The Yamato 102 and 302 that we race in CSR can trace it roots back to Mercury. In the early '50s a Mercury was sold to Yamato that was used for technical knowledge (copy) to build their first motors .

1. Who sold this motor to Yamato.

2. What model Mercury was it.

Answer in the next issue.

Answers to last months trivia.

1-C, the sign with a big fish where you turn into Lawernce lake. If the sign was gone most racers would get lost.

2-G, you turn at the Plaid Panty store to go to the river in Newberg.

3-H, this one is obvious.

4-I, take Turner Road form I-5 or Hwy 99 to get to Lodi Lake.

5-D and 7-D, the bus load of school children was kidnaped near Berenda Slough in 1976, 7 miles down stream from the race site at Chowchilla. The children were transported in 2 vans (like the ones we tow our boat trailers with) to one of the gravel pits near Shadow Cliffs park in Pleasanton. They were placed in an old trailer van that was buried, which they escaped from later.

6-B, Salt Springs Valley Res. is formed by a dam built in 1856 by Chinese labor. 8-A, this is the name of the road going from Hwy 178 to the lake.

9-E, the golf course that you detour around going to Lake Cahuilla.

10-F, take Grand Ave. from Hwy 70 to get to the race site.

1/17 Indio CA Darrell Sorensen

1/18 Indio CA Ed "Tito" Smith

3/7-8 Oroville CA Kilos Only

4/4-5 Indio CA

5/23-24 Newberg OR

5/30-31 Chowchilla CA

6/6 Everett WA

6/13-14 Copperopolis CA Divisionals

6/20-21 Brewster WA

7/4-5 Marysville CA

7/11-12 Olympia WA

8/2-8 Wakefield MI CC Nationals

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

8/29-30 Copperopolis CA

9/12-13 Quinault WA

9/12-13 Suisun City CA

9/18/20 San Diego, CA

9/26/27 Yelm WA Records

10/24-25 Bakersfield CA

Now that I've got your curiosity going we can go back to our history books and recall the American Indians and how they traveled by water (The Canoe). There are many types of canoes made from different types of materials. Some of them were animal hides, tree bark, wood and more recently aluminum, fiberglass and plastic. The North American Costal Indians most commonly used what is called a dugout canoe. The method was to take a large tree and carve out a canoe. Then they would dig out the inside of the canoe. Tah Dah. An original North American Runabout.

Now back in 1969 I was a J stock Runabout Driver and my Dad had taken me to watch a race in the Seattle, Wa. area called the Samamish Slough Race. In the pit area there were the usual Hydros, and Runabouts, But in addition to the usual there was a group of unusual crafts there. I asked my Dad what they were and he told me they were Indian War Canoes, But Dad (I replied) they have Outboard on them. He explained to me that there were a group of Costal Indians that were invited to the Race and that they used a Solid Cedar Dugout Canoe approximately 20 ft. long with a Mercury Mark 25 Outboard for power. I watched with amazement as these Indian War Canoes went speeding up the slough at speds much faster than my J Stock Runabout. As the last Canoe pasted by I began thinking to my self, Boy someday I would sure like to try one of those.

My Racing Career continued on over the years as one would normally expect. I went from racing Runabouts and Hydros in the Stock, Mod and Pro Categories to racing Inboard Hydros and OPC Tunnel Boats. I went from Circle Races to long distance Marathon Races. I Was always looking to try a new challenge. After 30 years of exhausting all the possibilities that I could financially afford I began to think about those unusual Indian War canoes again.

In the late 70's I had become a Yamato Outboard Dealer and every few years one of the Costal Indians would find me at the Annual Capital Lake Race and ask questions about the Yamato Motors. As the years went on I began to ask questions about the Canoes, Nut never would tell me much. It became obvious that they were a very tight group and the chances of getting involved in their Canoe Racing was slim to none.

On a cold January morning in 1995 a man called and asked if he could strop by the Shop and see a Yamato Outboard. I agreed and a few hours later he arrived. I showed him the Yamato Outboards and in our conversation I asked what he was considering putting the motor on. He explained that he was considering putting it on a Dugout Canoe. I continued to ask more questions and he willingly answered. come to find out he was a second generation Indian War Canoe Racer. He stopped by the Shop several more times over the next few months and eventually invited me to come to some of the Races.

I loaded up the Van on July 4th with a Yamato Motor and Broachers and headed for the Washington coast to the Quinalt Indian Reservation. About half way through the Reservation where the Quinalt River meets the Ocean there's a small town called Taholah. I had arrived several hours early and as I drove through town there were Indian War Canoes in Peoples yards and on top of pickup trucks. As I turned a corner where the road meets the river I recognized the pickup truck of the man who had invited me to the Race. There was a dozen Canoes in the yard and several people working feverishly on their late model Mercury Outboards. I stopped and introduced myself. There were all very curious about the Yamato Outboard and asked if they could have a closer look. The asked a million questions and then asked if I would cover up the motor and not tell anyone else. I agreed if they would tell me about the Canoes, and they agreed.

