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Yes there was a Cat with the same name:
'Cat`s` Meow: Morales` Risk Pays Off
July 31, 1985|By Craig Davis, Outdoors Writer
George Morales` opponents said he was crazy for choosing a catamaran for the Miami-New York powerboat race. The consensus around the docks before the start Monday night was that he would be lucky to make it out of Florida.
Even Morales admitted it was a gamble, but showed up brazenly with a patch on his racing suit proclaiming ``Miami-New York Winner.``
The Fort Lauderdale driver proved to be both slick gambler and prophet, as the apparent long shot in the longest powerboat race hit the biggest jackpot in boat racing history Tuesday in the first Chapman Offshore Challenge.
Morales, 36, steered his 46-foot Cougar Cat Maggie`s MerCruiser Special past New York`s Verrazano Bridge at 4:40 p.m. to claim the $500,000 winner-take-all purse and shatter the 11-year-old record for the 1,257-mile journey by more than three hours.
``I`m very tired, but I feel very, very good. This is one of the biggest things that`s ever happened to me in my life,`` Morales said from his hotel suite Tuesday night. ``It`s like winning an Oscar.``
Except for three pauses to take on fuel, nothing stopped Morales on his dash up the Eastern Seaboard. He averaged 64.35 mph en route to a clocking of 19 hours 33 minutes, 47 seconds, supplanting the record of 22:41:15 set in 1974 by Miami Beach eye surgeon Dr. Bob Magoon.
Al Copeland brought Popeye`s Diet Coke into New York Harbor 58 minutes after Morales. However, finishing ahead of Magoon`s record as an also-ran was little consolation in this race. None of the other three boats made it out of Florida.
Calm sea conditions most of the way gave Morales an advantage over his V- hulled rivals. Maggie`s MerCruiser Special is capable of 110 mph on flat water, but critics said its twin hulls would bog down if the going turned rough. However, he was able to maintain a 90-mph pace during a 200-mile stretch over 4- to 7-foot seas.
``I had to push it. I had no other choice. I knew I had Popeye`s right behind me,`` Morales said.
A troublesome fuel switching valve plagued Maggie`s MerCruiser Special all the way, but was more of an annoyance than a hindrance. It caused Morales to miss a bridge in Miami Harbor and arrive nine minutes late for the start. But with the fastest boat and smooth sailing ahead, he was unconcerned. Maggie`s MerCruiser Special overtook Copeland and early leader Tom Gentry late Monday night.
The five drivers paid an entry fee of $112,000 apiece to cover prize money and expenses. Three of them didn`t get much of a ride for their money.
Ben Kramer`s Harrah`s Team Apache blew an engine on the way to the start. A blown oil cooler delayed Sandy Satullo`s Copper Kettle for nearly three hours. Satullo lasted only to Fort Lauderdale before succumbing to engine failure.
Ironically, he and Kramer were driving diesel-powered boats, touted as the most durable in the race.
After the Gentry Eagle lost two of its three engines off Cape Canaveral, only Popeye`s remained in pursuit. Copeland, of Metairie, La., was driving the same 46-foot Cougar deep-V that carried Morales to two world titles. Though a rough water demon, it had little hope of catching the catamaran in calm water.
Morales made his first two refueling stops at Jacksonville and Wilmington, N.C. Then, to avoid the notoriously treacherous waters off the Carolina coast, he ducked inside the inland waterway at Cape Fear for 36 miles and again for 93 miles between Beaufort and Oregon Inlet.
After adding two quarts of oil and enough fuel to complete the journey, he headed out Oregon Inlet just as Popeye`s was pulling in for fuel.
That left 356 of the most rugged miles to cover. But except for a mild overheating problem, Morales` four 635-horsepower MerCruiser engines performed flawlessly to the finish.
``It was a hell of a race. I was a little bit lucky and had the best crew,`` he said. ``It started with the guy who built my engines, Rick Ulrich of Mercury Marine. Without those engines, the way he built them, I would not have been successful.``
Morales and navigator Dennis Martin stayed in the cockpit the entire way. He changed throttlemen at each stop, starting with Angelo Meli, followed by Gus Falcon, Steve Curtis and finishing with Meli.
The Colombian-born Morales has been a controversial figure in powerboat racing since his indictment in March 1984, on charges of drug smuggling and tax evasion. That case is still pending, and Morales has maintained a high profile while continuing to assert his innocence. He won his second consecutive world title at Key West last November, then sold the V-hulled Cougar to Copeland and switched to the catamaran.
``When I had the V-bottom (boat), they all said I was crazy. When I won two world championships in a row, then everybody wanted to buy the same boat. Now I go the opposite way and buy a catamaran and win this race. Crazy, yeah?`` Morales said.
Now he says he is seriously considering making a run back to Miami within the next few days.
``Nobody has done it that way, so why not? I say, why do what everybody else does?`` he said. ``Understand, you have to be crazy to do these things, or you wouldn`t do them.``
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/19...42_1_powerboat-race-george-morales-mercruiser
'Cat`s` Meow: Morales` Risk Pays Off
July 31, 1985|By Craig Davis, Outdoors Writer
George Morales` opponents said he was crazy for choosing a catamaran for the Miami-New York powerboat race. The consensus around the docks before the start Monday night was that he would be lucky to make it out of Florida.
Even Morales admitted it was a gamble, but showed up brazenly with a patch on his racing suit proclaiming ``Miami-New York Winner.``
The Fort Lauderdale driver proved to be both slick gambler and prophet, as the apparent long shot in the longest powerboat race hit the biggest jackpot in boat racing history Tuesday in the first Chapman Offshore Challenge.
