Need to ID this Boat's Owners

[Goad]

I bought this '71 Rogers Cyclone recently and I am trying to dig up the history on it. Old Rigger took a look at it and suspected it might be Jeff Paines old boat because of the markings on the bow said 'Jeff', but the last name was unreadable.
After sanding down most of the area, it turns out the previous owner is Jeff Millet. I coulda told myself that if I just looked at the registration (duh).
The only info I have is that its got 3 names on it.
Owner: Jeff Millet
Captain: D.J. Millet
Crew: K___ Millet
...and I have the registration from '74.
The boat's tag shows '84 and the trailer is '71.
Mainly I am trying to find the previous owner to see if they have any pictures of it when it was in its prime. It would help me in the resto process.
Heres some pics:
http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_1323.JPG
http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_1326.JPG
http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_1332.JPG
http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_1333.JPG
http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_1334.JPG

[Goad]

more pictures from the other thread...
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=41.0;attach=67;ima ge
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=41.0;attach=69;ima ge
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=41.0;attach=71;ima ge
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25110&stc=1&d=1172608975
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25111&stc=1&d=1172608975
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25112&stc=1&d=1172608975
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25113&stc=1&d=1172608975

[MikeF]

Though I've never spoken to him myself.......The name Craig Millet is on my boat (ex Kilo record holding Liberty). He said (in a thread from a very long time ago on another message board) that he used to race circle boats.
These are exerpts from the thread..............
I raced for Roger's Custom Boats for several years in the 70's and had both a ski boat and a bubbledeck that I raced in Comp Jet under the name Excalibur. The boats are great and very strong; handlaid fiberglass and full stringers. The pump is an old "b" pump, as that is what was then available.
Because of the strakes on the bottom, Roger Wieman's boats were very fast.
Jack McClure and Jeff Bennett know a lot about these boats.
Good luck
.................
My 18' Roger's bubble set the CJ Kilo record at 93.139 mph in the kilo time trials in 1974 (average over a full 5/8 mile over 2 runs.) This was a heavy circle boat remember. My Hondo set the closed course record in 1976 at 88+ mph (average speed over 3 laps of 1 2/3 mile course in actual circle competiton.) We broke those records while I was at Liberty Boats. They, of course, have all been broken since.
Might help. :D

[Clockstart]

That boat appears to be the former "Wild Rasberry" which was raced by Craig Millet at NJBA and COBRA circle races in the mid 70's. Jeff Bennett or Jack McClure could put you in touch with Craig.
Cs

[Goad]

hey guys, thank you VERY much for this info....it just makes it that much 'more funner' to restore :)

[beerjet]

hey guys, thank you VERY much for this info....it just makes it that much 'more funner' to restore :)
Quite the find huh.
-beerjet-

[Goad]

Quite the find huh.
-beerjet-
yup...the hidden treasure :)

[Goad]

That boat appears to be the former "Wild Rasberry" which was raced by Craig Millet at NJBA and COBRA circle races in the mid 70's. Jeff Bennett or Jack McClure could put you in touch with Craig.
Cs
Can anyone verify if Craig Millet ran a Bubble deck or not? This boat is not a bubble deck.
Thanks!
-Brad

[SpiritCJ712]

Yes, that is the original Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry---the original 712. It began its life as a respberry metal flake ski boat that I tried racing in 1972 along with Steve King and his family's ski boat. We took the seats out, slapped on headers and it ran 79 mph first pass at Ming---in 1972. We bolted in a scoop (you guys call them loaders) that Steve made in high school metal shop and it ran 84 next pass.
The Raspberry was fast, but it was not a fair match for dedicated race boats then run by Jack McClure, Jeff Paine, Roger Finney, the Barons, etc. It returned to its life as a fast ski boat when we got more serious and built a true race boat which was the Rogers bubbledeck you referred to (Excalibur.) After that I raced a Hondo (Spirit) and then an Eliminator (Spirit II). I finished my racing career with Liberty boats before law school took all time away.
Man, there are a lot of stories in that fiberglass. My family used the boat for several more years as ski boat and finally sold it in the early 80's (I think.) And I do have pictures and even an old 8 mm movie of it in the quarter mile. I would be more than happy to provide any info I can. Craig. cmillet@gibsondunn.com

[Goad]

Craig,
I am floored that I actually found the original owner of this boat...thank you for posting on here!
I picked up this boat from a guy in El Cajon who bought it from a guy on Ebay in Corona. The boat was loaded with loads of goodies when he got it off ebay....stripped it, and sold me the hull and trailer as it sits.
This is what the guy in El Cajon said was on the boat:
All was very old school, probably assembled in/from the 70's. A rectangular port big block Chevy, tunnel ram, huge (unknown actual size) double pump carb, ss "B" impellor (high RPM's), ancient looking loader grate, a wedge on the pump to tune it's plane, ? 10 quarts of race oil in the bow, a really old school race scoop (which I have), and I don't know what else. It just seems that's a lot of high end parts when you consider when they were (probably) put on the boat.
More info here: http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?topic=381.0
I bet the loader he referred to is the one Steve made in metal shop haha!
I had briefly talked to Jim Brock this past weekend at the Long Beach Swap Meet about the boat and he said he only remembered you running a bubble deck...but now to find out you had run both.
The boat is located in Foothill Ranch (Irvine/Lake Forest/Mission Viejo area). I would love for you to swing by sometime to see the boat and share some stories. They would be priceless to me.
-Brad

[old rigger]

Can anyone verify if Craig Millet ran a Bubble deck or not? This boat is not a bubble deck.Thanks!
Brad, congrats on finding the history you were looking for.
The Rogers bubble decks came later, not on this bottom. That's the old 'clipper ship' deep entry bottom you have. The newer, faster, safer bottom came in '72 I believe, with the flat deck. The bubble in '73.
Steve King was also the guy that built all Roger's blower motors for the factory boats. He was gone by the time I went to work for Roger, but would stop by now and then. He's a fireman I believe now, and has been for the lasts 25 years or so.
Cool find.

[MikeC]

Holy Crap.
The infamous high school kid that invented the loader grate! We heard about him from Jack McClure and Jeff Bennett about 7 years ago. From what I remember, Jack said before this kid came up with this loader, a piece of cloth's hanger across the intake was the hot ticket.....
"A couple of high school kids that showed up and kicked everyone's asses."
I've been wondering for all these years, thanks now I know, it was Steve King.
MikeC
Yes, that is the original Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry---the original 712. It began its life as a respberry metal flake ski boat that I tried racing in 1972 along with Steve King and his family's ski boat. We took the seats out, slapped on headers and it ran 79 mph first pass at Ming---in 1972. We bolted in a scoop (you guys call them loaders) that Steve made in high school metal shop and it ran 84 next pass.
The Raspberry was fast, but it was not a fair match for dedicated race boats then run by Jack McClure, Jeff Paine, Roger Finney, the Barons, etc. It returned to its life as a fast ski boat when we got more serious and built a true race boat which was the Rogers bubbledeck you referred to (Excalibur.) After that I raced a Hondo (Spirit) and then an Eliminator (Spirit II). I finished my racing career with Liberty boats before law school took all time away.
Man, there are a lot of stories in that fiberglass. My family used the boat for several more years as ski boat and finally sold it in the early 80's (I think.) And I do have pictures and even an old 8 mm movie of it in the quarter mile. I would be more than happy to provide any info I can. Craig. cmillet@gibsondunn.com

[bp]

Holy Crap.
The infamous high school kid that invented the loader grate! We heard about him from Jack McClure and Jeff Bennett about 7 years ago. From what I remember, Jack said before this kid came up with this loader, a piece of cloth's hanger across the intake was the hot ticket.....
"A couple of high school kids that showed up and kicked everyone's asses."
I've been wondering for all these years, thanks now I know, it was Steve King.
MikeC
hey mc, what's up? you still playin with that poncho?
i seem to recall the story that there were three hischoolers; craig/steve/jeff. i also remember hearing a story of how they were down on the river with something broke, had to leave, and harold bruce asked if he could borrow that scoop lookin deal. they loaned it, left to get something fixed, and when they got back, harold had kicked everyone's butt by pickin up some serious mph with the scoop. too many stories to remember 'em all.

