I Remember When 50 Was "Special"...

[Mr Cooke's Crew]

Originally Posted by NHBUOY

...Wow..parallel universe BH..lol...between the peeps of the H2O ski club and Mr. Cook's penthouse crew, Alton had some awesome skiers...I "think" your barefoot guy was Paul &/or Peter Belkis.?..Steve Puopolo, Tony Cameratta, Charlie Bergoyne, G. Stevens, J. Malone, Jim McKone, Jack Travers (now owns a very successful water-ski school in Fla. AND was the "inventor" of the arm slings the jumpers use called the "Jack Strap") and a slew of others...Some good times were had with the "Catholic girls" too.. ...Q?..Do you remember the Chris-Craft X-19(22?) named Hurricane that was used for the ski races.?..Always liked that boat, but never knew who owned it.?...I love this memory lane/bench racin stuff...I think your right about bringing "something" back for the "kids"...unfortunately, the speed/save them from themselves people will make this more than difficult...Do the waterskiers even have a slalom course or jump ramp to use anymore.?..the "good old days" were just that, it seems....fyi...The "50 Special" was a 1959/60 21' Century Coronado w/a "built" Caddy motor with a "6-pack" carb set-up owned by D. Purdy...loved that boat, my family always had Century Resorters when Vin "was" Channel Marine (with Stan & B. Rooney)...APBA/RNE mean anything to you..?..thanx for sharing...likin this...

..We had some Great guy's at the penthouse & Alton Bay(Best barefooters on the lake) All the guy's you named Jim "Chach" Ciaccio (me lol) Dan Rossi, Bob oykle. Steve Puopolo broke my barefoot record at age 13. I'm still in touch with most of thoes guys......those were the days.....

[mowtorman]

thanks for adding to the story. We were in our teens near Kona and Black Cat in the 70's, trying to live up to the legends before us (which we didn't). We all tried BF'n for weeks, 3 made it (Richie, Tom, Bob), going about 40 behind a century not knowing what we were doing. I took a toe catch, planted my face and blew out a disc, needed surgery and haven't skied since . We were out last weekend in a '73 and an '80 Resorter, there's still some of us undersized folks around. Getting the hot small ski boats around, a retro show/exhibition would be really nice. Speed on water in a small boat is a great adrenaline rush. I talked with someone in Laconia who has a Magnum Missile he intends to restore. Any pics would be appreciated. thanks

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by mowtorman

thanks for adding to the story. We were in our teens near Kona and Black Cat in the 70's, trying to live up to the legends before us (which we didn't). We all tried BF'n for weeks, 3 made it (Richie, Tom, Bob), going about 40 behind a century not knowing what we were doing. I took a toe catch, planted my face and blew out a disc, needed surgery and haven't skied since . We were out last weekend in a '73 and an '80 Resorter, there's still some of us undersized folks around. Getting the hot small ski boats around, a retro show/exhibition would be really nice. Speed on water in a small boat is a great adrenaline rush. I talked with someone in Laconia who has a Magnum Missile he intends to restore. Any pics would be appreciated. thanks

Barefooting on a long line takes mucho skills- I hand it to anyone that can do so!! My recollection of the speed required is your weight divided by 10 plus 20 MPH. so a 200 lb person would need 200/10=20 plus 20 MPH for a total of 40 before you put your feet down!

I have barefooted but only off a boom, so much easier.

On a side note, a friend has a beautifully restored Nautique (Al Till skier model) on Ossipee. It is painted arrest me red and named Jello for the shaking it does.