Indian Well Formal Meet Shelton Connecticut - September 9th, 2006

By E. L. Gin

On the preceding weekend the remnants of hurricane Ernesto came through southern Connecticut and caused havoc. Two hundred year old trees were uprooted, there were major power outages and leaves & branches were strewn everywhere. We really lucked out with some hot sunny weather for our meet a week later! About 75 members attended the meet and most brought a boat or two to run.

The Yankee Chapter has had a meet at Indian Well State Park in Shelton CT for almost 20 years. For at least the last 10 it has been our chapter's formal meet with 10 prizes awarded in various categories that our chapter feels are of the most interest. See the winners from this years entries on the last page of photos.

Each year, in addition to the formal awards, we have a special theme for the meet. This year it was Mini-Motors, outboards of 1.9hp or less. There must have been 100 outboards brought to the meet for the theme - I have never seen so many wee Gales, Elgins, Clarke Trollers and Eltos in one place! And all kinds of oddball minis showed up as well. We had special antique boat racing trophies donated by RC H. that were awarded to the following mini-motors:

Mini-Motor Best Original Condition - Lenny R. (Sea Bee 1.5)
Mini-Motor Best Restored - Art D. (Johnson J-75)
Most Unusual Mini-Motor - Doug P. (Elliott Power Paddle in the box!)
Best Mini-Motor Display - Dan T. (Representative of Every Brand 1.5 Gale that was made!)

We also had an on-water event to see how slow a mini-motor could propel a boat. The outboard of choice was the little Elgin 1 1/4hp air-cooled jobs from the 1940's - 60% of our fleet ran them! Why the Elgin's? They are reliable and being air cooled they run at a constant temperature with no worries about overheating or clogged waterpumps due to weeds. RC H. was the race official and had the many entries run a straight course of about 100 yards (downstream so the current would assist) Using a pace-boat start the armada took off at a blistering pace of less than 1mph. Bob G., always looking to push the rules, had 4 grown men in his boat (rub-a-dub-dub) but his English made Atco Boatimpeller was simply too fast. Doug P. and Gary M. ran a lovely Penn Yan cartopper with, I believe, an Evinrude Ranger - reliable but way too fast.

The rest of the fleet took at least 30 minutes to traverse the course. Crosswinds of 1-2mph made staying on course tough for even the most seasoned skippers. The winner of the event was this writer! I was running.... you guessed it, and Elgin 1 1/4. Hats off to Jim M. and all the other Elgin supporters who ran in the event!

Days we have an outboard meet always prove to be too short - 4:00 came way to fast. Thanks to all the people who helped organize and run the event; Maureen L. and Abby who handled the sign-in. Michael S. from Squiredesign who made our signs and acted as crash boat for the slow event. RC H. who always pitches in and helps wherever needed and who officiated our slow event. Our treasurer Debbie C. who keeps us solvent. Garry M., Art D. and Norm D. who judged the formal event and Jim M. and Dan T. who were the mini-motor hosts and judges.

Thanks to Norm W., Frank P., Richard G., Ken B., Rod C., Hurricane Harry & Abby for the photos!

We took over the lot....	...both sides....	...and beyond!
Sign-in tent	Doing lots of business	Norm W's fabulous Mark 10 and related display
Mini Motor Magic!
Frank P's lineup	Those Martin's are too powerful!	Bill A's display
Some of Bob G's minis	Another view	Yes, that is a Poulan chainsaw, it has an adapter to make it an outboard (Loud though)
Even more of Bob's mini-motors that wouldn't fit in his van!	Doug P's Elliott Power Paddle - the prop is about 2" in diameter!	The original box!
Some of Dan T's enormous mini motor extravaganza!	Restored Elto Cub - all paint and no polish, just like it left the factory.	ELTO = Extremely Little Thrust when Operating
Harry S's Minis	His dads Johnson MD	Joseph & RC's Cub
Ahoy Mate!	Elto Ace?	Another view
This Sea Bee is 100% original - it is totally mint!	Sweet little Johnson J-25 of Brook N's	Norm M and Harry S. talk about the Clarke Troller (longshaft!)
Harry gets to see the Clarke's engine (located in the lower unit!)	The mini-motor we all look up to!	This one is Bob G's, it spent some time running on his boat (see photo later)
Top view	Bottom view (this is the power... foot!)	Close-up
More Than Minis
Norm D. shows off his restored Johnson	The greatest Johnson that never was... the '55 Johnson AD 7.5!	And Norm's award winning Mercury display
RC's mint restored Martin 200	When did you last see one of these babies!	Buy of the day, Michael S's Champion 16
Ken B and Feathercraft	Bill A's cool Johnson S-45 & Johnson Skiff	Nice restored Merc
Stuff for sale	Hmmm... 3/4 pt of oil per gallon, too rich for my blood - TCW-3 is over $15 a gallon these days!	Nice '55 QD Johnson!
Harry's free Chrysler	Clean Elgin	Judges at work
This Evinrude found a new home	So did this one...	...The Merc's didn't!
You don't see one of these every day - a Johnson millitary pressure tank. The tall ears are so they can be stacked up.	Merc's for sale at $.10 a pound - you had to take the whole motor	Even more stuff for sale by the pound!
Fun in the sun... or shade	Shopping	Dan T, Art S. & Jim M. discussing Mini-Motors.
	What a great day!	A petulant teenager. This motor needs a stern talking to for not being polite... see why?

On the Water at Indian Well - Page 2

 

Yankee Chapter: Making Waves With Old Outboards