[MikeC]

Hey BP, I don't rember that part, but that is funny! I'd love to look through the old messages and find that message list one day.
Yes, Poncho has been very good to me.
Where are you hanging these day's?
Hope you and family are well, all good here.
MikeC
Eme@ Mikeycu@cox.net
http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/shootout/hppp_0702_pavement_pounders_motorplex/1966_pontiac_grand_prix.html
http://www.amsoil.com/adslicks/Ad779.jpg

[SpiritCJ712]

Nah, Steve is not a fireman, never was. I still see Steve a few times a year. He lives in Placentia. Our fathers went to HS together. Steve and I used to race Sabot sail boats when we were about 12. We both then got 13' Boston Wailers with outboards and went water skiing. Steve, Jeff Bennett and I all went to HS together as well. We went to the NDBA drags at Long Beach once and watched the likes of Ray Casselli and Larry Schwabenland and that was it. We were hooked. Our families had purchased jet ski boats by then and we tore into to them to try to make them go fast. My great thanks to Jack McClure for teaching us so much and likely keeping us from killing ourselves.
Jeff Bennett was my "crew chief" (more like best friend) for years and then we both ended up at Liberty Boats/Competition Marine in the late '70's after I closed my shop and got my degree in Philosophy. We ran Liberty's race program and also did the pump, hardware and bottom on other boats like Harold Bruce's boat and Norm Grime's boat "Dash for Cash"--first UBGJ to go over 125 mph.
A couple of stories--During easter week one year, Jeff Bennett had the "honor" of skiing naked down the Parker strip while I drove the Raspberry full of girls. On another occasion, The Raspberry, pulling Mike Basso won the the Needles inner tube race where about 12 idiots pulled a guy on an inner tube as fast as you could go to the train bridge and back. After it returned to duty as a ski boat, the Raspberry had a 454 Chev in it made up of retired race parts. Once, we took the Raspberry to the NJBA drags, along with the bubbledeck Rogers, so we could ski after the races. On a whim we entered the Raspberry in the Ski Jet II class and won the class, with the seats and everything installed. We were protested and had to tear down the engine. Jack McClure measured the engine and declared it legal--way legal. So we had plenty of beer money for the next day.
Re "old school loaders," we must have made a couple of hundred scoops over the years we raced. Some of the designs look very much like what you have today and some you have never seen, with blow in doors, twisted vanes, vanes longer on one side, etc. We also devised the "anti- suction" plate to reduce drag near the shoe. We used to dye the shoe and read the cavitation burn between heats. We used to cut the outboard fin down on the jet intake to help scoop water into the intake when turning left. Finally, the bottom mod that turned the Eliminator tunnel boats into truly fast boats was devised late one after noon while Jeff and I were floating in the water at Bluewater, drinking beer and looking at the bottom of my Eliminator on the trailer trying to figure out how to stop the hi speed cavitation problem.
I left Liberty to go to law school and that ended racing for me. Jeff, Jack, Norm and others continued on. Steve King had left racing by then as well. Jeff got his degree in engineering and was with General Dynamics, and may still be. We all stayed in touch through Jack McClure and Norm Grimes.
Wow this brings back some memories of wild times!

[SpiritCJ712]

Nah, Steve is not a fireman, never was. I still see Steve a few times a year. He lives in Placentia. Our fathers went to HS together. Steve and I used to race Sabot sail boats when we were about 12. We both then got 13' Boston Wailers with outboards and went water skiing. Steve, Jeff Bennett and I all went to HS together as well. We went to the NDBA drags at Long Beach once and watched the likes of Ray Casselli and Larry Schwabenland and that was it. We were hooked. Our families had purchased jet ski boats by then and we tore into to them to try to make them go fast. My great thanks to Jack McClure for teaching us so much and likely keeping us from killing ourselves.
Jeff Bennett was my "crew chief" (more like best friend) for years and then we both ended up at Liberty Boats/Competition Marine in the late '70's after I closed my shop and got my degree in Philosophy. We ran Liberty's race program and also did the pump, hardware and bottom on other boats like Harold Bruce's boat and Norm Grime's boat "Dash for Cash"--first UBGJ to go over 125 mph.
A couple of stories--During easter week one year, Jeff Bennett had the "honor" of skiing naked down the Parker strip while I drove the Raspberry full of girls. On another occasion, The Raspberry, pulling Mike Basso won the the Needles inner tube race where about 12 idiots pulled a guy on an inner tube as fast as you could go to the train bridge and back. After it returned to duty as a ski boat, the Raspberry had a 454 Chev in it made up of retired race parts. Once, we took the Raspberry to the NJBA drags, along with the bubbledeck Rogers, so we could ski after the races. On a whim we entered the Raspberry in the Ski Jet II class and won the class, with the seats and everything installed. We were protested and had to tear down the engine. Jack McClure measured the engine and declared it legal--way legal. So we had plenty of beer money for the next day.
Re "old school loaders," we must have made a couple of hundred scoops over the years we raced. Some of the designs look very much like what you have today and some you have never seen, with blow in doors, twisted vanes, vanes longer on one side, etc. We also devised the "anti- suction" plate to reduce drag near the shoe. We used to dye the shoe and read the cavitation burn between heats. We used to cut the outboard fin down on the jet intake to help scoop water into the intake when turning left. Finally, the bottom mod that turned the Eliminator tunnel boats into truly fast boats was devised late one after noon while Jeff and I were floating in the water at Bluewater, drinking beer and looking at the bottom of my Eliminator on the trailer trying to figure out how to stop the hi speed cavitation problem.
I left Liberty to go to law school and that ended racing for me. Jeff, Jack, Norm and others continued on. Steve King had left racing by then as well. Jeff got his degree in engineering and was with General Dynamics, and may still be. We all stayed in touch through Jack McClure and Norm Grimes.
Wow this brings back some memories of wild times!

[old rigger]

Nah, Steve is not a fireman, never was. I still see Steve a few times a year....
Could have sworn he was a fireman or a paramedic. Oh well. :)
Just got off the phone with Roger, the guy I was thinking about was Mark, another rigger from back in the day. Damn...I thought for sure that was King. lol.

[SpiritCJ712]

Sorry about the double post above---not sure how that happened.
Re Harold Bruce: The story is basically true. We met Harold and family at Bluewater one year. He had a green metal flake Rogers and Roger Wieman had told him to talk to us if he made it to the races. I still had my own boat shop then. We probably carried about a half dozen scoops with us by then, to allow us to chg to meet water conditions, etc. Plus we ran one type of scoop for drags and chg'd to another for circle racing. Some one had told Harold that scoops didn't make any difference and he would not pick up any speed. Oh yeah? We couldn't resist that challenge and we let Harold use one I was not using. Harold won and worked together after that for some time. So it is true except for the "broke and had to leave part."
The whole intake area became quite proprietary. We used to have intake covers to hide the bottom. We would even install decoy scoops or no scoop, until shortly before we were ready to race. On occasion, one of my friends, Craig Peterson, would sleep under the boat to keep prying eyes away from the bottom of the boat.
There are a thousand more stories like these.

