1962 cowes - torquay.. - Powerboat Archive

THE 

^'\'.FFIJT)DL 

Uff)11 urf\,- P O W E R B O AT 

RACE 

@f".;l 

"tr+*e-*l : 

Soon ofter the stort Tramontona (2) holds 

second ploce in Blue Moppie's woke. ln the 

background ore lockie S (10, left) ond 

Ultimo Deo (21J. 

The 'Daily Express' 

lnternational Race 

Reported by 

ANTHONY NEEDELL 

F1.rHE early morning of Saturday, 

I September 8th, saw the anxious 

I faces of 45 fast boat crews awake 

and studying the sea and sky over the 

Solent. Undoubtedly the question which 

had dominated the Offshore Powerboat 

Race competitors for weeks was the 

weather. It turned out much as forecast, 

W.N.W. at about force 4 to 5 with good 

visibility, and to the relief of all, the 

race was ON. As the 10 a.m. starting 

time approached, a vast crowd assembled 

all along the Cowes front and beaches, 

and even more irnpressive was the huge 

spectator boat fleet of sailing and power 

cruisers, dinghies, runabouts - the lot. 

Indeed, so many craft were around as 

to cause a few worries over interference 

with the race fleet. The field finally 

totalled 42 out of 47, but this excellent 

showing did not really compensate for 

the disappointment that the missing 

612 

five included last year's winner Tommy 

Sopwith with No. 1, Thunderbolt II and 

that stalwart veteran, Bruce Campbell, 

with Christina IX: both boats encountered 

last-minute troubles. No. 41, the 

only all-British outboard, had withdrawn 

before the race, one boat was 

excluded and Dr. Trost of Germany just 

didn't turn up, which perhaps justifies 

the sponsors' views of the Common 

Market. 

This year, to give the boys and girls 

a bit more to do, and also give the Cowes 

spectators better value, the course at 

the start was arranged from East to 

West, over the Royal Yacht Squadron 

line out to the East Lepe buoy, nearly 

two miles away, a 90o turn to starboard 

down to the Gurnard Ledge, where 

the course turned another 90o to the 

Eastward leaving an M.V,F. moored 

(continued on page 614)

CASTR(IL UUII{S 

DAI LY EXPRESS I NTERNATIONAL OFFSHORE 

P(!WERB(}AT RAOE 

The 1962 winner,'Tramontono', owned by R. S. Wilkins ond built by VOSPER Ltd. 

1st TRAM0]{TA]{A 

Driven by J. K. QUILL 

(Subject to officiol conftrmotion) 

Always askfor 

Castrolbyneme 

613

Ofrshore Powerboat Race-(continued) 

offEgypt Point to starboard, and thence 

on course to southsea. 

At about 9.57 a.m. the varied fleet 

started to get into position for the 

controlled time start, in which boats in 

principle made an ordinary flying 

start but in fact used the M.T.B. Brave 

Borderer as a guide boat, as in a rolling 

start. Nos. 46 Blotto, and29 Sansavino, 

were hopelessly adrift, being not only 

in the penalty area but over the line 

as well after the flve minute gun. A 

minute to go, and a wonderful start 

was in the making, several rows of 

craft in line abreast stretching for a 

t mile inland of Borderer, and increasing 

speed as they approached the line. 

Blue Moppie, close in to the guide boat, 

seemed to have the edge, Yo Yo well 

up, also Jackie S, Tramontana a little 

hemmed in. But right inshore Max 

Aitken, in Glass Moppie, came through, 

and as Borderer turned awaY, made a 

tremendous start and led at the gun. 

As they disappeared Blue MoPpie 

seemed to take command, withJackie S 

close behind and Tramontana, statting 

to eat 'em up. Having seen the big 

boys away, I turned to see a continuous 

fleet of craft still crossing the line-it 

must have taken a full 30 seconds at 

least. I remember seeing the huskY 

Keith Nelson boat (No. 39) unconcernedly 

plunging through the seas 

set up by the leader's wash, and several 

of the smaller, slower boys were certainly 

having it rough. No. 46 seemed 

already in trouble, crawling across, off 

the plane. In a glorious fever we gazed 

at the M.F.V. off Egypt Point and after 

what seemed pretty long it was the light 

blrc'e Blue Moppie which fairly streaked 

round first with Tramontana a quite 

appreciable way back followed by the 

sporting Dr. Savundra a very good third. 

Thereafter the fleet streamed past, with 

Ultima Dea's Maseratis rushing uP 

towards the front. I particularly noticed 

the big diesel boat Lindsay Chase in 

the first dozen, thus indicating early 

on the capabilities she was to prove. 

At Southsea, Moppie still led bY 10 

seconds from Tramontana, with Dt. 

Savundra a mere 15 seconds further 

behind, still leading the snarling Maseratis 

under Agnelli's control. Lobster 

Thermidor passed fifth followed by 

A'Sperenziella. On the long run out to 

the N.A.B, Tramontana moved into first 

place, whilst wein Borderer were tearing 

through Spithead to catch up the fleet. 

Climbing aboard in Cowes after rushing 

down from commentating on the 

Squadron Balcony, I was horrifled to 

meet Sonny Levi, Settimo Yelo. His 

fast inboard/outboard had failed going 

to the 1ine, so he was hitching a ride. 

Neither Belinda, No. 33, nor Bolney 

passed Southsea. History thus repeated 

itself, with three out at the start. As we 

left Spithead the sea was already rough 

enough but we got to the shelter of 

Sandown Bay in time lo see Tramontana 

coming through, followed by Moppie, 

scarcely 40 seconds behind, these 

leaders having averaged 38 knots. 

Jackie S had been overtaken by Ultima 

Dea,bothbeing about 7 minutes behind. 

Kety, in the hands of Mercury experts 

Melly and Merryfield, had disappeared, 

Alphabet swamped herself and Contango 

I sportingly went to the rescue and then 

retired herself. Under way again in 

Borderer we met rough stuff South of the 

Island. I asked Sonny Levi how conditions 

compared with last year, and he 

reckoned that while they didn't look so 

vicious, they were pretty nearly as bad. 

Arxiously, we looked for the leaders, 

and soon spotted the long sleek green 

hull moving purposefully and steadily 

through the seas and throwing out 

clouds of light spray. Right behind her 

times not 20 yards astern-was 

Blue -at Moppie, leaping, dancing but 

always looking safe. Sam Griffiths 

was now really showing us that his 

fame was no fluke; cleverly he kept 

Moppie in Tramontana's wake, the 

masterly trim of his craft giving the 

crew an easy ride. We paced them awhile 

at nearly 30, yes 30, knots in that rough 

and tumble, and then sped on to 

Boscombe where, as last year, the water 

was calm in the land's shelter. Riding 

just as intended, Tramontana came 

through at 11.47 with Moppie just 

40 seconds behind. None scamed the 

horizon for third man as keenly as 

Levi, and soon Ultima Dea appearcd 

from quite the wrong direction, found 

the mark with difficulty, turned out to 

sea, slowed and turned right round 

towards the shore and flnally shot off 

on correct course. Only the narrow 

and crowded confines of Borderer's 

bridge stopped Sonny dancing with 

frustrated rage at this nonsensical 

navigation of his brain-child. About 

The ltolion'Ultimo Deo' ot sDeed 

13 minutes later Jackie S rode happily 

through, followed two minutes later by 

A'Speranziella and another surprise. 

Undaunted by all this horsepower and 

high seas litt\e Yo Yo II lay sixth, 15 

seconds behind in the Italian's wake 

alad 24 minutes behind Tramontana itt 

56 miles. Once more the English Channel 

south of the island took its toll; nine 

boats were eliminated in this stretch, 

the most disappointing being the Levidesigned 

Cowes-built Trident powered 

by three Volvos. Her intrepid pilot Don 

Shead had got her up to seventh overall 

at the N.A.B., ahead of Yo Yo, but 

she went out somewhere off Ventnor. A 

very sad retirement was Connie II, a 

handsome and well-equipped Christina 

which foundered off the Island coast, 

her brave husband and wife crew rowing 

themselves ashore in their rubber 

dinghy. All along the Dorset coast the 

sea remained bumpy and rain squalls 

increased discomfort and decreased 

visability. Here poor Dr. Salundra 

ran into trouble and, before Weymouth, 

was passed by Nos. 16 and 15; by 

Portland Lindsay Chase had also passed 

him. Although some of them made the 

'Bilf the Boscombe-Portland leg 

knocked out another six. Morgan-Giles 

really touched rock bottom. After 

losing Monaco Mutineer before the race 

his Monaco Midget struck something 

and he had to make Weymouth. 

Designer Colin Mudie and his nonchalant 

spouse Rosemary suffered 

trouble in one engine after a happy run 

in the beautiful big Smoked Salmon; 

her smaller sister, Lobster Thermidor, 

piloted by Sir Robert Hobart, was now 

thundering along at the back of the field 

after twice repairing his steering. In our 

'Committee Commuter' we saw little 

of this as we dallied rather too long in 

Poole Bay, and we arrived at Portland 

to find that the two leaders had passed. 

We also found a most horriblv confused 

6t4

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TOP:'Cheetoh l' (9), driven by John Coombs ond E. Freezer, ond Kerry (45), the outboord of 

Len Melly and John Merryfield. 

sea and, a few miles beyond, Blue 

Moppie. I think that this is where she 

lost all chance of making a race of it, 

for although only 4$ minutes behind at 

Portland, she just didn't have the length 

or power to cornbat the seas over the 

ten miles or so west of the Bill. We 

left her trying to decide whether to do 

a Bruce Campbell, and go round close 

inshore, or bash it out on the straight 

line. Coming up with Tramontana, we 

found her sailing serenely on, having 

no doubts about the shortest distance 

between two points. She was perhaps 

down to 26-27 knots. To help our 

photographers the Navy now gave us 

a big thrill. They took Borderer astern 

ffi 

CENTRE : lto I i a n-desi gn ed, Cow es-bu i lt' T ri dent', d r iv en by D. Sheod. 

BOTTOM: R. J. Chose's 'Lindsoy Chose'" 

ax'*.ffi 

of the leading boat and gradually up 

on her wake, until we could see right 

down into her cockpit, where they 

seemed to be positively lounging in their 

seatsl Having got the shots, Borderer 

neatly peeled off to starboard. The 

weather now started to 'fine off' a lot 

and the last 20 miles or so of the 

notorious bay got calmer and calmer 

until it was positively indecent off Torbay 

itself! This last long leg still repeated 

the last race pattern, only one boat 

Spumante retiring, a water hose failure 

bringing about a sinking condition. 

To everyone's delight its crew sent up 

their rockets to atftact a tow home. 

The three leaders stayed the same 

but the others had a little sorting. 

Before Weymouth Yo yo had already 

passed into an incredible fourth place, 

but I irlflsay Chase passed, her, the ailing 

Jackie S trailed away, the wonderful 

girls Pamela Campbell and Letty Curtis. 

in Thunderbolt I, came up into 7th 

lp_ot 1ld the big handsome Anglesey 

(No. 7) recovered to 8th place after 

trouble earlier. We roared into Torbay 

and disembarked amidst a vast and 

interested crowd, with a bright sun 

shining on a calm bay absolutely covered 

with little boats, and awaited the 

finishing stages, enlivened this year by 

the course taking them right round 

Torbay and out again to Teignmouth 

and back to the finishing line ofl 

Torquay. Tramontana duly appeared, 

ju-st before 3 p.m., riding much happiei 

after getting rid of about 2 tons of fuel. 

Sh9 _y-as 

followed by Blue Moppie, 

and Ultima Dea passed as Tramoiiana 

finished amid cheers, sirens and waves. 

She had taken 5 hours and 20 minutes 

for 170 miles, an average of nearly 32 

knots. Now the excitement mou;ted, 

Lindsay Chase rounded Berry Head, 

closely pursued by little yo yo, ani! 

by the time they reappeared. at the 

fuish the American wonder had got back 

his,fourth place. A sadly ail ing A; Speran_ 

ziella next appeared, trailed remorselv 

by the girls who were now really turning 

up the wick. They took the Italian. anJ 

were all set for no less than sixth place 

when the gremlins in charge of the fuel 

shortage department got to work: 

they struggled to Teignmouth in ninth 

place, and flnally stopped for good a 

miserable 2f miles from the finish. They 

hadn't run out, the wretched stuff 

would not flow. What a tragedy. Meanwhile, 

in this same last leg, Glass Moppie 

and Charles Currey with Fairey Aiirc_ 

man pushed Anglesey down to eighth 

place. The rest then came one by bne, 

the last being the outboard-powered 

Thunderbird, checking in at 5 minutes to 

8 p.m. Poor little lanthe was again out 

of luck, finally getting to Torquay only 

about 15 minutes outside the tim! 

limit. 

