Friends of Excalibur Racing - excaliburmotorsports

FRIENDS OF EXCALIBUR RACING

Our racing team and family has been successful and blessed because we have many friends and supporters. We could not have raced boats and enjoyed cars without their sincere help and generous support over the years. These people are true friends and great Americans. Thank you all for your friendship and help over the years.

Diamond Family: Bill, Vicki, Tim, Roberta, Jason & Missi have helped both Al and Bonnie at many boat racing events since Al met them in 1993. Bill has raced 350cc PRO class hydroplanes for many years (Bill recently announced he is retiring from 350ccH PRO racing this year.) Tim and Jason now race 45SS capsule hydroplanes (they also raced with Missi in the PRO classes for many years.) They are a really special racing family and great friends, through thick and thin.

Lee Tietze (Owner of Machined Components): Lee has helped us set up, test, and outfit our hydroplanes for many years now. He has been generous with his time and talents to make us go fast over the water. Lee has raced PRO and modified outboard racing classes for many years. Lee's boat racing knowledge and his skills in fabricating aluminum parts for powerboats have helped us achieve racing success through constant improvements in our racing hardware. Lee is also a great teacher concerning driving techniques and race motor setup & tuning. Visit Lee's website at machinedcomponents.net to see pictures of Lee racing and view a sample of his fine machined-aluminum hardware products for boat racing. Lee is a true lifetime friend, even in times of personal grief and hardship. Lee and his staff also manufacture custom aluminum parts on CAD/CAM systems for other specialized machinery manufacturers. Lee has designed and developed his own 250cc racing motor, and two very unique and innovative outboard rigger racing hydroplanes. Thanks Lee!

Steve Benson (Master Motor Builder): Steve has a unique talent at rebuilding race motor power heads and custom making parts so that outboard motors run at their peak of performance. Like Lee, he is also a very good machinist. Steve has helped me with my PRO motors for two years now. No racer is successful without the help and wisdom of a knowledgeable master mechanic. I am very blessed to have Lee's and Steve's motor preparation help and special technical services. Thank you Steve for your thoughtful guidance and skilled hands in preparing my new 125cc power head for competition this racing season!

Mike Davis (Owner of Davis Carz): Mike is a professional welder and a person who really knows how to fabricate things out of a mixture of surplus and new materials. There is no project challenge that he has not helped find a solution for in restoring cars or boat racing setups. He is talented and generous with his time and resources. Mike is truly a "brother from another mother" to me. We met him at the Portland Swap Meet. He has amazing skills in sheet metal parts fabrication and is generous with friends in sharing his shop facilities and equipment for that special restoration or unique fabrication project. He has helped fabricate steel parts for our racing trailer, built motor stands, helped align 250cc expansion exhaust pipes, and rebuilt the custom Chevelle frame and formed steel restoration panels for our 1936 Chev sedan project. Mike always has time to share a story, discuss the really important things in life, and lend a helping hand. Mike introduced me to Joel several years ago. Joel painted my Karelsen hydro hull in 2012, and he also helped me a little with our '36 Chev hot rod project.

Chuck Mosiman (Retired Body Shop Owner & Painter): Chuck has painted two of our boats. He allowed me to use his paint booth to primer the '65 Chevelle frame for our '36 Chev hot rod project. Chuck raced PRO boats for years and painted hydroplanes for some of the Northwest-based unlimited hydro teams. Chuck has been very generous in sharing his talents, resources, and home paint booth with me. He is a good friend, does professional body shop work for friends in his spare time, and is a great automotive painter. Chuck has built a lot of hot rods over the years. He looks forward to working on a 1956 Chev Nomad he owns. A great guy who knows a lot about PRO racing boats, car restoration, and especially about custom car and hydroplane painting.

