NOTES:
Len Whittington of Okeechobee, FL is looking for any old big, 12 cylinder war surplus engines. If you can assist him his phone # is (407) 436-1080.
 Recently at the Detroit race, I had the privileged of MCing an auction for the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, Inc. This event came about through the efforts of Chuck Woodruff and Dan Castellanos. Dan who works directly for the Buoniconti Fund, sent me a letter stating  Everyone here at The Miami Project would like to see the relationship with APBA develop further and strengthen. Anyone interested in contributing to this cause can contact Dan Castellanos at (305) 243-6001.

VINTAGE RACERS REDISCOVERED:
 Bill Stienfield of Myrtle Beach, SC called and reminisced with us regarding Skeeter Johnson. Bill campaigned his boat, S-96, High Society. He immensely enjoyed racing with Skeeter, especially at the 1959 136 Nationals, where he ran 2nd to Skeeter. Bill truly treasures his racing memories.
 Creighton Orem tells us that his father Earl W. Orem used to race 225’s and POD’s with his boats that ran under the name of Sea Turtle and Sea Gull. Earl retired from racing in 1953.

VIDEO:
Available thru the Vintage Division of APBA is a 30 minute video of the Antique Race Boat Regatta ‘96 Clayton New York, professionally produced by Matt Heinman. The price is $30. Send your check, payable to APBA, and your mailing address to Libby at the APBA offices. This video is by far the best of the three race boat regatta videos.

CHALLENGES:
Molly Ballou of Hemet, CA responded to the June challenge with information about the T-199. This Switzer Marathon hull was powered with two big 6 cylinder mercurys. Molly believes that Bill Petty who at that time lived in Wapakanetta, OH, was the driver in our Hot Boat picture. She states that “Bill was a factory Mercury driver in that era.” 
We have no other information on Bill Petty. Molly, thank you for responding. You are the only one to give us any information on the T-199.
 We would like to thank Bud Widget of Lakeland, FL and Creighton Orem of Cambridge, MD for their donation of early APBA Rule Books. These books are a valuable resource for us. They will be eventually passed on to the APBA Library. Thank you again for your generous donation!

RACE SITES:
 September 6th  Clear Lake, Iowa Contact: Jim Cummings Home Number(612) 391-6280.

BOBBYE KENYON’S VINTAGE OFFSHORE REPORT:        A HISTORY OF OFFSHORE RACING
 Offshore power boat racing got a solid boost back in December 1964. With the announcement that the world’s largest ocean racing group, the Miami-based OPBRA club had joined forces with the American Power Boat Association. This merger established a new category -- The Offshore Category -- of power boat racing within APBA. According to then President James H. Jost, the OPBRA became the nucleus of the newly formed Offshore Racing Commission.  A fact clearly demonstrated when OPBRA President Capt. Jack Manson was named a Vice President of APBA and appointed as the first chairman in the history of the Offshore Racing Commission. OPBRA helped establish the racing rules for offshore in the United States, founded the Sam Griffith Memorial Ocean Race (the old Miami-Nassau event) and the Miami to Key West Race. In a gesture to honor a fellow racer, a dedicated group of friends established the sport. In doing so,  they wrote a chapter in the offshore history books that will long be remembered as the “glory days of offshore racing.”

CHARLES STRANG’S SPECIAL REPORT: 
“I thought you might be interested in the enclosed drawings of Paul Sawyer’s 266, the Alter Ego, which I came across in the July, 1952 issue of ‘Speed and Spray’ magazine.”
 “I was with Paul in Italy and Switzerland in the summer of 1951 and well recall the excitement that his boat created. The Europeans had never even seen a 3-point hydro before and Paul just ran away from their single step boats. Even through they had far more horsepower than he did.
 Amusingly, I visited the racing department of Alfa-Romeo to learn about the Alfa Grand Prix car engine that dominated car racing at the time -- 440 hp out of 1.5 Liter, two-stage supercharged engine. The Alfa chief engineer kept asking me where the overhead valves were hidden in Paul’s Ford -- because ‘no side valve engine could ever go that fast!’
 Paul very generously offered to let the Italians measure his boat and the drawings in this article were the result. The measurements were taken by Mario Speluzzi, a professor of engineering and later a good friend of mine. Now you can build a replica Alter Ego in your spare time!” 

VINTAGE HOT BOAT OF THE MONTH: 
Empirical, #14, a Formula 23.
George Peroni and Jack Bell compete in the 1967 OPBRA Race - Miami to Key West and won the Class III title. (Photo Courtesy of George Peroni)
 The following is some interesting background information on #14, Empirical, the Hot Boat of the month. 
 Jack Bell fell shortly after the start and remained on the deck, at his insistence, for the rest of the 150 mile plus race. Actually #14 was disqualified at Fowey Light (just off the Miami coastline) for ocean racing with only one crew member. The team was re-instated at the finish when Jack Bell was removed and hospitalized with three cracked ribs. 
 The Empirical has quite a unique history besides it’s brilliant racing career. It was the boat that took the Beatles for a ride during their visit to Miami in 1964 and the photos made the front pages of newspapers and magazines, including LIFE, around the world! The boat retired in 1972 and won its class in that final race -- The Palm Bay Club Classic. >

Note: The February 1995 issue of Propeller (Vintage & Historic Page) shows Jim Wynne’s Ghost Rider winning the 1966 Miami - Key West race. George Peroni is riding navigator in the boat during that race which won the World Championship for Jim.

©1997 Tom D'Eath