The happy atmosphere after the 

finish was marred by one of those sad. 

sad incidents which every race committee 

dreads. Three of the most couraseous 

finishers, Illtima Dea, A,Spuaizielta 

and Jackie ^S were all reported as 

having failed to round the Iiranksome 

Chine buoy. All three were sincerelv 

under the impression they had followei 

the course but, on learning that their 

errors were confirmed, all three with_ 

drew their course completion declarations, 

leaving the Committee no alternative 

but to eliminate them from the 

results. Courteous sportsmanship on all 

sides soon resolved the matter, and 

everyone celebrated a prize-giving in 

which even parts of the ceremonv were 

joyously hilarious. 

615

THE HOPEFUL 

aaaa 

Numerical List of Entrants 

Race 

No. 

I 

2 

Boat 

Thunderbolt II 

Tramontana 

Smoked Salmon 

4 Lobster Thermidor 

5 Christim II 

6 Christirc X 

7 Anglesey 

8 Connie II 

9 Cheetah I 

l0 Jockie S. 

I I Momco Mutineer 

l2 Monaco Midget 

l4 Gsy Gazelle 

t5 YeYo II 

16 A'Snerenziella 

l7 Setiimo Velo 

18 Trident 

19 Spumente 

2l Ultirc Dea 

22 Lindsay Chue 

23 lanthe 

24 Occqsionql Admirql 

26 Bella II 

27 Faire! Huntsmm 

28 Fairey Huntress 

29 Smsavino 

30 The Lesser Nit 

31 Michele 

32 Alpine Mist 

33 Belinda II 

34 BIue Musketeer 

35 Pqcemaker 2l 

36 Sea Skiff I 

37 Algor I 

38 Tiji II 

39 Espoir 

40 Thunderbird 

41 Bqli Ha'i 

42 Red Bandit 

43 Alphobel 

44 Glass Moppie 

45 Kerry 

46 Blotto 

47 Merkur 8 

88 Blue Moppie 

Owner 

Tommy Sopwith 

R. S. Wilkins 

Sir Robert Hobart 

Sir Robert Hobart 

Pamela Campbell 

Broce Cmpbell 

C, W. T. Pochin 

P, W. Hicks 

J. Coombs and E. Freezer 

Dr. E. Savundra 

M. L. Morgan-Giles 

M. L. Morgan-Giles 

S. C. Maey 

R. Bertram (U.S.A.) 

R. Levi (It.) 

A. Petroni (It.) 

D. Shead 

A. S. Hubbard 

G. Agnelli (It.) 

R. J. Chase 

H. R. Read 

Norman Ricketts 

F. E. Carvill (Nor.) 

Maj. C. Chichester-Smith 

C. G. James 

S. Healey 

R. Watts 

M. Sacher 

E. F. J. Perkins 

J. Lanyon 

John Blue 

Denys Sessions 

A. P. F. Dempster 

E. F. H. Beeson 

A, D. Forndran 

P. and R. Thomycroft 

-A.. Dunning 

A. Webster 

David Millbank 

A. Betteridge 

Max Aitken 

L. Melly and J, Merryfield 

B. W. Lewis 

Dr. O. Trost (Ger.) 

