.
Note how rough the
water was.
 |
Definitely, not just another day.
 |
"Flying in Rough Water"
Parker, Arizona - late
1960's attempting
a kilo run.
Thanks to Bob Foley for
these 3 photos.
Me & the "Baby" with a custom made life
jacket.
American Lake 1970
|
1970
 |
I went over the
100 mph mark in the Cumon Baby in
1971 at Devils Lake, Oregon. That was fun
but the weather was horrible. It hailed
& blew & rained and was just
miserable. Even the water was flat with
rollers when it cleared up enough to run on
Saturday. The clouds came down on the lake
and you couldn't see from one buoy to the
next. I didn't think I even went over a 100
mph but managed to squeak out an average of
104.532 mph. The 1st pass was 103+ and the
return was 105+. I was disappointed because
I know I've went faster racing but glad to
break 100 mph as not many had in the 150
class at that time and could prove it. |
From a newspaper article:
May 7, 1972
Randy Wold of Tacoma, WA leaps his Cumon Baby to
victory in the 150 cubic inch hydro class
at the Jim Spinner Memorial Regatta held on Lake
Sammamish. Lloyd Swanson photo
Cumon
Baby I
The hydro on this
web page was the second Cumon
Baby hull built. The first Cumon
Baby hull was built 4 years earlier in
1951 by Frank Neely and was the second
A-class hydro to break the 100 mph mark
setting the Mile Straightaway Speed Record
of 101.254 mph on Oct. 19, 1953 by Duane
Allen at Salton Sea, California. To
read more history on that accomplishment,
photos of Cumon Baby I, click here to
visit the page on this boat.
Frank Neely
built the Cumon Baby II,
incorporating many of the better features
of the original. Before he built the
second Baby, he made a model to
visualize some of the new ideas he was
contemplating. Click here to see
that 50+ year old model that was recently
restored by his son, Will.
|
 |
This 1966 photo was
taken by me at the Inboard Nationals in the
Lake Washington Stan Sayres pits showing the
Ford Falcon 144 cu. in. engine & the (3)
42 mm Dellorto carburetors with remote float
bowls running Methanol. This was 4 years
before I bought the boat.
Notice the exhaust exiting through the side
of the hull and the sloping down of the
sponson deck extending past the end to the
bottom of the boat. With this unique
configuration, I had to get my left pants
leg wet so as not to get hot from the
exhaust heat before entering the hull &
during racing.
I love the
"Baby" and will present it someday in the
near future at one of the antique
regattas. I have some minor repairs to do
(in my own time frame) before bringing her
out.
© Randy
Wold
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