Tommy Lee...?

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BigChuck

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2004
Messages
2,029
Came across this on another site....I am not sure. So I offer it up for you all to answer...
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I had heard that Tommy had run big boats and that his brother built big tunnel boats , including some of the best F1 tunnels, probably in the 1980's and 1990's. I'm sure someone else will have more accurate info on this. In my opinion, there has been nobody better in IMPBA designing and racing the tunnel outboards than Tommy Lee. A class act and a nice guy, too.

Dick Tyndall
 
I had heard that Tommy had run big boats and that his brother built big tunnel boats , including some of the best F1 tunnels, probably in the 1980's and 1990's. I'm sure someone else will have more accurate info on this. In my opinion, there has been nobody better in IMPBA designing and racing the tunnel outboards than Tommy Lee. A class act and a nice guy, too.

Dick Tyndall
I talked to Tommy yesterday at great lengths.....We had our weekly meeting of the OFC.....[old farts club]

We talk pretty often in between doctors appointments and naps....lolol

We both are very good at holding that chair down in front of the big screen TV....lol

Tommy is still designing and building ........

Tommy and David Hall recently formed a joint venture to break the sport .21 SAW record setting it at 63+ mph....and they ain't done yet...
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Yes he did build big tunnels with his brother David....
 
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Nope-this is not me. This is a Molinari hull (would not get in one of those- ha ha). My brother and I ran the sport J class of tunnels and built our own boats. I was the engine tuner and mechanic and set-up guy. I did drive one a few times just to feel what 100mph felt like but a 235lb. 6'4" driver was not a good fit for a boat with only 150 h.p.. My brother was a great driver. He could get the absolute max performance from a boat and bring it back to the shore every time. We did win the SJ World Championships 5-years in a row. Fun times !!!!
 
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That no. 998 boat is typical of the big old twin engine rigs that raced back in the day. Big boats with deep tunnels, lots of lift and they really flew them high.

You had to be a really good driver to run up front in the SJ class boats that Tommy is talking about. Those boats were always on the 'edge'.
 
That may be "Pony Tail" not sure what his real name was. Everybody just called him Pony Tail. He was very fast in his day. Seems like he ran a Scorpion Craft.

-Carl
 
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Carl-that top picture looks like one of the factory team boats. Seeing the picture you posted shows that mercury had all the top drivers at one time. Pony tail as you called him was Doug Pearl from Miami Fl.. Great guy and great driver with a very fast boat that he and his team built.. He had an accident years ago testing in one of the narrow canals in Miami. The bottom of the lower unit broke off ( common problem for the xs units) and he and the boat landed in some ones back yard, both with serious injuries and I don't think he ever raced again.
 
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Ran Sport J aganst Doug Peal and Benny Robinson at the Dayton Hydro Globe Nats. around 1976. Was out classed for sure Almost ran with David Lee in Portsmouth but had a little problem in testing and spent a few days in the hospital. There were two types of Sport J Tunnels, those that had been over and those that were going over..Those three drivers were the best in SJ for that time period.
 
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