Reply With QuoteWhen is this race?
oh ya, my dad raced in the first 10-races and then retired !!! after a bad crash in front of our a-frame house where a flat-bottom driver/racer was decapitated when he hit the neighbors dock and went under it ..... this witnessed by all of us (about 50 people), with my sisters and cousins were on the dock and they had to jump outta the way :sqeyes: we actually have "old" film of this .... it's something i'll "NEVER" forget, i was like 8 yrs old or so !!! but all of the other races have been fun to watch ---- keyes
Can't wait, we're going & didn't even realize it was that weekend. I got an old Samuria we'll probably park on one of the bluffs to watch.
Growing up we had an old Tahiti with a 150 Merc, my dad's mechanic was a guy named Frank that had a shop near where Bluewater is now. It was his son that was decapitated going under the dock. I think it was a stearing cable that came loose. Years later when the race was shortened & turned in front of Badenochs, I remember one of the drivers rolling out of his boat half way through the turn. There was a huge red pool where he was pulled out. I think there was speculation he had a heart attack while entering the turn.
When is this race?
When is this race?
OH.... I see it Oct 20th
Can't wait, we're going & didn't even realize it was that weekend. I got an old Samuria we'll probably park on one of the bluffs to watch.
Growing up we had an old Tahiti with a 150 Merc, my dad's mechanic was a guy named Frank that had a shop near where Bluewater is now. It was his son that was decapitated going under the dock. I think it was a stearing cable that came loose. Years later when the race was shortened & turned in front of Badenochs, I remember one of the drivers rolling out of his boat half way through the turn. There was a huge red pool where he was pulled out. I think there was speculation he had a heart attack while entering the turn.
I investigated that incident. I also have it on tape.
We did speculate that he had a heart attack, after going through the video frame by frame. After his head slumped (at 140 MPH), drag on the boat and his momentum ejected him through the cowling.
We ordinarily wouldn't do an investigation for a race related incident like this, but the driver was a Deputy Sheriff from Nevada, and their Sheriff asked me to find out what happened.
The family didn't want an autopsy, and since there was no indication of foul play, we respected their wishes. But based on the video, the fact that the driver was a heavy smoker, about 40 pounds over weight, his age (mid-50s), high stress occupation, and adreneline from the race, the only conclusion we could come to was heart failure.
I thought the old Parker 9 hour was in March. The outboard Formula Boats dominated the race for years.
oh yeah I was there every year for the 9hr enduro back in the 70's and 80's. Have video of it on tape somewhere. I'll be there for the races at my place. Looking forward to it.
Is that a Nordskog out front?
The 9 hour Enduro (shortened to 7 hours, due to the gas crisis in the late 70's) originally ran from the Blue water to Ah Villa (now La Paz) County Park. Later the start was changed to the Park.
For years my family scored the turn. We would mark off every time a boat rounded the south turn for the run back to the Park. There was more than once that the class "winner" was disqualified, due to cutting the course.
The race ceased in the '80s, due to insurance concerns. They got so anal, that at the end they told us that if we wanted to run the race, we'd have to keep everyone off of the docks along the whole course, and put barrier tape to keep spectators 20' from the river. Needless to say, that would have been impossible, so the race died.
It was resurected for a few years in the late '80s. First as the "Mini-Enduro", running 40 hp and under outboard hydros, and later as the "Enduro Classic", running from Blue Water to Badenoch's and Arizona Shores, respectively.
Then Ross brought it back in its present form, in the late '90s after the Casino was finished. It runs from Blue Water to Badenochs.
And the Whaler (#411) was a 14' Whaler w/40 HP and won his class every year. Because he was the ONLY one in his class. While everyone else was making pit stops for fuel or driver changes, he only stopped to change the 8-track in the tape player.
I understand the insurance thing, our place was 2 houses S. of Badnochs. The boats making a wide turn would come up the strip pointed directly @ our dock. More than a few times we went running from the dock, thinking they had lost control.
One thing I really miss about the enduro was the boat with a Jaguar V12. The sound of that boat was awesome when it hung together. I think it pissed a lot other racers off because of it's speed & they tried to protest it because it wasn't american made.
Thanks for the info on the other racer.
great times,my dad was a safety boat in the 70s at the jolly knight,i would sit there all day and watch, practice would be the day befor and they would close parts of the river,one guy did not listen and crashed into a raceboat ,he died his passenger and the racer survived
Is that a Nordskog out front?
Yep! Ted who is like a father to me worked at Nordskog and help build that boat !
I believe that photo was taken right where the Casino is now located
The Casino is located under where it says 1967 the boats are going up river in the photo
It is going to be fun. We will be running it for sure.Trying to get the one boat done by the race. Hopefully we can make it. :idea: If not, we will be running a back up boat.
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