We started off with a tour of the Canoe Clubs Long House where many of the canoes are stored. They explained to me that the canoes were made form a clear cedar tree log 3ft. X 3ft. X 23 ft. long. The canoe is then roughly shaped and dug our, then the canoe is left to dry for a year. If the canoe doesn't split after drying, they then finish the canoe and add a transom board for the motor. The only hull dimension is that it must have a 22 ft. planing surface. All of the canoes had a square tail end which they said had evolved from the radius end canoes some 20 years ago. The width of the planing surface of most of the canoes were 18 to 24 inches. The motor requirements are that it had to be a production motor of 25 cubic inches or less and that they have two classes, a Stock Class and a Modified Class.

It Didn't take much to figure out that building my own canoe was not an option so I asked if there were any Canoes that I could purchase or borrow to try my Yamato motor on. They replied that there were none available and that all the Canoes were shared and traded with relatives. I then asked if someone would build me a Canoe. Their reply was that it could cost me about $10,000 in time and materials to have some one build me a Canoe, I thought to myself, This is not looking good.

We then headed to the Race Course which was down river on the other side of town (about 6 blocks). When we arrived they pointed out where the course was. What I saw was several bouys high and dry on a sand bar. They laughed and said not to worry the Tide will be in in about an hour. They unloaded there equipment and began testing, running up and down the narrow channel of the river. It was no time at all, the Tide had come in and they were testing the full Race Course. I helped with what ever I could, unloading canoes and motors from their pickup trucks and holding the canoes in the water. Soon they began Racing and I was standing on the beach thinking, Boy that looks like a lot of fun.

At the end of the final heat of Racing I congratulated the Racer that had invited me to the race as he had finished in second place. I helped them load their equipment back on their truck. When we were finished I said good-by and as I turned to find by van there were some Indian Blankets on the roof and three men loading a canoe on top of my van. As I walked up to my van one of the men said, go home, practice and we'll see you at the next race.

Next time. The first ride.

Racer Ric

You may have noticed the marathon high point listings in the "Propeller" (Dec. '97 pg. 22). Michigan area drivers can compete in up to 14 marathons a year. Only two of the events are stand alone marathons, Indian River and Trenton. The rest of them are in conjunction with regular closed course races. They are about 20 minutes in duration with all stock runabouts running at one time. Some times the course lengthen, it depends on the body of water the race is on. On Saturday the marathon is the last event of the day and it is the first on Sunday. This way drivers only have to change setups from heat racing to marathon once a day. For CSR's this involves adding a fuel pump and axillary fuel tank.

Is there any interest in marathons on the west coast? Perhaps one per weekend at selected races. Would enough ASR's & 25SSR's enter to make it worth while? 3 boats in a class are required for national points. It would give us more time on the water and clubs could generate income from additional entry fees.

(This is unofficial, the Ed. could be wrong at times.)

Winter Nationals Jan. 17:

1. Darrell Sorensen 1-2 800

2. Billy Rucker Jr. 2-1 600

3. Allen Sutfin Jr. BG-3 450

4. Ed Smith 3-DNS 338

Rick Love BG-DNF 0

Adam Allen BG/Flip-DNS 0

David Rudge BG/DNS 0

Indio Jan. 18:

1. Ed Smith 1-3 400

2. David Rudge 2-4 300

3. Darrell Sorensen BG-1 225

4. Allen Sutfin Jr. BG-2 169

1. Darrell Sorensen (2) 1025

2. Ed Smith (2) 738

3. Allen Sutfin Jr. (2) 619

4. Billy Rucker Jr. (1) 600

5. David Rudge (2) 300

6. Rick Love (2) 127

7. Adam Allen (1) 0

The weight change on 25SSR from 400 lbs. to 420 lbs. did not pass. All other Stock Outbard ballot items passed.

Addresses Needed - Mark Neal

My driving started in 1962 up in Idaho, on Lake Coeu d'alene. David Thielman, now C.E.O. of E-Z Loader trailer, and I fielded an 8 foot boat powered by a 12 h.p. Sea King. David was 14 and I was 12 years old.

The group of us would put on races out in fount of my parents resort. We patterned the format after the unlimited races held on jour lake every summer. The "clock" was a hand operated unit compared with the watch on the arm of the race director. I think the oldest of us was about 16. One of our drivers was none other than that north-west how shoe Randy Pringle, driving a 30's style "step" runabout called "Satisfaction". Randy fell out and got run over which made us think we should quit putting on races without medical help on hand.

I moved to California, and continued to run a home built boat called "Road Agent", but soon switched to dirt bikes and karting. After moving to Lodi, I went to the Lodi race every year and actually crewed for Rich Mayer and his son's F Runabout, but didn't drive.

In 1992 I found myself talking to Terry Klemm who was involved with my neighbor's daughter, the lovely Lisa Lira. Somehow he got me help out at testing, and soon I was painting boats and crafting parts & pieces for the "duck". As a "reward" Klemm and Brad Gesler gave me an old Karlesen 20SSH that, when finished, weighed about 600 lbs. with me in it. I drove it for a season, and actually backed into a 3rd place at Merced. It was a cute boat named "Sebastian" and is now a coffee table in Pleasanton. My driving record is very humble, despite help form almost everyone in region 11. Special thanks go to Terry Klemm, Gesler Racing, Dale Bishop, Tim & Todd Jacobsen, Buzz Rasmussen, and Darrell Soresnen. This bunch always had the needed part / tip /prop / ride to help me get to the next heat. So although I don't own many beer glasses won at the various races, I am rich in friends and memories that to me, are the important parts of this hobby and lifestyle we share.

Tim Dwyer