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Roger raced with Mark and did not win any races...however in the summer of '76 he teamed up with Doc Magoon and ran in the Benihana out of NJ.

They won, but Magoon said afterward, that he had to keep slapping Penske's hands off the throttles as he wanted to run wide open all the time.

Magoon knew from experience that you only need to run as fast as will keep everyone else behind you. Be easy on the engines and they will be there when you need them....it worked.

Roger was on a, million things to do per day. schedule even back then...he didn't stay for the awards dinner, but took his Lear Jet and flew off for another engagement somewhere.

Mark built Don A an IROC Camaro for the street.....it was really cool...so naturally he wanted all his friends to have one too. Magoon had a red one, I had a silver one just like Don's ...but instead of the # 1 and the Cigarette logo, I had my racing number 6 and the banana logo on the spoiler. Photo below.

Richie remembers that back then, the offshore racers and the auto racers were very friendly and we moved back and forth in each other's venue all the time.

Emerson Fittipaldi was good friends with Don too. Jochen Mass and I became friends after Marlboro took me to Europe to help them come up with an offshore racing plan. He loves boats more than cars I think.

Here is Jochen and me at Sebring the year he won the 12 hours co-driving with Bobby Rahal and another photo at Daytona.

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Here is Roger's boat...the 40 Cigarette

Deauville Trophy

Thanks Charlie and Richie for all these great anecdoctes.
It isn't surprising that Roger Penske 40' Cigarette was in Sunoco colours in 1973. That same year he was entering a Porsche 917/30 in sunoco livery for Mark who litterally ran around the competition on his way to the Can Am title. Was the race boat sponsorship part of the deal or else I do not know.

Charlie's assessement of the lack of mechanical sympathy demonstrated by race car drivers when sampling Offshore Racing was also be demonstrated by Didier Pironi. Though undeniably fast he registered avoidable DNF and maybe paid the ultimate price because of his driving style.

Back to the 40' Cigarette.
I have read that the 40' Cigarette was hastily produced to counter the threat of the 40' Gara hulls who made a (slight) dent in the domination of the all dominant 36' in 73.
Can anyone confirm or deny this, please?

Phil.

7xchamp

Boy do I remember the Camaro`s from Donahue, I wanted one so bad but just was not in that league at that time, I remember Gene Lanham let me drive Magoon`s car one day, turbo charged etc. almost lost it on NE 17th ave., Gene and I still laugh about it. One of my best memories was when I was in South America for the start of the UIM circuit, which also corresponded with the Formula one season opener, Bonomi had invited Jacky Ickyx few months prior to go for a ride in the Offshore 36` Cig. to see if he would like it, we blasted out through Govt. cut and almost lost it, came off one tripped and stuffed, with violent right turn heading for the Jetty`s. Saved it, but Jacky said no thanks no more. While in Buenas Aires Jacky called me and invited me to the Formula one race, He was driving for Colin Chapman John Players special, Ronnie Peterson was his Teamate, Andretti and Donahue were there as well as Fittapaldi etc. The pass I received allowed me total access any where on the track. After practice and before the race the teams went back to the Hotel for lunch, I rode with Ronnie Peterson, Jacky I and Colin Chapman, it was about a 30 min ride, all they wanted to talk about was the race boats, Colin was trying to figure out how to put four Cosworth V-8`s in the boat and stay under the UIM cu. in. displacement rule, I wish I had kept the napkins with all the ideas. Like you say the car guys always want to talk about the boats and seems we always wanted to talk about the cars, I always wished I had been in car racing, Earnhart Sr. and I use to compare notes, both being 7XCHAMPS he was a real boat lover, as are majority of the Nextel guys today, it`s exciting to see the Eliminator boat running on lake Loyd, maybe one year we could have a historical boat run there. Lots of stories Charlie, I am thankful for the forums and to be able to recall the good old days. It still amazes me how much airtime we had during the rough races, for you young guys, that`s the boat out of the water flying, not TV. All the best, see you in Miami, I`ll be the one with the nice HORBA white shirt on, Thanks for the thoughts. 7XCHAMP

