Go Back  Offshoreonly.com > General Discussion > General Boating Discussion
Turbines before their time >

Turbines before their time

Notices

Turbines before their time

Old 02-04-2005, 12:47 PM
  #1  
Registered
Thread Starter
 
Chris L's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Albion PA.
Posts: 225
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Remember the " Spirit of 76 " ?

Looking for a little history help. Back in the mid to late 70's there was an offshore racer by the name of Randy Rabe. He owned Rabco Boats, Inc. if I remember right. This is the same Randy Rabe that had 5 outboards on the back of a deep vee hull. Randy is also the very first barefoot waterskier off of St. Pete pier. Randy and my Dad (Ernie) threw around a lot of money in the marine industry for years. In the mid to late 70's, Randy aquired a turbine and they installed it in a deep vee hull. Back then it was a nightmare. Drives weren't big enough to handle the horsepower. Couldn't get transmissions/crashboxes to stay together either. The other problem with a boat of this magnitude is that there was no class for it. So Randy used it to start many of the offshore races, like several in Lake Seminole. It was called "The Spirit Of Seventy-Six". I went for a ride on it one time when I was around 10 years old. It was one of those rides that you will never forget. (It was a cross between Nightmare on Elm Street and your first love.) I was wondering if anyone remembers this boat or has pictures of it? Rabco Boats was located in St. Petersburg, FL. I have noticed in a lot of your historical type threads that this board seems to be very knowledgable of past marine activities and creations. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Last edited by Chris L; 02-04-2005 at 01:53 PM.
Chris L is offline  
Old 02-06-2006, 06:56 PM
  #2  
Registered
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Thumbs up Re: Turbines before their time

Chris U Can Call Randy Rabe @ 727 347 0900 , Hes Still Alive And Doing Well And Would Love To Talk About Spirit Of 76, I Have Many Pictures Of The Boat And Belive It Or Not The Boat Is Still Around ! ,with No Turbine. Im His Son And Am A New Member To The Site , U Can Usally Catch Me On Scream And Fly.com

Parker
PARKER RABE is offline  
Old 02-06-2006, 07:14 PM
  #3  
Registered
 
copiercat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: nokomis florida
Posts: 405
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Re: Turbines before their time

post some pic's parker
copiercat is offline  
Old 02-07-2006, 05:24 AM
  #4  
Gold Member
Gold Member
 
Iggy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Kissimmee, Florida
Posts: 4,155
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default Re: Turbines before their time

There was a turbine powered offshore boat before that.
Back in the days of the Miami to Nassau races, and the boats were inboard types (not many out drives), there was one. I don't recall it's name or too many details, but I do remember after that season all turbines were banned. Seems they were bullet-proof compared to the piston engines of the day.
Iggy is offline  
Old 02-07-2006, 04:41 PM
  #5  
Registered
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Smile Re: Turbines before their time

I Have So Many Old Offshore Pics , But No Scanner Or Way To Post Them I Have About 1.000.000 Slides Of Old Offshore Also , All Miami To Nassau . U Want See Alot Of My Pics On Screamandfly.com Under Outboard And Racing History

Have About 150 Vhs Videos Of Old Offshore As Well
PARKER RABE is offline  
Old 02-07-2006, 07:17 PM
  #6  
Registered
 
jhiguy377's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lake Oswego OR
Posts: 989
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default Re: Turbines before their time

If i remeber right, old Howard Arneson had a jet/turbine coupled to one of his drives back in the late 70's, used to bring it to some of the POPBRA events along with Nordskog and gang- Jeff
jhiguy377 is offline  
Old 02-16-2007, 10:04 PM
  #7  
Registered
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

i just sent greg from s and f 20,000 pics off offshore stuff to post , stay tuned.....for the best pics to ever hit the web ....thank u randy rabe ...rabco boats
PARKER RABE is offline  
Old 02-16-2007, 10:48 PM
  #8  
Registered
iTrader: (3)
 
J-Bonz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Cleveland, OH / Pewaukee, WI
Posts: 5,862
Received 361 Likes on 207 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by PARKER RABE
I Have So Many Old Offshore Pics , But No Scanner Or Way To Post Them I Have About 1.000.000 Slides Of Old Offshore Also , All Miami To Nassau . U Want See Alot Of My Pics On Screamandfly.com Under Outboard And Racing History

Have About 150 Vhs Videos Of Old Offshore As Well
WOW, I thought I had alot of vhs tapes, when last i looked I had 20):
J-Bonz is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Buddy OO
General Boating Discussion
17
12-01-2006 10:00 PM
Xtremeracing
Super Boat International
6
02-03-2006 01:08 AM
CIG3
General Boating Discussion
3
05-02-2005 06:39 PM
GregP
General Boating Discussion
15
04-07-2004 08:33 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Quick Reply: Turbines before their time


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.