The 21' and under 70+ mph Boat pic thread

[Clank123]

Gee, been a stroll down memory lane for me today.
This is the E boat owned I think by Jack Pelican and driven by Jim Newton(Ty’s Dad).
They were going for the Kilo Record at Ah Villa in Parker. I think it was 84 or 85.
Jim flipped it a little up river from us and it was not good.
We were pitted right next to them.
Somewhere I have a picture of my 2 year old son playing next to their empty trailer and the only thing on it was the drivers seat!
If I remember right they put a buoy on the boat and pulled it at the end of the day. Long time ago!
I saw Jim at the races there at Thanksgiving when Ty was driving the K boat and he said it was his first time back! Wow.
Here’s a young Dave getting the 2.5 liter ready for a run at the kilo!
It was just me and my wife and 2 kids under 3. Ahh the good ol days!
I think the Circle races got blown out the next day.

 

[Backlash]

I'd love to see pictures of this one outside in the sunlight. The colors are intriguing.

I'm not sure who that is working on the boat, but good man for taking his shoes off!

 

[shan]

View attachment 1280533 View attachment 1280534
Gee, been a stroll down memory lane for me today.
This is the E boat owned I think by Jack Pelican and driven by Jim Newton(Ty’s Dad).
They were going for the Kilo Record at Ah Villa in Parker. I think it was 84 or 85.
Jim flipped it a little up river from us and it was not good.
We were pitted right next to them.
Somewhere I have a picture of my 2 year old son playing next to their empty trailer and the only thing on it was the drivers seat!
If I remember right they put a buoy on the boat and pulled it at the end of the day. Long time ago!
I saw Jim at the races there at Thanksgiving when Ty was driving the K boat and he said it was his first time back! Wow.
Here’s a young Dave getting the 2.5 liter ready for a run at the kilo!
It was just me and my wife and 2 kids under 3. Ahh the good ol days!
I think the Circle races got blown out the next day.
View attachment 1280538

I thought it was Conrad's, but I don't know.

 

[shan]

I'd love to see pictures of this one outside in the sunlight. The colors are intriguing.

I'm not sure who that is working on the boat, but good man for taking his shoes off!


View attachment 1280572

Kevin Beal working on Truitt's boat. I know Jerry has pictures of it in the sun.

 

[shan]

Needles 2009.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Yes, Jay on the left and Grich on the right.

What boat is Jay driving? Looks like a Hondo?

 

[Sharp Shooter]

I thought it was Conrad's, but I don't know.

That’s what I thought too. Racers prayer.

 

[Clank123]

I thought it was Conrad's, but I don't know.

Ya know you might be right!
Thought it was called Sew What!
But Conrad Murphy makes sense now too!
Almost 40 years ago!

 

[PrimeCut]

‘72 Dragoncraft

 

[timstoy]

Ya know you might be right!
Thought it was called Sew What!
But Conrad Murphy makes sense now too!
Almost 40 years ago!

Paul Stratton owned the Sew What boats driven by many drivers over the years including his nephew George. RIP.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Ya know you might be right!
Thought it was called Sew What!
But Conrad Murphy makes sense now too!
Almost 40 years ago!

I dug into the archives and it was Conrads short Biesemeyer Racer's Prayer as seen on the deck. 1986

 

[Sharp Shooter]

There were many Sew What boats.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

I'd love to see pictures of this one outside in the sunlight. The colors are intriguing.

I'm not sure who that is working on the boat, but good man for taking his shoes off!


View attachment 1280572

 

[Vamodsquad]

^ Wow man, Look at all that Flake !

 

[Backlash]

View attachment 1280682 View attachment 1280683 View attachment 1280684 View attachment 1280686 View attachment 1280687 View attachment 1280688

View attachment 1280697 View attachment 1280698 View attachment 1280699 View attachment 1280700 View attachment 1280702

One of my favorites!!! Thank you @Sharp Shooter you're the man!!!

 

[Clank123]

 

[Sharp Shooter]

View attachment 1281031

I can’t see this pic very good on my phone but 2 Pattersons side by side at Long beach? Mid 60’s?

 

[sintax]

I can’t see this pic very good on my phone but 2 Pattersons side by side at Long beach? Mid 60’s?

cant comment on the year since i was born in the 80s , but i'm seeing that also

i am curious about the side drafts? on the boat in the foreground though, was this ever common on v8s of that era??

 

[Sharp Shooter]

cant comment on the year since i was born in the 80s , but i'm seeing that also

i am curious about the side drafts? on the boat in the foreground though, was this ever common on v8s of that era??

Clank will know, he was 27 in 1965 or he if wasn’t I would bet he looked like he was.

 

[DC-88]

What boat is Jay driving? Looks like a Hondo?