[cyclone]

Sorry about the double post above---not sure how that happened.
Re Harold Bruce: The story is basically true. We met Harold and family at Bluewater one year. He had a green metal flake Rogers and Roger Wieman had told him to talk to us if he made it to the races. I still had my own boat shop then. We probably carried about a half dozen scoops with us by then, to allow us to chg to meet water conditions, etc. Plus we ran one type of scoop for drags and chg'd to another for circle racing. Some one had told Harold that scoops didn't make any difference and he would not pick up any speed. Oh yeah? We couldn't resist that challenge and we let Harold use one I was not using. Harold won and worked together after that for some time. So it is true except for the "broke and had to leave part."
The whole intake area became quite proprietary. We used to have intake covers to hide the bottom. We would even install decoy scoops or no scoop, until shortly before we were ready to race. On occasion, one of my friends, Craig Peterson, would sleep under the boat to keep prying eyes away from the bottom of the boat.
There are a thousand more stories like these.
I'm lovin your stories. Keep 'em coming..

[cyclone]

Bennett water skiing naked...lol i'm laughin my ass off.

[SpiritCJ712]

The night before I won my first race with the bubbledeck Rogers, Jack McClure got me so drunk such that I could hardly stand the next day. The crew poured me into the boat and somehow off we went to race in the Needles Marathon--90 minutes up and down the Colorado River. Jeff Bennett was standing on the shore holding a chalk board so I could see my + or - lead or trail on each lap. The truth is, I could hardly see Jeff, or anything else, at all. Jack had mechanical problems and I got by Jack, Jeff Paine and Phil Trichler about half way through. On the final lap I swung wide by the shore and I remember Jeff standing out waste deep in the River with the chalk board which just said "$$$$$." The tradition then was to through a driver who had just won his first race into the river--no easy task. Jack and I got drunk again that night as well.
I also remember drinking beer for hours out of the championship cup with Jack (and about 50 others) when Jack won the marathon at Bluewater. I also believe it was Jack who fished me out of the water in the rescue boat at Puddingstone (aka Puddinghole) after the worst of my 4 crashes. I flipped the Bubbledeck end over end on the back straight. I got hurt pretty good that day. That was the day Jeff Paine was badly injured in a crash as well. So it seems Jack has always been there- through the good and the bad.
And then of course there was the Bill Scotten era and our adventures. But that is another chapter.
I would love to race again, but my wife would kill me!

[Goad]

Craig,
Man, I love these stories. They are great. I cant wait to see pictures of this boat from back when it was in its prime....
Rod posted that he emailed you about the scoop (loader) that was on the boat before I bought it from him:
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?topic=393
Anyways, keep those stories coming and I hope I can do your boat justice on this restore project.
-Brad

[MikeF]

SpiritCJ712..............Please check your emails! :D

[SpiritCJ712]

Brad:
I would love to see the boat as you move along. I am sure I can find some pictures of it. I found several of my Hondo, other Rogers and Eliminator at the office today, including some Liberty photos and pictures of Norm Grimes' boat, plus several old magazines from the 70's. But, I have to look at home and call my folks for pictures of the Raspberry. BTW the "Jeff, Dorothye and Karyn Millet" noted on the deck are my father, mother and sister. If I can find it, I will have one rather special picture for you too.
The boat was always named "Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry" from the start--after the character from the Kool Aid-like punch. But the boat was not capped originally (silver metalflake trim) and there wasn't enough room for the whole name. So it became Wild Raspberry for a time. Awhile later, we had the boat capped and the capped area painted bright white by Ken Meyers at B&K and, with the metal strip gone, the full proper name then returned.
Another Story: In the 70's, circle racing was the thing. The Raspberry was really fast, but we weren't sure if it would do well in circle races given the long lifting strakes and large bow. But, Steve was doing well in the MJ class in his newer stlye Rogers.
We used to take co-riders back then and in my first circle race at Castaic I had my hi-school chum Craig Peterson in the boat. We had a good start and true to form, the Raspberry left the other boats well behind. We got to the first turn after the long first straight ahead of the pack and started the turn. The Raspberry dropped the nose, hooked and spun 360--twice. On the first turn, my co rider went out. Having a death grip on the steering wheel, it took me a little longer, and I went out on the second turn. Peterson surfaced yelling "my watch is gone" and then "my wallet is gone too." He also lost his shoes, but we found one about a year later in the bow of the boat. We didn't know any better, we just got into the boat street dress and all and raced. That was my first time in the water in a race. I was really sore for several days.
We then built the bubbledeck Excalibur and did well. Peterson continued to co ride with me for many races until our second time in the water in a race....we rolled the the boat at Lake Casitas in a pretty spectacular high speed crash. The boat sunk with just the bow sticking straight up. I surfaced after the crash some distance from the boat, but I could not find Peterson. I was a little worried. Peterson swam to the surface to find himself still inside the boat, with his head inside the floating nose. I could hear him, but I couldn't find him. He finally pushed himself down into the water and swam out of the boat--pretty incredible considering he was wearing a Simpson life jacket. That crash hurt worse than no. 1 and I was laid up a little longer. But nothing at all like Crash No. 3 at Puddingstone.
I never had another co-rider after the Casitas crash. Wonder why? We converted the boat to a single center seat after that.
Thanks for letting me tell you all about this stuff. Best to you all and feel free to write with any questions, etc.

[cyclone]

you have some huge gonads running a Cyclone that fast. My folks had a '71 Cyclone that i later inherited and at 70 mph it was a sketchy ride to shut down. turned on a dime though. They folks have a Super Cyclone now. I sure do love those boats. keep the stories coming..i'm forwarding them to the folks.
You know what's funny is i've spent many lunches with Jack and he rarely talks about his racing days. He does like to tell stories about hippies camping out naked at the river though. lol:D

[SpiritCJ712]

Well, we did spend a lot of effort burning brain cells back then. And Jack had several years head start on me.
Did he at least mention the name of his Southwind race boat back then? If not, see re line above.

[FuelInMyVeins82]

LOL thats awesome. Great stories!!! I'm sure you've seen but there's a race this weekend if you have the time you should come check it out.

[Goad]

Craig,
I want to thank you for sharing these stories with me and everyone here. They are priceless.
I have gotten much more out of this thread then I ever even expected. This boat is going to be a blast.
Thank you again and keep 'em comin'!
-Brad

[Heatseeker]

As noted above, these stories are absolutely priceless!
Someone should save all these stories and write a book someday... :wink:

[roostwear]

This is like finding the holy grail of boats.... buying an old boat, finding some names under the crappy paint, and the original owner popping up. The same thing happened on my roadster. Hopefully, you get all the old pics, stories, resto pics you can and assemble an album. Damn near as much work as restoring it, but a documented history adds another dimension that most boats don't have. Congratulations!

