MOTOR BOATING /  June 1969

Smoky Record for a New Cigarette

By Lois Kennedy

I‘LL BE WAITING for you at the finish,” said Miami powerboat racing veteran Don Aronow to Long Beach, California Mayor Edwin Wade. That was at the start of the inaugural Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico offshore powerboat thrash March 22. When it was over, not only was Aronow waiting for Mayor Wade, who would present his trophy and had left the Long Beach Belmont pier an hour before the race began, but for all 12 other survivors of this 176-mile test. In his powerful new Cigarette, a 32’ 4” hull powered by twin 482-cu.-in MerCruisers and built to his own design by Cary Marine of Miami, he had not only lead the 22-boat field throughout, but set a world offshore average speed record of 67 mph. The feat was firmly in character; Aronow is an ex-world offshore powerboat titlist and ‘67-’68 national champion.

When Edwin Wade arrived at the finish line in tequila country, Aronow, his longtime mechanic-navigator Knocky House and crewman Bob Magoon, both of Miami, were busy fielding press queries as they climbed out of their soaked racing clothes.

While exceeding the previous record of 62 mph, set by Bill Sirois of St. Cloud, Florida in last July’s Hennessy Long Island Grand Prix, Don covered the lumpy course in 2 hours 37 minutes 19 seconds. Soaring over 12-foot swells, Cigarette unfaltering swept by nine check points off the Baja, California coastline. Last August, Don had driven his 27 foot Maltese Mag­num, with a single 482-cu.-in. MerCruiser, to victory in the Long Beach-Hennessy Cup 180-mile race. But the big Pacific swells on the west side of Catalina Island had given him second thoughts about again using a light-weight single engine hull in West Coast events.

“1 decided to try something bigger, with more power,” he said in Long Beach before this race. “Cigarette has a few new things,” he conceded; “she’s been clocked at over 70 mph in trials off Miami.” Her next race will probably be the Bahamas 500, scheduled for the 13th of this month.

In this newest of international powerboat races, an out- board world record was also established. John Stenback, driving his 27-foot Magnum Quicksilver, led fellow St. Cloud racer Ralph Seavey across the finish line in 2:53:46; he had set a new outboard mark of 59.7 mph. Seavey’s Snow Shoe was just 1:51 behind. Both Magnums were powered by three of the new Mercury racing motors, the 1250 Super BPs. The Floridians were third and fourth to round the Ensenada breakwater.

Big Don Aronow was the only driver among the eight inboard entries in the Offshore class to survive the course with no problems. Off the Coronado Islands, half of one of Bill Wishnick’s prop blades lies on the bottom. His new Boss O’Nova, ex-Mona Lou III, was pushing its black rival until a blade split. The New Yorker finished only 16 minutes later for second place.

Descanso Point, a rocky promontory off the Baja coast, has a submerged rock decorated with yellow fiberglass bits where Bill Cooper’s slim 22 foot Rayson Craft Spooky Too slammed into it, tearing a man-sized gash in the hull. The Marina del Rey driver and his navigator Jonathan Edwards took to their life raft and were picked up by a cruiser, none the worst for their dunking. (It was a minor incident for Bill compared to one a year ago when his boat flipped in the Houston Marathon, and the spinning prop slashed him from head to waist, almost killing him.)

Off San Diego, there is a badly shredded shark that tangled with Pete Rothschild’s fast-moving Thunderballs. from Newport Beach. The impact was so great it bent one of the props on the twin 427-cu.-in. MerCruisers. The bright red 27 foot Aqua Craft, Pete’s own design, had been overtaking Carl Asmus in the 27 foot Magnum America, when the shark interfered. Rothschild was only stopped momentarily, but Thunderballs lacked her former oomph. And in America, the young Van Nuys driver roared away.

 Asmus became the first West Coast racer to finish as he crossed the line sixth. This was quite a feat, since he had dropped out of the race shortly after the start to stand by Bob Nordskogs Holocaust, temporarily disabled with engine troubles. Rothschild came in 43 minutes behind Asmus to win the cruiser class. Later that evening, his Thunderballs started sinking at her mooring in Ensenada Harbor. When she was quickly hauled out, it was discovered the shark had done more than bend a prop, it had loosened the through-hull fitting, flooding the hull.

Swinger II, Los Angeles restaurateur Dave Shane’s 23-foot gray Formula, with twin 289-cu.-in. Holman-Moody Fords, won the development class. He and Pete Rothschild were repeating their victories in the earlier shake-down, tune-up race-cruise around Catalina Island, which included an overnight stop at Avalon.

Paul Fischer’s 35-foot red Magnum gave a 40-mph run­ning start to the racers as they headed for Ensenada, pacing first the Development and Cruiser classes, then sweeping back to pick up the Offshore class. Fischer then revved up to catch the thundering fleet of 23 boats as they swept from behind the oil derrick-topped islands in the harbor toward the breakwater entrance. Aronow flashed first through the opening and past the check boat. A fast count revealed three missing. Dave Eyraud’s 21 foot Thunder had been the first drop-out a thousand yards from the starting point off Bel­mont Pier. Just inside the breakwater there sat Bob Nord­skog’s red and white 28-foot Thunderbird Holocaust, flat in the water with a defunct engine. The third, Carl Asmus’ America, floated nearby with Carl ready to render aid. Nordskog poked his head out and waved Carl back into the race. Holocaust resumed the race herself, with a roar from her twin 499-cu.-in. Nordskog-Chevies. But off La Jolla both big temperamental power plants went out.

Nordskog is a hard-headed, 55 year-old Norwegian grandfather. He is determined to successfully equip Holo­caust with a pair of these special engines, kissing cousins of the exotic power plants which churn up such fantastic bursts of speed in drag races. The veteran racer was experi­menting with one 499-cu.-in. blown and a 467-cu.-in. in­jected fuel engine for the Avalon tune-up. The smaller one heated up near the finish line when Holocaust was well out in the lead.

Aiming at world and national titles this time, Nordskog tried out twin big ones, just under the 1000-cu.-in. total limit. Aronow had indicated he considered Nordskog and Bill Wishnick as his biggest competition. If Bob, his navi­gator Joel Younger and mechanic Dave Zeuschel can elimi­nate the bugs in those mills, Holocaust might well resume her winning ways on the national and international offshore racing circuits. Nordskog fully expects to get 75 mph out of his monsters.

Holocaust’s two crewmen were tired and disgruntled when they finally got ashore. They decided to hire a taxi for the drive to Ensenada to meet their wives for the trophy dinner. Have you ever tried to hire a cab to cross an inter­national border when you had no money, no identification and were dressed in grimy coveralls?

Promises of immediate payment in Ensenada held little lure. Bob and Joel had given their wallets to their wives for safe keeping while they were racing. And there was no money in the mandatory survival kit.

All’s well that ends well, if expensively. Nordskog hadn’t become a top airline equipment and marine executive by being inarticulate. The reluctant cabbie got his money, all $25 of it as promised, in Ensenada.