RumRunner

At least you got a picture without the HAT!

wolfeguitars

That boat preceded Still Crazy by a couple years. Intimidator was campaigned by Gene Whipp & Mike Poppa quite successfully before Whipp relocated from OH to FL. Still Crazy was built for former NFL player Dick Fulham & he won 2 M class Championships with it with Steve Stepp mostly on sticks. (I did 2 with him).
Dick upped to Open with his ill fated Cat w/ Mr. Poppa on sticks. Intimidator had stock Mecruiser 280's & ran P class. Still Crazy had approx. 500hp staggered small blocks w/ No.2 Speedmasters for M class rules & ran about 95 with a full load & almost 100 near race end. She was VERY quick & well campaigned by a fine Gentleman. Terrible shame & a great loss to both Families.

butch ryan

Your Right On The Money With All This Information. Great Guys Those Two.

wolfeguitars

[QUOTE=Phantom1;2046306]That's the original "Big Red" isn't it?

Yep, That's her alright. Big Red was cold molded of West System Plywood & Epoxy in the original Pompano shop in 1980. Legendary Sport Fish builder & Vel. neighbor Jim Smith consulted a bit on the West techniques, which he'd been doing for years. Red was heavy, rigid & quite quick for it's day. I enjoyed racing her with Steve in 6 events. That hull was used as a plug to make molds for the 38" Velocity pleasure boat version, of which just a couple were made. I swear that boat was "unbreakable" and we beat her really" hard in a few rough one's. Steve sold her to Pompano resident Mike Knieper, who ran her mainly for kicks. That's one tough old boat & a real EZ ride at just about 100, especially after years of leaping about in 30 footers.

wolfeguitars

No. Still Crazy came a couple years after that event. The 102mph event was at lake X in May of '80 with Steve & Whipp, Steve's Pleasure boat 30' Vel. with full monkey fur interior, seating, head, etc., Mercruiser stock & warranted 475hp Turbo 454's w/ No.2 Speedmasters & reg. gas. Mercruiser had just come out with that package, which didn't last long due to high abuse (no kidding?). They ran it again through APBA speed traps a month later in Sarasota at 104+, salt water being quicker. We used that quick & plush boat as a factory demo for about 6 mos. & sold it to a guy who kept it at Ocean Reef club in the upper keys. It never raced, as it was so plush & the power package didn't fit a racing class. I actually took well qualified prospective buyers for demo rides in that thing, and a few went for that much go, but most went for something a bit tamer. Obviously we were very cautious.
Fountain tried to beat the 100 mark with the same package within weeks of Stepp's run. He failed & had the power boosted considerably in order to make the claim that he was just as fast. Velocity was the 1'st Offshore PB to "officially" record those kind of speeds, which was a point of pride for the mark & a strong selling feature. The No. 2 speedmaster drives worked VERY well with that hull. No Vee bottom race boats I know of were going that speed, because of their size & weight, fuel load, & older hull designs. A boat needed to be heavy & tough to survive that kind of punishment, and top speed was usually not the priority during that era..........survival was.

wolfeguitars

GREAT shot with Dick Fullam standing on dock behind the boat & Stepp in the cockpit. They were a great team in that small block 30' Velocity.

wolfeguitars

Shot of Steve Stepp & the late Gene Whipp in Big Red & I "believe" Bill Barnhart's leg(?). Bill helped build that cold molded hull.

kpoppa

I also believe that's my father, Mike Poppa, standing on the boat?

BOBCATMATHEWS

anyone have pics of the boat(1st 100mph) velocity with the monkey fur interior? , I am curious as to how it looked.

wolfeguitars

It's pictured on the Velocity web site in their "History" section. It's White with Blue trim, large RED Velocity on sides (painted hurriedly for this run) & the Lake X Cypress tree's in background. It never raced nor had racing numbers. The Mercruiser 475 Turbo package carried a (foolish) warranty for 1 year, which did not go well in many cases & Merc dropped that package the very next year. Our's was so reliable that I used it for Family outings several weekends, and we sold the boat for pleasure use with good results. We also featured ity in the Miami Boat show in '81, with the then new Velocity 100 logo, which did not please reggie at all. I have more photos (hundreds) & will prolly scan some when I can get a new scanner. I have boxes of pics "somewhere."