Originally Posted by BROWNIE (Post 2253818)

Great article from the 'good old days'. It makes me sad to the current state of offshore affairs. When I was APBA Offshore Commissioner and US delegate to the UIM in 67, 68, and 69, I worked REALLY hard to keep the UIM rules in line with APBA rules (or vice versa). It seems like the current groups are more interested in waxing their own rockets than having dazzling worldwide competition. Competitors and spectators came from around the world to Key West for the Worlds.

Originally Posted by Cevert (Post 2253910)

First rule of guerrilla warfare: if you can't win by existing rules, change the rules!

Originally Posted by seeroy (Post 2244005)

OK Richie you sucked me into this one. The only things I remember about 28' Magnum and Aronow in California are as follows. One summer I worked for Don in Miami instead of working at the Lake. Knocky was in Europe with one boat and I took a 28' Magnum w/single sterndrive to Long Beach for 2 day race. Day 1 was Long Beach to SanDiego..Day 2 was SanDiego back to Long Beach. Odell was 1st with the turbine Maritime and we were 2nd. At the finish line Odell was sitting just out from the dock when we came by close enough for me to hand him a ham sandwich. That is, if I had a ham sandwich, which I didn't. Another of Bill's favorite sayings, "If we had some ham, we could have a ham and cheese sandwich, if we had some cheese." By the way "Searace" says that it was Bill riding with Don when, in fact, it was me. Also, apparently there was another race in California where Aronow ran a Magnum against Odell in the turbine. I believe that race ran from Long Beach to San Francisco and I don't know who rode with Don, but I would imagine that it was probably Knocky or, possibly Barry Cordingly. As to Jim Armington....I recently sent an e-mail to Buckeye Marine in Ohio asking about him. It seems to me that was the name of his dealership. I did not get a response. The only boat that I remember Jim in was the 32" Cary w/4 outboards that Chet Strickland had run somewhere, and I ran in the 3rd Bahamas 500 with Ralph Seavey as a Co-driver. Sometime after that, Armington bought that boat from Kiekhaefer and ran it in a race off of the New Jersey coast with Me and his son onboard. Brother Bill was running with Joel Cohen in the old "Ghost Rider". The Jersey coast was home waters to Joel, so we followed him thinking he would know where he was going. He was leading and we were running about a mile behind him in 2nd place. He missed a turn/check point.....Naturally, we followed thinking, "Hey. This is his home water. He knows where he's going."......WRONG! After about 5 or 10 miles he reversed course and, once again we followed him. Not too far down the line we picked up a plastic bag on one of the lower units thus plugging the water intake and toasting an engine. The drag from the puked motor put us out of the race. Armington ran the same rig at another later race with Chet Strickland along for the ride. Somewhere along the way they rolled the boat and Chet damn near died. I think he ended up in the water with a punctured lung and Jim's son holding him up until rescue arrived. We really need to get Chet on this site. I know he has some incredible stories to tell. Back to Jim Armington....I remember him as one on the truly nice guys from those days. I am sure he raced in other events after I had left the scene for USAF pilot training. My attention was pretty much centered on surviving through that year long school followed by another 6 months of Fighter/Interceptor training. During that year and a half, I really don't know much about anything that happened on the boat racing scene. Does anyone know what became of Jim or his son? -Steve Sirois

Originally Posted by mr vinyl (Post 2256657)

Steve Siros...The 29-9 was purchased on 9-15-80 from Cheetah Marine,Formerly Cheetah Racing Team Inc,6063 Crossview Road Seven Hills Ohio by Vaugh Szarka,per my paper work.We are quite sure that Jim owned it before that ,for how long we do not know do you have any idea ???

Also was't the Mona Lou driven by Mel Riggs on many occasion ??? Bud

Originally Posted by PJRIZ (Post 2256915)

Blk TornadO:
Sternwinder was one of a group of 27' Magnums purchased by Mr. K from Don in 66 - I believe Billy drove the one you are asking abouy

Originally Posted by Black Tornado (Post 2256461)

Hi Steve,
I have a question: You speak of the Long Beach-San Francisco and and back 1967 where you was with Aronow on 28' single engine. In that same competition your brother raced with a Bertram 31' #90 named Mona Lou with white deck and yellow sides. In the previous Bahamas 500 he raced with a similar or the same boat but named Sternwinder.
Do you know how to tell me because he call that same boat with two names or did it deal with two different Bertrams?
Marco

Originally Posted by BROWNIE (Post 2258109)

Steve, Aronow didn't finish the SF race in my recollection. Coop was second in 'Snoopy'. I blew a Vdrive at Morro Bay.

