Great Lakes Challange...

[BonBini]

An endurance run from Chicago to Detroit. Also referred to as "Assault on the Great Lakes"

Any one remember a failed attempt back in "89" by Chuck Norris, Walter Payton, a crew of three in a 46" Scarab?

 

[1956olds]

No, i dont think you can get them all in a 46 inch scarab anyway no wonder it failed.

 

[jpk33]

But the fuel economy in that boat would be fantastic!

 

[BonBini]

It was a tad bit bigger than 46 inches (sorry for the typo) and the fuel economy wasn’t very good at all. A pair of 3208's fitted with a huge water cooled tractor turbo pushing 500 + hp each. They needed to average 70mph over the 700 mile trip. Cat was geeked up promoting there high performance pleasure craft engine. Turned out it wasn't there finest hour.

 

[390x]

I remember that it happened, but that's about it.

 

[390x]

Kinda short on detail....


July 28, 1989
With Walter Payton standing by, movie tough-guy Chuck Norris took the helm Thursday as the dynamic duo set out on a mission: to set a world speedboat record.
Too bad the boat didn`t have the same endurance that allowed Payton to set the NFL all-time record for running the football.
In orange helmets and life jackets, the pair sped off at 7:03 a.m. for an ``assault on the Great Lakes,`` a 605-mile journey to Detroit

To set the record, they had to arrive in less than 12 hours 34 minutes 41 seconds, the record set in 1983 by Michael Reagan, son of the former president. He covered the distance in a 38-foot Scarab powered by triple-gasoline engines.
Payton and Norris had technical difficulties along the way, said Gary Litchman, spokesman for United Way. They docked at about 10:45 p.m. at Hart Plaza on the Detroit River in downtown Detroit.
The Chicago skyline gleaming in the early-morning sun served as a dramatic backdrop as Payton and Norris cruised past Navy Pier to begin their race against the clock.
Their bright-yellow 46-foot power boat left a showery wake as it crossed the starting line and headed northeast in calm Lake Michigan waters.
The two men hoped to average 70 miles an hour as they followed a horseshoe-shaped route around Michigan to Lake Huron and Detroit.
Before embarking, Norris said they were doing it for ``the challenge.``
Payton was silent as he and Norris awaited their cue to head for the starting line.
Asked whether he could swim, Payton said: ``Contrary to what a lot of people might think, I can swim. Do I enjoy swimming? No.``
``We don`t like to lose,`` Norris said.
Thursday`s race was a fund-raising event for the United Way, one of Payton`s and Norris` favorite charities.

 

[sbw1]

An endurance run from Chicago to Detroit. Also referred to as "Assault on the Great Lakes"

Any one remember a failed attempt back in "89" by Chuck Norris, Walter Payton, a crew of three in a 46" Scarab?

We were in Leland Harbor when they did the event. Sparked a lot of conversation.

 

[BonBini]

I was up to Mackinaw City at Sheplers. Had just started with Cat and was sent to be a Hey Boy for the Cat project engineer. It was supposed to be a very quick gas and go. Lake Michigan blew up as they neared the straits. To keep pace they started jumping the swells. This resulted in the engine hatch braking and fell down on the Cats. They had to stop to secure things. With the damaged hatch the engines were taking a lot of water. An intermittent loss of engine power developed.

The Cat guy was getting quite nervous and started asking me what I brought for tools, at one point we were going to the boat but then it finally showed up.

The boat was putting out tons of black smoke. The Cat engineer had me checking the turbos, he felt the water had damaged them. The turbos were fine and that’s about all the time we had. The Shepler guys had fixed to hatch, the boat was fueled and they wanted to go.

As the Scarab throttled up tons of black smoke poured from the port engine and nothing from the starboard. A few minutes later Hey Boy was in a boat heading out to the Scarab with instructions to pull the air fuel ratio valve off the starboard and get the engine to run with out it. By the way; don’t let the two boats touch, not even with your body connecting the two. You’ll have to jump, the officials are watching closely.

On a 3208, the air fuel ratio valve is next to the fuel solenoid. I seen the power wire just hanging by a thread in the crimp connecter. The broken hatch had knocked it loose. It was pretty awesome watching both Cats getting plenty of fuel and then clearing up nicely as the turbos spooled up.

At work the next day we heard they didn’t make it. They lost a prop not long after the fuel stop. Navigation was out so they resorted to following the shore line. This took them up Saginaw Bay which wasted even more time… Was one of my more fun days at work.