I have little understanding
of the history of this hull. Maybe one of you will be able to fill
me in on.
I bought it from
Poncho Simmonson of Spokane Washington in 2000. He told me that it
was originally owned by Miles Eslick and may have been bought from Ron
Jones or it was built from Jones plans.
It seems most likely that construction was started in the early 60's
and finished in 69 (the right, inside sponson transom has a date of 11/23/69
on the inside).
I understand that
Ron Jones had stopped building conventional hydros by the mid to late 60s.
As such, I'm guessing my hull must have been built from plans or started
as a kit in the early 60s and finished in the late 60s.
I've been told it
was only race a few times in the early 70s when Miles had a guy named Jimmy
Johnson of Spokane drive it. It was raced as "something" Nickel
and had a white deck and sides with a 3" orange stripe down the side at
the junction of the side and deck.
Later Miles sold
it to Jimmy (son of Bob Johnson - Bob had something to do with the unlimiteds
in Spokane). Word is that Jimmy bought the current cowlings from
Ron Jones and set the boat up to run for a kilo record. Apparently it did
ok on the first pass but failed miserably on the second after it blew a
hose. After that it never really ran much and was sold to Poncho
Simmonson about 10 years ago.
Speaking to Jack
Hines (Miss Peg) he noticed the hull had fewer frames than his hull.
As well after reviewing the few Jones plans I have (none of which are of
the same 17" 8" length my hull is) I noticed they all have between 12 and
13 frames (including the transom). Mine has only 10 including the
transom. It may be that the dry sponson design had fewer frames compared
to the wet sponson plans I have.
With so little information
on this hull I'm turning to you Northwest US hydro fans to see if you can
help me learn more about this hull. Please don't hesitate to drop
me an e-mail or call me in California at 925-417-0718.
name:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Nickel? class/motor: Unkown 265 or
280
designer/builder: Maybe built from Ron Jones plans or kit
year built:
11/23/1969
owners name: Scott
Courts city/state:
Pleasanton, CA 94566
I have little understanding
of the history of this hull. Maybe one of you will be able to fill
me in on.
I bought it from
Poncho Simmonson of Spokane Washington in 2000. He told me that it
was originally owned by Miles Eslick and may have been bought from Ron
Jones or it was built from Jones plans.
I understand that
Ron Jones had stopped building conventional hydros by the mid to late 60s.
As such, I'm guessing my hull must have been built from plans or started
as a kit in the early 60s and finished in the late 60s.
I've been told it
was only race a few times in the early 70s when Miles had a guy named Jimmy
Johnson of Spokane drive it. It was raced as "something" Nickel
and had a white deck and sides with a 3" orange stripe down the side at
the junction of the side and deck.
Later Miles sold
it to Jimmy (son of Bob Johnson - Bob had something to do with the unlimiteds
in Spokane). Word is that Jimmy bought the current cowlings from
Ron Jones and set the boat up to run for a kilo record. Apparently it did
ok on the first pass but failed miserably on the second after it blew a
hose. After that it never really ran much and was sold to Poncho
Simmonson about 10 years ago.
Speaking to Jack
Hines (Miss Peg) he noticed the hull had fewer frames than his hull.
As well after reviewing the few Jones plans I have (none of which are of
the same 17" 8" length my hull is) I noticed they all have between 12 and
13 frames (including the transom). Mine has only 10 including the
transom. It may be that the dry sponson design had fewer frames compared
to the wet sponson plans I have.
With so little information
on this hull I'm turning to you Northwest US hydro fans to see if you can
help me learn more about this hull. Please don't hesitate to drop
me an e-mail or call me in California at 925-417-0718.
