Yes it was for a group in Japan about 20 years ago then the boat was shipped off too AZ haven't seen it since.

Theres a video of the boat running in Japan

wow cool find, were the rest of the contents?

Orionbbs your private message box is full so you can not be messaged in private until some are deleted. I have a phone number to pass on for someone that would like to speak to you. Please call me 888-635-8712 Thanks

Sorry about that, looks like I can only have 2 (!?) private messages at a time before the dang thing says its full. Any way to increase how many messages you can get on this forum? Its crazy low number....

shaun

Same here I'd at least like a price on some stuff 918-639-0437

Membership gives you more space I believe, not sure though.

guys like I said please be patient. I've got a day job and this is a ton of stuff. I'll post more info later this summer.

thanks
shaun

Non members get 10 total - this includes sent messages. Sent messages are saved in sent message file. So check all your folders and delete unneeded ones.

Hi guys,

Some very cool news. I've found the original owner of this boat model and it is none other than Ron Jones Sr. boat builder which I'm sure you all know and love. As a car guy I had to say before finding him I had no idea of his accomplishments. He is such a nice guy and has done so much for the boat industry.

I am personally very happy to have found the owner and Ron is so happy to have found his model after 20+ years.

The abridged story goes: Ron designed this boat for Tom Gentry in/around 1993 using wind tunnel and aerodynamicist from the University of Washington. Tom asked for the model to be sent out to him for his guys to look at. Sadly Tom passed away only weeks after the model was sent and the model was lost to history and a boat was never built from it. That is until I found it in a cargo container here in California 21 years later.

There is lots more to the story and what is going to happen to this model now that it is going back home, but a few key points according to Ron

1) This was one of the first designs, designed from the get go to prevent blow-overs at 250mph+
2) It was designed from day one in a wind tunnel
3) Hint to this models future importance in offshore boating -- this boat model will be used to help make offshore boat racing safer and may fundamentally change the way offshore boats are designed and built.

Its amazing to think finding this model could have in some small part help make boats safer

Stay tuned...

shaun

Photos of the boat model in the wind tunnel and again how we found her in the cargo container: