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Press Release
October 10, 2009
Classic Raceboat Association (CRA) announced today they have added another regatta to their schedule for the 2010 season.
On February 6th and 7th, 2010 Crescent Lake in Crescent City, Florida will be the host site for the ‘Crescent Lake Thunderfest’! Approximately 60 vintage raceboats will take to the water off the City Dock starting at 10am both days to demonstrate racing techniques. Some boats will reach speeds of 140 m.p.h. on the 1 ¼ mile racecourse. Hydroplanes, Jersey Skiffs, flatbottoms and an array of former raceboats will be on hand for the regatta.
Classic Raceboat Association (CRA) was formed in January 2007. Our mission is to provide a means through which individuals sharing a passion in classic race boating can meet, share experiences and information, exchange ideas, and preserve racing history. In addition we aim to promote Classic Race Boat Shows and rendezvous for the benefit of the members, and in general, to promote sponsored activities designed to create an interest and educate the public-at-large about classic race boats
CRA events also includes Roar N’ Soar at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City on November 7th & 8th 2009 and the Tavares Station Spring Fling Regatta at Wooton Park, in Tavares, Florida March 19th – 21st 2010.
Additional information can be found at
www.classicraceboatassoc.com or by contacting Dick Whyte 508-343-7197 or Marty Ferry 352-978-0026.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you very much for all your support. It has been a long road in finding the right js. Growing up in the jersey shore point pleasant beach make my story a typical one. always wanted one, road in one, got the fever, have to get one. this being my third one, on and off the last 20 years I can tell you the fever doesn't go away even though I have had 160 mph hydro's in the gaps. I was just ready to give up in fact I been on drag boats . com and actually had on offer on a hydro when I clicked back on your web site. 86 bender I called Chris he e mailed me pictures 15 minutes later I purchased the boat. I still have not seen it in person however it is do to arrive Sunday. the good news is after I purchased it Chris being a stand up guy that he is turned down much higher offers since we already had a deal. integrity a great thing when your dealing 1500 mile away. thought I tell you my story and thank you again.
Best regards Jim Basilotto
The boat showed up at 1.30 today 11/22/08 and believe it or not it is much nicer condition than described. my neighbor thought it was brand new, even my wife was shocked, usually I buy projects I am going to send the seller Chris from the add on your web site something to show my appreciation thank again for all your help
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Does anyone know the whereabouts of a skiff I had back in 1979 named “ Obession” JS-7. I bought the boat from Bud Bender , it’s original number was JS 24.
The NJ registrations #’s NJ 1838DS. I raced in Ocean County with the Garvey Association of NJ. I sold the boat to Ralph Courtney of Tuckerton, NJ around 1981-1983. Any information would be appreciated. Thank You Bill Kidd
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I would like to personally thank you and the CRA crew for another great event in Tavares Florida. We have been to every CRA event so far (excluding Daytona Skiffs only) and will continue to support your group. I like the lets have fun with no red tape mentality. Along with the "Fun Team" aspect the venues have been top notch as has the hospitality.
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Ever wonder when talking about beautifully laid up, or great handling skiffs, who actually built the hull? Quite often the one credited is not the person with resin on his hands! IE; Glory Days is a 1991 Bender.
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S&S hulls are laid up by Cesare, Flyin High hulls, Roger Harris, etc. Send us what you know and we'll publish who the craftsman were.
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Have you ever noticed the critics (cry babies) of skiffs don't even own one! Than the next in line are those who use them once or twice a year! That goes on until the skiffers who use them all the time, you very seldom hear from them! Now, who are the real wannbees? Comical, but still pathetic. Buy a skiff and get a real life no matter how you play with it.
PS. Has bens included in the first group.
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Brix
& Lucy decided to eliminate the horsepower robbing cam and belt driven water
pump systems. A water puppy pump pushing 6 gpm from Defender for $124.00 and
some fittings satisfied them. While the boat is idling you turn the pump on
and the check valve closes and forces the water thru the engine. Once on
plane, shut the pump off and the water is forced thru the check valve and thru
the motor.
