C-5 Finish Line

[smokeybandit]

Originally Posted by aex

Kurt is that you ? How's Ozzie ? I remember him as a baby .

Ricky "Racer" Conti and Bob Catanzaro bought your red Chris and named it Double Vision 2 .
I called Rick he told me the boat had radical small blocks . He added they were running really well in Key West , hanging with open boats until an electrical short put them out and some time later sold it to Peter Pacovik from Fla.
All the boats from your stable ran well and thanks again for always lending a hand or doling out advice .
Jimmy


On a sad note Ricky Racer towed Spirit of Miss Liberty back to Ft Lauderdale after the crash . A trim cylinder mounted to the transom where a hole had been plugged caused the failure . It did have Kaamas . He told me every time he looked in the rear view mirror he got sick .
Returning the truck and boat to the family must have really been hard .
He also added cockpit access was tough on the boat as T2x had indicated earlier . He said they scrambled to make the race and it sounded like the cockpit may have been a work in progress .

It's not Kurt, it's Robert.

[MASOMAN]

Hello Steve This Must Be Steve Z. How Have You Been ? I Think The Last Time We Talked Was At Fountains Race And Kilo Run In 2000. I Tried To Call You Earlier In The Year But Number No Good Dont You Pay Your Bill ! Give Me A Call 814 397 1826 .i"d Like To See Your Progress On The Boat Sometime .john M.

[Phil M]

Originally Posted by smokeybandit

It's not Kurt, it's Robert.

Son of Mike W ?

[MASOMAN]

I Was Involved With Another Brick Nj Boat. The Old Bust-n-out. Did A Few Races Then Put 1375 Hp Blown Alcohol Motors In It. She Did Between 130 -140 Mph On Lake Erie. I Think It Is Down On Lake Texoma Know . Last I Heard It Had 1200's In It. John M.

[aex]

Here is a nice Chris for you , and always a good runner .
Tom , I had to do it , you are too modest .
Hope all is well , Jim .

[djmadmatt]

Morning John! I need to Scan in some of your pix so we can get them posted here.

[smokeybandit]

Originally Posted by Phil M

Son of Mike W ?

That would be me. My dad was a character. Love him or hate him, and I know there were some of both. He was entertaining.

[SKATERKAT]

[QUOTE=T2x;2683672]

Originally Posted by StephenA

Be VERY careful........

Shadow/Chris Cats have very deep forward sponson areas and need bow lift to prevent broaching at speed......

Arnesons run at negative shaft angles....so you will need high rake props to offset this shortcoming......and make no mistake....it is a shortcoming.

The Miss America Accident I believe was with Kaama drives, not Arnesons..... and the reason that two fatalities occurred was because there was no easy exit built into the canopies and the occupants drowned after a drive ripped off the transom causing a barrel roll.

T2x

I remember that race. It was a very traggic day here on the gulf coast. Here is the clip from the local panama city beach newspaper that I found in the archives.

"Thomas Brandt, 38, of Gulf Stream and Donald Wright, 45, of Fort Lauderdale, died when their Spirit of Miss Liberty powerboat crashed during the running of the inaugural Sheffield Oil Unocal 76 Offshore Classic held April 16 off Panama City Beach.

Offshore Power Boat Racing Association president John Kenyon, who is also the association's chief boat inspector, declined comment on the report because of a pending lawsuit, as did Sandra Brandt, widow of the driver. Efforts to reach the widow of Donald Wright were unsuccessful.

MEN TRAPPED

Brandt and Wright drowned when their 1984 30-foot Chris Craft boat caught a ``freak wave,'' barrel rolled and flipped end over end at least once, according to the report. The boat landed upside down and sank by the stern.

The Spirit of Miss Liberty was the only boat in the 33-boat field to use an enclosed canopy. The canopy was basically an aluminum box shaped to fit the contours of the boat, including a solid aluminum floor, with a series of five vertical posts from floor to ceiling. The windows in the canopy were aircraft-type plexiglass, and solidly bolted to the aluminum frame.

Brandt, the driver, and Wright, the throttleman, entered and exited the canopy by two ``man holes'' in the stern that measured two feet by two and one-half feet. They were the only exits from of the boat.

The boat sank stern first, in approximately 15 feet of water in 43 seconds, filling the canopy with water.

According to the FMP report, Brant and Wright were alive and conscious following the crash, as evidenced by unstrapped seat belts and shoulder restraints.

However, due the buoyancy of their life jackets, the two men were forced against the windshield--instrument panel area where they were unable to swim, or were unable pull themselves down to the ``man holes'' and escape.

The OPBRA, which staged the race, had several rescue crews available, but none was able to save the two racers."

[TGC-32]

Originally Posted by aex

Here is a nice Chris for you , and always a good runner .
Tom , I had to do it , you are too modest .
Hope all is well , Jim .

Everything is good, Jim. Hope the same goes for you. Those sure were fun days!

By the way, Leslie Cohan says hello. She is my office manager here in Norwalk, CT.

Talk to you soon,

Tom

[Ryan Beckley]

After reading post 38 it reminds you of how un-safe many of the canopies were back then. The canopies now are 1000% better yet we still have tragidies occur. Most of the canopies back then were more like wind shields. In some cases they gave a total false sense of security. I never saw the Miss Liberty with the canopy but would like to see a pic of it. I am sure when built they thought it was the best thing ever. People thought the Titanic wouldn't sink as well......