Wakeboarding - June 01, 2018

By Charles Plueddeman

118 | BOATINGMAG.COM | JUNE 2018

OFF MY DOCK

I

t was a case of mistaken identity that time when a security guard

forced the CEO off the dock at a boat race. Who knew this older gen-

tleman in the big straw sun hat, wearing his trousers high and a cam-

era around his neck like a tourist, was in fact the man paying for the

race. He wasn’t wearing the required credentials. And so, despite his pro-

testation, Charles D. Strang, CEO of Outboard Marine Corporation, was

escorted off the starting dock just before his fleet of Johnson- and

Evinrude-powered Formula 1 tunnel boats blasted off with a howl of two-

stroke horsepower.

The old man was pissed.

This now-humorous incident

is one of the memories I have of

Charlie Strang, who died in March

at age 96. Well-known to indus-

try insiders, Strang never had the

public name recognition of more

flamboyant personalities like

Evinrude or Kiekhaefer or Aronow, but his impact on pleasure boating

was profound. In 1947, Strang sketched out a design for a sterndrive while

working as a research associate at MIT. In 1951, he became director of

research at Kiekhaefer Mercury and immediately showed his idea to Carl

Kiekhaefer, who thought he was nuts. Strang then conspired with others

to produce the sterndrive behind Kiekhaefer’s back, which resulted in the

1959 introduction of the Volvo Penta Aquamatic, the original inboard/

outboard. Strang ’s improved design debuted as the original MerCruiser in

1961 (Kiekhaefer changed his mind). Strang jumped to OMC as director

of marine engineering in 1966 and

retired as board chairman in 1993.

Strang loved outboard racing

and was instrumental in getting

the Johnson and Evinrude brands

back into competition in 1967. Pre-

vious leadership considered racing

a waste of money. Strang saw it as  a

testing ground. He directed the cre-

ation of the U.S. Formula 1 series

that ran from 1984 to 1990, heavily

supported by OMC to showcase the

3.5-liter V-8 racing outboards.

I was the most junior OMC PR

buckaroo in 1985 when Strang was

booted from a floating dock prior

to the Chattanooga Grand Prix.

Strang enjoyed the perks of his posi-

tion and would fly in on race day

aboard the OMC King Air. One of

my tasks was to set up the boss’s

rented motor home parked in the

pits. I got the air conditioning blast-

ing, set out a packet of news clip-

pings documenting our PR efforts,

and arranged fresh fruit and chilled

white wine for his secretary at the

time, Barbara.

After being kicked off the dock,

Strang stewed in the motor home

and then refused to sign the purse

checks until someone was fired.

He finally settled down and signed.

Before the next race, however, race

director Barry Caris and I prepared

wanted posters with Strang ’s vis-

age — in his straw hat — that were

distributed to all personnel with the

message “This man needs no cre-

dentials and can go anywhere he

wants.” No more mistaken identity.

After being kicked off the dock,

Strang stewed in the motor

home and then refused to sign

the purse checks until someone

was fired.

BUT IT’S MY BOAT RACE!

The day the CEO got kicked off the dock. Oops.

BOATING (ISSN 0006-5374) (USPS 504-810), June 2018, Volume 91, No. 6. ©2018. Boating is published nine times a year (January/February, March, April, May, June, July/August, September, October

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ILLUSTRATION: TIM BOWER; PHOTO: MABEL PLUEDDEMAN