[Wizard612]

Just thought I would join in the fun!!! Craig and I lived about a half a block from each other and went to High School together but I was a year in front of him. One of my best friends was the previously mentioned Craig Peterson. One day the two Craigs and Jeff came by wanting to borrow my tools. I told them I had to go with them. Thus started a 35 yr friendship with Craig and I became the fourth member of the team. Don't get too excited now but I was the unofficial photographer of the team and I have probably a thousand photos of race boats in the 70's. Last night I waded through some of them and picked out a handful. ( including Peterson sleeping on the Rasberry's seat cushions in the dirt at bluewater ) I have numerous shots though a bit far off of the rasberry racing. Craig is much too modest about his accomplishments, so that will allow me to brag for him. No one realizes that our team did many firsts. First grates (along with Steve), first bottom blueprinting, first jet hondo circle boat I think, and the first guys to circle race a jet tunnel. We did that with two boats, mine in ski Jet II and Craig's in Comp Jet.[EMAIL="tnusbickel@rap-architects.com"]

[Wizard612]

Just thought I would join in the fun!!! Craig and I lived about a half a block from each other and went to High School together but I was a year in front of him. One of my best friends was the previously mentioned Craig Peterson. One day the two Craigs and Jeff came by wanting to borrow my tools. I told them I had to go with them. Thus started a 35 yr friendship with Craig and I became the fourth member of the team. Don't get too excited now but I was the unofficial photographer of the team and I have probably a thousand photos of race boats in the 70's. Last night I waded through some of them and picked out a handful. ( including Peterson sleeping on the Rasberry's seat cushions in the dirt at bluewater ) I have numerous shots though a bit far off of the rasberry racing. Craig is much too modest about his accomplishments, so that will allow me to brag for him. No one realizes that our team did many firsts. First grates (along with Steve), first bottom blueprinting, first jet hondo circle boat I think, and the first guys to circle race a jet tunnel. We did that with two boats, mine in ski Jet II and Craig's in Comp Jet.[EMAIL="tnusbickel@rap-architects.com"]

[Goad]

I am beyond speachless....I never expected to get this much out of this thread...and I havent even seen a picture yet.....now youre telling me you have a ton of them?! My head is gunna explode :) :) :) :) :)
I cant wait to see all of these pictures.

[Wizard612]

Most of my pix are slides and my slide scanner is down but I do have one print of Rasberry at speed scanned in. Contact me by E-mail and I'll reply it back. PS when & where are those races?

[Goad]

Most of my pix are slides and my slide scanner is down but I do have one print of Rasberry at speed scanned in. Contact me by E-mail and I'll reply it back. PS when & where are those races?
There are NJBA Drags this weekend at Ming.
An email has been sent!

[Goad]

Here she is....in all her glory....
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1077; image
...i dont know what to say....
:D :D :D :D
thank you guys very much!

[bp]

...i dont know what to say....
:D :D :D :D
thank you guys very much!
first thing you say is, "i got a lot of work to do"...:)

[Goad]

first thing you say is, "i got a lot of work to do"...:)
haha....you guys have no idea....I've got a Wriedt that im already working on and have to finish before I can even think about working on this one....
I have more then 'a lot of work' to do.
Its going to be a busy summer.

[roostwear]

So are you going to restore the paint/lettering to original, or modernize it?

[Goad]

So are you going to restore the paint/lettering to original, or modernize it?
I have gotten asked this question before several times and I think at this point, it is still way too soon to say.
When I first bought the boat and saw the original raspberry gelcoat, I wasnt a fan of it and had been kicking around new color scheme ideas, but never really settled on anything.
Now that I have opened this can of worms with this thread (in a good way) ....I feel willingly obligated to restore this thing to its original condition......and even now that I have seen an actual picture of the boat and can make out that there is a color scheme (the white stripe)....I originally thought it was a single color boat, but had suspicion something layed uder that ugly black paint someone slopped on...
I will need Craig and crew help to do this though. I will need as many detailed pictures, stories, descriptions, etc as I can they can come up with.
....so in short.....it is undecided, but at this point, I am leaning heavily towards bringing it back to its original condition so it will retain its historical value and will be a boat to show that has a good depth of history and fun stories to go along with it.
It would just be another boat on the lake if I did anything else with it. :D I'm excited to bring this boat back to its original condition to a T.

[Goad]

I just got another email from Tom along with a really cool picture:
Brad
The name of the original colors were "Wild Rasberry" MetalFlake with "Silver" MetalFlake cap strip with the old aluminum trim @ the seam. Latter changed to a painted white cap when the seam was filled after the boat was "retired" from active racing. Craig's mom might have some shot of the boat name and numbers. My mom might have an earlier shot of the boat on the trailer when it came to visit my house for some mechanical work with the silver trim. Craig's first race engine for Rasberry was built by Paul Phaff all subiquent engines were done by Craig and the team using Engine Dynamics for the machining. I'm also attaching a shot I have of the Roger's Bubble deck "Excaliber" with the team behind. L to R Tom Nusbickel, Craig Millet, Craig Peterson and Jeff Bennett. Taken one cold morning at Bluewater NJBA Nats. 11/73
Tom
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26359&stc=1&d=1173823831

[Wizard612]

Brad thanks for posting the excalibur shot. Ididn't even bother to look closely at the background. That's the Rootin Tootin Rasberry in the background! You can clearly see the silver leaf lettering on the gunnel and a bit off the rasberry cartoon near the stern. If anyone out there has seen Excalibur let me know maybe we can restore the entire team history!!!

[Goad]

If anyone out there has seen Excalibur let me know maybe we can restore the entire team history!!!
Thats a long shot, but would be REALLY cool. :jawdrop:

[SpiritCJ712]

When you see the picture I have for you, you may not have any choice but to restore it!
The picture I have is a little too big to email.
BTW, you want one of our original helmets?
You may note the "712R" on the Raspberry in the picture, with the "R" in tape. That was taken after we had built Excalibur and Raspberry had again become a ski boat. It still had the 712 number on it, but we had to add something to it since Excalibur was at the same race and it too was 712. (As Tom noted, both can been seen in the picture of Excalibur.) So, rather than the usual "X", we added "R" for "retired." That was the race where Peterson drove Raspberry and won Ski Jet II leading to the protest.
As you can tell from our hair, our inspiration there too came from McClure.

[Wizard612]

Some details on the graphics. If you look closely you can see small white stripe next to the cap strip. there is 1/4" rasberry between. It follows the gel coat underneath so as you sand it down you should be able to tell where the silver/white started and the rasberry took off. the stripe was probably 1/2" but hell that was a long time ago. Craig could give you better engine details but I think it had twin 750 double pumpers when in comp jet trim. Excalibur had 1150's.

[Goad]

When you see the picture I have for you, you may not have any choice but to restore it!
The picture I have is a little too big to email.
BTW, you want one of our original helmets?
I would be honored to get that helmet from you.
Go ahead an try emailing that picture, I dont think I can wait for it any other way ;) Its worth a shot.
....so when are you guys gunna swing by? :D

[Wizard612]

I know for a fact that e-mail won't work for Craig let's just leave it at that. I e-mailed Craig about both of us meeting you and showing you some stuff. Looking forward to it. I think I still have a scoop from my Eliminator Tunnel. I'll try to dig it up.

[Wizard612]

Another factlett... That Helmet... We had a real sponsor back then, Premier Helmets. Had some of the first ones that tied down to your jacket so you wouldn't snap your neck. Still dangerous as hell.

[Goad]

ahh, i guess its worth waitin for then!
Just for fun....
http://theimaginaryworld.com/pac34.jpg

[Wizard612]

How in god's green earth did you find that? I figured the FDA banned it years ago. That's the same bag as given the painter when the name was put on the boat. Well you have the letter style and cartoon. The rest will be easy!