This is the system I've used successfully on my former boats, now Glory Days has the system. Questions?
Installed Water System
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WELCOME George Malaga new owner of Lickity Splitter. George is presently the commodore of the lake Hopatcong yacht club in North Jersey. Can't wait to get some updates on the skiff with smiles on George's face. Maybe George's influence will generate an event for the Jersey gang!
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Marty,
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June 20, 2007
Marty:
Here is a picture of a skiff I had from 1975 to 1977. Can you please thank Phil Jordan for the ride. It's cool when you do something you haven't done in a while, the feeling comes back. It was good meeting you guys.
If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of this boat, please contact me at:908-591-8759
Thank you
Roger Allen
Bud Benders interview with his local paper: interview HERE
6/13/2007
May 11, 2007
SKIFFS Inc. awarded ACBS Marque
Club status.
Claire & Marty Ferry started the process to become recognized many years ago
when Claire owned the 1938 wooden Mulford Skiff restored by Bob Chatterton.
S.K.I.F.F. (Special Class Intended For Fun) is a Florida based corporate club
catering to the Jersey Skiffs. It's members are participants and organizers of
Antique and Classic Boating Society, Vintage APBA events, and most recently
Classic Race Boat Association events locally and around the country. These are
fun shows with great people. We never fail to have a great time, burn a lot of
gas and are a crowd pleaser.
We are all excited about this new status and look forward to supporting and
promoting ACBS events in the future along with our own events.
Stay tuned. As we gain appreciation for what this means, we will let you
know.
Regards,
Paul Nowack Pres.
STP Insurance Program for your Classic Boat
(like a hydro that cannot get insurance)
Storage
Transportation
Parking or Paddock
For more information regarding this insurance package for your classic race boat
while not operating at our regattas, contact:
Ford Heacock at 800-677-5172
www.heacockclassic.com
or e-mail: fheacock@heacock.com.
You may also contact Duke Waltrip 863-206-8783
First I want to say that I had a great time in
Daytona. It was an amazing opportunity and it doesn't go unappreciated. I want
to give special thanks to Marty Ferry, Tom D'Eath and Paul Nowack. The CRBA club
members are an outstanding group of people. This was a first class event from
our "all access passes" to being privileged enough to run our skiffs at the
Daytona Speedway.
My brother Bob and Trevor were unfortunately involved in an accident as most of
you have heard. The infield care center doctors and nurses were out of control
awesome. They were there in a flash and took superior care of them. I know I can
speak for Trevor and Bob when we say "Thank you for the concern and phone calls"
When it comes right down to it we all share a common interest and your support
is appreciated.
I personally hope all of you reading this have the same opportunity I was given
to be a part of an event like this.
Kieth Brummer
Marty,
Just received Hot Boat magazine for January 2007. Looking at it for the first I
noticed a skiff in it. It was a great shot of Rebounder hoping out of the water.
Few pages later our boat was in a name contest "Double D's Trouble" pretty cool
little contest I entered 6 months ago and just came out with out letting me know
that we were in the magazine. well any way the point is that its even more
publicity for speedskiffs. You guys are doing a great job promoting us keep it
up. Its amazing especially this summer at Thunder how everyone is there to help
each other out and lend a hand. Happy New Year.
From,
The Dennis'
Dennis Johnson
12/06
On speedskiffs.com you read the web and boating events, isn't that refreshing?
I have been a fan of Vintage for some years
now.
I know this is not a Vintage site, but it's the only site where guys are
having fun with Vintage type boats.
Do you know?
I always enjoy the Skiffs at the Vintage events I've attended.
The rumored rule changes don't make sense.
There were 4 Skiff incidents this year.
Two in Vintage events, and two during APBA race events.
