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Jim Wynn |
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Jim Wynne, a powerboat racer and
pleasure-boat designer who influenced both aspects of boating, died
in Miami after an extended illness at the age of 60. |
Jim Wynn's engineering developments in
creating and perfecting the deep-V hulls and the inboard/outboard
powerboat drive engines known as stern drives not only made possible
high-speed offshore racing but also proved a boon to millions of
pleasure and military craft afloat worldwide.
In 1958, he and a fellow boat builder, Ole Botved, completed the
first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by outboard motor, going from
Copenhagen to New York City in 11 days. |
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In 1964, Wynne won the first World
Open Class championship. He won the title again two years later.
Besides competing, Wynne often wrote on offshore powerboat
racing. He was also an accomplished skin diver who appeared in the
television series "Sea Hunt" with Lloyd Bridges. |
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Jim Wynne, invented Volvo Penta’s aquamatic drive,
and was named the most influential person in the
motor boat industry
in the 20th Century,
according to a ranking in the highly regarded
Motor Boat & Yachting. |
| The Volvo Penta "Aquamatic
Drive", which was launched in 1959, is according to
Motor Boat and Yachting, the 20th Century’s single
most important development in small-craft
technology, which made the mass production of cheap,
fast, inboard sports boats possible." |
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