1974 cowes - torquay.. - Powerboat Archive

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30 AUGUST 1974 FRIDAY FORTN IGHTLY 25p

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The record falls at the hands'
of Bonomi after battling with fellow
countryman de Angelis while Sopwith's
unfalterinq turbine and Dallas's
cat look"good for the future
Report by Ray Bulman
Photographs by Eric Coltham
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Cowes,/Torquay / Cowes
Race report
AFTER rvhat looked like being one of the
worst supported evcrrts in its l4-r'ear history.
the 1974 Embiissl,' '
Dail-y Express
CoweslTorclual''Cowes Power-boat Race
turned out to be one of the most exciting.
Italian Carlo Bonorni repeated his 1972
victorv when he romped honre to a devastating
win Iast weekerrd. Driving I)rr \ltrrtitri
his 1973 3611 Don Aronow designed
Cigarette his pair of 600hp Kiekhaefer
Aeromarine engines gave him a record
hreaking avcrage speed of 66.9rnph, .2mph
faster than the 1969 record set by Don
Aronow.
Second across the line. 39 minutes later.
came .[Irs.r f,rtrltusst driven b1' Tommv
Sopu,ith and Cl.rarles de Selincourt. This was
her most outstanding perforntance since her
launch bv Planatec I Vosper last season. The
42ft Don Sherid-designed racer was pon'ered
b',' a single Rolls Royce Cnome gas turbine
and hence competed in the experimental
class. This n-ieant that she did not c1r-ralifi,-' for
anv prize in the general classification including
the second place award. Nevertheless her
57.09mph average certainly pror,'ed that her
winter engine nrodifications have been
extremelt, successful.
Perhaps the rnost erciting rcsult was the
placing ot lJ'igsir\ 7i,o7rc finishing third
il\erllll lnd :cc,rnd orr the prizc placing.
I)riven b1' Keith Dallas. .lohn Caulcutt and
Clir e CLrrti: .hc ar erlgcd 55.2mph [or the
256-rnile race and nrust have set Class I and
II enthr-rsiasts thinking along new lines. She
is a.larles Beard designed Cougar catamaran
powered bl four l50hp Mercurv outboards,
and the perlormance bv an outfit of
this conl'iguration is the best the world has
seen this vear.
'I'hird or.'erall (f'ourth across the line).
rvere Charles Cilland Mike Bellanry in I l.ika
/r. Raced until this season as //7.!, her new
o*,ner t'itted outdrive units in place of her
convcntional shafts l:rst rvinter. and like the
turbine hoat. these rrrodifications were
reflected in her ave rage of 52.4mph sor-ne
speed for a craft clesigned and built five lears
ago.
Late entries
I lt:l ri iitlcr': energr crisi: al ()ne time
placed the event in doubt. It was not certain
u,hether tucl woLrld bc allorved for anr'
branch o1' motoriz-ed sport and as this race
needs careful long tcrm planning it was the
creditirhlc det'i:i,'rr,)l' ils i()inl \non\or:.
Embassv and Dailv Express to go ahead.
Neve rtheless. such u crisis is bound to har"e
somc ellect lnd this \\a\ no doubt the reason
whv entries werc unlrsuallv lo',i bv the
closing date. Sevural boats planned for this
continued overleaf

