Memories of John Crouse

[torrent]

Very cool stuff! Love to read about how the sport used to be.

 

[Ratickle]

Charlie after Jeff [anchored] & I left the so called Worlds @ Key West last week we went on our own offshore reality tour. Our first stop was @ Magnum to see Harold & where it all started, very cool.. Next stop was to see my old friend Mr Sheer Terror Bob Sheer @ his Hacker boat dealership in Ft Lauderdale, it's a nice place next to the old Harbor One. Bob had some more great stories of real offshore racing like floating in a life raft for many hours after the LONG SHOT Cig sank in a South America race. A Russian freighter pick them up only to have them stay on board for many days till they made there port, how would today's racers handle that ???? When you are in Florida stop by and see him he looks good, better than I thought he would after all he been going through lately. Mark

Sheer Terror

 

[h2oMag]

When Bob first raced the Flight cat that Brownie built it was set up with Merc speed III drives & it wasn't very fast, after re rigging with Arneson drives it rocked with 15 more mph. With the early Arneson drives one of the engines were run with a counter rotation set up, today rotation is done in the Arneson drive. Bob would go on to win the 1983 National Championship M-1. :cheers2:

 

[seeroy]

Charlie - Great to see you again at Tavares. Even greater to read your stories here. Thanks for all you have done for the remembrance of the good old days. - Steve Sirois

 

[Top Banana]

Charlie - Great to see you again at Tavares. Even greater to read your stories here. Thanks for all you have done for the remembrance of the good old days. - Steve Sirois

Sirois......looking forward to seeing you again at Amelia Island. Don't know if you were there when Sammy told the story of a race we were in back then and at the awards dinner I came up to him and said....Sammy James, you are my hero. He had a big smile and said Get out of here. People started gathering around so I continued....Yep, I can remember as a kid going to sleep at night as a young 5 year old and I had Sammy's picture in a race boat on my wall. I said someday I will race boats too like my Hero Sammy. He laughed and said real loud to everyone there....Hey, I AM NOT THAT OLD don't believe this guy!

 

[Anchored]

Charlie,

Didn't Sandy Satulo have a 935 as well?

Jeff

 

[seeroy]

Sirois......looking forward to seeing you again at Amelia Island. Don't know if you were there when Sammy told the story of a race we were in back then and at the awards dinner I came up to him and said....Sammy James, you are my hero. He had a big smile and said Get out of here. People started gathering around so I continued....Yep, I can remember as a kid going to sleep at night as a young 5 year old and I had Sammy's picture in a race boat on my wall. I said someday I will race boats too like my Hero Sammy. He laughed and said real loud to everyone there....Hey, I AM NOT THAT OLD don't believe this guy!

He may not BE that old, but he sure LOOKS it.

 

[Serious News]

Charlie,

Didn't Sandy Satulo have a 935 as well?

Jeff

Boat Race To N.Y. Satullo`s Cup Of Tea

July 28, 1985|By Craig Davis, Outdoor Writer

When Sandy Satullo was invited to participate in the $500,000 Chapman Challenge Miami-to-New York offshore powerboat race, he said he would have an answer as soon as he made one phone call. He placed it to Tom Kipp, his former sidekick on the racing circuit.

``I called Tom and said, `you want to go?` He said, `Hell, yeah.` That was good enough for me,`` Satullo related.

It was just like in the old days when stalwart men, more rugged than the boats they ran, spit in the eye of danger and took on the sea. Nothing fancy, just cross your fingers, lean on the throttle and go.

I`ve got a good, fast boat. We`re racing to the islands on Saturday. You wanna go?

Hell, yeah.

The Chapman race, a no-punches-pulled, 1,257-mile dash up the East Coast, is the sort of challenge that would have stoked the blood of that hard-nosed breed. Satullo, of Hillsboro Beach, and his crew of Copper Kettle, are throwbacks to racing`s golden era.

When the five boats set off at 9 p.m. Monday near Government Cut in the $500,000 winner-take-all contest, Satullo`s gang will be out to prove that old-style mettle is a match for modern technology in an authentic ocean race. Along with the allure of the largest purse in boat racing history, they will be gunning for the 11-year-old record of 22 hours, 15 minutes, 41 seconds, held by Dr. Bob Magoon, another rugged old warrior.

``I like endurance and long-distance racing -- I like the idea of offshore racing,`` said Satullo, who retired from the regular racing circuit in 1978. ``That`s one reason I got out of it, because it`s not offshore racing anymore. They`ve shortened the courses and they`re racing in bays and on lakes now. It used to be 200 miles, and you had to race 60 miles offshore.

