When men were men
#21
Registered
On the biography of Odell Lewis in the beautiful book of Claudio Nobis:"L'Avventura dell'Offshore"(The Adventure of the Offshore),this final words that I think can put togheter all Man of those years.
...."Probably we don't see anymore a lot of people of the stamp of Odell Lewis in the competitions.
Raised on hulls to flat bottoms, hard on the waves, difficult to drive and without throttleman, these men have been a human race apart."
...."Probably we don't see anymore a lot of people of the stamp of Odell Lewis in the competitions.
Raised on hulls to flat bottoms, hard on the waves, difficult to drive and without throttleman, these men have been a human race apart."
#23
Registered
Thread Starter
As for Odell, he was my personal favorite driver of the group. Fabulous sense of humor, fabulous set of juevos. When I injured my ankles in the 1966 Sam Griffith race (which sunk 'Brave Moppie', 'Tin Fish', Gar Wood, Jr. I can't remember the name, but it was 48' long, with Allisons) I "invented" the cockpit bolster as it is seen today. I designed it and Roy Harmon of Biltrite built it for the "Donzi Blue Devil" that I drove for George Couzens, of Detroit. When I pulled up to the Dupont Plaza docks for inspection for the Miami-Key West race in November '66, every driver said "If I had to have all that padding to stay behind the wheel, I'd stop racing". The next race, EVERY boat had bolsters except one.... Guess who. He drove barefoot most of the time.
I don't think that it has ever been said in print, but here it is: Like Formula One, Kiekhaefer had team orders. Never beat the customer. I was racing for Holman Moody and Donzi in those days, and to an extent, I think that I was responsible for the Merc team showing up at some of the races. But if you think back, When Aronow won, right behind was Bakos, Odell, Richie, Stenback or one of those Merc team guys. I don't know who recruited for Kiekhaefer's race team, but they came up with the greatest bunch of guys ever assembled. Racing against those guys, and beating them occasionally ranks very high among my fondest memories.
I don't think that it has ever been said in print, but here it is: Like Formula One, Kiekhaefer had team orders. Never beat the customer. I was racing for Holman Moody and Donzi in those days, and to an extent, I think that I was responsible for the Merc team showing up at some of the races. But if you think back, When Aronow won, right behind was Bakos, Odell, Richie, Stenback or one of those Merc team guys. I don't know who recruited for Kiekhaefer's race team, but they came up with the greatest bunch of guys ever assembled. Racing against those guys, and beating them occasionally ranks very high among my fondest memories.
#29
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Always good to hear from you, hope all is well.7XCHAMP