The Black steel boat came from Champion marine big auction. A couple of guys from chicago raced it in Key west in '95 or '96. The boat had motor problems(3 o/b's) on the 1st lap and was going too slow around the breakwall by the viewing area. Zero Defect(laith Phaeron) ran them over while battling with Alcone. The driver was hurt pretty bad(has since recovered) and it happened in front of a bunch of spectators. The boat was beached there till the races were over. Back then pro outboard raced w/ modifed classes and the speed difference between the two classes was alot. It will probally come up for sale on oso soon with Two nice 2.5's on the back of it now.runs good and it is a nice shadow cat. jay.

Now that you explain the accident, I do remember Black Steel...completely different boat than the Black Duck. I am glad the driver is OK. I saw the video...did not look pretty.

It was Black Shadow NOT Black Steel....

Your probally right on the name. It is hard to remember all the boats that were restored.

It definitely was "Black Shadow". I was racing in my Chris-Cat at the time ("Euromarine Special"), and that was definitely a bit unnerving. "Zero Defect" was an open or super boat, not a modified, so the speed disparities were significant. It was definitely not a good idea to run those classes together. I still maintain, however, that it was up to the overtaking boat (Zero Defect) to pass safely. They always tell you in the drivers meeting that rules of the road apply, but you would be amazed how few guys racing have any idea as to what the rules of the road actually are! Anyway, glad he recovered. I have photos of the boat that my friend took and you could see the marks on the foredeck where Zero Defect's props walked right up the deck. Very scary!

Tom
Total Marine

I was actually standing on the breakwall and saw the accident right in front of me. The driver jim finkel took the hit from the skeg of zero defect in the back of his helmet an open faced bell. The 'd' rings were streched to about 3" in length. I thought the worst for him but glad he recovered. I think a guy named Frank martin?(?) retrieved the helmet from the water floating, where it had been torn off his head by the impact. It was a horrible accident . Thanks for refreshing my memory,it has been a while since this happened, but I do remember euromarine. If anyone has pics, can you post them,thanks jay.

I want a shadow/chris cat, please PM with any ones for sale. Been looking for a while. thanks.

I have the original (Shadow Cat) brochure since I work at the marina they were built at in Lake Hopatcong (elbie's place). My avatar is my boat parked at Hockenjos.