Boat Named Tiger
I
started life as a BSR in 1985, Sorensen hull #8985. Well, I was really a 20SSR
with a Yamato 80, but some political decisions were made by the SORC to combine
20SSR and BSR. Ray Hoot was my first owner, it was his second year in racing and
after thoroughly thrashing his DeSilva he ordered me from Darrell Sorensen. Ray
painted my side’s white with a natural deck and I looked mighty fine. Ray
owned me for just over a year and was just getting to learn how I like to be
driven and he sold me so he could buy one of my older sisters that Dean Wilson
had for sale. What a blow! Now I am an outcast and my new owner is some hippy
named Mike Ventry form Santa Cruz. This guy doesn’t even have a clue on how I
should be driven, only takes me out a couple times and never races me.
Fortunately a couple years later I am sold to a new racer, Keith Mouler. Now I
am being raced again in a class called B Mod Runabout. Same Yamato 80, just more
political stuff. One time Keith doesn’t tie me down to the trailer very well
and I bounce off on to I-580, ouch! Keith was sorry and fixed me all up again
and named me “Road Warrior”. He even gave me a new paint job; I was orange
and blue and looked good again. Keith built a hydro, those boats that need
sponson to keep right side up in the turns. Now he started to neglect me and I
didn’t get to race very often. Keith started racing cars, I had to take a back
seat to Pinto for a whole season, he finally took me to the last race of the
season at Shadow Cliffs. Boy did I run good and won the race. I was sold at the
race and eventually ended up in Fairfield on James Guffy’s race team. I was
sent back to Darrell Sorensen to be made into a C Runabout. I am now a
foot longer, a little thicker, and have a neat looking high cockpit side and
cowling. I also get a newer and larger Yamato 102 hung on my transom. Then when
I get back to Fairfield I am painted and aqua green, I liked my other colors
better! I am given to a new driver on the team that doesn’t even know how to
get me on plane. He even puts his knee through my deck. Now life goes down hill
big time. I get traded off to hydro driver (Joey Johnson) who only wants me for
my engine. Then he gives me to Mike Wilson, who puts a new deck on me, but takes
off the beautiful cowl and cockpit side. Mike tries to race me, but he is
getting a little old and it is not like when I was new and winning races.
After
a year of struggling with Mike I am traded back to my builder. The hook is taken
out of my bottom and lent to Roy Edmark. Roy keeps promising to race me, but he
is more interested in offshore racing. About a year goes by and one day Tim King
comes and gets me, paints me a dark blue and races me in a new class called
20SSR. Wasn’t that the class that it was before I was built? There is a nice
video made at Lodi and we are in it. Then back to Darrell Sorensen’s for a new
cowl and cockpit side. Darrell takes me to next years Lodi race. We don’t do
well the first heat, but run out front the next heat, jumped the gun but that
sure felt good. The next day Terry Klemm races me; we start in front and work
our way to the back. The next time I am raced by Matt Boyes and in our second
race we win!! Then I get to go on a trip to region 10. At the divisionals J.
Dub. Myers and I take second place in 20SSR. Then Steve Lytle flips me just
after the starting line in CSR. I am very tore up, some bandages are put on and
he races me again the next day. Darrell takes me to Montoya’s where he and
Jason fix me almost like new. At Olympia James Thompson from Alaska races me. We
do well and even win a heat.
Back
in California Darrell paints me orange, and then puts on tiger stripes, a little
crude but looks good from a distance. Next Tim Cree and I get to race at Salt
Springs. We do well, but run into another boat while milling (more bandages).
Darrell races me at Suisun, he thought we won the race, but I missed a buoy.
Matt Boyes races me again at Lawrence Lake in Washington; I sure like to travel
to other regions to race. Back home Curt Schlosser and I are all ready to race
at Oroville, but the wind is blowing hard and the drivers are chicken to take us
out on the water. Last race of the year at Lake Minden. Lane Hird drives me on
Saturday, he is afraid to let me go fast, but we win the race because we
didn’t jump the gun. On Sunday Tim Dwyer is my driver and we ran in second
place. Wow, I sure have had fun this year, nine different drivers, lots of
racing and came out the winner a couple times.
After
having nine different drivers and winning a couple of races and getting the
Tiger paint job in ’97, can ’98 top that? The season started out at the
Winter nationals with a “hot shoe” or more appropriately “hot glove”
flying all the way from Michigan, Adam Allen. We were doing real well, when Adam
pushed me a little hard into a turn, he was trying his best to pass Rick Love
and over we went. Wasn’t any damage for a change, just wet. The water is sure
cold in January.
Next
up is Bakersfield This time I am teamed up with J.W. Myers. He raced me last
year and I know he can drive a boat! The only trouble is he has this motor that
won’t run right, something to do with spark! After borrowing stuff from other
motors it seems to be running ok. We win the first heat, but then he jumps the
gun in the second heat. On Sunday we win the first heat again (I think I could
start to like this). The only trouble is after we cross the finish line that (*#>@*!
Motor started to act up again and we just make it back to the pits. Then it
wouldn’t even run for the second heat.
