HORBA member needs help !!!

[lucky strike]

[quote=mr vinyl;2242607 All info and pictures will be much appreciated.Bud[/QUOTE]

Looks like Point Plesant N.J. in pic. # 1 to me.

[Black Tornado]

Hi Richie,
Don with the 28' with three outboard finished 2nd behind Lewis in the 500 of 1967.
Then he bring the boat in Europe together with 28' single engine solding the last one to Kennerley after the CTC.
Balestrieri buy the two-engined one re-named Tornado and raced the season 1968 with Pruett.
The boat sank during the Cowes-Torquay while she was dueling with the Surfury of brothers Gardner.
She was sold by Pruett for few pounds to Ian Toll. The Royal Navy that was looking for one sunk helicopter of his find the boat and deliver her to Toll, that re-rigged she and changed the deck and introducing himself to the 1969 CTC.
That 28' it seems both still somewhere in England.
Balestrieri bought a second 28' in 1969 named Blue Tornado.


The Mag 28' triple mercury.

The Mag 28' single engine(with the sides in green).

The Mag 28' double engines.


Maltese Magnum Twin. CTC 1969.Kennerley modified the boat with a second engine in tandem forward the cockpit.
(photo from Graham's Library on Boatmad.com)


The Mag 28'Tornado after the restoration of Ian Toll.
Courtesy of Graham Stevens.

[Black Tornado]

The former Maltese Magnum double engines now(1968) became Tornado winning the World Title for Balestrieri/Pruett.

[mr vinyl]

The 29-9 will faithfully be restored,the only thing we might change is the steering. keep the info coming greatly appreciated. Bud

[seeroy]

OK Richie you sucked me into this one. The only things I remember about 28' Magnum and Aronow in California are as follows. One summer I worked for Don in Miami instead of working at the Lake. Knocky was in Europe with one boat and I took a 28' Magnum w/single sterndrive to Long Beach for 2 day race. Day 1 was Long Beach to SanDiego..Day 2 was SanDiego back to Long Beach. Odell was 1st with the turbine Maritime and we were 2nd. At the finish line Odell was sitting just out from the dock when we came by close enough for me to hand him a ham sandwich. That is, if I had a ham sandwich, which I didn't. Another of Bill's favorite sayings, "If we had some ham, we could have a ham and cheese sandwich, if we had some cheese." By the way "Searace" says that it was Bill riding with Don when, in fact, it was me. Also, apparently there was another race in California where Aronow ran a Magnum against Odell in the turbine. I believe that race ran from Long Beach to San Francisco and I don't know who rode with Don, but I would imagine that it was probably Knocky or, possibly Barry Cordingly. As to Jim Armington....I recently sent an e-mail to Buckeye Marine in Ohio asking about him. It seems to me that was the name of his dealership. I did not get a response. The only boat that I remember Jim in was the 32" Cary w/4 outboards that Chet Strickland had run somewhere, and I ran in the 3rd Bahamas 500 with Ralph Seavey as a Co-driver. Sometime after that, Armington bought that boat from Kiekhaefer and ran it in a race off of the New Jersey coast with Me and his son onboard. Brother Bill was running with Joel Cohen in the old "Ghost Rider". The Jersey coast was home waters to Joel, so we followed him thinking he would know where he was going. He was leading and we were running about a mile behind him in 2nd place. He missed a turn/check point.....Naturally, we followed thinking, "Hey. This is his home water. He knows where he's going."......WRONG! After about 5 or 10 miles he reversed course and, once again we followed him. Not too far down the line we picked up a plastic bag on one of the lower units thus plugging the water intake and toasting an engine. The drag from the puked motor put us out of the race. Armington ran the same rig at another later race with Chet Strickland along for the ride. Somewhere along the way they rolled the boat and Chet damn near died. I think he ended up in the water with a punctured lung and Jim's son holding him up until rescue arrived. We really need to get Chet on this site. I know he has some incredible stories to tell. Back to Jim Armington....I remember him as one on the truly nice guys from those days. I am sure he raced in other events after I had left the scene for USAF pilot training. My attention was pretty much centered on surviving through that year long school followed by another 6 months of Fighter/Interceptor training. During that year and a half, I really don't know much about anything that happened on the boat racing scene. Does anyone know what became of Jim or his son? -Steve Sirois

[mr vinyl]

Thanks for all the help so far,still looking for any good pictures of it the pits or dock just prior to a race so we can see how the interior was laid out and what kind of engine hatch it had.He thinks it might have had a mild scoop.
In speaking with the past owner he indicated that this 29-9 was cut down from a 38 and done at the factory. There also was an article in Powerboat Magazine that stated that it was one of the best rough water boats out there because of its wide beam.Who would be able to find that article...was probably written mid to late 70,s. One last note on the deck he said that when he purchased it in 1980 it in looked like it was built in 3 pieces and he filled in the uneven areas to make it look better if that is of any help. Thanks Bud

[VintageOffshoreClassic]

The one I have the 1967 28' single 427 - 450 H.P. it was converted to twins and now it's going back to a single engine.

[mr vinyl]

That looks like a 29-9 what are the reg #s,from the transom the unit we have may have been converted from twins to a single.Won't know till we get it to our shop in a week or two.What is the freeboard at the transom that may tell if they are the same...I have been told these may have been cut down at the factory from 38,s. Powerboat Mag did an article on these boats in the late 70,trying to find it. Bud

[VintageOffshoreClassic]

Originally Posted by mr vinyl

That looks like a 29-9 what are the reg #s,from the transom the unit we have may have been converted from twins to a single. Won't know till we get it to our shop in a week or two. What is the freeboard at the transom that may tell if they are the same...I have been told these may have been cut down at the factory from 38,s. Powerboat Mag did an article on these boats in the late 70,trying to find it. Bud

Bud,

Mine is 27' 8" if two tapes are right, I've pulled the tape on it a few times I've learned that was designed by Harry Shoell. In 1967 my understanding is Mr. Don Aronow raced six baby Maltese Magnum’s that were named MAGNUM DONZI, three in the United States with the hull number (4) white hulls and three in Europe, with dark green hulls. Two were singles one green, one white two had twins and two had tripple 110 mercs outboards. I’ve performed some insensitive checking and may have located the U.S. out-board boat, the Magnum other (4) Maltese Magnum’s of 1967, I’m fairly sure they do not exist in this restorable condition. in 1966, when the boat was made the only other Maltese Magnum was a 35' not a 38' If you look at page 63 in Michael's book it shows the 35' with a different bottom and deck. Yours looks awesome keep me posted on the progress.

hh_classics@hotmail.com

Hugh

[mr vinyl]

Hugh it looks like we have two different models,we think ours is one of 5 that were made and they were cut down at the factory from a 32 or 38. Hopefully we will find that out when we locate the article from Powerboat Mag. Thanks Bud