Dad liked things that went fast. He flew single engine airplanes for the Army Air Corps in the 1940's and appreciated well tuned motors with proper throttle response. It was not surprising then that he had an interest in unlimited hydroplane powerboat racing. In the years after World War II surplus aircraft engines ended up in these beautiful, powerful, and often quite dangerous machines. The American made Allison V-1710 engine powered fighter planes like the P-51 Mustang producing up to 2300 horsepower. Can you imagine driving a 27 foot boat with a basically flat bottom powered by one of these monsters. They were called three point hydroplanes and when up and running only part of the propeller/rudder and a little bit of the bottom on each of the front sides would be touching the water. They would bounce in waves only allowing for turning when the rudder happened to be in the water. Now envision a boat with two such monster motors mounted in front of the driver and you have the Such Crust IV. Dad knew that the 1965 Spirit of Detroit Regatta would bring the Such Crust and many other unlimiteds to our geographical area and just had to experience it. The family was loaded onto the family cruiser with a course headed north across Lake Erie to Detroit. We thought we were hot stuff crossing the lake in a 30 foot woodie powered by twin V-8 Corvette engines converted to the marine application by Flagship Marine of Ponta Gorda Florida. Those same engines powered 40 foot boats successfully and were quite lively in a much lighter 30 footer. We tied up at Keans Marina north of downtown Detroit on the river where you had the best view of the races and pleasant surroundings. For safety's sake the boats were a long way out since the river is quite wide their and were still hard to see. Dad decided he and I should walk out on a long pier to get a better view and maybe a good picture with his new camera. He did not have a telephoto lens and the boats were still far off in the viewfinder. The last lap of a heat and the boats were heading north on the other side of the river. One more turn to our side then a sprint to the finish line. The two leaders made tight turns producing rough water for boat number three which just could not get enough rudder in the water to make a proper turn. The boat was skipping like a stone and heading right for our pier. It was like a 50's horror movie with people running down the dock to get out of the way of what appeared to be an eminent crash. It was the two motored monster Such Crust which was known for not making proper turns on a good day. Dad and I were the only two people not running and were holding our ground behind a wood post at the end of the pier dad with camera in hand. The boat got so close we could see the cavities in the drivers teeth and the screws in the carburetors. Before we got hit with a wall of water dad got the shot. Just then the driver poured the coals to both motors, my ribs vibrated and my ears rung. It was a strategy to use the higher horsepower and greater acceleration of the Such Crust to make up for it's inherently impaired turning ability in the last lap of a race. Awesome Experience!
The driver that race was Bill Muncy who was later killed driving a few years later. Numerous other drivers succumbed to the same fate in those days when drivers sat on their knees on sponge pads in open cockpits holding on to a steering wheel and a throttle. The link contains actual footage and commentary of this race event.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8tpnlEYSgi0
Such Crust IV
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| Detroit River Race Course |
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| Lake Freighter on way to Detroit |
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| The "woodie" with parents and two youngest brothers |
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