Last
year I heard that a new rookie driver was going to be my regular driver. His
first outing was at Rollins Lake near Grass Valley. Tom Pierce did real well,
kept his “nose clean” and we picked up a third place in his very first race.
The next race at Lodi, Tom didn’t do that well. I don’t think he took well
to the rough water.
Next
we go to the 50th Annual Race at Newberg. I am teamed up with J. W.
We didn’t get started for the first heat, sure wish he would get rid of the
piece of junk for a motor! But he gets things going and we win the second heat.
Saturday night the drivers have this party around a big fire. The next thing,
they are throwing old boats on the fire!! This shouldn’t be happening. Boats
are meant to be raced, not discarded and used for firewood! Sure hope I never
get in the kind of shape, that all I will be good for is a little heat at a
party.
Sunday is the day we run for the money (nothing big, but still money). Me and J Dub show them how it’s done and we WIN!, Wow!! And to top it off, we are on the cover of the Propeller magazine. My tiger stripes look like a million dollars (they do wonders with photos). This has to be the highlight of my career.
Next
is the race at my home course at Chowchilla. I am driven by Matt Boyes on
Saturday and on Sunday because of some boat buying and selling. I get Curt
Schlosser as my sort’ a regular driver. We do well with a second on Sunday.
The
4th of July I am teamed up with J. W. again. He still has the same
motor and has troubles on Saturday. Great fire works on Saturday Night, sure
beats burning boats! On Sunday I talk J. W. into borrowing a motor. We come in
second, the first beat behind Greg Steffen. In the second heat we grab the lead
and being pushed hard by Greg and Allen Sutfin, I make it through the turn ok
but J. W. can’t stay in the boat! I get my right cockpit side and cowl
tore-up, other than that, everything is ok. The season finished out with another
win with J. W. at the wheel at Salt Springs. And with other races at lake
Minden, Sutherlin and Pleasanton.
A
total of 7 drivers and 22 races, only a few other boats had more races than
that! Heat & race wins, including winning the 50th Newberg race.
Your picture on the cover of the Propeller. Life is good!
In
1999 my owner had some problem with his eyes and couldn’t get me to hardly any
races. But at the end of the season I did get to race at Pleasanton with famous
photographer Roland Dechert and newcomer, Brian Vincent. Brian had so much fun
that he went out and bought his own C Stock Runabout. Now in December of ’99
there is a whole feature article about me and all my drivers in the Propeller.
There are six different pictures of me in the article. You never know what will
happen when a photographer / writer gets a chance to race the “Tiger”.
2000
was a little slow also. I got to race at Marysville only because Curt Schlosser
could never get his boat painted, so I got to play once again. Then my ol’
buddy J Dub, who had been racing Unlimited lights, a big boat with training
wheels and a big car motor in it, wanted to do some real racing for a change.
Well, we raced at Shadow Cliffs, and did we ever race! We raced in every class
the officials would let us enter. Besides CSR we were racing in OSY 400, Formula
E Runabout and 350cc Runabout. We used those other classes to “dial in the
start” for CSR. Even thought we jumped the start by just a small amount we
could hold off those fast 350 runabouts for a whole lap, boy that felt good. In
OSY 400 we beat more hydros than the ones that beat us! On Sunday in CSR we were
the class of the 11-boat field, out front both heats. But a slight
miscalculation at the start of heat two (jumped the gun) dropped us to second,
still not bad. The race was being filmed for Speedvision because it was the
Cracker Boxes nationals (big runabouts that bounce around a lot with two people
in them powered by car engines,). Well here we were shown on national TV out in
front and look’n good.
In 2001 I got to race with Bob Williams a few times and at the end of the season my owner ran me, because his own boat went to Bermuda. Now that’s what I call a retirement. At Bakersfield, the last race of the year I had another hole in me when Chad Hill ran into me. However there were some neat pictures taken of me from a helicopter that year.
The
next year there was a driver from Wisconsin who was suppose to race me at the
winter nationals, I was to get new sides and deck with a new tiger paint job so
I would look good again. The old sides and deck are taken off, and then my owner
gets too busy working on new boats. This yo yo cheese head guy goes snow
skiing instead of the Winter Nationals. I get left out in the weather; the
excuse is that all the rest of me is more patches than boat. There I sit through
two hot summers and a cold winter. The only good thing is that by bow is propped
up so I don’t get cancer. Fortunately Newberg is not on my owners
schedule during this time. Then there is a call from a driver from a “wild
cat” club in Washington looking for a boat just like me. I am sure a big
bucked of epoxy and some plywood will fix me up for more racing.
I
have been driven by 22 different drivers. Some had no idea what they were doing,
some were decent and a few really knew how I like to be driven. Of course J Dub
was my favorite. I would like to thank the photographers for the neat pictures,
also the nice lady at the Propeller for my picture on the cover and the
feature article. Now my number one driver is racing unlimiteds, so he is off to
the “big” leagues and I am off to the “bush” leagues. Just hope that J
Dub remembers to thank me for helping hone his driving skills when he
interviewed on TV after winning his first big race.
To
be continued (hopefully)
Tiger