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WATERSKI MagazineDid you know the first speedometer didn't appear on a boat dashboard until the late 1950s? It was developed by Aqua Meter; until that time tachometers were the only way to gauge boat speed.
Soon thereafter came the humble beginning of speed control in 1959. Ski pioneer Stew McDonald remembers setting up a system on a Crosby, matched with twin six-cylinder Mercurys, which allowed the Aqua Meter to cut off the spark plugs once a speed was reached to maintain that speed through the course.
“At the time, there was a lot of variances going on in driving, and we wanted to have better control over the boat speed,” remembers McDonald.
Why didn't it stick? Twin Mercs quickly went out of style, replaced by Leo Bentz's soon-to-be famous inboard, the early Correct Craft Atom Skier (the first Ski Nautique).
