Fred and Bob in the Gold Coast Marathon, 1961

We built the first inflatable boat to participate in a documented power boat race, "The Gold Coast Marathon," in 1961.

This race started at the Haulover inlet in Miami, Florida and ended in West Palm Beach. The race went up the intercostal waterway for 63 miles. The next day everyone who made it raced back to Miami. Robert F. Patten piloted the 13' stacked tube design.

The boat had a wooden collapsible v-bottom, remote controlled steering and engine controls and a stock 18 hp outboard. We were in class 1 or 22cu.in. There were 50 starters in our class and 22 finishers.

We placed 7th!

When we got to the entry gate we were stopped by the guard and were told that we couldn't enter without our entry boat. We said we have our boat. He said, "Oh yeah well I'm not blind and you don't have any boat behind your car." Fred calmly replied, "I'm sorry to inform you that we do have a boat and it is in the back packed in a case." He asked us to prove it and we did. Still not fully understanding how crazy we were, he let us pass. We had a hard time getting our papers and were deemed out of our minds since this race was open to all classes including the unlimited class. Fortunately they started first and our class started last. All we saw in front of us was a wall of spray. As we sped up the course there were several 3-point hydros and runabouts that had flipped. My father said that he wanted to stop and help since we were in the life saving business but we had a race to run and a point to make. Dad most of all wanted to show that an inflatable boat was strong and durable and not just a dinghy. He made his point.