Al Book (Owner of Al Book's Custom Welding): I have known Al Book since my high school days in Burien, Washington. I first met Al through a mutual friend, Jim Howard. Like Mike Davis, Al is a professional welder and a very good friend. Al has special talent in welding up fuel cells, repairing magnesium metal alloy parts, and fabricating specialty steel parts for almost any type of motor vehicle. Al bought one of the Alan Green Chevrolet Cheeta coupe fiberglass race car bodies with its custom tubular race frame. He wants to restore the Cheeta back to its original racing condition when it was raced by the Alan Green Team in the mid-1960's. Al is an avid hot rodder. He is known around the Pacific Northwest for his unique hot rod designs, quality workmanship, and creative welded-metal artwork. He has also fabricated custom parts for a number of limited and unlimited hydroplanes. Al was directly involved in race course management services at the Seafair Unlimited Hydroplane race on Lake Washington for many years. Al's knowledge of all types of racing hardware products and racing venues makes him a invaluable supporter and friend of our motorsports family. He is truly a lifetime friend and a very skilled craftsman in welding custom products for racers and hot rodders.

Larry Darneille (Boat Builder): Larry modified the Excalibur II Karelsen hydroplane hull for us twice. He expanded the front cockpit for complete shoulders protection and also to meet UIM reinforcement standards (without a significant weight gain.) The results of Larry's craftsmanship can be seen about half way down the main "Racing" page of this website - look for the picture of the front of a bright yellow hydroplane hull resting on sawhorses in our garage. Larry very carefully cut out the existing composite panel sides and installed graphite and kevlar composite sandwich materials to strengthen the sides of the cockpit where he widened it. He also covered the existing uncut portion of the composite side panels with hybrid reinforcement cloth to meet 2014 UIM reinforcement requirements. All of the modifications were coordinated with Bob Wartinger (a UIM Safety Officer at the time.) The result is more driver protection and room to drive comfortably inside the hull's narrow front cockpit area. Thank you Larry for an excellent modification job within the specified allowances that I gave you for end weight and budget! The side expansion panel front ramped-facets give the modified hull a sort of "F117-A look". My inspiration for the re-design of the Karelsen cockpit's appointments came from an Andy Saunders (Benetton Formula 1 Race Team) conceptual race car drawing featured in a HP workstation advertisement from an Aviation Week 1997 magazine issue. Thanks, Larry, for helping my re-design inspiration to become a reality and modifying the spare Mostes rear fairing to the final Karelsen/Rossi O-250 setup.

Jon DuVernet-Steen (Boat Builder & Racer): Jon built the Excalibur I hydroplane from a specification I provided to him when I contracted with him for the project in 1994. Jon worked as an apprentice for Ed Karelsen when he was younger. He developed his own hull designs from lofted drawings and his own creative ideas. I provided composite panel materials from Boeing Surplus and Fiberlay for my new hydroplane project. Jon built me a custom hydroplane for C-Stock, OSY-400, and C-Mod racing classes with exceptional cornering capability and stable lift characteristics. The Steen hull was very fast and built specifically to my body mass requirements. The composite and wood 3-point hydroplane was painted Viper Blue by Toy Care in Seatac, WA. I learned a lot about building hydroplane hulls from Jon by helping him construct my boat. Jon supported me with driving tips and setup help over the years. Jon is an APBA national champion D-stock class driver and a very skilled artist as a hydroplane builder. Jon's boat building craftsmanship and racing skill tips have helped me win numerous trophies in OSY-400, C-mod, and C-Stock hydro classes at regional APBA and AOF races.

Bill Russell & Friends: Bill is a good friend and a (now retired) program Finance manager at Boeing who boat-raced in APBA stock outboard classes for decades. My father bought me a customized Scat Cat B-stock hydroplane with a C-stock Mercury racing motor when I was growing up and we owned lakeside property on Mason Lake in western Washington. I talked with Bill at work about my opportunity to meet Bill Muncey at Mason Lake and my life-long interest in hydroplanes. Bill invited me out to a Lake Lawrence race to watch him drive in competition one fall weekend in 1992. I took many photographs at the race site and was hooked again on hydroplane racing. I bought a used Furnel Flyer C-stock hydroplane and Yamato 102 racing motor from Mike Moreland (Bill's racing friend) that winter, and Bill taught me how to drive it (in early morning test sessions on Lake Sammamish.) Bill and Bob Wartinger (an APBA and UIM world records driver in many classes) helped me with my boat setup for racing. They introduced me to Ric Montoya in Seattle, the Yamato Stock Motors Distributor in the U.S. These three guys and the Diamond Famly helped me train and develop my driving skills to place third at the APBA PRO OSY-400 National Championship at Depue, IL, in 1995. I was off to a good start and had the best teachers for instruction.

