Lodi, CA. May 16-17 This race has been around for a long, long time. It is the 65th Annual. This is a short course that provides a lot of action. Lodi Lake is on Turner Road between Hwy. 99 & I-5. Entry fees are $41/$31/$16. Send entries to: Kay Boyes, 470 Evergreen Ct., Danville, CA 94526. For more info. call: Joe Johnson - (707) 257-0759.

Newberg, OR. May 23-24 Turn south at the Plaid Pantry and the street will take you down to the Wilamatte River to the race course. This the only race on the west coast you will find more runabouts than hydros in the pits. This is the 50th annual with a big celebration. It started out as a marathon from Albany to Newberg like the famous Albany to New York marathon. That would be a fun race to do again.

This in one race you don't want to miss! For more information call Buzz or Laureen Thorsen (503) 649-4064.

Chowchilla, CA May 30-31 From Hwy. 99 take Road 26 east about 4 miles. This a superb runabout course with tight turns, a slight "dog-leg" on the back stretch and usually smooth water conditions. Entry fees are $41/$31/$6. Send entries to Mary Phipps. For more info call Darrell Sorensen (209) 665-2690

1998 CSR Race Schedule

Bold, 99% firm

1/17 Indio CA Darrell Sorensen

1/18 Indio CA Ed "Tito" Smith

2/22 Brawley CA Ed "Tito" Smith

2/22 Brawley CA Tito Smith Jr.

3/21 Bakersfield CA Darrell Sorensen

3-22 Bakersfield CA Darrell Sorensen

4-25 Grass Valley CA Darrell Sorensen

4-26 Grass Valley CA Darrell Sorensen

5/16-17 Lodi CA

5/23-24 Newberg OR (50th Annual)

5/30-31 Chowchilla CA

6/6 Everett WA

6/13-14 Copperopolis CA Divisionals

6/27-28 Astoria OR

7/4-5 Marysville CA

7/11-12 Olympia WA

7/18-19 Pateros WA

7/18-19 Isleton CA

8/2-8 Wakefield MI CC Nationals

8/15-16 Indian River MI Mar Nat..

8/15-16 Nicholas CA

8-22-23 Connell, WA

8/29-30 Eatonville WA Records

8/29-30 Copperopolis CA

9/5-6 Sutherlin OR

9/12-13 Quinault WA

9/12-13 Suisun City CA

9/18/20 San Diego, CA

9/26/27 Yelm WA Records

10/10-11 Pleasanton CA

10/24-25 Bakersfield CA

Driver Points

1. Darrell Sorensen (6) 4-C 2625

2. Ed Smith (4) 350-C 1138

3. Allen Sutfin Jr. (3) 125-C 919

4. David Rudge (4) 183-O 600

4. Billy Rucker Jr. (1) C-3 600

6. J. W. Myers (2) 47-R 525

7. Rick Love (4) 35-C 427

8. Greg Steffen (2)16-C 394

9. Tom Pierce (2) 49-C 352

10. Curt Schlosser (2)15-C 296

11. Jerry Geren (2) 158-C 169

12. Adam Allen (1) 11-M 0

Ed "Tito" Smith built a new CSR that he is racing and is second in points with it.

Rob Christensen has a new CSR that he built ready to test.

Brian Williams has his new CSR turned over and working on the top.

Darrell Sorensen has been testing a new CSR. It was built from 204 pieces of plywood.

Tim Dwyer has extended an old 20SSR and of course he has one of his famous paint jobs on it that used up 204 rolls of masking tape. His first race with the boat will be Chowchilla.

Bill and Matt Boyes are working on a new CSR for Matt and plan to have it ready for the divisionals.

Curt Schosser has his CSR updated with new cockpit sides and cowl.

Donnie Morris has acquired a 302 that he plans to do some racing in CSR using his MOD Z-Craft.

Holland Hewsen hopes to be in a CSR by the end of the season.

There is a picture of two F Racing Runabouts of 50's vintage on the cover of the April '98 Propeller.

Who are the persons in the picture ?

C-54 the man in the cockpit

C-54 the man on the deck

C-153 the man with the life jacket on

C-153 the man with out the life jacket

Note the handles on the deck for the "deck rider".

The answer may be in the next issue if someone can come up with it !

