This sure is different???

[Ratickle]

Are you talking about the Molinari deal with Mercury and the subsequent transition to Seebold hulls in the states and Van der Velden hulls in Europe? The deal where Molinari went to OMC to replace his cousin, Cesar Scotti's hulls, and Cees decided to go the other way from OMC to Mercury simultaneously?

No, I don't know anything about it......

There was that one, and then the one where Molinari would build like 6 boats, test them all to dial them in for the factory, then keep the best for himself so he never got beat. Or something like that.

It's been awhile, I'll see what I can find.

 

[T2x]

There was that one, and then the one where Molinari would build like 6 boats, test them all to dial them in for the factory, then keep the best for himself so he never got beat. Or something like that.

It's been awhile, I'll see what I can find.

Molinari always kept the best hulls for himself....But...he generally left them in the US when he raced over here...and they were subsequently given to other drivers. The hulls he had in Lake Como were kept by Renato.....until he built a better one. There is no doubt that he had a treasure trove of great boats back home.

All builders tended to keep the best hulls in close control or with designated drivers. If you drove for Mercury you had to wait your "turn". You would start with an older/bigger/marathon Molinari and work up to a newer/lighter "sprint" hull. The exceptions were the factory team drivers who got the newest hulls and developmental race engines. The original Factory team was Billy Seebold, Bobby Hering, Renato Molinari, and Reggie. The "A" team was quickly increased to include a marvelously talented young gun named Earl Bentz.... (later president of Stratos Boats). You also had a bunch of guys with "factory" backing and/or members of the European and Canadian "teams"...including yours truly. To be honest, the very best stuff stayed with the "A" team...but the rest of us did okay and assured Mercury of professional and competent representation at all the major and regional races world wide. This was during the Mercury-OMC wars and each company sought the best drivers. The talent pool at that time was probably over 40 drivers worldwide affiliated with one company or the other. Obviously with this kind of demand and stressful utilization on tunnel hulls made of 1/4" plywood and weighing 250 lbs or so, it was difficult to give everybody a top hull. In my day the top hulls were the Molinari's and later on the Seebolds for Mercury, and Scotti's and Veldens for OMC. The second tier guys got British Cougars and Milesmasters or knock offs made in North America like Caldwells, Bowerman's, Scorpions and Marathons. You also saw 3 and 4 year old factory boats patched up and running for as long as they could hold together.

T2x

 

[JnT]

Earl Bentz is with Triton Boats now.