taree boat races

Post dates and info on upcoming events, or pictures from events that have been on...

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bootlegger
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taree boat races

Post by bootlegger »

Ill be running my rolls merlin powered hydroplane on the manning river this weekend.
There will be several race boats old and new to watch go round.
If you are local call in and say hello.
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Thommo
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Re: taree boat races

Post by Thommo »

I hope she runs sweet for you Dave :thumbsup:
Mick
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Re: taree boat races

Post by Mick »

I was hopeing to go up and watch but things just turned pear shaped this week :(
sometimes yor just better off shitting in yor hands and clapping

W.S.C.C.A
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bootlegger
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Re: taree boat races

Post by bootlegger »

Thommo wrote:I hope she runs sweet for you Dave :thumbsup:
Thanks thommo. I hope I dont have any dramas towing it there and back.
My old dodge truck gets the arse pulled out of it towing it.
I also hope I dont wipe myself out. Its the first time for this boat to be on a race circuit in over thirty years.
This thing is deadly.
bootlegger
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Re: taree boat races

Post by bootlegger »

bootlegger wrote:
Thommo wrote:I hope she runs sweet for you Dave :thumbsup:
Thanks thommo. I hope I dont have any dramas towing it there and back.
My old dodge truck gets the arse pulled out of it towing it.
I also hope I dont wipe myself out. Its the first time for this boat to be on a race circuit in over thirty years.
This thing is deadly.
Too bad mick. I had a feeling you might come up.
Mick
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Re: taree boat races

Post by Mick »

is it an all weekend thing or just one day sat or sun?
will see how things go I'm hopeing to get a ute tomorrow that I've had 2 failed attempts at getting and it's far to good to forget about but an 800km return drive to get it I may not feel like another 550km odd each way drive that soon :( but I know it would be worth it 8)
sometimes yor just better off shitting in yor hands and clapping

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bootlegger
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Re: taree boat races

Post by bootlegger »

Sat test and tune sun racing.
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Harv
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Re: taree boat races

Post by Harv »

We need video 8) .

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
bootlegger
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Re: taree boat races

Post by bootlegger »

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Had a great time at this event. My boat ran well enough to go around at 2500rpm. Thats around 120mph.
It still has a flat spot over that.
In the last run the merlin started to blow smoke out of one cylinder. I think its hurt.
Its pretty rare to have three large vintage hydroplanes together in this country.
It may never happen again.
Mick
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Re: taree boat races

Post by Mick »

thanks for the pics dave :thumbsup: just made me feel 10x worse about not going :cry:
sometimes yor just better off shitting in yor hands and clapping

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bootlegger
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Re: taree boat races

Post by bootlegger »

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Heres a couple more.
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hewey
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Re: taree boat races

Post by hewey »

Thanks for the pics, they all look amazing in their own right, the 3 lined up together and being used is fantastic!

How does the racing work? Against the clock or each other? Whats the circuit like?

My brother has a secret fetish for the Ferrari hydroplane :thumbsup:
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hewey
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Re: taree boat races

Post by hewey »

Have you seen this one for sale?
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/malvern/ ... 1032419357

I also saw this over on ozrodders and thought it might be of interest :mrgreen:
Drewfus wrote: Here in Oz, back in late 1964, Andy Ellis was one such rodder who was redefining his destiny, with speed boats and water skiing being a favorite summer distraction. Over a period of 12 months, he and Ray Jones transformed a humble family Klinker into a torque monster, as the opportunity to grab surplus war machinery mixed with creative minds resulted in one very wild looking ride, which still had a refreshing appeal to it. The detail of the build was impressive, with pride of workmanship clearly evident, I can’t even begin to imagine trying to synchronize all those 97’s, let alone try to pilot it across the water at flight revs….just imagine what the non-mechanically minded onlookers would be thinking….and this was in 1964..…

Limits, hot rodding has no limits.

Boat : ‘Merlin’ – 16’ Klinker/Lewis
Owner/Builder/Driver: Andy Ellis & Ray Jones
Where: St George Boat Club, Sydney, Australia
When: 1964
Details: Only used for a short period of time, with the boat being hitting a submerged log at Lake Narrabeen in 1965, with the engine then being fitted into a hydroplane boat called ‘Spitfire’, which ‘torqued over’ at speed, sinking to the harbor floor, killing the driver.

Image

Image

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Image

Dare to dream, and then make it happen. What have you created lately….?

