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Born 2 Be Wild
There’s a lot of admiration for Steve down this way, and tooling around the Bay on 2 WILD was a blast. There’s a little bit of a cult following here, because of the outrageous racing rigs Steve has put together...so his arrival in 2 WILD was met with incredible enthusiasm. The scene was comparable to Fiesta in Gloucester, where they parade the St. Peter statue through the square, cheer “Tutti Mutti,” and pin dollar bills to the icon... As 2 WILD made a “processional sail” through the fleet at Harpswell, it was almost as if a fatted calf were being raised to the tribe: this was a boat for every guy who ever had a burn pile, or thought you needed an expensive engine to qualify, or justify entering to race. Steve would more likely have Island Pizza on his speed dial than Sonny’s Automotive. A huge part of Johnson’s ability to dazzle is he just goes for it—he’s not into big budget racing. The legendary HATE ME ROSE was made from scraps—the carnage of former boats. “We put 2 WILD together in about two weeks. 2 WILD is a SISU 26—the spoilers make it a 28.” Steve points to a guy named Victor. “He’s one of the engine donors.” Steve tossed the idea of a third engine around with mechanic Bill Dyer who hangs back quietly, making an occasional comment, but always half listening to the engine. Johnson's Boatyard went full tilt to get 2 WILD in the water and ready to roll. The same spirit goes into all of the jobs that come into their Long Island shop. Dan Johnson, John Billings, Steve and his wife, Lynne paid some serious attention to detail when finishing Patty and Lou Sandmaier’s MALILEGUA (home port, Little Diamond Island.) Johnson’s finished out the Charles Wittholz Hull (No.90) like a yacht. When Patti mentioned she wished they could have a wheel made of wood rather than stainless steel, Steve came up with one. Johnson consistently delivers the unexpected with his ability to deliver without much hype. “Steve gets these ideas and just goes to work.” In 2005, Steve showed up at Winter Harbor with a seaplane. Howdie Houghton, “special envoy” for the Fishermen’s Voice, remembers Johnson would usually stop in at Bar Harbor on his way to the Winter Harbor races. One year, “He had this boat—the engine filled the whole thing.” That was the time Steve and Joe Scola decided to put a Chevy 454 into the SHORT FELLOW, a Repco 21. “His first boat had a Model A engine he dragged out of the woods, then he took the back seat out of a car,” says Steve’s mother. “He was always so fast—he’d always knock over his milk at the table.” She laughs as her son walks washboard to washboard across rafted boats, rocking in the wake of a serious diesel class battle, without spilling a drop from the Budweiser he’s got in his hand. Steve hops over the rails of his daughter’s boat and grabs his mother in a bear hug. After one Winter Harbor Race, Crystal Burch climbed off WHAT’S LEFT and walked up to Steve after he got this trophy. “It was bigger than her,” laughs Richard Hildings. “She said she wanted to go racing with him because he won all the time.” So Johnson handed her the trophy and said “Let’s GO!” Crystal’s been racing on WILD ONE ever since. Her brother, Richard races the skiff NOT MUCH, always placing high in the end of season points. Lisa, the kids and Mom, knows how to do things. At Searsport, she asked if anyone was hungry. In the cooler was an entire roast turkey. At Harpswell, there were boiled lobsters, steak tips, and chowder in bread bowls aboard one of the Johnson clan’s boats. Being one of the more prominent racers, the engine questions are unavoidable. Steve is never sure what one of his racing machines will do, and who else is? The element of mystery keeps it fun. And, anyway, “Talking about horse-power is kinda like wrecking Christmas.” |