Craig Dewald (Owns Dewald Props): Craig Dewald creates and fabricates winning propellers for boat racers around the world. Craig's family has raced outboard hydroplanes for decades and he knows how to design props for every type of outboard racing motor. I met Craig in person in 1995 at the APBA /USTS PRO Nationals in Depue, IL. He is a very humble and kind man whose skill in designing and making propellers has made our hydroplanes go extremely fast over the years. Craig and his son have fabricated stainless steel propellers that are strong and durable in the best and worst boat racing conditions. Craig is always willing to give helpful setup tips and experienced prop style advice to all of his valued customers. Without Dewald propellers, we would not be able to compete safely and quite often (depending on my setup, motor running condition, driving skills that day) within the top three race finish positions.

Cal Dowd (Owner of ProGraphyx): Cal, Virgil, and Tim at ProGraphyx in Longview, WA, have provided us with exceptional livery colors design, graphics, and graphics installation services for our 250cc and 125cc class hydroplanes. They also produced our team T-shirts, embroidered our race jackets, and installed the graphics on our enclosed race trailer. I first met Cal at a Kelso Downtown Revitilization Association meeting when we were still operating our small business. I approached Cal about sponsoring our race team in 2009. Cal and his staff have been loyal sponsors and provided us with the recent opportunity to display the boat at a Cowlitz County Chamber of Commerce Expo event. Excalibur Racing proudly represents our 2099-2011 race sponsors in western Washington (see the Sponsors page link on this website's Racing page for the complete list of 2010-2011 racing sponsors.) Visit the ProGraphyx website at prographyx.com to see their product and graphics service offerings. Thanks Cal, Virgil, Tim, and the rest of Cal's team!

(A. Peffley photo)

The Cremona Family & Giuseppi Rossi: We purchased a used Mostes hydroplane from Max & Alex Cremona after the 2008 UIM/APBA F-250 World Championship Race at Lake Alfred, Florida. Alex won both F-250 qnd F-350 World Championships in 2008. The Cremona family was very generous with their hospitality and professional racing tips before and during the international boat racing special event. They made me feel welcome in their pit site. It is nice to deal with honest people who show you respect and special consideration in a boat sale (especially with a stranger from the United States.) Alex, Max, & Giuseppi Rossi made sure I left Florida with the right hardware to set up the boat for racing here in the United States. Grazie! You made my dream of owning and driving a fast European hydroplane come true! Congratulations, Alex, for winning your second F-350 World Championship at Lake Alfred, Florida, in 2010!

Website Information Sources:

Visit the Cremona & Bacchiega Racing Team's website at www.candb-powerboatracing.com

Search this YouTube title to see the Cremona Brothers racing video for 2010: Powerboat Cremona Brother 2010

Visit Giuseppi Rossi's G.R.M. racing engines website at www.grmracing.com

USTS, APBA, SLORA & AOF Friends: There are so many people that we have met and made friendships with since 1993 that we cannot mention all of them here on this page. Special thanks to all of you for all of your help at the boat races over the years; especially Jim Williams, Mike Schmidt, Mike Zonich, Mike Bartlett, Don Muncey, Denny Payola, Doug Reed, Steve August, Bob Goller, the Badgley Family, the Gesler Family, John Mahroney, David Weaver, the Thirlby Family, Gary Pugh, Chris Helsten, Rex Hall, Mike Sattler, and the Shaw Family. We also wish to thank the many friendly volunteer members of CORA, SOA, SLORA, and Whidbey Island Roostertails that make the boat races happen every season. Thanks for helping us race and "get off the beach." The APBA PRO Class information website is located at - www.portagebaysystems.com/proweb/ .

Remember PEF Non-profit Foundation: Created by Kim Peffley in loving memory of her brother, Robert (Pef) Peffley. This organization is no longer active.