All four boats were powered by 283 or 305 cubic inch engines. There were no
incidents with 350 cu powered skiffs, which represent the majority.
Three out of four of them had fixed or T-handled controlled cavatation
plates.
What are they proposing for the "Gold Cup Boats", that have more power than
was ever imagined in their time?
Please keep up the good work with this site.
Skiff Wannabe,
C. Finley
(webmaster note) all "incident boats" were at least 30 years old and have been raced their entire life!
A History of Paul Nowack's Skiff Mold
1978 I lived in NJ and wanted a River Skiff. Ended up buying a Skiff, that as it turned out previously belonged to Connie Cottrell who had been JS1 a few years in a row in the early 70's. The Hull had came out of a Bender Mold and the Deck was now the newer style.
1979 Thought there might be a market for River Skiffs, Contracted with Melgas Boats in Zenda Wisconsin and a mold was commissioned. The mold maker spent allot of time on the Laps and made a few changes to the Deck, made the molds and the first Nowack Skiff was built.
1980 The first was sold and # 2 was built, this time by Switzer Boats in Crystal Lake, IL. This was the first Skiff with Hydraulically controlled cavitations plate.
1981 Mike Dowd of Stuart FL bought # 3. Mike campaigned "Southern Comfort" (which was also built by Switzer Boats) until about 1994 when he won the Nationals.
1983 # 4 was "Heartbeat" (my current Skiff) and was also built by Melgas Boats.
1990 #5 & #6 Bottoms Up Fiberglass in Fox Lake IL built two Skiffs. A yellow and White and a all White one. The first was build for Fred Rosch, Fox River IL and the Second for Bob Kosick, the then owner of Bottoms Up fiberglass.
1995 #7 Bottoms Up Built a Red on Red - which is now owned by John Gast "Pa Pa's Bundle" of Grand island, NY..
2000 #8 Bottoms Up built another Yellow and White one for Fred Rosch.
2003 The molds went south to Dave Yeager's Southeast Boat Works in Savannah, GA.
2004 # 9 " Slap Happy" was built By Dave Yeager for Bob Chatterton of Mukwonago WI. and
#10 Dave built for himself. "Swamp Rat"
2005 #11 Dave Yeager built a Yellow one for Geri Prusko. This is the first Skiff out of the molds with a Wood Deck. The boats name is "My Precious". It was sold and finished by the Vintage Raceboat Shop.
#12 Dave built # 12 for Mark Breese.
2006 #13 Dave just laid up # 13, a beautiful Orange hull with a wood Deck. This boat was built for Bob Muller. This was also sold and finished by the Vintage Raceboat Shop.
#14 Dave Yeager laid up a White hull only for Chris Raymond. Chris is going to finish it with a wood Deck.
#15 Dave Yeager did a Dark Green hull for Ted Prince. Ted is also going to finish the boat with a wood deck.
Note - Dave Yeager ( Southeast Boatworks ) has built 7 Skiffs in the last two years.
Nice work Dave.
It took awhile, but River Skiffs are really catching on, as they should. They are fun. There were over 40 Skiffs at MT Dora in 2006.
From Nowack Molds
1978 - 2003 8 Skiffs were built ( 15 years = 8 Skiffs ) 1 Skiff every 2 years
2004 -2/2006 7 Skiffs have been built ( 2 years = 7 Skiffs ) 3.5 Skiffs per year.
Eric Dender is now the proud owner of the metalflake green "UFO" formally owned by Tom Donley etc... See in boats by name section
Claire,
I saw a note from Scott Stevenson on your site and contacted him in December of 05. We confirmed that my skiff is the last of 4 skiffs built by Stevenson in Staten Island in the 60's. Scott thought he would like to come see the boat early in 06 but I haven't been able to reach him via phone or email since. If anyone here can contact him I'd be grateful. He made a comment that the sheer line was never right on my boat. His father cut the planks while he was out and wasn't willing to redo them. Considering this I really want him to see the boat and help me scribe the right line. The Ghost is coming along slowly and once the top planks are hung I'll be moving on to the deck.