7xchamp

Phil: The Gara was built by Paul Haggerty, who was the ex-VP of Cigarette under Don, Not quite sure what happened wheather he quit or was fired, I do know he didn`t like Don afterwards. He found a partner in Robert Vesco, major crime figure at the time, and plenty of money to throw away, and wanted his son to race, but not in a Cigarette, ala Gara born. The boats were never that fast or that good, the First one Sattullo raced was the plug made from wood and I think it sunk in the first race????? Boat had 22 degree bottom, big bulky looking thing. I guess to answer your question why did Don build the 40` which was a stretched 36` 9` 6" beam etc. was first he could sell it for more money, and second I think Kiekhaefer and Magoon were instrumental in request as Kiek. bought one and Magoon bought another for the Miami NY race. I never really liked them, as far as I was concerned the 36` was a better boat all the way around. The big change that came was the 35` narrow beam, to me that was the best boat he ever made, it was like the formula one car against stock cars of the time. Next was the stretch 35` narrow beam to the 39` Billy Martin/Cigarette Halter, great running boat for it`s time, had advantage in real rough water, otherwise 35` was still the ticket. Problem every time Don Stretched a boat, they bacame ugly with all the humps, bumps, and various angle`s it took to make them. I still believe that it was the great teams of the day who actually made the boats work and be successful, also at the time there really was no alternative other than maybe trying a Maritime, old 32` Bertram etc. Kind of like when Skater cameon the scene, the top teams campaigned them and won, not much competition until Cougar with the Aluminum boats, I just realized I probably have the boats in wrong order, My point is, it was generally the teams and throttlemen who dictated what equip. had potential and what didn`t. A great team can make a bad boat good, average speed wins. 7XCHAMP

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Here are a couple more of Don's Camaro.....the only thing he didn't like were the brakes....they put racing brakes on and you really had to heat them up before they were any good...he just wanted to get in and go. Everything else was IROC though, headers, mini-lite wheels, cold airduct for the carb, posi rear ends...they were a joy at high speed when the spoilers all worked.

Yeah Richie, I think we could have done well with cars too.
I did the outlaw race, the Cannonball ....still hold 2 records. 1. Fastest crossing of the USA with a diesel powered car 36 hours from Connecticut to Redondo Beach, Calif. and 2. Largest court fine ever paid in the state of Ohio...$900.

ondawater

Which one Ryan?
NL

Ryan Beckley

I believe he has the one in the photo at the begining of this post. I know him a littl bit through a very good friend of mine.
http://www.propcopropellers.com/

Deauville Trophy

Thanks for the explanation Richie. I know I am repeating myself but thisthe reason why this forum is so great. You get the info straight from people who were there at the time. I just love it.
One more question, if I can.
You had the unique distinction of winning titles with different hulls. You have already mentioned that the 35' narrow beam was your favorite from Cigarette (and maybe overall). How did the 38' Bertram you throttled with Wally Franz in 75 compare to it?

Thanks
Phil.

7xchamp

Phil: to be honest I hated the Bertrams, I was fortunate with Wally winning three in a row then leading in Sweden and blowing an engine 5 miles from the finish to get second. My real test with the Bertram is when I took over Benihana from Smitty and built and raced the number 5 boat. Pure Kevlar the hull and deck weighed 2,900 pounds, was super light for the time. When I rigged it we were against the clock to get it finished for first race in Calif. plus Rocky was opening up his new restaurant and wanted team and boat there for festivities. My partner at the time Bob Beich was riding in the boat during the trip to Calif. to finish the wiring correctly, and make race ready, we drove straight through to get there. We did some test runs in Miami before we left, late afternoon into the evening with Kiekhaefer standing over us etc. Lots of pressure, plus he wanted us to run all sorts of rake variations on the props. First runs were horrible, the boat was out of control and slow 82 to 85 MPH and chine walking like crazy in the bay. we tested and tested nothing seemed to work only to make things worse, as darkness closed in, I took the best set of props for the day and made one last ditch bonzai run. I laid on the drive trim button out and the boat just liked popped over and ran straight as a rail bow up etc. 92 mph. I had been running the boat like a 35` Cig. and it didn`t like it, had its own way as they say she was a *****. I ran two races with Rocky. In Calif. we lead the entire race, just before the finish grenaded an engine so bad the oil in the bilge caught on fire, and had to use the extinguisher system which was dry chemical, huge mess. Next race St. Pete Fla, again leading the race, running swells 4` to 5` foot on the north end of the course, We came off a 5 footer and before the drives left the water rocky cranked the wheel hard to the right, so when we launched we launched sideways skipped over on set of waves then landed sideways going over 80 into a trough. I was ejected the boat rolled twice, Rocky and Bob B. stayed in. I broke six ribs, punctured a lung, broke my elbow, and nose, Great story about getting to the hospital, same race Ippolitto crashed in with the Scarab. Billy Martin won. I was laying in the E.R. when they wheeled Joey in, Boy did it hurt to laugh, I raced with Joey the year before. Do I like Bertrams NAH!!!!
Best boats were still the Cigs. 36` and 35` Actually best boat I ever ran was the first canopied V-Bottom superboat Apache Heritage 47` triple 1,000`s won 1992 and 1993 world championships in Key West, plus won overall by almost 4 minutes in 1993, now those are some great stories, I`ll tell some day. Tommorrow doing film interview for Don Aronow documentary, should be fun, all for now 7XCHAMP