Peter Blond 

tI/J, 

Length 

Driver 

Owner - 32 

J. K. Quill 39 

Colin Mudie 34 

Owner 23 

Owner 23 

Owner 23 

Owner 37 

Owner 23 

E. Freezer 29 

Owner 35 

Cdr. C. Parsons 38 

Owner 24 

Omer 34 

J. R. Wyme 22 

A. Petroni 26 

R. Levi 20 

Ower 19 

Owner 30 

Owner 32 

S. F. Hewett 33 

Owner 18 

Capt. G. Hunt, RNR 31 

Owner 23 

Chas. Currey 25 

Peter Twiss 20 

Owner 20 

Owner 20 

D.Grose 25 

Noel Tolkien 2l 

Owner 18 

Owner 22 

Owner 

tB 

A. Cribb 24 

Owner 18 

Owner 18 

Owners 30 

F. Prout 22 

Owner 20 

Nigel Riley 22 

Owner 23 

Owner 

Owners 

Owner 

Owner 

Owner 

28 

2l 

20 

J) 

28 

Eaqines 

Triple Crusaders 

Twin C.R.M.s 

Twin Chryslers 

One CheYrolet 

Twin Crusaders 

Crusader 

Twin Coventry Climax 


Twin Volvos 

Twin Jaguars 

Triple Chryslers 

Twin Caterpillars (D) 

Twin Perkins (D) 

Twin Rolls-Royce 

Twin Volvos 


Twin Mercruisers 

Twin Volvos 

Twin G Mrtors (D) 

Triple Mazeratis 

Triple G Motors (D) 

Twin Evinrudes (O) 

Triple Perkins (D) 

Twin Volvos 

Twin Barracudas (D) 

Dearborn Interceptor 

Twin Volvos 

Perkins (D) 

Twin Barracudas (D) 

Twin Rootes Alpines 


Twin Volvos 


Twin Chris-Craft 

Twin Volvos 

Healey 

Twin Perkins (D) 

Twin Johnsons (O) 

Twin Bermudas (O) 

Twin Healey 

Twin Mercuries (O) 

Twin Chryslers 

Twin Mercuries (O) 

Twin Zephyrs 

Twin Chris Craft 

Twin Fords 

Stoted 

B.H.P. 

I,180 

2.308 

930 

650 

360 

400 

650 

200 

400 

900 

430 

460 

200 

600 

460 

200 

350 

1,380 

591 

150 

3'15 

2N 

200 

240 

200 

105 

200 

150 

270 

160 

220 

3'to 

130 

102 

260 

150 

80 

250 

90 

600 

200 

168 

550 

660 

Designer 

Brue Campbell 

Cdr. Peter DuCme 

Ray Hmt 

Ray Hut 

Ray Hunt 

Bruce Campbell 

Ufa Fox 

Ray Hunt 

Fairmile Construction Co. 

Cyril V. Hughes 

Morgan Giles 

Morgan Giles 

Dorset Yacht Co. 

Ray Hunt 

Renato Levi 

Renato l€vi 

Renato Levi 

Renato Levi 

Renato Levi 

G. Pearn 

G. L. Watson & Co. 

Philip Ellis 

Nils Pran 

Ray Hunt 

Ray Hunt 

Ray Hunt 

Ray Hmt 

Ray Hunt 

Cox & Haswell 

Britannia Marine Plastics 

Ray Hunt 

Port Hamble Ltd. 

Chris Craft Corp, 

W. & J, Tod Ltd. 

Brooklands Aviation Ltd, 

T.T. Boat Designs Ltd. 

Prout Bros. 

A, Webster 

W. F. Rayner Ltd. 

Uffa Fox 

Ray Hunt 

David Martin 

Phil Hughes 

Chris Craft 

Ray Hunt 

Builder 

Broce Campbell Ltd. 

Vosper Ltd. 

Bertram Yacht Co. 

Bruce Campbell Ltd. 


Halmatic Ltd, 

Pochins Ltd. 


A. E, Freezer 

Jacqueline Group 

Morgan Giles 

Morgan Giles 

Dorset Yacht Co. 

Bertram Yacht Co, 

Cantiere Navaltechnie 

Cantiere Navaltechnica 

R. W. Clark 

Cantiere Navaltechoica 

Cantiere Navaltechnica 

Peam & Sons 

Westcraft Ltd. 

Amphion Ship Builders Ltd. 

A/S Ancas 

Fairey Marine Ltd. 



Fairey Marine Ltd./Harleyford 

Estates Ltd. 


Plymarine Ltd. 

Plymarine Ltd. 


Port Hamble Ltd. 

Chris Craft Corp. 

W. & J. Tod Ltd. 

Brooklands Aviation Ltd. 

Keith Nelson & Co. Ltd, 

G. Prout & Sons 

Webster 

Jenners of Thorpe Ltd. 

