Thunderhawk

Thunderhawk JS -30

Owner: Frank Hawk

Riding Mechanic: Bill Mcknight

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Year Built:

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My name is Bill McKnight, and I came across your website today while on the Vintage Hydros website. Many of the skiffs and drivers are very familiar to me, having raced a skiff one year, and more recently, riding in a couple at Mt Dora. ( Jo-Carol-Too and Sir Alter Ego).

The skiff I am referring to was an old Forsberg hull, powered by a Ford Thunderbird engine. It was JS-30, "Thunderhawk", owned and driven by Frank Hawk of Red Bank, N.J. I was the riding mechanic.

I grew up in Red Bank and am very familiar with a lot of the histories your site offers. I'm still in touch with Doug Apy, Skip Gilliam, and Bobby Moore. The Thunderhawk raced at Red Bank, Cambridge, Md., and Atlantic Highlands in 1965....In 1966, Frank bought a hydro and I built one! We stayed in inboard hydros for another 15 seasons. The Thunderhawk was a big, h

eavy hull with the unique feature of no forward cockpit. He bought it in 1964 at a boatyard in Bay Head, N.J. and we readied it for the 1965 season. It was a fun boat until I got whipped out at Atlantic Highlands. I'm attaching a few photos my wife had taken at Cambridge, along with a news article from Atlantic Highlands in 1965. The photo of the boat in the water shows Frank (R) and me (L). The guy posing in the boat on the trailer is me. ...