Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-07-14

6uL recently ne nao FTanclS
Racioppi's 48-cubic Inch hydro,
Art McDougall's 48, Joe Han
mons 135-cubic-inch hydro and
Joe Palmer's 1876 all in his
basement workshop for repairs
or improvements at the same
time. And what with keeping
his own 1875 running. the task
presents some problems.
1T takes all of your time"
he said. I'VE racing drivers
have to do all of our own
work. There's just no shop to
do it for us. The nearest are
ut Portsmouth, Va. and Har-
risburg, Pa. and they're always
overloaded"
Always Boats Awaiting Repair
To top it of, he thoroughly
facked up his own 1856, the
Fancy Free. in nearby regatta
the very next day.
Races are held every week
end in Region 4 Of the Ameri-
can Power Boat Association,
which embraces all of the Ches-
apeake area as far north as
New Jersey. Therefore, it is
not strange that there is always
q list Of boats awaiting repair
Considering that the Fancy
Free bought new would cost
about $2.750-$1,750 for the
boat and 81 900 for the motor
1t represents no small loss.
The class record for YER
mons l4ka-footer is 101 and
. fraction miles per hour and
the little inboard engines turn
up nerve-wracking revolutions
per minute.
Waves Cause Trouble
II was doing about $500
r.p.rn.s when I hit some waves"
he said later. and the boat
started jumping. When the
propellers left the water, the
engine revived up to 5000 and
the valve guides must have
broken loose"
Anyway. the Fancy Free end
ed up a mess in a cloud of
smoke. Vernon found her left
side split, from a collision with
another hydro on a turn in the
race.
But mishaps don't keep rae
ing drivers idle long. Vernon,
inboard racing chairman for
Region 4 and winner of the
Presidents Cups in his class
twice in the last seven years,
has been dickering for new
hull.
He would like to buy the
Wa-Wa. owned by Bill Rittner
of Philadelphia, which was ma
tional high-point champion last
year. He can use his old engine.
which turned out to be less
damaged than he had feared.
Boat Cut in Two
Vernon is no stranger to dis
aster. At the Presidents Cup
Regatta in 1851 he was waiting
with his boat in the pits to be
taken out of the water by crane
when q huge Gold Cup hydro
cut his 1876 in two.
On another occasion chest
muscles were torn in a crack
UP while testing a 266 owned
by Palmer on the Potomac.
And in the 1885 Cherry Bios
som Regatta. he damaged his
boat making a turn at IS m.p.h.
and lost the transom and rud-
der. The stern and quadrant
sank but he kept the motor
going and used a paddle to
steer the boat to the seawall.
Drivers like Vernon build and
rebuild their own engines. They
start with a block from q junk
yard. For the 1885 class, Ver-
non prefers the block from a
Ford so on which production
stopped in 1910. In fact, he
said. the Ford so was the foun-
dalton of the 1855 class. His
own engine was made from q
1897 block.
Junked Block Tempered
Vernon considers a junked
block best because it has been
tempered by heat and is not
so apt to warp or distort.
Palmer's Tommy Boy, in for
repairs, lasted exactly three
minutes with q new engine. A
piston let go and 1t blew up in
q race.
Parts are gathered from afar
for the souped-up engines.
Take the 40 hydro owned by
Racioppi. commodore Of the
association. Vernon had Just
finished repairing q sponsor
with African mahogany ply
wood. airplane grade at $38 per
sheet.
The block for Racioppi's en-
CINE was from q four-cylinder.
25-horsepower motor. Durs-
luminum connecting rods from
Italy cost SIS a set. A steel
crankshaft. also from Italy. set
him back sl25. Racing pistons
at $32 set and camshaft at.
$50 were found in this country.
But the charlottesville boat
has two-came from England
OF SIS each. while the two