TOASTY

wow, tell us about this resto?!? and the shop its in?

beautiful boat and shop!

Black Tornado

Mystery perhaps dissolved.
The engines hatches are classics of the Cig. 35.'
The livery with the strips in the deck seems to be that of the Conspiracy-Mighty Mouse that then it became the second American Eagle 35' as Powers affirms to a my question in an old thread.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/c...ml#post2650838
post #16

Mike Bontoft

The shop was Tom Gentry's in Waipahu, Hawaii. 1981. Bobby Beich had started rigging the boat but quit early in the year. We thought Hawaii would be great (Hawaii 5-0 and everything) but I think Island fever set in pretty quick. Nora Gentry, Toms new (hot,hot,hot) Argentinian wife was very much in control and we went racing when she said we could pretty much.
Back to the race boat in the picture with the stripes on the deck, I'm not sure but I seem to remember it was a slimline Cigarette? The earlier American Eagle boat had been destroyed as mentioned and de-rigged then crushed with a bulldozer when it returned, something about it had to disappear. This happened before I arrived in Hawaii but Bobby told me about it. That must have been 79 or 80.

Black Tornado

Here the Edelbrock former Hawaii still with the old Gentry livery as Richie said.

Mike Bontoft

As I posted your reply came up, good job Sherlock.

Black Tornado

Clouseau,Mike,Inspecteur Clouseau!

7xchamp

The Picture in post #1 #99 is of the 35` Cigarette we raced in Australia, the ex mighty mouse. TG sent the boat to Hawaii as a play/test boat so he may have changed the number style. The boat is for sale in Calif. Call Billy Dunsmore who maintains it, a recent picture came up in the posts somewhere, I saw them, and was used for the Catalina Ski race.

7xchamp

I was the one who was responsible for the square hatches as I stated in a post. They were made for the original wide beam 40` cig`s, I asked Don A. to adapt them to the 35`, after lots of resistance he consented, took lot`s of work cut and paste, but sure made the boat look great. The first 35` of Nordskog had the old 36` wide beam hatches. Incidentally the hatches weighed approx. 120 lbs each, took two people to install and remove sometimes three people, more was better days.

7xchamp

WOW can we tell some Nora stories, Like being in Australia waiting for TG to call or arrive to race, and not showing leaving us stranded due to Nora. I have stories on top of stories, just to much to type, maybe one day. One quick!! I was working for TG in 1981 we had a shop in N. Miami, built a new Scarab etc. but were not racing due to Nora, so I was staggnant and not real happy about not racing. Aronow called me to ask if I would throttle the New Halter Seebold black cat in Venice Italy with Francisco Constantino. I called TG asked permission, told him it was a great opportuniy to learn about the cats for our team development, also invited him to come to the races. In the mean time he was pushing for me to move to Hawaii and start the new shop, which I told him that by being there it would take us out of the loop in Offshore raceing and I was afraid we would not race as much but become a hobby shop, so I was reluctant to move. I went to Italy ran the race came back to my shop in N.Miami where Bobby Beich informed me that he was going to Hawaii to run the operation, and that I could subcontract as a throttleman, and that he would be closing the N.Miam shop. When the smoke settled, I told everyone have a nice life and moved on, I didn`t talk to anyone associated with Gentry for years, I really felt like I had gotten the knife, this all after we won the UIM world championship etc. That`s also the reason why Kieth Hazell was in the Scarab when they blew the nose Off.
Later with the shop in Hawaii and the soap opera ongoing, seems Mr. Beich got caught with Nora in a sugar cane field, He didn`t realize TG was having him followed as well as her, then came the end of that deal, I think it`s called goes around comes around. She was a devil in disguise for sure.

Mike Bontoft

Yes the rumor was Tom had all the phones bugged and Bobby and Nora had something going on. The writing was on the wall that we were going to be axed when Tom had his secretary start doing an inventory on all the race engine parts (That was my job and I had built him an engine assembly and dyno shop) and a week later we got our walking papers. We were told by Fred every thing is shut down and you guys have the day to clear out. I was more than ready after putting up with Nora 's antics for a year and a half but it was very unfortunate for another rigger that had been brought in to replace Bobby, He had move everything over there and only been there for about two weeks, he was devastated, can't remember his name.
Richie, I came to see you about a job after that in Miami, I think you were running Cigarette. But no one was hiring, Miami was in the midst of a big drug clampdown and DEA agents were everywhere. Powerboating had got a real bad name and people were considered guilty by association.