I met Jay first time that day, thinking it was a little DCucci'

 

[TonyFanelli]

View attachment 1280682 View attachment 1280683 View attachment 1280684 View attachment 1280686 View attachment 1280687 View attachment 1280688

View attachment 1280697 View attachment 1280698 View attachment 1280699 View attachment 1280700 View attachment 1280702

 

[TonyFanelli]

.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

I met Jay first time that day, thinking it was a little DCucci'

That would explain the windshield!

 

[Clank123]

I can’t see this pic very good on my phone but 2 Pattersons side by side at Long beach? Mid 60’s?

Exactly right.
Patterson flatbottoms were fairly dominant in the early “SK” class.
The Sizzler was one of Leroy Penhall’s boats. You have all seen his red/gray trucks on the local California freeways.
His son is Bruce Penhall one of the best American speedway racers ever.
The boat pictured is the earliest version of the Sizzler. Like a lot of boats back then, everyone was trying to make more power, so a fair number of engine combinations over the years was used, but this is the best looking version of the bunch.
Close as I can tell he sold it to Dale Landsberry in about 1968 which he and Don St. John drove to some success.
It was all wood and beautiful.
Penhall also had a wood Patterson Cracker Box called Hot Cinders that was bought by Bob Overcash and raced. When Bob passed(he was a great guy!) he left the boat to Mike Leach who still has it.
There is one of the more dominant boats of the era in the background…Cream Puff owned and driven by Ed Olson who also was typically the co-driver with Rudy Ramos in his boat at the Endurance Races that were hugely popular back then(wish they still were!)

 

[Clank123]

cant comment on the year since i was born in the 80s , but i'm seeing that also

i am curious about the side drafts? on the boat in the foreground though, was this ever common on v8s of that era??

In those days many racers ran 48 IDA Weber Carburetors because 4 of them on a V8 would outflow any set of carburetors around at that time and they were a true high performance piece also huge in all kinds of car racing.
The Sidedraft manifold with sidedraft webers were very popular at the time.
Racing Corvettes and early CanAm cars with small block Chevys ran them.
I’ve seen ads for Nordskog Marine back in those days that had a sidedraft manifold with Webers on a big block.
So they were around.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

 

[Sharp Shooter]

High flyin Lavey!

 

[OkHallett270]

loving this thread! I was wondering if someone could explain the difference in the K boats and the GNs and the SKs etc etc. is it just power differences? Are the bottoms different? Thanks guys!

 

[Clank123]

View attachment 1281166

If anyone could come up with the ad, I knew you could do it!
Thanks for archiving the history of our sport!

 

[Clank123]

Probably the most successful Patterson flatbottom circle boat was the St. John brothers boat…Shockwave.
Don St.John drove it to many Victories in the newly formed Superstock class which required stock engines with a single carburetor and up to 440 cubic inches.
The boat was originally built with a 427 Ford side-oiler and ran well but when they changed to a Kieth Blsck 426 Hemi, it was nearly unbeatable and set the Kilo and Competition record.

The boat was found and restored by Dale Landsberry who put a Chevy in it and Mike Leach drove it in the 85mph gps class a couple times.
When Dale sadly passed, the engine had been blown up and was ready to go back in the boat. His son Chad called and asked if I could re-install the engine and get it running.
How could I say no! How cool to work on one of the greatest early circle boats ever!
Had him bring it over one Saturday and had a few of my Saturday “regulars” over to help and had the engine in and running in 2 1/2 hours.
Chad was blown away. He said what do I owe you?
I told him buy the boys a burger and we’re good!
Fun day!
My understanding is that Duff Daily owns the boat now with plans to put a 426 Chrysler in it.
That would be cool.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Probably the most successful Patterson flatbottom circle boat was the St. John brothers boat…Shockwave.
Don St.John drove it to many Victories in the newly formed Superstock class which required stock engines with a single carburetor and up to 440 cubic inches.
The boat was originally built with a 427 Ford side-oiler and ran well but when they changed to a Kieth Blsck 426 Hemi, it was nearly unbeatable and set the Kilo and Competition record.
View attachment 1281297

View attachment 1281298
The boat was found and restored by Dale Landsberry who put a Chevy in it and Mike Leach drove it in the 85mph gps class a couple times.
When Dale sadly passed, the engine had been blown up and was ready to go back in the boat. His son Chad called and asked if I could re-install the engine and get it running.
How could I say no! How cool to work on one of the greatest early circle boats ever!
Had him bring it over one Saturday and had a few of my Saturday “regulars” over to help and had the engine in and running in 2 1/2 hours.
Chad was blown away. He said what do I owe you?
I told him buy the boys a burger and we’re good!
Fun day!
My understanding is that Duff Daily owns the boat now with plans to put a 426 Chrysler in it.
That would be cool.
View attachment 1281299

Good stuff as usual Dave! I posted this pic of Denny Nish and Don St. John and little ways back in the thread. Don would attend some of the Mission bay SS races that I taped in the late 90's.