If anyone is near Philly and knows anything about wooden boats I could use some help getting these planks done. I'm not sure how the plank, ribs and sheer clamp are all tied together.
Keep up the good work and I appreciate the time you've put into the site.
Chris Fretz
215-260-1195
As the growing Skiff population in Florida knows, we are continually getting invited to participate in local events.
This is not the reason for the Skiffs popularity. It's a fun boat, and we have some great gatherings, with some great people, like this past weekend.
It's what people are observing on speedskiffs.com that gets their interest up.
Saturday, 9 boats, had a great 60+ mile run, returning waves to people all the way and answering the question - what kind of boat is that? A great lunch at the half way point, followed by a super pool party that evening.
Sunday was a little shorter run, but we ended up having our lunch picked up by a local restaurant who's manager Marty had given a ride and even let drive. Of course, it probably helps that our boats always draw crowds.
This weekend reminded me what we are all about.
As you know, some of us thought it might be good for the APBA Vintage cause if we responded to some of the invitations, i.e. The Marathon Offshore Race, and region 5 sanctions.
Well it sounded like a good idea at the time, Vintage was the fastest growing group within APBA and some of us mistakenly thought that that interest might extend south.
To those of you who spent the money and joined APBA Vintage this year to support that effort, I apologize. We were mistaken. It's not going to happen. Not now, not in the future.
When it came to my attention a few months ago that Tom D'Eath, the founder of the APBA Vintage Category was, after 30 + years, no longer a member of APBA, I should have gotten the hint. Find a new route, one without land mines.
Looking at the calendar events, we are going to be as busy as we want to be, and at events that welcome us.
How much fun can we stand?
Paul Nowack 6/06
(WEBMASTER: Special thanks goes out to vintage Reps and skiff owners / brokers Bill Deglopper and Bill Johns for their NO VOTE on south skiff sanctions before they even know what's going on)
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(webmaster: Claire is the driving force behind the site and most of the time gets great pleasure updating it !)
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Just had to drop a note and say thank you for a wonderful morning you have given me. I am Cathy Cottrell Armstrong with the Think Pink Racing Team. My mother is Connie Cottrell (The Egg Beater) We raced together which after seeing the video's one I found out how old I have gotten since I am the first shot in video one. I have passed the site onto my children to see what Grandma and Mom did way back when. Thank you again for all the memories!!!!!!!
Kathleen Armstrong 1/06
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Marty,
I have been helping my mother move and came across a book my
uncle (Byron Briggs) helped to write called Shrewsbury River Memoirs.
It was published in 1951. It is divided into sailing, ice boating and
a short chapter on Jersey Speed Skiffs. There are few pictures but one
of them is of the original Falcon. The top speeds for the skiffs were
in the 40's at that time. Much of it is about how the local clubs came
about and were maintained to keep the water sports alive. It deals
with the history of the Long Branch Ice Boat and Yacht Club. I will
scan the parts on the skiffs and send them to you as soon as I get my
router straightened out. I'll bring it with me when I come to Mount
Dora in March. We have talked before. I live in Altamonte Springs but
lived in Oceanport until 1970. I raced a skiff from 1972 until 1978.
Charlie Boland was my neighbor and we grew up together.
Will talk to you later.
Keith Mewes
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The skiff was owned by Dick Sooy a committee chairman for skiff racing
in new jersey. Later sold to Sam Rogers in Hollis in NH. and Sam finished the
boat
it is powered with a 283 gm with o hours and the boat has never been in the
water. Sam has owned the boat for 25 years. it has no trans but one could be
added. built light no alternator either, left-right
battery box w/ master switch. has lights fire extinguisher and an 18 gallon
fuel
tank.