[Goad]

I just googled 'rootin tootin raspberry' and found this site....
http://theimaginaryworld.com/ffpac.html
they have pictures of all the flavors :)

[SpiritCJ712]

Send it by email??? Hell, I am not sure it will fit in my car, but I know it won't fit in an email.
Story: We used to caravan to races and everyone had a CB radio. One's handle was your boat name. So we would have Hi Jacked, Ballin' Jack, Honker, American Eagle, Wild Injun, Strictly Business, Underdog, Makin' Bacon, Going Places, Devil Don, Bad Moon Horizon, etc. with the hammer down in a line to Lake Ming or wherever.
You saw the long hair in the picture? Well, we went across country a few times to places like Texas for the Austin Aqua Festival. Texans are some of the nicest people in the world. We would bring Coors to trade for anything we needed--they could not get Coors east of the Rockies. Best currency around. A six pack of Coors could create instant friendship. They treated us great. BUT, once (only once) we also went to Ogden, Utah to race at Willard's Bay. Now, the natives of Utah thought we had landed from the planet Mars. (BTW, if the planet Earth ever needs a proctologist, he will begun his work at Willard's Bay.) We went thru Las Vegas to get to Utah and this was the first time Jeff Bennett and I had ever seen Vegas....but that is another story.
Brad, I actually have to keep the world safe for corporate America and practice law for a few days, so I have to go to Denver on TH and F. Alas, my creditors insist I continue working. I can connect up with you this weekend or the first of next week. Or, if you have time to swing by my office in Irvine tomorrow Wed. (at Jamboree and Main) I will bring my gift for you to work. I have a lunch meeting at noon and have to leave the office by 3:30. But any other time is fine. Let me know your preference.

[SpiritCJ712]

Liberty Mike:
Do you have any Liberty tee shirts? I might still have a couple. I may also have Competiton Marine polo shirts.
If I do, they are yours, if you want want them.

[MikeF]

I want all of them! :D
I'd be happy to horse trade if that'll make it more friendly too. ;)

[MikeF]

Jack let me scan some of his slides awhile ago. This is the only one that I could find w/ you boat in it. From 1973.:D
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/516/12-73_3_712.jpg

[Goad]

Brad, I actually have to keep the world safe for corporate America and practice law for a few days, so I have to go to Denver on TH and F. Alas, my creditors insist I continue working. I can connect up with you this weekend or the first of next week. Or, if you have time to swing by my office in Irvine tomorrow Wed. (at Jamboree and Main) I will bring my gift for you to work. I have a lunch meeting at noon and have to leave the office by 3:30. But any other time is fine. Let me know your preference.
I am off work tomorrow and would love to swing by. I lack patience.
I will PM you and email you my contact info so we can set something up.
....the anticipation overwhelms me....
-Brad

[Goad]

your PMs are disabled, but I emailed you at your gibdun email addy.
looking forward to tomorrow!
-Brad

[mirrorimage]

this has been probably the most enjoyable thread .........EVER ON this forum...... adventure , excitment ... the works ..... its like a novel for jet boaters ..... one word ..............AWSOME.................. id like to red about more stories ...for sure ..:sqeyes:

[Goad]

I got a chance to meet Craig and Tom today. They had many pictures and stories to share.
Craig even gave me a painting of the boat!
Heres a picture of Craig, myself and the painting:
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1092; image
These guys were really nice and it seemed like the amount of stories are endless.
Thanks again Craig for supplying all this stories and info! It's priceless

[old rigger]

Now how fockin cool is that? Very nice.
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1092; image

[68_ROGERS]

SWEET!! You have to be stoked on that.

[Goad]

...im still on cloud 9.....
:D :D :D :D :D :D

[Schiada Time]

I wish my boat had that kind of history. Too bitchen.:)

[beerjet]

Did you ever think that the empty hull you brought home would have this much history attached . You my friend have just hit jetboat lotto . I think .
Way to fockin cool . To top it off , how cool is it that craig is coughing up all this info . You lucky bastard ! Enjoy !
-beerjet-

[jbsurfin]

This is a funny thread and brings back a lot of great memories. I would like to add a few details for these stories and add a new one.
First, it is true that I did ski naked from the Parker dam do Echo, but Craig left out the reason why. The girls (4 or 5) in the boat wanted me to ski naked and I said that I would only if they would run around topless at Echo where we were staying. It was the best deal I ever made! The ski ride got off too a bad start though when after a quarter mile or so, Dan Durham and his entire family were cruising up river right next to us. It was like running into our parents and very embarrassing! I pulled out and sprayed them though and we all had a great laugh.
The Harold Bruce scoop loan story was also funny. We had burned a valve in Excalibur and were on our way to Parker with the head to get a new valve installed and Harold (then a rookie) asked for some help so we loaned him a scoop and left for Parker. When we returned 5 hours later half the beach came up to us and were yelling at us, calling us backstabbers and we couldn’t understand why. As it turns out Harold set a new speed record and the rest of the class was pissed at us for not loaning them the scoop first. Who knew that Harold would do so well? That started a friendship with Harold that continues to this day.
Craig’s memory must have been severely impacted by all the crashes because I was the one in Excalibur when we crashed at Lake Casitas, not Craig Peterson. As it turned out, the rudder bent about 45 degree when we made the hard sweeping turn on the long back straight away. Had it broken off we would have been fine. We were running close to 90 at the time. Anyway, the boat got into a violent right left oscillation which resulted in the boat doing a barrel roll. Craig exited like a baseball being hit by a bat. I flew out, hit the water and bounced back into the boat completely under the deck. It was scary and difficult getting out as the boat was sinking in 200 feet of water depth. It is amazing how a single event can change your life, but that one did. As a result of that, I got into hull design and eventually got my Aerospace engineering degree and am still working in that industry today on the Space Shuttle program in Aerodynamics. The funny part of the story was that the doctor who stitched up my banged up leg (I still have the scar) was so pissed at me because he had to cut his golf game short to repair my leg; he made sure I felt every stitch he put in.
There was a funny and scary story about Craig Peterson I remember. We often stayed in Craig’s (Millet) Dad’s RV when we raced at Bluewater. What is now a casino was then a highway that was right next to where we parked. One night before an NJBA race, we all got so wasted but Craig Peterson surpassed us all and disappeared. When he was gone for some time, we got worried and ended up finding him passed out on the center line of the highway with the pit board used as a blanket. All this while 18 wheelers were whizzing by in both directions. Craig got really lucky that night!
The weekend Craig Peterson drove the Raspberry (the photo in this thread) to a victory in Ski jet; I also drove it in Mod jet and got runner up. It was my only race driving experience. I did however beat Steve (Wonder Boy) King in the semis. That was a highlight for me and the entire Raspberry team. That was one of the biggest upsets of that year. The Raspberry was the all time sleeper and was a very fast boat. We beat a ton of flatbottoms and hydros on that stretch of river. It was always so funny to see how upset the flatbottom guys would get when we kicked their asses!
Finally, the time Craig Millet and I were passing through Las Vegas for a few hours on our way to Utah. Craig is right; those people in Utah were weird! Anyway, we were followed around in Las Vegas the entire time by two hotties that kept asking us if we wanted to party. We were really green at that time, but we eventually figured out that the girls in the El Dorado were actually hookers looking for some business. We of course didn’t have enough money to get into the Cadillac.
We had some of the most fun times of our lives during the Raspberry and Excalibur days. It is hard to believe that it was so long ago!
Jeff Bennett

[Wizard612]

Jeff great of you to join us in this thread. Long time... Got a Pix of Peterson using the Rasberry cushions and the pit board for a blanket. Remember those trips well. Until we all start talking together and then realize that we all have a variation on the same story. Did you co-ride with Peterson for a ski-jet or Modified race at bluewater? I have this great Pix of the boat pulling away from the rest of the field with the co-rider's fist raised in the air in victory. Craig said he never drove the boat in a race with only one carb.

