Straycat, If you see Frank and Bob, tell them I said hello. They will mostly
remember me for running along side Wild Turkey in the Barnegat Bay with this
boat pictured below...

Was Pipeline Express the old Towne and Country boat?

Hey Ron ! Lets just say he will get the title back !:rolleyes: I am fortunate enough that he shares some secrets with me . He doesn't like to talk much . So I shouldn't say . Lets just say he found some cosmetics to be slowing him down drasticly !!:eek:

As for his high speed turns ........... All I can say is one ride is enough !! (Another would be OK though !) I don't know how he dose it but I think he pulls about 4 G's in a turn ,flat and straight as on rails ! I would say about 100 plus into a U turn and throttle though it ! I think we came out at about 130+ !! Unreal ! Almost pushed me and the other 5 on board out through the side wall ! I think he turns props out as well . HE MUST !!

Mike , If your watching , THanks for everything ! Especialy the ride ! THat is one fine tuned machine ! Good luck ! JOE T.

Hey Ryan
 

I know it had another name but I can't remember what Bob said it was.Since you mentioned that it does sound familiar.We were racing together in 90-91.Bob got sick and had to quit.
Lonnie :cool:

Yes "Pipeline" was the old "Towne and Country" boat.

No it was not the first Shadow....probably the 25th or so, built about the time we left. I think I sold it to John Emmons but left before it was built.

I don't recall it being "torn in half" , I can assure that "George" did not rebuild as we were long gone by then. George may have consulted on some repairs or modifications in the years that followed. I know every time I saw Bob and Richie at a race, they complemented us on a great boat, handling , etc......

Bob and Richie D. were very competitive racers.

T2x

Straycat,

As Sean mentioned, I'm restoring the old "White Knight". This boat was Billy Martin's "Hustler" and pror to that, Don Aronow's 1967 World Champ,"Maltese Magnum". I would LOVE to obtain any photos of 'White Knight". If you have any, I would sure appreciate you posting them.
Photos of "White Knight's" face lift may be viewed on Donzi.net under "Other Performance Boats"
Thanks
BOB G.

Racemore,
The “Town & Country” / “Pipeline” Shadow Cat was not torn in half, but in the 1986 or 1987 Worlds, the boat with John Emmons on the throttles, Bob Shug navigating, and Rick Malanga driving did have the front of the deck come apart in the roughest part of the course. A crack developed in the front of the tunnel in the race prior, and weakened the core, while bashing through some really big water, (these cats can run very fast in the rough) a big wave entered through the damaged area, and hydrauliced the front deck off, The boat sank, and was raised the next day. If I remember correctly Larry Wurtsburger put a new deck on the boat, and Bob Shug (who Paid for the raising/towing of the boat) entered a Salvage claim, stating since he paid the salvage bill he wanted ownership of the boat. This went to the court system for quite a while, and the Judge did award ownership to Bob Shug, (Rules of salvage on the high seas). A lesson learned. Always pay your salvage bill with your own check.
Philip

Bob,

thanks much for the old Inferno pic! what year was that?

mc

Hey Guys, just logged in again and realized how small the world is really getting. To Robert G, its great to hear that the White Knight has found a good home and is in the process of coming back in glory. I'll relay the message to Frank and I will post some of the old photos. Ryan if you read this to Robbie says Hi ! also might see Jayson M. one of these days and get the the status on the new 40'. Also Sharkeymarine, I printed out the photo post and will show it to Frank L. He should get a kick out of it. ( that air shot reminds me of the old Cougar mini-cat 12' i had , airtime finally caused it's demise)

Thanks T2X and Philip
 

I guess it was the cracked tunnel,torn deck and 11yrs that confused me.I met Rich in 89 at Holiday Isle when the APBA screwed us out of our position in the race,us 2nd and Rich 3rd for turning the turnboat instead of the bouy that had broke loose and drifted into the spectator area like the rules provided.It was purely to let Dollar Marine win the Southeast point Championship.
That night Rich and I were drinking at Cocomo's when John Kenyon showed up and Rich started to kick his butt.I stepped in front of him to keep him from probably getting kicked out of the APBA but he had good reason.Even the safety boat tried to tell Gene Whip that we did the right thing but we heard that there was radio conversation during the race for Dollar to turn the bouy anyway so they could gain advantage.Maybe I shoud have stayed out of Richey's way:D
The last time was in 91 in Annapolis at a 2 race event.We finish 3rd the first day and broke a gearcase,Bob and Rich was 2nd behind I think Rolling Thunder.My boat owner didn't want to fix the boat even though we had a friend who drove all the way there and had the parts,instead he went sightseeing in Washington.WOW I stayed and helped Bad Move repiar their boat after they rolled it in the second turn in the 1st race.After we got their boat fixed(3 new harnesses,batteries,pumps and powerheads) they asked if we where ready,I told them that we broke the case and they offered to give us one to run or get their mechanic to fix ours free and begged me to take it.I told Jack when he got back and he still refused,that broke up a good team because I had to quit as his throttleman.When I go 800 miles to race i don't want to sightsee,I want to race.Anyway I helped Pipeline prep for the race which they won and help them during the post race inspection.It was easy making one of the motors read the right compression ratio but with a little help on the second try it passed.Is Rich still around? it was alot of fun hangin out with those guys,what racing is supposed to be.

By the way Bad Move made one lap and tore a powerhead off in the same turn 2nd lap.They smiled and said thats racing,I would have thown up.
Lonnie