Jim McCormick's Miss Timex (1971)

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

Jim McCormick did indeed own the MISS TIMEX (U-8) that appeared at the 1971 Madison Gold Cup. This was the 1970 PARCO'S O-RING MISS, an Ed Karelsen hull that Jim had bought from Laird Pierce a few days before the race. Yes, he was driving against his own boat when he piloted the MISS MADISON (U-6).

Here's the story:

At the start of the 1971 season, the Timex sponsorship belonged to a certain Gordon Deneau of Detroit who had been in and out of boat racing since the 1950s. Deneau and MISS TIMEX (U-75) finished third at the 1971 season-opener in Miami with rookie Tom Sheehy driving. The U-75 was a previously unraced hull that had been built in 1970 by Les Staudacher.

Despite the good showing at Miami, the U-75 team quickly went down hill in terms of performance. Once the Timex people got a good look at the workings of Deneau's operation, they pulled the sponsorship. The U-75, by the way, did show up at the 1971 Gold Cup with a new owner (Lou Nuta, Sr.) and a new name (MISS MIAMI) but was unable to qualify for the race.

Enter Jim McCormick.

Jim had for some time been toying with the idea of starting his own team. (In 1969, he had briefly co-owned a boat called MY CUPIEE.) When Gordon Deneau defaulted on the Timex sponsorship in mid-season 1971, Jim invited the Timex corporation to sponsor the U-8.

McCormick finished the season in the cockpit of MISS MADISON and won two races--the Gold Cup and the Tri-Cities Atomic Cup--while Ron Larsen piloted MISS TIMEX. After 1971, Jim left the MISS MADISON team and piloted his own craft--under the Timex sponsorship--in 1972.