Marley Tile Co./Southern 

Speed Boats 


Hicke Boats 

Freeman Marine 

Chris Craft 


aaa 

ANd THE SUCCESSFUT 

aa 

Award Winners and Official Finishers 

Race 

Position 

t Tfamontarc 

2 Blue Moppie 

3 Yo-Yo II 

Name of Boat 

First All-British Boat 

Cheetah I 

First Diesel Engine Und€r 15 Litres 

Fairey Huntsman 

Fint Petrol Engine Under 5* Litres 

Yo-Yo II 

First Outboard Engine 

Thunderbird 

First Production Boat (Under f,4,000) 

Faircy Huntress 

First Foreign Boat 

Blue Moppie 

Concous D'Elegance 

Gay Gazelle 

Sealed Handicap 

I Espoir 

2 Fafuey Huntsman 

3 Gay Gazelle 

Name of Boat 

Glass Moppie 

Lindsay Chase 

Anzlesey 

Lobster Thermidor 

Pacemaker 2l 

Occasional Admiral 

Owner 

R. S. Wilkins 

R. Bertram 

R. Bertram 

f. Coombs,{E. Freezer 

Major Chichester-Smith 

R. Bertram 

A.Dming 

C. G. James 

R. Bertram 

S. C. Macey 

P. & R. Thornycroft 

Major Chichester-Smith 

S. C. Maey 

Driver(s) 

J. K. Quill 

S. Griffith/P. Blond 

J. Wyme 

CLASS AWARDS 

E. Freezer 

C. Currey 

J. Wynne 

D. C. Norvall 

P, Twiss 

S. Griffith/iP. Blond 

S. C, Macey 

P. & R. Thornycroft 

C. Cwrey 

S. C. Macey 

COURSE PLAQUES 

awarded to all prizewimers and to the following who successfully completed the course: 

Owner 

Driver 

Max A.itken 

Max Aitken 

R. J. Chase 

S. F. Hewett 

C. W. T. Pochin 

C. W. T. Pochin 

Cmdr. Sir Robert Hobart, R.N. Cmdr. Sir Robert Hobart, R.N. 

Denys Sessions 

D. W. Simmonds 

Awards 

Beaverbrook Challenge Trophy md f.1,00O. Silver 

Medallion. 

€250. Silver Medallion. 

!10O. Silver Medallion. 

!100 and Royal Motor Yacht Club Tropby. Silver 

Medallion. 

!100. Silver Medallion. 


f, 100. Silver Medallion. 

{250 and Royal Torbay Yacht Club Trophy. 

Silver Medallion. 

Leeds Challenge Trophy. 

fntemational Boat Show Trophy. 


Norman Ricketts 

Capt. G. Hunt, R.N.R. 

A special Trophy was awarded to t]ne owaer of tlltima Dea, A'sperqnziella and lackie S. for their sportsmaoship in withdrawing their Declarations when they discovered' 

after completing the course, that they had inadvertently missed one of the turning marks. 

There were no entries for the unrestricted hull fom classification, 

No lady competitor completed the course. 

616

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The winner of the 1962 International 6Daily Express' Offshore Powerboat Race. She was built by Vospers to the design 

of Peter ilu Cane for Mr. R. S. Wilkins, and driven by Jeffrey Quill. Her principal dimensions are as follows: 

Length (Overall) 

42 ft.3 in. 

(Water Line) 

39 ft.2 in. 

Beam . 

13 ft. 

Depth 

6 ft. 7 in. 

The engines are twin C.R.M. 183 AD, which are based on the fsotta Fraschini marine unit, delivering 1,150 B.H.P. at2r000 

r.p.m. 

619

FFrus 2nd Offshore Powerboat Race 

has produced a feast of data which 

I 

I 

can take months to digest and 

study. The Race Progress Chart alone 

reveals many interesting facts concerning 

relevent performances. I will endeavour, 

however, to comment on the leading 

points as they strike me. 

Prior to the race opinions were 

being understandably voiced that with 

2,000 h.p. monsters about, what chance 

had normal small boats to get a look in, 

but what happens? Little Yo Yo II, 

22ft. O in. w.1., 200 h.p., costing under 

€5,000, and consuming less than 70 

gallons of petrol, romps home in 3rd 

place overall! 