Irvine '08
Obviously JD first and Dale in last 2 photos;

 

[X Hoser]

Probably the most successful Patterson flatbottom circle boat was the St. John brothers boat…Shockwave.
Don St.John drove it to many Victories in the newly formed Superstock class which required stock engines with a single carburetor and up to 440 cubic inches.
The boat was originally built with a 427 Ford side-oiler and ran well but when they changed to a Kieth Blsck 426 Hemi, it was nearly unbeatable and set the Kilo and Competition record.
View attachment 1281297

View attachment 1281298
The boat was found and restored by Dale Landsberry who put a Chevy in it and Mike Leach drove it in the 85mph gps class a couple times.
When Dale sadly passed, the engine had been blown up and was ready to go back in the boat. His son Chad called and asked if I could re-install the engine and get it running.
How could I say no! How cool to work on one of the greatest early circle boats ever!
Had him bring it over one Saturday and had a few of my Saturday “regulars” over to help and had the engine in and running in 2 1/2 hours.
Chad was blown away. He said what do I owe you?
I told him buy the boys a burger and we’re good!
Fun day!
My understanding is that Duff Daily owns the boat now with plans to put a 426 Chrysler in it.
That would be cool.
View attachment 1281299

Had a chance to buy this boat a few years back and really mad at myself for not doing so. It came with a beautiful wood trailer! My parents were friends of the St John’s and I watched this boat race at LB Marine Stadium with them.

 

[brgrcru]

Different river . This was at 7 am waking up the entire trailer park . Making passes through the 5 mph zone . Sometimes you just have to say fuck it . Boats like these are like Sasquatch’s on parts of the delta

 

[Sharp Shooter]

loving this thread! I was wondering if someone could explain the difference in the K boats and the GNs and the SKs etc etc. is it just power differences? Are the bottoms different? Thanks guys!

Originally, the flat bottom circle classes were similar outside of power options. GN boats were called marathon boats back in the day. Rules in GN allow for v-bottom hulls. Engine rules are vastly different and have been evolving over the decades in GN and K. When I was a kid, the k class was considered an unlimited flatbottom with fairly strict hull rules but no engine limitations. SK started as a hot ski boat class.

The K class was reintroduced and redefined in the late 60's by Steve Earl and Chuck Boyd. They wanted to race, but without the strict limitations and rules of the classes available back then -> E (small block), SK (400 inch limit) or SS (427).

Eventually, the SK and PC classes merged creating PS. Over the years, all of the class rules have evolved in the name of safety, parity or in some cases like the SS class parts availability.

 

[OkHallett270]

Originally, the flat bottom circle classes were similar outside of power options. GN boats were called marathon boats back in the day. Rules in GN allow for v-bottom hulls. Engine rules are vastly different and have been evolving over the decades in GN and K. When I was a kid, the k class was considered an unlimited flatbottom with fairly strict hull rules but no engine limitations. SK started as a hot ski boat class.

The K class was reintroduced and redefined in the late 60's by Steve Earl and Chuck Boyd. They wanted to race, but without the strict limitations and rules of the classes available back then -> E (small block), SK (400 inch limit) or SS (427).

Eventually, the SK and PC classes merged creating PS. Over the years, all of the class rules have evolved in the name of safety, parity or in some cases like the SS class parts availability.

View attachment 1281340

View attachment 1281341 View attachment 1281342 View attachment 1281343

View attachment 1281345

View attachment 1281348

View attachment 1281346

View attachment 1281349

View attachment 1281350 View attachment 1281351

Thanks! This pretty well sums it up, I’ve always wondered what the main differences were.

 

[shan]

I dug into the archives and it was Conrads short Biesemeyer Racer's Prayer as seen on the deck. 1986

View attachment 1280676 View attachment 1280677

Short and very narrow.

 

[sintax]

View attachment 1281348

Do you or @Clank123 know anything about the Eliminator that is referenced there??

I read about an eliminator that was a b-boat bottom and a bubble deck top?

Wondering how many of those were made, never have seen one in person. Saw one for sale up north, but couldn’t line up time to go see it.

 

[shan]

Do you or @Clank123 know anything about the Eliminator that is referenced there??

I read about an eliminator that was a b-boat bottom and a bubble deck top?

Wondering how many of those were made, never have seen one in person. Saw one for sale up north, but couldn’t line up time to go see it.

