If it was retarded that far, I doubt the engine would run at all.
The marks move from left to right as you look down on them. The first mark is 30BTDC, then 5deg intervals to TDC. Are you sure its not reading 40BTDC? I have actually found that my timing light seems to give DOUBLE the actual reading, might be the case with you, so actual timing is 20BTDC (still a bit too much). To get an accurate reading, lift #1 coil, and insert a plug / coil lead between it and #1 plug, then read the timing in a "conventional" way.