MoroR BoAr o*o rorir,ic
Cowes,/To rq uay,/ Cowes
Race report
continued
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Tpp. thc Co1q1t.((t(yplrun 6l DallUt, (-uttlt rrll ttntl (-ttrli.: ltttttcrctl tltrttttgh
t() (tt1 ()ttl\l(ttt(lin.q /itti.sh l,chintl tltt ctlttritttt'ttlul' 11vfii111-ltltnoretl Miss
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/r.rr IJno-Fmbassv iri //lr' lt)tt":1 oItt\(1.
vear didn't materializ-e and therefore the
Cowes/ Torquay/ Cowes recaptured the
flavour of earlier events when the maiority of
the field was made up of cabin craft rather
than the out-and-ottt racer. Some boats of
this tvpe were late entries. manv racing for
the first time.
The major prize here has always been the
Beaverbrook Challenge Trophl' awarded to
the first cabin boat to finish. This year it went
Io F-irt'crut lit'i' driven by .lohn and Jack
Renouf. This Perkins diesel-powered Tremlett
finished eighth overall at an average
speed of 43mph which is probabll' .Iohn's
best achievement and .iust reward for the
manv years he has taken Part.
Fast pace
Although the entrv swelled to 39. eight
were scratched bv the time the flag dropped
for the l0.00ant start. Among these was
Black antl White llhi.skt, a turbine powqred
boat having problems with her gearbox.
The field was led awav bv ltalian Guilio
de Angelis in t:rul a Mercruiser powered
sister ship of l)rt Iltrrtirir. Hard on his heels
came Bobby Buchanan-Michaelson in his
Shead designed Planatec ,4ho powered by a
pair of Weslake-tuned Mercruisers. follorved
bv /)rl Murtirtiand.f ohn Davey's re-engined
Enfield Rlit:. Iirtl-Eprhussr' (Planatec
/ Kiekhaefer) and 11r^r.r l:rttltas:r lay fifth
and sixth.
Buchanan-Michaelson, who still holds
the lead in the British Driver's Championship,
was having his best race this season
when disaster struck near Southsea. A
crankshaft dampener on his starboard
engine disintegrated forcing his retirement.
Speeds were high with l'.ra/leading back
past Cowes averaging 70.5mph and /)rr
,llurtini close astern. Iltto-F.tttltastt lay
third. ahead ol Rlit:, \'li,s.s lLtthussr and
Wiggitt.s Teape. The first cruiser' the Earl of
Normanton's new Sonny Levi designed ,4/to
llolunrc lav sixteenth followed bv a whole
gagglc of craft fast falling back as the Cigarettes
and other out-and-out racers forged
ahead.
Earlier reports gave forecasts of fresh to
strong westerll'winds. in places up to force 7.
but this did not ntaterialize and the seas were
littlc more than moderate allowing top
spceds.
48 minutes after the start, ljlrrl thundered
past Bournemouth. one minute ahead
oI l)rr Lltrrtitti. I'rto-L,rtrhu.irl still lay third
*'ith Ii'r,qgli' /l'a7rl sixth a position she
had rnaintained since the first mark off
Ccrwcs. .llttt V,tlrurlt'hit trouble shortlv
before the Bournemouth mark when a prop
shaft sheared. leaving .lack Cunningham in
his vintage Fairer' f irlrl 'sltcctl ro move into
I 5th place overall to head the cabin categor)'.
The leaders nraintained this punishing
pace as t)rtl headed into Lyme Bal' after
rounding Portland Bill. Meanwhtle. Ittttt-
Enrho.ssr (Tim Powell. Col. Ronnie Hoare
and Harry Hyams) on which British hopes

August 30. 7 974
1a1". had retired off Anvil Point. A quick
inspection following a small explosion
rer ealed a broken r alve rocker and an engine
compartment full of petrol vapour. Tim
Po'nvell reluctantly headed back east. This
meant that Blrr: was promoted to third but
she still lay twelve minutes behind the second
Italian. which at the speeds they were travelling
was something like l4 miles.
The trip across l-1'me tsa1', a prospect
that manv mlrst have dreaded when thev
heard the earlier forecast. was comfortable
enough to allou'top speeds. It alwavs proves
a maximum test lbr navigators and it was
ohr iorrslr hcrc that the experience of
Englishman Dag Pike canre to the fore as he
headed I)rr llttrtirrifor the Skerrjes mark.
It was originallv planned that /:r'al'would
carrr British cre\ memher Derek [.lor d hut
at the last minute the ltalian de Angelis took
his l7-vear-old son Elio in his place. This
could have proved his undoing {or l)rr
ll,lurtirti gained almost a mile by closing the
gap before the Skerries mark and rounding
Torbav at l2.l7pm in the lead.
Two crali pushing up the f ield were .lohn
London/
Robinson's Class III
Calais/ London winner Ti,qar Ti,qar
(CougarrMercurl-) and the Hon Edward
Greenall's Gec. 7'iscr lirlcr', competing here
in Class II. rvas lf ing seventh. overall in the
prize placings as the!'headed into the bay
iust behind the little 25ft single engined
Tel.trar. in which Sopwith won the'68 event.
(iee had moved up and was two places
ahead. four minutes behind il1,eqitts Tco1tt,.
lJnfortunately , 'l'iq(r Tiger broke a steering
rod and Ccc lost a propeller blade, so neither
were to see the Torquay turn.
I Lil;a Ir had moved up two places to
seventh at Torquar', putting her first in the
GT cabin group. five minutes ahead of .1r,,q
Tclelunl;rn. the first outboard powered
mono hull.
Up front tactics in navigation were being
uied to the full. l:rul was letting /)r'r' Murtitti
lead the way. and in order to throw driver de
Angelis into con.rplete confusion Dag Pike
sc1 Dlr' trlurtirti on a course for the channel
inside the Ore Stone. l:ru/'s crew were wary
o1 the channel and stopped, but later
iollowed through what were. in fact. safe
waters. This was followed by several other
stoppages for Eru/ caused by engine ancillarv
drive problems. Although de Angelis
eventually finished fifth overall (fourth in the
prize categorv) he limped home over the last
few miles.
B/il-- was next to go. She had suffered a
whole host of mechanical faults which
started before her I-vme Bay crossing. They
included a split manifold, water in the engine
compartment, loss of power steering, low oil
pressure and finally one engine died completelv
and they retired into Torquav.
Drr llurtini was no\\ unassailable.
barring accidents. and heading 1'or a new
race record. Mis: l:nthus.sr lay second
overall. 32 minutes behind the leader as she
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Embassr'.
l:.r1trcs'irtrtt ttltitlt
tlon't, lx'rltupt. rL/lct t
tltc sltlctttlitl \u( ( ('s\ t)l
Wiggins Teape.
l)riycrs Kcitlt l)ulla:,
lc/t. arttl,loh17 7-,,,,1-
( u ll relu.\' 0llcr l11(
Rritith tlastit.
rounded Portland on her .journey home.
Telstur had meanwhile overtaken ll'igqitt.t
Tcupe in the following sea of the eastward
run a condition not suited to the catamaran,
but later lr,/rtai'was to retire. leaving
Dallas in fourth position. The final pattern
was set when l',ru/ broke down near Hurst
allowing .\1iss [',rrtltus.sr and 14'ig.qins Tea1ta
to shoot past.
Jack Cunningham's Fr.,r'rl .STrccrl looked
certain for the Beaverbrook Challenge
Trophl- when lying ninth overall. one minute
ahead of .lohn Renoufs Firurutlicr, now
her main rival. But in .lack's home waters ofl
Bournemouth Frtt tl .5rrr,, suddenly ran
low on fuel and was forced to take on emergencv
supplies from a dredger working offshore.
Firecracker moved past and Jack
was left to face disoualification for committing
the unforgiveable offence in powerhoat
racing accepting outside assistance.
Overall results
1 Carlo Bononti, Dry Martini. 36ft Cigatette/z
Kiekhaefer Aeronrarine 1200ho. 3hr 48nrin
51.54sec. 2 Keith Dallas, Wiggins Teape, 33It
Cougar Marine 4 Mercury,z60ohp, 4hr 28nrin
1O.47sec. 3 Charles Gill, I Like /r. 33ft Don
Shead,/Souter 2 Fc:rd Sabre,z50Oho. 4hr
37nrin 4.8Ssec. 4 Guilo de Angelis. Eraf. 36tt
Cigarette,/Don Aronow 2 Aeronrarine,
continued overleaf

!;4
Cowes,/Torquay / Cowes
Race results
""T1,;
continued
12O0hp, 4hr 51nrin 55.57sec. 5 Neville
Hutchinson, AEG Telefunken. 30ftSouter/Ray
Hurrt 4 Mercury,/560hp. 6 Charles Morley-
Fletcher, Canicometdo, 32ft 3in Peagasus
Marine,/.J. Jacobs 4 Mercury/600hp. 7
Howard Blackford, Ford Persuader. 32ft
Alunriniunr Allday,/Don Shead 2 Ford,/500hp.
8 .John Renouf, Firecracker. 3Oft, 2
Perkins,/570hp. 9 Sue and Rrchard Griffith,
A nyth ing G oes T h uz. 35ft Trenrlett,/C. Trenllett
2 Perkins,/5OOhp. 10 Staffan Lindhe, Mrss
Sweden. 28tt Satarplast,/Boghanrnrar 2
Volvo,/4Oohn. 11 Claes Nilsson, Siesta. 2Sft
Gilbert 1 Chevrolet 450hp. 12 .John Craxford,
Ford Fantasy. 30ft Fairey Marine./Alan
Burnard 2 Ford,/SOohp. 13 Martyn Harfield,
Miss Delson, 34ft 8in Invader Boats,iK. Raybould
2 Perkins,/SOOhn. 1 4 Messrs.J & G Rolls,
Miss Marine Auctions. 33ft Paul Brons,/Vitofornr
Ltd 4 Mercury,/560hp. 15 Grant Wilson,
Sir Draco Freight Forwarder, 20ft 4in Draco-
Norwiry,/.Jan l-inge 1 Volvo,/ 17Ohp.
Prize list
%;"ffiYtur"
:,it::':,1
T*t;*
tiiii;).1
qELail
First Cruising Boat: John RenouI Firecracker.
Second Cruising Boat: Sue and Riclrard
Griflith Anything Goes Thuz.
Third Cruising Boat: .Johrr Craxforrl Forcl
Fantasy.
Best Af f Rounder: .Johrr Craxtc:rcl Ford
Fantasy.
First Class f l: Keith l)allas Wrggirts Teape
First Past Cowes: Alter Southsea Giulir: de
Angelis Fral .
First Fast Cowes: After Bournemouth Giulitl
de Angelis Fral.
First Past Cowes: After Portland Bill Giulio de
Angelis Fral
First Past Cowes: After Torquay Carlo
Bononri Dry Martini.
First All British: Tonrntv Sopwith Miss
E mbassy.
Diesel Prize: Charles Gill I Like lt.
First British Built Hull: Tr:nrnry Sopwith Mrss
Embassy.
First Af uminium Hull: Howirrd Elacl