Correction: The Johnson PO-15 along with the Evinrude Speeditwin were the first engines used in CU. In fact the Johnsons held the first records (1949). Harold Duffy set the first straightaway record at 34.992 mph driving a hull of his own make. Charles Wingo set the first five mile competition record at 33.088 in a Molded Products hull. The next year (1950) the straightaway record was raised to 39.154 mph by Joe Michelini driving a Switzer. Joe also raised the competition record to 35.495 mph. All of these records were with the Johnson engine. Johnson ended production of the PO-15 at the end of 1950.

One time I heard a story from a Wisconsin driver about the time there was a hydro driver who was very afraid of snakes. Someone put a snake in his boat before the race. During the heat the snake came out from under the deck in to the cockpit and when the driver saw it he jumped out of the boat. I mentioned this to Roland Deckert to see if he knew anything about it.

Darrell,

I have called a few people to find out who had the snake in the boat, but it seems that nobody but you and I remember it. Dave Thomas rings a bell, but I'm not really sure. I can still picture him. He came to a lot of our races in Illinois.

I do know that he ran a Swift hydro, a "D" if I remember. He was from Ohio -- Dayton, I think -- or maybe Akron? Very little racing in Ohio in those days, and he didn't like to go to Michigan even though it was closer.

I was there. It happened in the late 50's or early 60's. Ed Muderlac was in on it. I knew about it as it happened but didn't participate. (But I would have.) Ed and I teamed up in those days, his boat riding the top bunk of my trailer.

The race was in Volo, Illinois at a place called the Wing & Fin Sportsman's Club. It was devoted to fishing and hunting, but not sportsmanlike. Instead, it was a production line.

Say you wanted to go pheasant hunting. You and a "guide" would walk together. When you got to a penned up pheasant the "guide" stepped on a release that uncaged the bird and propelled it into the air. You shot it immediately, point blank.

Or if you wanted to go duck hunting. The "guide" stood next to you on the lake shoreline. He held a duck. He threw it into the air and you shot it. Point blank, of course.

As soon as you shot your bird, whatever kind you chose, someone came out of a building, took it from you, and handed you another one that was already dressed. You didn't take home the one you shot.

We would watch this going on between heats and after the races. It was really unbelievable.

Joe Price built runabouts in the 60's and 70's that greatly advanced the boats from the old utilities to the runabouts we have now. Joe was a banker with a family in the early 60's. Then he dropped out of the rat race, got a divorce, and went to an alterative life style. He would build a boat for a client for $100. The deal was that Joe would come to your home, you provided the materials and space to build the boat plus room & board. After he would spend about three months on the project it usually was a fairly expensive boat. In 1966 he had built a BSR for Tony Montano in Richmond CA, then another BSR for Darrell Perkins in Klamath Falls, then to Eugene to build a CSR and DSR for Dale Powell. At Dale Powell's is where I first met Joe. From there he went to Don Gano's near Tacoma to do another C and D boat. Then it was back to Eugene to build some boats for Tom Scheidt and more for Powell. At this time The Price Craft runabouts had sides that rounded into the deck at the transom. This feature did not add any performance and was quite hard to build. His B runabouts were 11' long, although they ran well there were other boats that were to their equal.

In '67 Joe built an experimental B boat for Tom Scheidt. It was just over 10' long the sides did not blend in to the deck as before. The boat was light and fast. Because it was just experimental it was made with A-C fir plywood for the bottom and chines and door skins for the sides and deck. Left over green paint was available so it was named "The Green Thing". It was far superior to the Sids, DeSilvas, or Foo Lings that were being raced at the time. The next fall a new boat was built for Scheidt out of good materials and the "Green Thing" was sold to someone in Portland. The next spring it was learned that the owner was not going to race the boat. Both Joe and Tom talked me in to buying the boat as I didn't have the money for a new one. As soon as I bought it home I took of the door skins and replaced it with 4mm okoume. I did not have instant success in B with the boat, however Dennis Lee borrowed the boat to run ASR and it was an instant success for him. The next year I built a lighter version so I could run ASR and won my very first race with it. Later in the season I decided to drop BSR. Dennis took the "Green Thing" to the nationals in Hinton, WV, I told him to see if he could sell the boat at the race. The boat was sold to someone in Iowa.

A few years later I saw fiberglass "Green Things" with the letter "X" on them at the nationals. The boat that was sold at the nationals was used for a plug to make the moulds. Jerry Rursch ran well in B with one of the glass boats. However they did not work well in A because of there weight.

More stories on Joe Price in future issues.

Darrell Sorensen