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Dear Webmaster,
I've recently purchased Ed Stanley's J-65 (formerly "Egg Beater"), and I regret
to tell you that I am something of a Techno-Peasant. There is a nice page about
J-65 under "Boats by Name," and frankly I would be delighted if it could simply
be updated with my name, perhaps my e mail address, and the fact that I live in
Baltimore. Is there a way you might help me with that?
I also don't know if there is a way to post "Kudos" for Ed Stanley and Chuck
Warner, but the former is a wonderful fellow who could not have been more
helpful in preparing the boat and trailer and indoctrinating me into the world
of skiffs, while Chuck fanned the flames...gave me my first ride...and has been
enormously helpful in getting me started. If these two guys are examples, then
this is a great community!
Thanks for whatever assistance you might provide and...I love the site!
Many thanks,
Al Freihofer
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Kudos, again on your site. Once I hooked in, I looked at every
boat and read each profile. I was fascinated by the history. My dad and uncle
built three skiffs which were all refurbished and went to pieces for various
reasons. The stories on the older boats are all the same. Dads, sons., old
friends, master wood workers, mechanics and engineers. Pretty cool stuff.
I race sail boats at what It think is the highest level of competition.
Unfortunately I end up a little less competitive every year. Perhaps it is
time to spin a prop or two.
Kindest regards,
John
10/05
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Claire & Marty,
Julian Rucki 10/05
Webmaster: Do you think Pop will give you the P28 back?????
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Hi!
We saw some of your boats on the Homosassa river last weekend, and I just
wanted to let you know that we all thought they were beautiful boats, and
they added a special charm to our weekend.
Even though I'm a sailor and not a powerboater, or maybe especially because
of that, they really made an impression on me (yes, I was on a stinkpot
over the weekend, but don't tell MY boat!)
I don't have time tonight, but I'd like to put a link on my website going
to you, and, if I could, I'd like to use a small picture of one of the
boats to add some flavor. I don't link without permission, so feel free to
check out my website (listed below) and let me know if you'd like to have
me link to you. I am going to go ahead and put a short post in my sailboat
group that I run, also listed below, just so I can share with other
appreciative boat restorers. I hope that's OK!
Thanks again for the great addition to the scenery, not to mention the
SOUND. Even at idle, it was wonderful!
Thanks!
Mike Barnett
Web site: www.strato.net/~mikeveg
9/05
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An Email lost for a while
I was sitting in my office after a long day and on a whim typed
in "Jersey speed
skiff" on the web and found your site. I have been hooked ever since.
I had my first ride in a wooden skiff during college in the sixties and found
the Electric Popsicle chained to a post at a gas station in Red Bank several
years later when I was there on business. I believe it was JS-33. It had been
involved in a fatal accident during a race and was not a popular sight at the
time. I woke up the next morning with a hangover and a bill of sale written on a
cocktail napkin from the Molly Pitcher Inn. I took it up to Long Island and,
after rebuilding the 283 engine, ran it on the Great South Bay for a number of
years. It was a glass hull, maroon color with wood deck.
After seeing how so many guys are still running these things and the groups
that get together I would love to get back involved. Of course I'd like to know
if you or one of your contacts would know where the old Popsicle wound up. I
brought it back down to Jersey and sold it to a couple of guys in the late
seventies. Hope to hear from you and thanks for the memories.
If anyone out there can help Dick out he can be reached at Dick_Haas@pall.com Thanks.8/10/05
Update----- Dick now owns a skiff again, see Electric Popsicle in boats by name 11/05
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The numbers for Marty's 350 cu in 390 hp crate motor is 708522HS FROM Speed Unlimited in Morningside, Maryland and will ship it for a total price of $3100.
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I believe the first time the Jo-Carol Too ,the Russell, ran was in 1962.
I was running a Forsberg boat. The incident mentioned where Bob lost a heat
involved me, Frank Verga and the boat name was Franita IV named after my
father, me, my mother and sister. Bob Verga is my cousin. Bob Verga was an
All American basketball player from Duke University.
Frank Verga
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