[abraman1326]

Hey, you guy's. Keep this thread going. These stories are priceless. Some very interesting and funny stuff here. This is the best thread I've ever read on Hot Boat. Thanks for sharing...
BRA

[Wizard612]

OK another story. Must have been an APBA event @ Long Beach Marine Stadium. I think we were just comming out with our two boat Eliminator tunnel team or we might have still been running the Hondo. Millet was talking to the owner of Sleekcraft ( who's name will remain unknown to those who don't already know). Sleekcraft had just come out with a great looking single seat KJ based on their aristocrat. (Rodger Finney driver) It was fast for a Japcoozey. Sleekcraft's "line" was that this wonderfull new deck design gave the new boat all kinds of speed. None of us believed it. Millet though with his experience with debate and knowledge of some things aerodynamic laid into him with a diatribe of comments about how the deck made no difference due to " renolds numbers, area rule, coeficient of drag" Hell he maight have even througn in a little clark Y airfoil information. The Sleekcraft guy came back with something like "oh yea???" and walk off in a funk. I think that was the beginning of the end for Sleekcraft because they though they were in competition with a bunch of rocket scientists. Little did he know... Our crew chief Jeff Bennett became a rocket scientist... pretty cool

[Wizard612]

OK another story. Must have been an APBA event @ Long Beach Marine Stadium. I think we were just comming out with our two boat Eliminator tunnel team or we might have still been running the Hondo. Millet was talking to the owner of Sleekcraft ( who's name will remain unknown to those who don't already know). Sleekcraft had just come out with a great looking single seat KJ based on their aristocrat. (Rodger Finney driver) It was fast for a Japcoozey. Sleekcraft's "line" was that this wonderfull new deck design gave the new boat all kinds of speed. None of us believed it. Millet though with his experience with debate and knowledge of some things aerodynamic laid into him with a diatribe of comments about how the deck made no difference due to " renolds numbers, area rule, coeficient of drag" Hell he maight have even througn in a little clark Y airfoil information. The Sleekcraft guy came back with something like "oh yea???" and walk off in a funk. I think that was the beginning of the end for Sleekcraft because they though they were in competition with a bunch of rocket scientists. Little did he know... Our crew chief Jeff Bennett became a rocket scientist... pretty cool

[Wizard612]

sorry don't know why the double post must be something to do with scewing with boomers

[SpiritCJ712]

I thought my memory was ok, but Jeff's is better! Tom told me yesterday that Jeff, not Peterson, was in the boat when we crashed at Casitas and at first I disagreed. But it started me thinking. And he was obviously right! Jeff has remembered a lot of other details that I had forgotten too. I forgot about Jeff's leg and that we weren't even there when Harold Bruce lit it up. Maybe I did get my bell rung more than I thought.
Remember how we tied Peterson to the trailer one night to keep him from doing his usual of drinking and wandering off.
Remember sleeping 4 and 5 to a room at the El Rancho motel in Bakersfield and something equally as "nice" in Parker, Arizona?
Or how about how we took the engine out of the Raspberry the first time: In my driveway, with a block and tackle from Tom and the frame of my then 7 year old sister's swing set. BTW, they don't make swing sets like they used to.
If we keep this up, we might have to get into the Bill Scotten stories.

[Goad]

More pictures....
I will let craig share the story of this one :D
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1103; image
and a closeup of the raspberry logo:
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1105; image

[Wizard612]

Ah Bakersfield... I remember the Rancho very well. I remember going I think to Ming once and we stayed at the rancho. Like Craig said 4-5 in the room. We went to the airport to get some gas towing the boat behind the El Comino. The gas jockey realy got into the boat and asked us if we wanted some Military Av-gas. The airport was a CANG (Cal. Air National Guard) facility and at that time they still had some piston planes. This stuff was 120 oct. and evaporated like acetone. we said sure and left with every container we had filled with the stuff. I think we ended up having to rejet the motor and the damn thing ran so cool we never got a good plug reading... but I think we won...

[Wizard612]

Craig I think you did have your bell rung a bit... The Peterson tied to the trailer was a great bit but I think it was a bit of a yarn we propagated on the writer for the Hot Boat artical "Sleeping Bag Jet Boat Kid" that tried to explain some of our actions to the general public. As I recall we didn't realy need to tie Peterson down. By midnight he was basically already there. The only reason any of us didn't like sleeping outside was because the girls were always inside... and you owned the motorhome so you were inside. That left the others to figure it out. With Peterson passed out that just made the decision that much easier.

[Goad]

more pictures:
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1107; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1109; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1111; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1113; image

[Wizard612]

One more before I have to close. We're all driving home from Bluewater in caravan. Bennett and his date in front of me in his El Comino, I'm towing my Tunnel with my Ranchero an about a half mile back is Craig his girl and The Liberty guys. I'm zoned into the white line and Jeff in front of me when I notice that Jeff's car swayed a bit. That woke me up. Then as I'm looking at Jeff's car it takes a short right a quick left then a sudden right of into the desert. I slam on the brakes bail out of the car and sprint into the desert through the dust figuring I will need my boy scout first aid training. Just about then Jeff like an apperition appears out of the dust and said, " gee guess I fell asleep". After our hearts slowed down, we reversed course and went to a rat hole hotel where we all crashed on the floor ( except for jeff, he needed the bed)

[MikeF]

Classic stories! Happy thanks! :D

[Wizard612]

You'll notice no ride plate and shoe on the Rasberry. The snoot and up-down nozzel was from Jack. The action shots you can also see a fairly small little roostertail. All the more thrust heading in the right direction. That and the early Rodgers bottom made this puppy uber fast. Guys at the river with 300 yard roosters were just letting us racers know they were realy just dead ducks. Roosters had nothin to do with it. And how do you like that high tech motor? Earlier I said that Phaff did the first race engine for Rasberry. Craig told me, no the one and only Phaff engine went into Excalibur, the bubbledeck. We saw not much if any improvement so why use up the money when we could build our own. From then on Crag built the motors under the name of his shop, Nova Performance. But Nova stories will have to come later...

[MikeF]

That would explain this photo.......I never knew who Nova Performance was until now. :cool:
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/516/Mike_F.jpg

[Wizard612]

Mike
The liberty you posted looks like one of the earlier boats with that graphic design. Also with two riding by that point in time might have been an NJBA outing maybe even a powderpuff race. If so that's prabably Steve Faller's wife at the wheel. Or...I could be full of dead brain cells.

[Mike D..]

I also drove it in Mod jet and got runner up. It was my only race driving experience. I did however beat Steve (Wonder Boy) King in the semis. That was a highlight for me and the entire Raspberry team. That was one of the biggest upsets of that year. The Raspberry was the all time sleeper and was a very fast boat. We beat a ton of flatbottoms and hydros on that stretch of river. It was always so funny to see how upset the flatbottom guys would get when we kicked their asses!
So why did you only drive the one time, When did the team go there seperate ways.

