 Yankee Chapter: Making Waves With Old Outboards |
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Shelton
CT Formal Meet, Saturday September 13th, 2008
Field of Green! By Elmer The 2008 Yankee Chapter Formal meet at Indian Well Park celebrated Mercury, Thor, Mercury-made Sea Kings and Wizards. This was the first year the State DEP offered us a rain date and it came in handy! The remnants of Hurricane Hanna came through the region and our regular date was a total wash-out. But the weather on 9/13 did cooperate, though between postponing the event a week and the iffy forecast we had only about a 75% turn-out from the previous year. Quite a few Thors and Mercury-made pre-war Sea Kings and early Mercury motors were present. Some of the more unusual models including an early Sea King single, Restored 1936 Thor Twin and a Thor Pyramid 3hp. Bob G. deserves special mention for his excellent display of unusual motors and Mercury-made products including a chainsaw, generator and pump. (Each was demonstrated in operation!) Virtually every model from 1945 to 1959 was displayed including several racing variations. The green motors of the late forties through mid fifties were in abundance as well as the mid-late fifties models. Richard G. brought his unusual 1949 KG-4-HD Albany to NYC Marathon motor - a modified version of the KG-4. The display category continued to be popular; RC H. had a display of Mercury outboard racing in Connecticut including motor, vintage accessories and trophies. Also if interest was Walt & Maureen L's great display of toy Mercury outboards, many from the estate of former Chapter President Gary Merz. And Bob Z. had a spectacular display of Mercury literature and promotional items from 1940 to 1972. With miles of river to tour, this meet is always a popular place to run boats & motors - many a Mercury-made outboard motor got a good workout. And, as always, there was plenty of great swapping of motors & parts. Also a very special thanks to member Art R. for his generous donation of a BBQ lunch for the attendees! Due to problems each year finding volunteers to do the formal judging, this year we tried "people's choice" for the awards – it worked out great! The classes were determined beforehand with the input from several well known Mercury enthusiasts and publicized to chapter members. At the meet members were asked to complete an entry form and received a number to display under the transom clamps of their motor or on their boat or display. Attendees to the meet were given a ballot form at sign-in to write in the numbers of their choices for each category - participation was optional and ballots were limited to one per member family. The winner of each award was the one with the most votes, and (per Yankee Chapter protocol) people with entries in multiple classes could only win one award. The Yankee Chapter also honored Bob Z. for his many contributions to the chapter and the club. Most know Bob as the Johnson Model A expert and also for his many excellent articles featured here in the OUTBOARDER. However, it is a little known fact that Bob and Peter Hunn were the two sparkplugs behind chartering the Yankee Chapter back in 1969! Bob also served as the second Chapter President and has lent his encouragement and support to all – THANKS BOB!! This years Mercury Celebration was a lot of fun and a great time was had by all. For 2009 everyone is looking forward to the theme celebrating Evinrude's Centennial and the Yankee Chapter's 40th year. NOTE: Due to the death of the webmaster's computer, many of the photos for this meet were lost. If you have additional photos from this meet and would like to send them to the webmaster, please click on the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Photos should be sized to 300 x 400 (landscape) or 400 x 300 (portrait) for best results.
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