Reply With QuoteThat was a great story!!Keep 'em comin'!
Accidents Plague 9-Hr. Race
Author Hank W. Bowman, an authority on boating, was killed when his boat pitched him out of the craft at more than 50 mph and then ran him down in the Orange Bowl regatta's 9-Hour Endurance race at the Marine Stadium, Miami, Fla., Jan. 8.
Two other drivers were injured and three boats sank in the rough waters of Biscayne Bay before the race was suspended after 1 hr. and 16 min. of action to prevent more tragedy.
The race was run on Jan. 9 with Bob Nordskog repeating the single-handed performance that had given him victory in the Orange Bowl's 250 classic the previous week. The 52-year old iron man from Tarzana, Calif., drove the entire 9 hours without relief and only three pit stops in negotiating the 118 laps of the 4.2 marathon course at an average speed of 55.279 mph.
Bowman, the popular 52-year-old bearded competitor from Solebury, Pa., best known for his books and magazine articles on the sport, was buried at sea at the Gulf Stream's edge on Jan. 10.
Nordskog, whose sleek-lined Ski boat is completely a product of his own plant, managed to take over the lead from three-time winner Mike Wallace of Anaheim at the end of the first hour. He was never headed again.
Wallace "chased" the winner and came within striking distance but Nordskog just stepped on it and pulled well out in front.
The distance covered totaled 498.8 miles- rather heavy going for one driver, no matter what means of transportation used. Wallace never gave up until he hit a palm frond in the sixth hour and flipped, going out of the race. He was not injured.
Miamian Jack Wilcox, driving Mike Gordon's boat, with some relief from Bobby Moore, finished second. Wilcox had to sit out the closing minutes of the race in the pit area, with a hot gear box and a slowly eroding l6-lap lead over third-place finisher John Keller from Medway, Ohio. With moments to go, Wilcox started his engine and limped 200 yards over the finish line to hold onto second spot.
Keller, who won the outboard division two years ago, duplicated that feat with Charlie Scruggs of Cincinnati backing him up for one hour at the wheel between two pit stops for the day.
Only 20 of the 57 boats that started the race finished. (Ninety-six tried the first day.) Of the 24 starting inboards, four survived; 16 of the 33 outboards stood up to the grueling test.
Nordskog and Keller collected identical $1,000 awards plus the top trophies with the next 14 overall finishers sharing $1,000. The complete order of finish with laps completed and, in parenthesis, the top three finishers in each class, was
1. Bob Nordskog, Tarzana, Calif.. l1B (1, Class IV inboord). .
2. Jack Wilcox (Mike Gordon); Miami, 106 (2, IV inboard).
3. John Keller, Medway, Ohio, 97 (1, Class II outboard).
4. Tom Stickle, Dayton, Ohio, 97 (2, Class II outboard).
5. Ron Larson, Chicago, III., 95 (3, Class IV inboord).
6. John Di Pietro, Anchorage, Ky., 89 (3, Class II outboard).
7. William Meyer, Westfield, N.J., 88 (1, Class I outboord).
8. Ken Kalibat, Island Park, N.Y., 87 (OB).
9. Ron and Bud Tuppen, Lake Worth, Fla., 86 (2, Class I, outboard).
10. Tracy Van Buren, Jr., Charleston, S.C., 86 (3, Class l outboord).
11. Rickey DeMontrand, Monterey Park, Calif., 85 (IB).
12. Frank Brown, West Palm Beoch, Fla., 83 (OB).
13. Brooke Russell, Miami, Fla., 83 (OB).
14. Mani Costa, Miami, Fla., 77 COB).
15. Charles Smith, Covington, Ky., 76 (OB).
16. Jim Tower, Hollywood, Flo., 74 (OB).
17. Rusty Bond, Felix Poppell, Stuart-Fort Pierce, Fla., 71 (OB).
18. Robert LeRoy, Frankfort, Ky., 68.
19. Barry Cohen, Lido Beach, N.Y., 67
20. Henry Shakeshaft, Port Charlotte, Fla., 59 laps
That was a great story!!
BN,
I have some great footage of one of the salton sea 500s with nordskog driving his 'sharks tooth' boat. It was shot from a helicopter. the water looked like a washing machine and he never took his foot out of it. Guy had stones the size of bowling balls. All those guys did back then. 500 miles in a flat, fockin A.
thanks for the great article. I have several old Powerboat mags (peterson owned) and hot boat mags from the early 60's and there are a few articles written by Bowman in them.
Being a newbie around here, I have a question...
Why is there more info available on these types of boats and races than on drag boats? :notam:
Kristina
Being a newbie around here, I have a question...
Why is there more info available on these types of boats and races than on drag boats? :notam:
Kristina
?
I think it's just the opposite. Hell, even hot rod mag covered boat drags back in the day. Ya just gotta keep looking.
I will, after all it is the journey not the destination. You just never know what you might see on the next page!
Being a newbie around here, I have a question...
Why is there more info available on these types of boats and races than on drag boats? :notam:
Kristina
Why do you think that? I have hundreds of old rags containing at least a dosen different publications and never thought to compare who got more coverage. In the early 60's the marathons drew hundreds of competitors and were covered well. They seemed to loose steam into the late 60's when drags and circles headed towards their hey day (the 70's). If you combined the 60's 70's and 80's I think the drag boats were covered the most.
my .02
Jerry
When I first met Mike and was trying to learn about what he loved so much... I found very little current info (let alone entire mags.) dedicated to drag boats. The marathon runners and unlimited hydro info was much easier to get. I learned the hard way when searching that the word "unlimited" and "hydro" have many meanings.Kristina
The 60s marathon circut was brutal , Lou Brummett , Tim Wallace , Bill Cooper , Dick Freek , Vic Edelbrock , Bob Nordskog , Red Adair , Rudy Ramos etc it was the factory involvement that made marathon racing so exciting and 500 miles with a aveage speed of 75 plus was excting to watch . Ford versus chevy mandella versus aqua craft , inboards versus outboards . Anybody remeber when Bill Cooper drove Spooky ? it had the engine up front like a cracker and he rode out back on a skid plate with the rudder behind him . There was nothing in boat racing that compared to the start of the Parker nine hour enduros of the 60s .
The start of the Catalina Ski Race and the Lake Mead 50 and 75 mile ski races with over 100 boats with OPEN exhausts starting was guaranteed to make your heart pump a little faster as well!
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