[MikeF]

I can kinda see that as their posture is pretty good.;)
It looks like it is this boat.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/153CJ891.jpg

[Wizard612]

Mike D,
We all had our own reasons for hanging it up. Jeff didn't drive I guess due to his real interest in what was going on under the boat and the fact that the Rasberry was not a boat you just handed out to the crew every weekend for fun, after all it was the Millet family ski boat. Peterson stayed with the team right up to closing Nova's doors then went off to USC to start his professional life in Advertizing. Jeff as he said got his degree in aerospace. Since I was the oldest I had to crew part time while going to ASU for my Architecture degree. After graduation I built my own boat and Craig and I started a two boat team with the Eliminator tunnels. Craig and Jeff eventually moved over to Liberty where Jeff headed the boats and craig did the Compitition Marine side. I had my boat right up to the time I decided to settle down, seen too much heartake on the shore from wives and girlfriends to let my future wife go through it. Craig finaly said it was time to get serious and sold everything, went to school and became a lawyer (damn good one too), Jeff works on the Space Shuttle and Im an Architect designing schools. All in all a pretty good result from a bunch of crazy kids comming out of high school doing things we hope our kids never do.

[Goad]

Heres 2 more....
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1119; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1121; image

[Goad]

That would explain this photo.......I never knew who Nova Performance was until now. :cool:
Here is another ad by Nova :D
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26602&stc=1&d=1174061369

[mirrorimage]

whats really cool is that even though the team split up ... you still managed to stay friends ... that doesnt happen all that often .... ..hell guys like you ..that dont have alot of money inspired alot of people to get involved in racing ...and still managed to keep it alive ... reading stories that you posted reminds me that even though times have changed the spirit of boat racing is still alive .... in my short time racing weve come up with some pretty good adventers ...and stories to tell.... i guess when it all boilsdown to it ...thats what its really about ... FUN..... keep thoes stories and pics coming ...:D

[Wizard612]

I know it's tough to remember these things but it's what makes us human, makes our lives worth remembering. Our Fathers had war stories and some of our friends talk about their time in Nam, but we had just as fullfilling experiences even if they didn't contribute to world history... it still became history, only of a different type. As this new generation of Jet boaters discover what we did (and I'm greatful for this opportunity) remember that your actions now become the stories for future generations. I only wish I could have heard my dad's stories while he was still with us. Enjoy this thread, I am

[Goad]

I know it's tough to remember these things but it's what makes us human, makes our lives worth remembering. Our Fathers had war stories and some of our friends talk about their time in Nam, but we had just as fullfilling experiences even if they didn't contribute to world history... it still became history, only of a different type. As this new generation of Jet boaters discover what we did (and I'm greatful for this opportunity) remember that your actions now become the stories for future generations. I only wish I could have heard my dad's stories while he was still with us. Enjoy this thread, I am
I too learned the hard way that its a good idea to grab hold of moments like this before they are gone. I had a grandfather who was on the front line of battle in WWII. I got some info out of him a few months before he passed, but it wasnt much.
Anyways, it was nice meeting you, Mike F, on saturday.....I forgot to mention that Craig was going to give me that liberty shirt so I could give it to you at the races, but I wasnt sure if I was going to go at that time, and I wasnt sure if you had mentioned if you were going or not. Plus I think it would be cooler if Craig gave it to you himself :)

[bp]

The Harold Bruce scoop loan story was also funny. We had burned a valve in Excalibur and were on our way to Parker with the head to get a new valve installed and Harold (then a rookie) asked for some help so we loaned him a scoop and left for Parker. When we returned 5 hours later half the beach came up to us and were yelling at us, calling us backstabbers and we couldn’t understand why. As it turns out Harold set a new speed record and the rest of the class was pissed at us for not loaning them the scoop first. Who knew that Harold would do so well? That started a friendship with Harold that continues to this day.
i mentioned this to harold while he was teching me this weekend. it really got a chuckle out of him.. he said that millett came over to him with this "thing" wrapped in a towel, and just said "don't tell -anybody- where you got this"... he said he picked up, like 8 mph with what was basically a stock ls7, and they were all screamin at him. funny stuff...

[Wizard612]

OK GOAD what happened this weekend are you ready to put that "wrong-wright" on mothballs and get a fast boat on the water with the Rasberry or what. Give us all the skinny on the weekend results

[Wizard612]

BP- Where is Mr. Bruce now, we only raced head to head only a few times but they were most memerable. Haven't talked to him since an APBA race in San Diego 1978-9.

[Goad]

OK GOAD what happened this weekend are you ready to put that "wrong-wright" on mothballs and get a fast boat on the water with the Rasberry or what. Give us all the skinny on the weekend results
haha.....the 'wrong' is on its back with its belly up in the air getting sanded...I wasnt out there racing this weekend, just spectating and helping out a friend launching his boat.
Hopefully the gelcoat will get sprayed in the next few weeks on the wriedt and we can get it put back together within the next couple of months so I can get the Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry project underway!
http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/pac16.jpg

[mirrorimage]

what happend to the cool stories ?????? :D

[Goad]

what happend to the cool stories ?????? :D
oh, im sure once I start working on the boat, more stories will come out as I find weird qweky things and start asking questions.
heres one.......why the hell is there a notch cut out of one of the stringers? its like a 1" wide by 1" deep notch cut into the striger at an angle just about where the rear motor mounts would sit. its cut right into the bare wood and not even sealed up
almost looks like someone cut it to make room for a cable. :confused:
maybe it happened durring its years while it was lost and confused when someone decided to paint it flat black. :mad:

[pancho]

hey you guys,u have to keep this going,not a good week until i read this,faith in humanity is restored,i own a boat ive been around for twenty years and never realised all the camp fire storys would someday mean so much,the guy i bought it from owned it from 1967 to 2006 and we hung out alot,the boat was always a far off dream for me so the day he said he would sell it to me i had to go straight to pure oxygen,twenty years of no one else will ever own this boat,he was quoted many times it would be his coffin.the boat spent its life in eastern washington so it was pretty shocking for the locals back in 67 to see and hear it on the river,btw its a 63 stevens and back then there was nothing else like it for years to come,not like the socal scene.please keep the storys coming,the previous owner and his friends dont realise how much their back in the day storys mean to rest of us,again i want thank you for making my week!

[396_WAYS_TO_SPIT]

I love the dumplines that are taped to the transom:D Now that is some old schoot schit;)

[Goad]

a few friends and myself are going to wire up the trailer tomorrow (and have a few cold ones while we're at it) so I can get the trailer down to the DMV to get it registered......heres a few more detailed pictures I took of it...as you can see, I have my work cut out for me....
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1292; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1294; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1296; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1298; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1300; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1302; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1304; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1306; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1308; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1310; image

[Goad]

http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1312; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1314; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1316; image
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=1318; image

[Wizard612]

Goad,
Have no Idea why the notch in the stinger doesn't sound like something we did. Just to make sure ask Craig. I't funny looking at your pix. Anyone that knows boats can see the quality cap that was done to your boat but that abortion of a paint job put over it puts in to question the viability of the human race.
One of my jobs on the race team was being in charge of the "Fine Shine" meaning after each heat to wipe everything down and keep it looking good. This was not a trivial thing because with a polishing cloth and paper towels at the ready we also walked around the boat with some of the standard size wrenches needed to check things like dach 8 braided hose fittings, fuel lines, looking for bent or browken parts even using a flash light to check under deck or the bottom under the trailer etc. Just cleaning was not the idea. If the boat was clean and we did our job right, everything was also in good mechanical order. I don't remember any of our competition doing this kind of overview. It also made the "boat cleaner" feel more important.

[Wizard612]

Goad,
Is that notch at the top of the stinger or in the back bottom corner? Often the stingers were notched to allow for drainage to the center of the bilge for drainage.

