Dewey's Lumberville.....

**Honky Tonk** · February-26-13, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Sure would have liked to seen those photos.....never had the opportunity to watch from the Boat or Yacht Club. Sat & viewed from the Belle Isle Bridge in 1974, excellent view, especially when they ran the 3 mile course & the hydros turned very close to the bridge.

Here is my latest project....

Do they still hold the "Mini Gold Cups" @ the lagoon on Belle Isle? If so, when is that?

**Smirnoff** · February-26-13, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Do they still hold the "Mini Gold Cups" @ the lagoon on Belle Isle? If so, when is that?

Unfortunately no, been many-many years since.....lagoon is also severely
choked with underwater & surface weeds, cannot run boats to setup or practice either [[city liability). Even the guys with R/C sailboats avoid the Isle due to being robbed, it happened.....sad, but true.

**Honky Tonk** · February-26-13, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Unfortunately no, been many-many years since.....lagoon is also severely
choked with underwater & surface weeds, cannot run boats to setup or practice either [[city liability). Even the guys with R/C sailboats avoid the Isle due to being robbed, it happened.....sad, but true.

That IS too bad and sad as well. I've been a few times in the past and always enjoyed them. I have friends who are into R/C airplanes and helicopters. I've told them about the Mini Gold Cups. They were very interested. Back in the day, I built a plywood, Dumas offshore. Futaba controls. It was electric, though. I used to run it around the sailboat racing pond.

**Smirnoff** · February-27-13, 08:56 PM

Engine Technology has changed for many of us.....instead of running small & temperamental "nitro" motors, I now run larger boats with highly-modified "weed-wacker" gas motors that produce 8.25 HP @ 16,500 RPM's.

Glad I was able to sell all my nitro boats/motors to fund my new gas projects.....

**p69rrh51** · March-25-13, 03:25 PM

Smirnoff some nice images on this site.

http://fpwp.photoshelter.com/gallery...000qxVAzSTIEVI

**Smirnoff** · March-26-13, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by p69rrh51

Smirnoff some nice images on this site.

Thanks for posting the link - very cool photos!

Jack Schafer Jr. is a really neat person with numerous hilarious boat racing stories....he drove the last V-8 automotive piston powered hydroplane [[Miss Wellness Plan) on the Unlimited circuit before retiring from driving in the early 1990's.

The Miss US in the photos was recently restored, that boat only raced once in 1957 & once in 1958 & was not competitive for some reason[[s)? I actually have a 1964 Cadillac calendar that shows the hydroplane.....[[you could probably call the Cadillac a boat too).

**p69rrh51** · April-11-13, 04:37 PM

Smirnoff, only Budweiser would have a rig this nice.

**Smirnoff** · April-15-13, 06:48 AM

Bernie Little, the hydro owner, sure had deep pockets from Budweiser to win at any cost....ironic you post that photo, that tow truck was actually posted on eBay within the last year. I thought I had some photos from the ad, maybe not? However, you could barely recognize the truck, the paint & lettering was completely faded, apparently it sat in the sun & baked for many-many years. The truck required a total restoration.

I believe that photo is from 1969.....seems like yesterday

**Smirnoff** · June-12-13, 08:02 AM

From the memorabilia archives.....still seeking a photo of the building with the hydroplanes on the roof.

Attachment 20359

**p69rrh51** · June-12-13, 09:40 AM

Smirnoff I ran across these the other day. Dwight Lumber built the boats here in town.

**Honky Tonk** · June-12-13, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by p69rrh51

Smirnoff, only Budweiser would have a rig this nice.

Actually the nicest setup I remember was Circus Circus. Their theme color was pink. EVERYTHING about the boat and crew was pink. Even the mechanics rags were pink. As pukey as that sounds, it was a site to behold. The ladies around the pits HAD to be showgirls. Grrrrrrrooooowwwwl, if you know what I mean. I don't think Circus Circus was into boat racing for too long though.

**Smirnoff** · June-13-13, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by p69rrh51

Smirnoff I ran across these the other day. Dwight Lumber built the boats here in town.

Thanks for passing along!

Check this out, they actually built a production boat with an outboard motor installed inside of the boat! Can't locate the old plant/lumber company using Google Earth......