They were Eliminator Spiders, and you're correct Biesemeyer bottom and Sanger deck. I have no idea how many were built, but there aren't many around that I know of. Phil Gould had one, and sold it. Jack Landers had one and crashed it. Dave Noyes has one. That's all I know.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

We were told 6 were built by a reliable source 20 years ago, but I would guess at least 20. I've seen way more than 6 in person.

Phil Goulds Boat

 

[sintax]

Thanks @Sharp Shooter and @shan

That’s one great looking hull. The one that I was looking at was yellow and blue and very much in ski trim.

Wish I would have just snagged it

 

[Clank123]

We were told 6 were built by a reliable source 20 years ago, but I would guess at least 20. I've seen way more than 6 in person.

View attachment 1281481

View attachment 1281482

Phil Goulds Boat
View attachment 1281490

View attachment 1281491

View attachment 1281492

View attachment 1281493

View attachment 1281499

View attachment 1281503

6 is the number in remember as well.
Agree seems like more.

 

[shan]

We were told 6 were built by a reliable source 20 years ago, but I would guess at least 20. I've seen way more than 6 in person.

View attachment 1281481

View attachment 1281482

Phil Goulds Boat
View attachment 1281490

View attachment 1281491

View attachment 1281492

View attachment 1281493

View attachment 1281499

View attachment 1281503

I really liked the red and blue one when it came up for sale a number of years ago, but I needed another boat like... It looked nice. I never saw it in person.

 

[Clank123]

I really liked the red and blue one when it came up for sale a number of years ago, but I needed another boat like... It looked nice. I never saw it in person.

The Lathrops, that we ski raced with here in Carlsbad, bought a bare hull that had the identical gel as Phil’s. I always thought it could be their old boat but none of the rigging was right.
Just another mystery to the 6 boat story we’ve heard all these years.

 

[MOUZER]

6 is the number in remember as well.
Agree seems like more.

ive had 2 and to this day i know of one sitting in the desert at a house/mobile so thats 3 and the 3 that r posted on here thats 6......lol
i would think there is a bit more out there

 

[Sharp Shooter]

ive had 2 and to this day i know of one sitting in the desert at a house/mobile so thats 3 and the 3 that r posted on here thats 6......lol
i would think there is a bit more out there

I know of 5 more.

 

[74 spectra20 v-drive]

View attachment 1280113

clank, gotta say I am a little partial to this one!!!! We have not had her on the water for 3 or 4 summers... Need to just drag her out, I was trying to this last summer but too emotional with just losing Dad last December, I know he would tell me to just suck in up....

 

[timstoy]

Jack Lander’s K43 is hanging in his garage! He cut the boat down front to back and hung it on the garage wall, makes a great conversation piece!

 

[TonyFanelli]

Originally, the flat bottom circle classes were similar outside of power options. GN boats were called marathon boats back in the day. Rules in GN allow for v-bottom hulls. Engine rules are vastly different and have been evolving over the decades in GN and K. When I was a kid, the k class was considered an unlimited flatbottom with fairly strict hull rules but no engine limitations. SK started as a hot ski boat class.

The K class was reintroduced and redefined in the late 60's by Steve Earl and Chuck Boyd. They wanted to race, but without the strict limitations and rules of the classes available back then -> E (small block), SK (400 inch limit) or SS (427).

Eventually, the SK and PC classes merged creating PS. Over the years, all of the class rules have evolved in the name of safety, parity or in some cases like the SS class parts availability.

View attachment 1281340

View attachment 1281341 View attachment 1281342 View attachment 1281343

View attachment 1281345

View attachment 1281348

View attachment 1281346

View attachment 1281349

View attachment 1281350 View attachment 1281351

Great to see these! Thanks for sharing part of history for us! Interesting as hell...Well Done!

 

[Clank123]

clank, gotta say I am a little partial to this one!!!! We have not had her on the water for 3 or 4 summers... Need to just drag her out, I was trying to this last summer but too emotional with just losing Dad last December, I know he would tell me to just suck in up....

So sorry for your loss.
I found the picture on another website and was so impressed by the look and period correct detail of this boat.
Your Dad has left you an amazing family heirloom and I am sure a lot of memories.
You’ll know when the time is right to get this beauty floatin again.
It will be a special day for sure.
Take care.
Dave

 

[74 spectra20 v-drive]

So sorry for your loss.
I found the picture on another website and was so impressed by the look and period correct detail of this boat.
Your Dad has left you an amazing family heirloom and I am sure a lot of memories.
You’ll know when the time is right to get this beauty floatin again.
It will be a special day for sure.
Take care.
Dave

Its period correct because it never changed only this that is not like it was in the mid 60's is no floor boards or side panels... man as a kid we had the entire lawn covered with upholstery when we got home from the river...