Morales, 36, steered his 46-foot Cougar Cat Maggie`s MerCruiser Special past New York`s Verrazano Bridge at 4:40 p.m. to claim the $500,000 winner-take-all purse and shatter the 11-year-old record for the 1,257-mile journey by more than three hours.
``I`m very tired, but I feel very, very good. This is one of the biggest things that`s ever happened to me in my life,`` Morales said from his hotel suite Tuesday night. ``It`s like winning an Oscar.``
Except for three pauses to take on fuel, nothing stopped Morales on his dash up the Eastern Seaboard. He averaged 64.35 mph en route to a clocking of 19 hours 33 minutes, 47 seconds, supplanting the record of 22:41:15 set in 1974 by Miami Beach eye surgeon Dr. Bob Magoon.
Al Copeland brought Popeye`s Diet Coke into New York Harbor 58 minutes after Morales. However, finishing ahead of Magoon`s record as an also-ran was little consolation in this race. None of the other three boats made it out of Florida.
Calm sea conditions most of the way gave Morales an advantage over his V- hulled rivals. Maggie`s MerCruiser Special is capable of 110 mph on flat water, but critics said its twin hulls would bog down if the going turned rough. However, he was able to maintain a 90-mph pace during a 200-mile stretch over 4- to 7-foot seas.
``I had to push it. I had no other choice. I knew I had Popeye`s right behind me,`` Morales said.
A troublesome fuel switching valve plagued Maggie`s MerCruiser Special all the way, but was more of an annoyance than a hindrance. It caused Morales to miss a bridge in Miami Harbor and arrive nine minutes late for the start. But with the fastest boat and smooth sailing ahead, he was unconcerned. Maggie`s MerCruiser Special overtook Copeland and early leader Tom Gentry late Monday night.
The five drivers paid an entry fee of $112,000 apiece to cover prize money and expenses. Three of them didn`t get much of a ride for their money.
Ben Kramer`s Harrah`s Team Apache blew an engine on the way to the start. A blown oil cooler delayed Sandy Satullo`s Copper Kettle for nearly three hours. Satullo lasted only to Fort Lauderdale before succumbing to engine failure.
Ironically, he and Kramer were driving diesel-powered boats, touted as the most durable in the race.
After the Gentry Eagle lost two of its three engines off Cape Canaveral, only Popeye`s remained in pursuit. Copeland, of Metairie, La., was driving the same 46-foot Cougar deep-V that carried Morales to two world titles. Though a rough water demon, it had little hope of catching the catamaran in calm water.
Morales made his first two refueling stops at Jacksonville and Wilmington, N.C. Then, to avoid the notoriously treacherous waters off the Carolina coast, he ducked inside the inland waterway at Cape Fear for 36 miles and again for 93 miles between Beaufort and Oregon Inlet.
After adding two quarts of oil and enough fuel to complete the journey, he headed out Oregon Inlet just as Popeye`s was pulling in for fuel.
That left 356 of the most rugged miles to cover. But except for a mild overheating problem, Morales` four 635-horsepower MerCruiser engines performed flawlessly to the finish.
``It was a hell of a race. I was a little bit lucky and had the best crew,`` he said. ``It started with the guy who built my engines, Rick Ulrich of Mercury Marine. Without those engines, the way he built them, I would not have been successful.``
Morales and navigator Dennis Martin stayed in the cockpit the entire way. He changed throttlemen at each stop, starting with Angelo Meli, followed by Gus Falcon, Steve Curtis and finishing with Meli.
The Colombian-born Morales has been a controversial figure in powerboat racing since his indictment in March 1984, on charges of drug smuggling and tax evasion. That case is still pending, and Morales has maintained a high profile while continuing to assert his innocence. He won his second consecutive world title at Key West last November, then sold the V-hulled Cougar to Copeland and switched to the catamaran.
``When I had the V-bottom (boat), they all said I was crazy. When I won two world championships in a row, then everybody wanted to buy the same boat. Now I go the opposite way and buy a catamaran and win this race. Crazy, yeah?`` Morales said.
Now he says he is seriously considering making a run back to Miami within the next few days.
``Nobody has done it that way, so why not? I say, why do what everybody else does?`` he said. ``Understand, you have to be crazy to do these things, or you wouldn`t do them.``
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/19...42_1_powerboat-race-george-morales-mercruiser
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Top Banana
Icon/Founding Member
Couple more of John's photos.
These are from the era that he was most active, traveling the world covering the sport of offshore powerboat racinig.
Top Banana
Icon/Founding Member
I don't think so. That would be facing the same problem that I am having with trying to do another Blue Water Warriors book, the market is too small for most publishers and the cost to self publish is too high to reach a marketable price point for sale.
There is a lot of info in the notebooks, but there is also a lot of repeating there too as John was suffering in the end. By the time it was sorted out, It would be less than 1/2 of SEARACE.
Also there is a bit of John's strong opinions in the notebooks about certain people...... that would probably end up in some kind of lawsuit, similar to the one he went through 5 or so years before he passed. That doesn't help the sport much and who needs it anyway.
I will try to get back to posting some more stories after the boat show. Hopefully there is a short break before Amelia Island and Sebring.
Ratickle
Founding Member / Super Moderator
The boat did get purchased by someone who will take very good care of it and we should see it at runs around the south .....
Top Banana
Icon/Founding Member
A coming out party has been booked for an old boat racer.
The date is about one year from now and the location is a hotel in Miami Beach.
No, it is not Kramer!
The date is about one year from now and the location is a hotel in Miami Beach.
No, it is not Kramer!
Apache Dave
New member
Love this one Charlie... Just found this old thread today. Finding some humor during these tough days we're having
Top Banana
Icon/Founding Member
A link to a podcast Billy Martin and I did last week in NJ and is now posted on YouTube via this link. / Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8faNMtGx5Fs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8faNMtGx5Fs
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