Originally Posted by Black Tornado (Post 2254567)

Hey,does your nickname have something to whether to do with the famous French F1 driver of the seventies, Francoise Cevert?

Originally Posted by BROWNIE (Post 2258109)

Steve, Aronow didn't finish the SF race in my recollection. Coop was second in 'Snoopy'. I blew a Vdrive at Morro Bay.

Originally Posted by seeroy (Post 2257747)

Marco - Let me try to clear this up....ON Feb 8, 1967 Bill won the Sam Griffith Memorial (Miami) in the 28' Donzi/Magnum "Old Yellar II". Odell Lewis ran the 32' TURBINE powered Maritime "Mona Lou" and finished second. This was the only time that the turbine boat was beaten.....ON May 7, 1967 Bill ran the same boat (28' Donzi/Magnum, Old YellarII) in the Bahama 500 and did not finish as a result of a motor mount failure......Odell won that race in a different and CONVENTIONALLY powered (twin 450HP Mercruisers) 32' Maritme named "Mona Lou III".....ON August 15-16, 1967 I rode with Aronow in the Hennesy Cup from Long Beach to SAN DIEGO (NOT San Francisco)and back. We finished second behind Odell, who once again ran the TURBINE powered Maritime. Bill did not run in that race for reasons that I do not remember......ON October 21-22, 1967 Odell ran the TURBINE powered Maritime for the last time in the Long Beach to SAN FRANCISCO race. Aronow finished second again in the same single Mercruiser powered Maltese Magnum that I had PREVIOUSLY ridden with him in. I do not know who rode with him in this race, but SEARACE says in the page 75 caption that it was brother Bill......... ON December 2, 1967 Bill won the St Pete Hurricane Classic in the twin Mercruiser powered 31' Bertram (yellow sides/white top) "Sternwinder". I do not remember if Odell ran in this race............ON June 9, 1968 Odell won the second Bahama 500 in the Mercruiser powered 32' Maritime (Mona Lou III). Bill finished second only seconds behind, once again in the Mercruiser powered 31' Bertram (yellow sides/white top) "Sternwinder".........ON July 17, 1968 Bill won the Hennessy Grand Prix (New York this time) once again in the Mercruiser powered 31' Bertram (yellow sides/white top) "Sternwinder". Freddy Kiekhaefer rode with Bill. Odell (Same Maritime, Mona Lou III) finished third behind Bobby Rautbord.......ON August 2, 1968 Bill and Odell again ran the same two boats in the two day West Palm Beach Gateway Marathon. This time Odell won while beating Bill by a grand total of 7 seconds......That is a far as I can go at this time. Suffice it to say that after Bill rode with Odell in the 1964 Miami to Nassau (which they won) in the original "Mona Lou", twin Mercruiser, 25' Bertram, the two of them became team members as well as fierce competitors........Hopefully this has cleared things up some.....Some of this info has come from my frazzled brain and some of it came from the frazzled brain of John Crouse through his "Searace"......Most of what John chronicled is correct (but not all)......ALL of what I have supplied MIGHT be true! :cool: Best Regard - Steve Sirois

Originally Posted by seeroy (Post 2258786)

Actually, I think, since Daryl referred to it as the fastest enema in history.......It was neither "Spooky" nor "Snoopy"....but instead....."Poopy" :Whatever: -Steve

Originally Posted by Black Tornado (Post 2243017)

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/6...09smbq4.th.jpg
The former Maltese Magnum double engines now(1968) became Tornado winning the World Title for Balestrieri/Pruett.

Originally Posted by Black Tornado (Post 2421729)

They came from the Graham Stevens Library on Boatmad.com and they were shoot little before the boat sank in the Channel waters during the CTC of 1968.
Pruett sold the wreck to an English driver and it was recovered by Royal Navy during the researches of a Navy helicopter sank in the same area.
Jan Toll,the new owner of that glorious Magnum 28',restored it and iscript it at the CTC of 1969.

Originally Posted by BROWNIE (Post 2421382)

My favorite redneck, Don Pruett, got the job with Balestrieri, and painted on his old pickup truck: "Tornado Racking Team, Hallandale, Florida and Rome, Itly"