``There`s no real navigation required anymore; it`s become like circle-track racing. I`m not belittling these guys today. They`re racing more sophisticated boats that are a hell of a lot faster than what we ran. But years ago you really had to test yourself against the sea. I kind of like that.``

He also seems to relish the role of underdog. At 61, Satullo is the oldest driver in the race, and his boat is the slowest.

George Morales` 46-foot Cougar catamaran Maggie`s Mercruiser Special is easily the fastest in the race, yet it is the longshot. The boat took a beating during a recent tune-up run at Sarasota, and that was only 160 miles. Morales will have to hug the coast, traveling many extra miles, in order to avoid rough conditions offshore.

Satullo plans to put his head down and plod along in his diesel-powered, 44- foot V-hulled Tempest, following the straightest path to New York as the seagull flies. Kipp will be at his side showing the way, as he did during their glory years on the offshore circuit. The two have been racing together for more than 30 years, beginning with go-carts, motorcycles and stock cars.

``Tom Kipp and I have 20,000 miles between us in ocean racing. I don`t think there`s a better navigator. We raced 14 races a year for eight years. In all those races we never missed a checkpoint,`` Satullo said.

``I think I have the finest crew in the race. (Throttleman) George Kelly is a big strong man, and (mechanic) John Stenback is tough and knows the engines. These guys are all bulls.``

Satullo was practically an old-timer when he started racing boats. As a 50- year-old rookie he won five consecutive races, and in 1975 took the U.S. open-class championship. He also holds the record for the old Bahamas 500, the grandaddy of offshore races, with an averaged speed of 73.3 mph for 539 miles.

An average of better than 55.4 mph will break Magoon`s record, but Satullo will have to find a way to finish ahead of his faster rivals.

Morales` choice of boats will probably haunt him unless conditions are unusually calm. Satullo is counting on the reliability and fuel efficiency of diesels -- he will need only one fuel stop -- to prevail over Tom Gentry`s Gentry Eagle and Al Copeland`s Popeye`s-Diet Coke, a pair of gasoline-powered, deep-V racers.

The boat to beat may turn out to be Ben Kramer`s Harrah`s Team Apache, the other diesel in the race. Kramer, a flashy 30-year-old from Hollywood, represents the new breed of powerboat racer. But like Satullo, he is a winner.

Kramer won the 1984 Class II world title, and has put together an impressive effort for this race in concert with veteran Bob Saccenti. They have the backing of an Atlantic City casino, actor James Caan in the cockpit as co- driver and three 700-horsepower Isotta Fraschini diesels from Italy for power. However, the boat was launched just more than a week ago.

Satullo was ready to go in June before the race was postponed a month, and had threatened to make it a solo run for the record until he found out that wouldn`t make him eligible for the prize money. So he and his crew used the extra time to make some major changes in Copper Kettle.

Originally, the boat had three 420-horsepower caterpillar engines, but last week Satullo said those had been replaced by a different set of diesels that are lighter and more powerful.

``I am not at liberty to tell what they are. We`re going to keep that to ourselves until Monday night,`` he said. ``I will say I feel a lot more confident than I did in June. The way we`re sitting now I think we have an excellent chance.``

As long as he stays afloat, the rest of the fleet will have to be wary of the old salt.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-28/sports/8501310121_1_powerboat-race-circle-track-tom-kipp

 

[Ratickle]

An interesting article. Seems a bit surprising that he was talking about how offshore isn't offshore anymore back in 1985. I wonder what kind of time a current state of the art offshore boat would do? Is there any chance a Cat would beat a Vee in that kind of offshore run?

 

[Bobcat]

I think he was saying that in 78.

 

[Madpoodle]

 

[Ratickle]

Nice!

 

[Ratickle]

I think he was saying that in 78.

Good point. I think there were still plenty of really long races, (when compared to today especially), after 1978 when he retired because of that. Maybe it was more of the onshore, lake type, races he was talking about.

 

[Madpoodle]

 

[Ratickle]

View attachment 77527

Need a little input on that photo...... Who, What, Where, and When....

 

[Madpoodle]

Bill Nixon, J Crouse, Sam Saara. Date, location unknown. We have a pretty extensive collection of Johns pictures, magazine articles, letters and what not that we are sorting through, and will be posting in our library shortly.