Randy Thurman: Without Randy, this website would not be in existence today. Randy is the man who helped me find a very reasonable website host provider and set up the graphics background theme & initial formatting for this motorsports website. Randy also helped us set up our small business website five years ago. Randy has a full-time job flying commercial airplanes. He does website development work in his spare time between flight assignments. Randy is also a CORA boat racing club member, the father of boat racer, and a really great friend. We are especially grateful for his help to get this website up and running in a very short time. I really like the format colors and layout of this website. Thanks Randy!

(Credit: Eric Jones photo)

Eric Jones Motorsports (Eugene, OR): Eric posted a Craig's List ad for the sale of a used convertable top that he removed from a 1999 Miata roadster that he races at SCCA events. We purchased the top for Bonnie's '99 Miata roadster and struck up a friendship with Eric. Eric is a professional sports car driver and has been the lead engineer on several international professional sports car racing teams. He maintains an interesting collection of unique race cars. Take the time and visit Eric's business website at: www.ericjonesmotorsports.com to learn more about Eric and his motorsports service business.

Here is a website address and picture of Eric Racing at PIR this summer in his '99 Miata at the 2011 Rose Cup races: dougberger.zenfolio.com/p442301985/e34838f27#h24f6bec3

Joe Hartley (Retired & Former Body Shop Owner): Joe and Bonnie Hartley have been good friends of ours since Bonnie and I met many years ago. Joe has helped with restoring both the '69 Camaro and '36 Chev project cars. They stored Bonnie's '36 Chev on their farm for years before we started the restoration project. Joe has more in-work car projects than we do and is also a motorcyclist. Joe is an excellent body repair guy and and a great paint technician. They are very special friends.

Mike & Teresa at HydroRacer.net: Mike and Teresa Phillips bought the boat racer blog website from Dan Lawrence. Mike raced and built boats after he retired. They also bought half of Mike Johnson's hydro manufacturing business (MJR) and CAD programs last and built hydroplanes and produced kits to order from their boat shop (MRC) in Montana. I met Mike at a SOA race many years ago and have been good friends with him ever since then. Visit their boat racing promotion and blog website at www.hydroracer.net to read more about boat racing and blog with boat racers across the world. The website is also a great place to look at and buy new and used boat racing equipment. Membership in the website is free, and you don't need to be a boat racer to join on the website. This website provides a value-added service to boat racers and enthusists. HydroRacer.net promotes the motorsport of powerboat racing with real-time news on racing and many special interest forums. There are hot links on the website for a visitor or member to access websites for boat racing videos, suppliers of boat racing equipment, and boat racing organizations & clubs throughout the United States and Europe. I have sold a lot of equipment and learned a ton of things while being a member of this unique and valuable Internet site. Thanks, Mike & Teresa for your serice to the boat racing community around the world.

Mount Hood Miata Club: The MHMC is a local Miata club that we are members of in the Portland/Vancouver area. The club has frequent activities for the sports car enthusiast. Their website is: mthoodmiata.org/Home/Index .

We have not been active members of this auto club for a number of years now, but we learned a lot while being members there.

Sir Stephen McKim: Steve is an artist who specializes in Knights Templar artwork. I have been interested in the Knights Templar for many years now. I requested to use an image from one of Steve's wonderful graphics as "nose art" on the O-125 hydroplane. Steve gave his permission for me to replicate a portion of his Templar artwork to install as a sticker on our PRO class powerboat. I selected the artwork, sent Steve a proof copy of it, and then had ProGraphyx produce a sticker of the image. I am displaying the image as a tribute to First Reponder men and women around the world (police, fire & rescue, and volunteer emergency response team members) who risk their lives to help us every day. We are deeply indebted to all those first responders who serve and protect people around the world (including the US Military.) They protect us from natural and man-made disaster threats to personal safety. They also protect us against evil acts of terrorism and criminal violence.

My grandfather Peffley, on my father's side of my family, was a Mason. A UK Masonic Lodge website displaying some of his excellent artwork is located at: www.standrew518.co.uk/GRAPHICS/KT3.php

[Last Reviewed 07 May 2021.]