Admitted the biggest monster won as 

expected and beat Yo Yo II by I Iu. 

35 mins. but there were an awful lot of 

other monsters or sub-monsters which 

did not finish ahead of Yo Yo II. A little 

higher up the scale but almost equally 

meritorious was the performance of the 

bigger Bertram, Blue Moppie, having 

little more than a quarter the power 

and two-thirds the length she finished 

17 minutes behind the winner. After 

having led on the first leg she was 

second throughout and only 4! minutes 

behind at Portland Bill. 

These two performances only really 

emphasise and underline the basic 

lessons of any mechanical and manmade 

machine sport, namely, 'knowing 

what has to be done and being able to 

do it,' for that is just what these 

Americans do. Look at the tally, two 

U.S.A. starters, two places in the first 

three; four Bertram boats and three 

finishes in second, third and fifth places. 

All these boats are standard production 

Bertram hulls adapted to a greater or 

lesser degree for racing but using quite 

ordinary production petrol engines. 

What is the secret of their success? 

Answer: None-the Hunt/Bertram is a 

thundering fine boat which they know 

how to drive. 

Tramontana is the result of Mr. Dick 

Wilkins' directive, 'build the best boat 

possible within the rules to win this 

race'. The directive was addressed to 

Cmdr. P. Du Cane and Vospers Ltd., 

world leaders in the design and buitding 

of small high-speed craft, who tackled 

the job in that all-embracing attitude 

which I personally admire. Cmdr. 

Du Cane decided on strength and bags 

of meaty power developed at low revs 

and with plenty of reserve. This decision 

set him the very considerable problem 

of not letting the weight inevitably 

involved prove too much for the power 

within the top water-line limits. He has 

succeeded magnificently although not 

that far from the wrong side of the 

equation in respect of top speed; her 

pilot Jeffrey Quill stated that he was 

'trying as hard as he cared to'. I think 

he could have pulled out another 10 per 

cent if he had been really hard pressed 

OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACE 

AN 

by ANTHONY NEEDELL 

more by Tramontana's ability to ride 

through just about anything rather than 

pure maximum. Incidentally, I understand 

they used about 600 gallons of 

petrol. 

The Italian team were a flne collection 

of technical exercises. They suffered 

some bad luck but also I am afraid a 

modicum of under par preparation. 

Ultima Dea, Renato Levi's 'unJimited' 

contender, was an example of lightweight 

high-efficiency power in a speedtype 

hull, her three Maseratis, rated at 

1,380 h.p., weight, according to figures, 

about 80 per cent of one C.R.M. or the 

same as two Crusaders totalling only 

600 h.p. Prima facie Ultima Dea did not 

seem as good a sea boat as A'Speranziella 

and did not perhaps get a chance 

to show her absolute top speed. Yet, as 

the Race Progress Chart shows she lost 

only 5 minutes on Tramontana across 

Lyme Bay to Blue Moppie's 16] minutes 

ANALYS IS 

Chief Scrutineer, 

Handicapper, Race 

Commentator and 

Member of the Race 

and Organising 

Committees. 

;riil*ri 

,.,. +lli 

Americon-entered' Bl ue Moppie', second overoll behind' T romontono'. 

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deflcit, but lost a minute on the final 

calm flat-out stretches of Skerries- 

Teignmouth*Torquay, a reversal of the 

expectation of slow in the rough and 

fast on the flat. Donavon Shead's 

Trident, a Levi design built under the 

owner's direction at R. & W. Clark of 

Cowes, was most racer-like in execution 

and powered by three Volvos. She lay 

seventh at the N.A.B. Tower but failed 

after Ventnor with, I understand, hull 

damage. Levi's own Settimo Velo falled 

through engine trouble on the start line 

and Bruce Campbell's Coventry Climax 

engined Christina never turned up, thus 

robbing us of seeing how the very high 

power to weight short boats would cope 

since a craft of this type won the Miami- 

Nassau race. albeit in a flat calm. 

