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Can anyone tell me why this class disappeared?
Looking for engine specs as well as hulls specs that were used in this class.
Thanks in advance
Looking for engine specs as well as hulls specs that were used in this class.
Thanks in advance
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-popular in the '50 > '70s, used the 25/30hp OMC 36" 'Big-Twins', with service lower units .The prop was about the only thing one could change. The boats were big, front & rear cockpits, usually home built, ~13'. A 'D-utility' would work well; Kellys Madcap was good one. Later years the 36" West Bend was the motor to use , as it's lower unit was faster. Record top speed was about 40mph. The UIM record is still currently held by the late Riggs Smith of Fishers Landing , NY. Some say the political battle between ECK and Ole Evinrude caused its demise, as Mercury dominated the APBA in that period . Ron Hill said that in California where the '36Rs' were very popular, half the small clubs shut down after the class was abandoned. It was a true 'stock/utility' class as one could park it at the dock during the week, take the wife out for a evening cruise, go fishing, and then clean it up to race on Sunday . Cheap to own, and great for big guys . I miss it .Last edited by bh/; 05-03-2019, 08:28 AM.Brian Hendrick, #66 F
"the harder we try, the worser it gets"
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If my memory serves me correctly, this class was started for the two cylinder 36 c.i. 25 h.p. Johnson and Evinrude and to be run on a C size runabout. Then West Bend built a motor that fit the class specs and obsoleted the OMC's. In 1970 at the APBA Stock Nationals in Beloit, Wisconsin I watched a Mercury totally dominate both heats only to stop both heats halfway between the last turn and the finish line so it didn't win and never was inspected. I don't know what that was all about but the class had changed from something where a person could race the family boat into just another racing class and it didn't survive the transition.Originally posted by Stocksquad69 View Post
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Any past photos???
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Thanks!! Was 36 sorta' like a stock 25 mod closed exhaust,, stock L/U??
I think Carl Staron call this B-1 bomber.
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The Mercury powered 36 was run by Jim Komorowski. His number was 52-W. He was way quicker than anybody at Beloit. I never heard what the reason was for him not finishing.
TimTim WeberComment
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As I recall, most of the drivers of OMC engines used 1955 and 1956 engines. The 30-horse engines were produced only in the 1956 model year, while the previous engines were rated at only 25. Pre-1955 engines were also OK, but not much used. The 1956 engines had a higher-compression 6:1 head and different pistons to mate to it, while the 1955 compression ratio was only 5:1. The 1956 engine also had slightly larger reed valves. Theoretically, the 1956 engines should've been superior, but a well-set-up 25-horse could often beat a 30-horse.. In 1957, OMC introduced the 35-horse engine, whose piston displacement was 40+ cubic inches.
By swapping parts, you could upgrade your 25-horse to a 30, but existing rules specifically forbade this in the interest of keeping things strictly stock.
One trick was to advance BTDC spark-advance timing above the factory setting. I did this for Bill Saif, a Watertown, NY competitor, and put him into serious contention whereas before he'd been only an also-ran.
This class was quite popular on the runabout-oriented rough big-river water of the Saint Lawrence River between the 1000 Islands and Canada, all the way from Clayton upriver, down through Ogdensburg and Waddington.
My good friend and mentor, Riggs Smith, set the UIM World Straightaway mile speed record at a whisker over 40 mph with his Chrysler engine, which had not only a sleeker gearbox than the OMCs, but also made slightly better power. As a tribute to Riggs, that record will never be broken because right after Riggs set it, UIM went to Kilo-length recording only.Last edited by dwhitford; 05-04-2019, 05:15 AM.Comment
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Jim was running a big Merc twin
350. It was the earlier version, of what was the 402xs
I took notice of this as an educated 7 year old because our fishing boat was powered by the same motor.
We put a Keller speedo on our 14 ft alumacraft, fd model with the 350 merc and it ran 32mph. This was all fishing boat.
That motor was heavy too. I would guess 130 plus.Tim WeberComment
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When OMC introduced the 25-horse engine in 1949, it weighed only 98 pounds, at least for the short-shaft version. They used to advertise ''less than 4 pounds per horsepower'' to emphasize how much sleeker they were than the 120-pound 22-horse Evinrude Speeditwins and Johnson POs that they replaced. The 25s got heavier over the years. By 1955 with all the silencing stuff added, I suspect they also weighed almost 130.
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The Fitts bro's were the Kings of this class in the 1970's................Stan and Steve Fitts. Kings Of Region 1 and great guys!
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I ran 36 a few times in 1971 with my Mercury on a Norm Schaub/ Stippich pointy nose DU. Yes it was heavy and no one wanted to pit near us. I ran the closed course marathon at Fond du lac. I threw a blade on my Hopkins prop on Saturday. Jim K decided not to run on Sunday and leant me his best prop which I think was a Hendricks Factory wheel. I picked up about 5 mph and led for the 1st 4 10 mile laps with all the CU's tucked in behind me including Norm as I was braking the waves for them. On the last lap my Homemade Auxiliary Gas tank Broke and I ran out of Gas about 1 mile from Finish Line thereby missing the $100 prize. No one was running 36 in WI so I lost interest and sold the "White Whale", Bought a 1969 Stippich DSR Quack from Bill Luetner, Tim's Grandfather, and concentrated on DSR with Pretty good success thru the 70's. As to why Jim K didn't Finish at Beloit and very seldom ran any races outside of the WI area, Jim's motor builder was Bubby Cartwright, a Factory mechanic in the Mercury Research plant in Oshkosh and worked closely with Edgar Rose In the development of the 20 H conversion tuned exhaust System. I always wondered why Jim's engine sounded different and could out accelerate all of us but never had the money to pay for a teardown but couldn't prove it. Jim was also a real nice guy.Originally posted by Tim Weber View PostJon WaltersComment
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Dave, yes, other than raised transom, true to Kellys plans. Originally built in Ottawa, never finished, late Frank Mohl had it, then recently went to Montreal and finished by Adam Gibb. Were Rigg's boats, his Comets, not Madcap derivatives ?
ps; clic 2x on those pix to expand themBrian Hendrick, #66 F
"the harder we try, the worser it gets"
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No, Brian, Riggs designed all his own runabouts, including one duckbill runabout. They were Madcap derivitaves only in length, most probably. Riggs once told me ''David, I can build me a new runabout in just a week of evenings. But then it takes me 2 weeks more to re-fihish it.' Riggs always said ''refinish'' whenever he referred to paint and varnish work. Funny!
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