Bob Nordskog in "Powerboat Mag. Special"

1973 World Champ. Dr. Carlo Bonomi in "Dry Martini"

Dante Tognoli in "Dantes Inferno"

I love seeing these pictures and learning more about the history of the sport. I just wish I could have got into these boats when I was younger!

Great photos. Here's one from 2003.

Chatim,
Great pics!! It's great hearing about the classics first hand from someone who was there.
Just a couple of miner clarifications, Rocky first raced a 28' Barcone (S-911) in sportsman class prior to purchasing "Spirit". "Copper Kettle" in post 74 is a "Gara" hull-later the molds were sold to Corsa.
Question-In post 75, what boat is 452 "Killer...", it appears to be a 28 Bertram. Any idea what hull this is??
Keep the pics coming!

Thanks! - but you confuse me with my dad (Charlie McCarthy Sr. / Top Banana) - yes I was there back then but only 7 years old in '74 - lol!! I didn't realize that Rocky had a previous Sports class boat but I did know that Gara and Corsa were the same....

Yes the "Killer" boat does say Bertram 28 - it's clearer in the picture.

Ron P what is the story behind that 35 Cigarette with Dry Martini on it?....is it the original or is it a repro? Also where is the boat now if it was racing as recently as 2003?

Robert G....you are correct that is a Gara and a 28 Bertram...which if I remember correctly raced in Open Class II, which meant it had a single engine.

Also Rocky did race a Barcone in Sport class, but I don't think he actually drove it, it was quite common in the early days for the "name" to be listed as driver, but someone else did the driving. The Cigarette was his first "Open Class" offshore boat and he did drive that very well, winning the Miami Nassau in his first race with it.

You may or may not know that I own that boat now, and it is in the process of a major restoration. I spoke to Rocky recently and he is sending me a lot of original decals and other stuff that he still has from that boat. The boat is hull #6 of all 35 foot Cigarette's ever made. Bob Nordskog had hull #1 of the 35 footers.

Another bit of trivia is the #89 boat Dante's Inferno, this was Betty Cook's Cigarette that she raced before she switched to Scarabs....please note that she even kept the same number 89.

Slap Shot was owned and raced by Snapper Norris whose family owned the Detroit Red Wings.....Bobby Moore said he was the best driver he had ever been with.

Roger Hanks in Blonde had someone repay him a debt right before a race, it was $10,000 in cash and he stuck it in his pocket of his jacket and threw it under the bolster....during the race the cash got sucked out of the jacket and into the engine room and chewed up.....he claims the final insult was his American Express card cut one of his belts in half.
He later in the season put his boat through the side of a checkpoint boat....famous picture out there somewhere.

Sandy Satullo in Copper Kettle and I also raced in the infamous Cannonball Car race across country that they made the movie about. There was a lot more movement between car and boat racers back then....Penske and his 40" Cigarette, AJ Foyt co-driving with Preston Henn to win the Daytona 24 hr race.

We were always very welcome in any pit area of car racing including Nascar. Bill Elswick (Longshot) drove a Winston Cup car, Joel Halpern owned one...it's much more restricted today.....too bad.

We each only have the era we are in, so we do the best we can .....and we all, from long ago to today, share the commoon bond of loving fast boats.

Reminds me of a T-Shirt one of the teams had back then...........

PRETTY BOATS & FAST WOMEN

Another of slap shot

And Here is my Dry martini..........

This is the orginal after a complete restoration. The boat is currently owned by Kurts Marine in Brick NJ and raced in the OPA race in Point Pleasant as recently as last year.

Kurt even found and recovered the original aeromarine engines that had been shipped to south america before the boat was sold at the docks in Miami. It didn't use these engines to race, but the drives were original. Nice original trailer too.

http://www.thejerseyboyz.homestead.com/Martini.html Here's some more photos.

Dry Martini is a 73??