[Goad]

Goad,
Is that notch at the top of the stinger or in the back bottom corner? Often the stingers were notched to allow for drainage to the center of the bilge for drainage.
Tom,
its across the top of the stringer....i will try to take a picture of it soon.
-Brad

[Goad]

heres a picture of the stringer....sorry about the fuzzy corners....my 'fisher price' camera has some serious shutter issues.
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=27256&stc=1&d=1174871874

[Wizard612]

Can't remember ever putting in a notch there. It looks like it might have been put in to get a battery cable from a battery in the right rear corner of the hull to the starter right rear corner of the motor. Again, ask Craig.

[Goad]

Can't remember ever putting in a notch there. It looks like it might have been put in to get a battery cable from a battery in the right rear corner of the hull to the starter right rear corner of the motor. Again, ask Craig.
Tom, I would put my money on that it was done well after the Millet family sold it.
The trailer has been rewired for lighting and I am headed to the DMV in the morning to get the numbers straightened out on it.
Does anyone know where the ID numbers on an early '70s A&M trailer would be stamped? or did they not stamp their trailers back then? It would make my trip to the DMV a little more pleasant. :)

[Wizard612]

My trailer was stamped on a frame rail near the hitch. I could have clocked the DMV monkey that took a hammer to my new trailer!!!
If it's not on the top of a rail look on an inside of the channel looking up. It should be visable without getting down on the ground. Those little idiots at the DMV didn't want to look too hard for a number so they always put it in a location that would screw up the best of paint jobs.

[Goad]

My trailer was stamped on a frame rail near the hitch. I could have clocked the DMV monkey that took a hammer to my new trailer!!!
If it's not on the top of a rail look on an inside of the channel looking up. It should be visable without getting down on the ground. Those little idiots at the DMV didn't want to look too hard for a number so they always put it in a location that would screw up the best of paint jobs.
I will take a look tonight when I get home....
I am not too concerned about them messin up the paint job :D since its getting a makeover anyways. The harness that was made for the railer is comepletely removeable so I wont have to wire it again when I do go to paint it.
Another question....while standing around the boat this weekend drinkin beers....we started wondering that the hole on the passanger side dash was....since there was only 1, we ruled out it was a 'oh shit' handle unless it was a "T" of some sort. After reviewing the older pictures you sent, it appears the interior wrapped around and covered part of the dash. was that connected to the seat? or was it a seperate piece? how much further did it wrap around on the passanger side? I can only see where it meets up with the gauges.

[Wizard612]

I just looked at the old pix of the trailer I sent you. The jack and castoring wheel weren't on the trailer originally. Look under the bolted bracket for a number. Use the old pix for reference. The original jack can probably be fixed so you can get rid of that bolt on piece.

[Goad]

I just looked at the old pix of the trailer I sent you. The jack and castoring wheel weren't on the trailer originally. Look under the bolted bracket for a number. Use the old pix for reference. The original jack can probably be fixed so you can get rid of that bolt on piece.
I was planning on repairing the original one. I am not a fan of the bolt on ones. I will also check under the bolt on one for the numbers. Thanks!

[Lightning]

What a great thread....this is amazing history and also what this website used to be all about. Congrats on the great find - boat and history to go with it.

[squirt'nmyload]

thread of the year :)

[Wizard612]

Look on the last pix on the third page of the thread. Rasberry had part of the dash padded on the pass. side. It wrapped arround from the side over to the guages. My guess that is where a through bolt (prob. a carrage bolt) went through the dash to attach it. No chicken handles were ever used on Rasberry but I think any of us that rode on that side of the boat with Craig driving always wanted one but were too "macho" to admit it.

[flat broke]

Anything new happening with the ol' Cyclone?
Chris

[Goad]

Anything new happening with the ol' Cyclone?
Chris
I am embarrassed to say no. I have many BIG plans for it, but I have another boat (http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?topic=11.0)I am currently working on. The Wriedt is being gelcoated soon and put back together. Once it is done, I will then begin on the ol' rogers.
Honestly, every time I pull the cover off of it and look at it, it just screams "fix me now!".....I feel bad that its been in its current condition for so long. Its going to get the royal treatment durring its resurrection.
I will keep a thread over here on ***boat with updates so you guys can follow along.

[mdunn01]

You know I have to say, this is the best thread I have ever read on Hot Boat forum which is priceless, too actually find the original owner after all these years, get all the stories and now all of the original friends are agian talking about the old days. Brad, you do have a piece of history which is my friend, priceless. May you paint the boat back to the original colors and do the boat justice and put her back just the way she was before.
Mike

[Goad]

Holy Crap.
The infamous high school kid that invented the loader grate! We heard about him from Jack McClure and Jeff Bennett about 7 years ago. From what I remember, Jack said before this kid came up with this loader, a piece of cloth's hanger across the intake was the hot ticket.....
"A couple of high school kids that showed up and kicked everyone's asses."
I've been wondering for all these years, thanks now I know, it was Steve King.
MikeC
:idea:
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=41113&stc=1&d=1192461841

[Ralph Brunt]

any updates on this thing;)

[Goad]

any updates on this thing;)
yes! :D

[Ralph Brunt]

yes! :D
your such a tease:D

[n8dawg]

What a great find. This is the stuff that should be laid out in ***boat mag. in a 10 page spread! Finally someone who has raced at Lake Casitas... Thats in my back yard!!! Sweet. I think for alot of us "young" guys who are doing this today feel the same way I do. Like I missed out on something great back in the day. We missed an exciting era of free living without alot of rules to ruin it!
Keep them stories coming!
Thanks Goad for digging into it! Your so stoked right now!:D

[TRG]

http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_1332.JPG
Did'nt Big Jimmy Dodd own this thing??? or was that a daytona??:confused: i have not seen his boat in a while!:devil:

[Goad]

Did'nt Big Jimmy Dodd own this thing??? or was that a daytona??:confused: i have not seen his boat in a while!:devil:
i bought it from a guy in el cajon (san diego) and he bought it from a guy in corona off ebay...and i believe it passed hands a couple of times before that in its current cosmetic condition.
Last know registration on it was '83 so I would assume that was the last time it saw water :confused:

[Goad]

Here is a teaser picture....more to come soon ;)
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=7308; image

[pw_Tony]

Circle Racer? :idea:

[Goad]

Circle Racer? :idea:
you know it. ;)

[n8dawg]

looks sweet with the black intake!

[Devilman]

Here is a teaser picture....more to come soon ;)
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=381.0;attach=7308; image
Damn dude, you've been busy..... :sqeyes: :D Boat is lookin good, always thought this was a cool story about you getting ahold of this boat.

[HEMETDRAGRACER]

Any of the original owners of the Raspberry remeber a 69 Weiman that was blue green metal flake with the name "Lil Mafia" on it??? figure its a long shot... but maybe, I noticed some one mention a similar metal flake boat awhile back in this post... Way cool story BTW... Love these old Weiman/rogers hulls!!! I just picked up another 69 Weiman today... :D

[MikeF]

Tick Tock Tick Tock..........

[Goad]

I sold the raspberry about a year ago shortly after i bought my liberty. Someone hit me up to buy it and i knew if i was going to sell it to anyone, they would be the best person.
He is somewhat of a rogers collector and knows all of the history on it and I know he will do it justice and give it the attention it needs.
I passed on all the pictures, stories, etc to him and he promised me if he ever decides to sell it, he would call me first.
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?topic=2709.0

[76 Bonneville]

It may be awhile before we get to the Raspberry, but it's safe and dry. I'm still debugging our 76 Rogers that we restored this past year. Looks like we'll probably get my uncles 73 Rogers Super Cyclone this spring. The way the economy is looking i'm just going to try to hang on to my stuff.

[thompy]

cool thread