 

[Ratickle]

Bill Nixon, J Crouse, Sam Saara. Date, location unknown.

I would have never guessed that was John in the middle...

 

[Madpoodle]

John as a youngster LOL!

 

[T2x]

I wonder what kind of time a current state of the art offshore boat would do? Is there any chance a Cat would beat a Vee in that kind of offshore run?

A cat did win that race...George Morales 45' 4 engine Cougar, Maggie's Mercruiser Special was first across the finish line and broke the previous record... We (NNRT) covered the start and caught up to Copeland at Atlantic City, after flying from FL via jet and jumping into a chopper. Morales crew was landing at AC as we were taking off and stated simply that they had just flown down from the mouth of NY harbor...George should have been finishing as Popeye's roared past AC. It was relatively calm the whole way...which never happens...and we chalked it up to George having a close relationship with the devil. Thery started at night and Gentry made it to Daytona, Satullo a little further, and Kramer, who had a special aircraft fixed with something called the "Midnight Sun" Lighting array was able to make an eighth of a mile circle of Daylight to show him the way ahead. Unfortunately, one of his Italian diesels failed on the way out to the start...and I believe the Italian mechanic is still in hiding somewhere in Southeast Asia....

 

[Ratickle]

That boat is for sale?, but it's a Vee - Is there a Cat named identical? (Still Looking)

Boat Description

POPEYES - THIRTY FIVE YEARS OF INCREDIBLE RACING HISTORY:

1983, 46 Feet, Cougar, Aluminum V-Bottom Offshore Race Boat. Beam is 9 feet. Hull material is Flat Stock Aluminum. Weight is 18,000 LBS. Boat is turn key.

Engine Builder: Keith Eikert Lightning Marine Triple 1000 HP, 500 cubic inch engines, 6500 RPM, with PSI magnesium super charged blowers with EFI technology fuel injection system by Kinsler Race, Sterling Marine Exhaust system. She will cut like a knife through 4 to 8 foot seas topping out over 120mph.

All engines run and operate properly with less than three hours run time. Four fuel pumps. Fuel capacity is 400 plus gallons. Location of fuel tanks are 4 forward of cockpit, fuel type is gasoline/aviation/100 octane. SCS crash box transmissions, three Mercruiser speedmasters #4 outdrives, two of them are mounted on extension boxes with forward dual trim actuators and with full hydraulic steering for each port and starboard outdrive, center drive is fixed and mounted with no steering arm with manual adjustment trim, in addition, two Kiehaefer dual hydraulic racing trim tabs. Three Stainless Steel cleaver lab finished Props.

Identification numbers for the three Mercruiser Speed Master #4 Outdrives. Port : S/N 38042-384C; Center: S/N 38054-285C; Starboard: S/N 38054-985C.

This “Classic” was originally owned by George Morales and raced under the name “Maggies Mercruiser Special” which is still branded under the faring. She was then sold to Al Copeland of Popeye’s Offshore Racing. She was known as Popeyes #10 V Hull and has raced and won in numerous offshore races including from Miami to New York in 1985 which set a record for a V Hull vessel, driven by the famous movie actor Chuck Norris.

(In the process of acquiring 4 new forward fuel cells and 4 new fuel pumps and rebuilding 6 external belt driven water supply pumps, this new addition of expenses and labor will not be an additional cost to the winning bidder, it will be our responsibility)

We have already removed the previous fuel cells that were in the boat, we are in the middle of acquiring bids to build the new ones. However, we can fire up each engine individually, move the trim tabs & power trim up and down and maneuver the steering from portside to starboard. This process will only be done for the winning bidder.

CUSTOM TRANSPORT TRAILER:

Manufacturer: MYCO

Year Built: 1984

Length: 55 feet

Width: 8 feet

Freshly painted and New Chrome Diamond Plate accenting trailer

New wiring, new lights, new DOT flag poles and flags

Air Ride suspension

Dual axel with New air brakes

Dual wheels with New 825x15 Goodyear radial tires

Five locking tool boxes on each side

Two Speed manual dog leg (tongue jack)

Boat is on a bolt on Cradle that is custom fit to the trailer and the vessel hull and carpet protected to hull of boat.

THIS BOAT IS IN THE USA....BUYER RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL TRANSPORTATION, CUSTOMS AND DUTY COSTS.

PRICE DRASTICALLY REDUCED DUE TO HEALTH REASONS





http://yachtbroker.escapeartist.com/boats/action/view/boat/1488/index.html