Raceboat
Name/Title
RaceboatEntry/Object ID
2005.020Description
2005.020 Gentleman Jim Boat Type: Racing Runabout Builder: Mariner Boat Works Model: N/A Original Power: Ford Interceptor V8 Current Power: Original Length: 19' Beam: 7'6" Date Built: 1963 "Gentleman Jim" James A. Herrington was a raceboat builder and owner, active in the 1960s and 70s and involved in many different types of raceboats. He was the first person to put a turbine engine in an unlimited hydroplane in 1970, with Fred Alter as his test driver. The next year Jim Herrington entered U-99 Miss Lapeer, the first turbine powered raceboat to compete in the Unlimited class. There were difficulties, however, and the boat was not a success. Nevertheless in subsequent years turbine-powered Unlimiteds were perfected and turbine power became standard. In the middle 1960s Jim was the owner of the Mariner Boat Company, a factory operating out of the old Hacker Boat Company shop in Detroit. While working with Mariner, he became interested in the concept of the "Gentleman's Racer", a fast runabout hull with plenty power and no steps or sponsons, originally conceived in the 1920s, when it led briefly to the Gentleman's Gold Cup era. Jim was inspired by the records Gar Wood set with this type of craft in the early 1930s. He hired some of Wood's original craftsman and designed a new gentleman's racer which Mariner put into production, called the Mariner Hurricane Our Gentleman Jim is one of these "Hacker Mariners." It is a very shallow-vee runabout hull which is nearly dead flat in the stern, powered through a V-drive by a large V-8 engine. She is powered by a 292 cubic inch Ford Interceptor with three downdraft carburetors and an Edelbrock intake manifold. The Interceptor was a legendary line of V-8s used in muscle cars, maybe most famously in Mad Max's heavily modified '73 Ford Falcon. This Mariner was designed for more than just speed, though, as evidenced by the reclined sunbed in the cockpit. As is noted on the side, Gentlman Jim set records at Miami's Orange Bowl regatta in 1964 with Jim Herrington at the wheel. She turned the fastest recorded times for E-service runabouts in the 1, 3, 6, and 9-hour runs in a single event, the 9-hour marathon. Jim kept Gentleman Jim in storage for along time before giving it to Fred Alter, his long time friend and fellow raceboat driver, shortly before his death. The gift was made on condition that Fred give the boat to a museum at some point, which he did in 2005. Gentleman Jim was never restored, and is in very good original shape. She was in the water in the late 1990s, including at the 1994 ABM Raceboat Regatta. She remains in good shape, though her finish is dull and there are one or two splits in the fiberglass at the edges of the transom. EVS 08Collection
BoatsAcquisition
Accession
2005.020Source or Donor
Alter, FredAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Manufacturer
Mariner Boat WorksDate made
1963Notes
Propulsion: Inboard Engine: Ford Interceptor V8 Cylinders: 8Location
Wall
EastRoom
Bay 1Building
*Don Doebler Collections Storage FacilityWall
EastRoom
Bay 2Building
*Don Doebler Collections Storage FacilityMarv Hart Storage