Cheers,

Drewfus
bootlegger
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Re: taree boat races

Post by bootlegger »

Thanks hewey. We just got home. What a drive towing this monster with an old dodge truck.
As usual my trusty friend did its job without complaining too much.
Rays jones was one of my best friends. He looked after my merlin and advised me right up until his death.
He had an amazing life and was a gifted if not eccentric engineer.
During the war he joined the airforce and completed 123 missions firstly in borneo.
He was in the last plane out before the japanese took over. He was extremely bitter about the total disregard the executives and politicians dealt with this invasion.
Now transfered to darwin he got caught up in that raid. He was in the same trench with the base comander tindal when they
Were straffed. Tindal was killed and ray got out without a mark on him. Ray had a jar full of spent shells.
He claimed one of these killed tindal. Again ray was bitter about the handling of tbis event.
He claimed there were a lot more raids and casualties than reported. He showed me a file proving the cover up to maintain morale. A couple of years before he died he went back to darwin and was interviewed.
In another incident during the raid a p40 crashed landed on the strip. Under fire ray and a couple of others ran out to the aircraft and pulled the injured pilot out of the wreck. His arm was almost completely torn off. They tuck his hand I to his pocket to keep his arm in one place. Later the pilot died.
Ray souvenired the data plate off the wreck.
In the 80s he flew to america and gave it to the family of the pilot.
Amazingly a p40 wreck was discovered recently in a dump less the data plate. It was the same plane.
After darwin he was transfered to bomber comand 426 squadron england.
He flew in lancasters and halifaxes as an engineer and gunner.
He has been credited with shooting down an ME 262 jet fighter. This feat is documented in the book bomber kills.
The front cover of the book shows this kill.
When I asked him how he shot it down he shrugged his shoulders and said it just flew past the gun.
I asked him what he felt about bombing people.
His response was "they started it".
To survive all those missions was incredible.
After the war he flew missions supplying aid to the germans. One story he told me was some russian were looting.
The american military police caught them and handed them over to a russian officer.
Without asking for an explanation the officer pulled out his gun and shot them on the spot.
Ray was only twenty when the war ended.
once back home he started deep sea diving doing salvage work.
On sydney harbour near the manly fun pier there was an abandoned beached submarine. Nobody wanted it as it was too expensive to move. Ray managed to salvage and sell the scrap.
With the money he went boat racing. He bought four merlins from an abandoned lancastrian at bankstown airport.
He was a whiz with these things and the first boat you pictured was built.
When it crashed he went to the bottom with it. He claimed his diving experience saved him as he managed to free himself without panicking.
The second hull was owned by bruce doust. Ray lent him the engine.
Named spitfire the boat torque rolled at low speed at taree. Bruce got trapped in the hull and drowned.
Ray built another merlin displacement boat which also crashed.
He became know as the unsinkable ray jones.
His wife begged him to stop racing so he took up flying.
He made his own gas turbine and plane which he never finished.
After his wife died he started playing with boats again. This was about when I met him fifteen years ago.
At that time I didnt have my merlin.
Another mate of his bought a big hydro a ray sourced a few meteor v12 tanks engines.
Ray did all the engineering , rebuilt the engines and made two fantastic gearboxes. The boat only hit the water once.
The owner was a bit crazy and had no mechanical aptitude at all so the project was doomed.
Ray went and bought another displacement boat and fitted another meteor in it tbis time with a gearbox with contra rotating propellors. I gave him a merlin inlet manifold so he could run twin 871 blowers.
He died before he finished this project.
Other projects he did was fitting a lexus quad cam v8 into his 79 rolls royce and he also put one in his nephews 60dodge pheonix.
He put twin blowers on another lexus v8 which ran well in another boat.
He was also rebuilding a merlin 25 for a narromine based group who wanted to restore a flying mosquito bomber.
I visited him I hospital a couple of days before he died. He was still telling me war stories and talking about his projects he would do when he got home.
He had heaps of different aspects to his life. He was well read and could converse on any topic. He baked scones for the lical old peoples home every week.
He was my hero not because of what he did or because of his war stories but because he never stopped thinking.
He lived his life to the full to the end. RIP Ray
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Re: taree boat races

Post by Blacky »

That's really cool Dave - people like Ray are an inspiration .
When you're faced with an unpleasant task that you really don't want to do, sometimes you just have to dig deep down inside and somehow find the patience to wait for someone else to do it for you.


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