littlenige

Ditto everybody above...........

patty442

Hi guys. I am so happy that the story of my boat is of interest to so many. I will try to tell the stories more frequently. I am preparing several chapters. Some titles come to mind like, "The hunt to find a way to make this arrow run straight" . Another might be "A cracked cylinder head change and rebuild in the boat in the middle of the night, three nights in a row, 72 hours before a race" with a little help from your friends. Another might be" first trip to Lake X - What a trip." Maybe - "What happens when you come to your first race ever, its Point Pleasant, New Jersey, your first ocean run and you come out the cut to test the day before the race and is 18- 20 feet in the cut and 12 to 15 feet outside, close just offshore. How about -- How do you carry 500 gallons of Cam2 - no 116 at the time- in a 1981 Bronco , in small containers, 100 miles back to the boat, without either getting stopped by the cops or blowing yourself up. There were many repaired scars on the Copper Kettle and many great stories how they got there told to me by my friend Mel Riggs. They could be chapters by themselves. Exploding flywheel through the bottom of the boat . A great one told me about the panty hose in the East River that stopped the boat. The missed telephone pole. Missed tank change, in the lead and running out of fuel on one side only, by the replacement crew, almost wide open, trimmed pretty far out, no plates - during a race in the Hudson River --- making a right turn at over 80 m.p.h. .A chapter about my first real boat. Not the G3 with the 85 Merc, that would sink if there wasn't a friend on the bow before I got going. The 1967 Donzi 18, 2 plus three, that had a brand new 427-435h.p. tripower Corvette motor installed backwards with a Casalle V drive, and dry stacks that burnt the back deck off and almost burned the boat to the water line. When Aronow saw it he said I was sick. Guess he was right. How about the 1977 Seville, my Mom's car, that I put an all Aluminum, Chevrolet 494 I think, Can Am motor in after my cup friends lightened the car to a little less than 3300 pounds, and put a 12 bolt 69 Camaro 4.10 posi, heavy duty factory Corvette rear disc brake option in it . Looks completely stock from the outside, A/C works, and had a Greenwood magnesium Cross Ram fuel injection that ran great on it, donated by my friend at Rahilly and Grady to get the hood closed. Now with 67 Corvette tripower. Still runs great. Only problem is the windows don't go up or down when I power brake it because the tied in chassis still twists too much torque I quess. Copper Kettle was a great part of my life experience. I was introduced to a wonderful group of people associated with the racing industry , here in Miami, all of them my friends, helping me with the boat, and I, whether it was putting them back together after injuries or rebuilding their wives or girlfriends. or both, at the same time. It has all been fun. But the most important chapter of my story is about the man who made these chapters all possible. It's my Dad, Joe. He is the one who made all this craziness. He is the one who allowed all this craziness to happen. He is one who paid for all the schooling. He's the one who paid for 5 college educations although he had only two children. He was the one who wouldn't sleep for three days before a race. He was the one who couldn't relax until he saw Cigarette Copper Kettle's name on the finish board. He taught me not to beat your stuff up, not your bicycle, not your go-kart, not your cars, not your boats, and most importantly not your friends. Take care of them all. Take your time and make it the best that you or anyone can. I live by those words with both my mechanical objects and my patients. When he said I think we have pushed our luck with the race boat too long. And when he said I can't take the racing anymore, the anxiety, the pressure , the stress, he was too old, the boat was sold. I was not happy of course, initially, but he said he felt better. That was all I had to hear. Next chapter to come shortly. Sorry if you guys don't like the personal stuff, but pure boat craziness to follow. As I said, I'll try to write at least once a week. Good night , Dr. Bob

rer233

keep writin' can't wait to here more!

littlenige

It's the personal aspect to the stories that keep it real and keep us hooked!

Redman

Hey Sonny----Barry told me, in confidence, that it was that silicon spray treatment on the bottom, that made the Copper Kettle so fast

patty442

Hi Guys. I do remember a discussion with Mel Riggs about some bottom treatment on the hull. Chemical application. Also about the bottom being block sanded perfectly flat for the last 10 feet on the boat. The year after I got the boat, I had it stored inside at a "Special Race Marina on City Island, New York. "Race boat marina. " I had signed all the papers for indoor winter storage 2 years and unlimited summer crane travel lift for the boat before seeing the place because it was a "Race Boat Marina". All the "race boats were there. I assumed Cam 2, at the pump, no noise restrictions, just a bunch of lunatics like me and my Dad wanting to have fun. Guess what. When I get there, it is Race Boat place alright. Only problem RACE SAILBOATS. There were six secret hulled boat being prepared for the America's Cup Race. There were giant DUMB sailboats. All with skirts around the hulls so no one could see the SECRET design of their hulls. You thought I cared. These guys were all dressed in Chino tan pants, Polo horse shirts and stupid sweaters drapped over there shoulders. Dad and I were in greasy Carillo Rod t shirts, with Hurst shifter jackets, with worn out stained sweat pants with holes all over. They were not happy with us, the boat the noise or anything to do with us. They drank Perier (sp) we had Yoo Hoo with protein powder. They carried nylon sails in canvas bags, we had Kendall GT1 racing oil in cardboard boxes. Their lunches were catered and brought in by uniformed team members, my Dad my friends and I went down to the corner deli. The point is one day, one of "Them" came over to my crew and I and asked what was going on on the bottom of the boat. It seemed very smooth but rough. What was the technology involved. Apparently impressed with the bottom of the boat. I said I think it was a chemical. I told them I wasn't sure and thought I was holding back a secret method of treating the bottom. The next thing a I know is I get a call from the security guard that there is a bunch a people pulling at the cover off my boat and was it alright. "They had brought in their aeronautical engineers to examine the bottom. I left the hospital immediately to see what was up. When I got to the boat there were seven of "Them", fondling the back 5 feet of the boat, with machinest straight edges an inclinometers, micrometers and other nonsense equipment . They had macro lens cameras taking pictures. The best that I can understand was the gel coat was first block sanded in parallel fore to aft lines for roughness to catch air for lift ( current design lifting stakes were not inverted at the times) then the last portion of the V at the transom was flatened ( sound familiar) and the whole bottom coated with some kind of water resistant chemical. They had some expensive equipment designed and built to accomplish some of "Our" unique improvements on "their' cup boats. "They sort of became friends, but not really. Even though they were race boat guys, they were sailboat race guys. Obviously not the same as us. I watched how they attached a new rub rail on there boats and sent one of there guys around the entire inside of the boat to cut everyone of the exposed ends of there Titanium rub rail screws flush with the inside fiberglass. Weight I guess is even more important when you only have wind and you don't have 1350 horsepower to help. Imagine checking the full advance timing, on two motors , one after the other, on the trailer outside at the travel lift at 6.30 .a.m. Sunday mornings during the Summer to make high tide so we could get out the channel to run the boat. Needless to say our two year contract at the " Race Boat Marina" was not renewed for a third year. Next story soon . Good night, Dr. Bob

machloosy

Haha that last story is some good stuff. I remember taking my 24ft small block boat out of my quiet marina at 10pm in august this year, the owner knows me and still wasn't happy. Granted I idled back past his house at midnight!

littlenige

Bob, you and Richie and all the old school guys should put together a book entitled 'Memories from the old school days' or something. You have a great seat of the pants way with words that really tell it like it was. Tell us more!

bobo1

Hope all is ok Dr. Bob, we miss the stories!

Dd24skater

First time I looked at this thread, Copper Kettle marina is just around the corner from us, I knew they were into Offshore racing in the eighties. Great thread, thanks Dr Bob