Amongst the big boats Dr. Emil 

Savundra was unluckier than he deserved 

with Jackie S. She is a 'normal' boat 

of excellent sea-keeping qualities and 

620

powered by three Chryslers she proved 

very fast but very steady. Anglesey also 

had delaying troubles but finished 

strongly in eighth place. Designed by 

Uffa Fox she is a handsome ship of 

'non-Hunt' form. On this point the 

Race Chart shows a most interesting 

situation. Anglesey, No. 7, and Nos. 3, 

44, and to some extent No. 5, were all 

within a minute or so of one another to 

Branksome, and only No. 7 had fallen 

behind at Portland. These four vessels 

have only one thing in common, the 

same horsepower, otherwise they all 

differ from one another as regards 

length, hull form, displacement, designer, 

or even combinations of all 

factors, and they had come through 

rough and calm seas. Satisfied about the 

inexactitude of the science of Naval 

Architecture? 

The diesel boats deserve nothing but 

praise. Their ratio of flnishers to starters 

was only 50 per cent, but not due, as far 

as I know, to engine failures. Pride of 

place goes to the Peter Thornycroft boat 

Espoir, No. 39, winner of the handicap. 

She is a rugged, heavy-duty, round-bilge 

production boat powered by twin 

Perkins. Charles Currey made another 

incredible run with a mere 10.8 litres of 

diesel engine and averaging 23* knots. 

Lindsay Chase, admittedly having a 

complex and powerful installation, was 

always amongst the leaders, and to 

finish fifth overall in the company in this 

race is a feat indeed. Study the Chart 

and the entry list and you will see that 

she was always ahead of the abovementioned 

petrol-powered quarter Nos. 

7 , 44, 3 and 5, with the saze horsepower. 

At the lower end of the scale, No. 30, 

though a non-finisher, merits mention, 

with a single diesel of 105 h.p. she had 

climbed to seventeenth at Weymouth 

and averaged 19 knots. 

Speaking of the Handicap Prize, I 

seize this opportunity to explain that this 

was computed on horsepower, hull form, 

weight and water-line length, these 

factors indicating a potential maximum 

speed, the theoretical maximums being 

adjusted in light of a number of known 

performances. It was thus an Index of 

Performance, the winner having achieved 

the best improvement in race speed 

relevant to indicated speed. I hope some 

will agree with me that if one were to 

tiL: 

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'Foirey Huntsmon', driven by Chorles Curry, 

which come home in seventh bloce. 

produce a 'moral winners' list, judged 

on the merits of the flnishers, it would 

be much the same. 

I have commented on the smaller and 

cheaper boat performances elsewhere in 

this issue, but a word about outboards. 

Out of four starters, one finished and 

one was outside the time limit so it is not 

that bad, but I still fail to see why, say, 

3 litres of outboard should not perform 

in a comparable manner to 3.2 or 3.6 

litres of inboard/outboard. Speaking of 

the latter there is little doubt that they 

are here to stay, 12 runners using this 

form of transmission. Percentagewise 

the finishing results of the boats concerned 

was poor, but in no case did the 

drivers fail. I do not think that any 

remarkable deductions can be made 

from the performance of the catamaran 

except to praise the builders, Messrs. 

Prout. Constructing vessels of this type 

to withstand the seas is not easy. Her 

enthusiastic owner told me that the 

Johnson engines ran beautifully throughout 

and used about 110 gallons of fuel. 

Having, so to speak, thrown a lot of 

facts in the air, what do we deduce is the 

form to succeed in this race? Quite 

obviously the greatest factors to combat 

are the weather and the exacting course. 

It would be remarkable indeed if we ever 

did have a flat calm over the whole 

distance. Dr. Needell's prescription, 

following a diagnosis of competitors and 

finishers, is simple and old-fashioned: 

tr. A strong boat. 

2. A good driver. 

3. A good navigator. 

4. Reliable and effective machinery. 

Get this lot right first and then you 

can go to the 'Psychiatrists' over hull 

form, power/weight ratios, water-line 

lengths, controllable ballast, etc. If I am 

a miserable moralist I'm afraid it's too 

bad, but harping heavily this right and 

ready treatment of the 15 official 

finishers 80 per cent were absolutely 

ready and in position at the start of 

official scrutineering at 9 a.m. on the 

preceding Friday. Any questions ? 

Reverting to this concern at the possible 

future patterns of the race in light 

of this year's batch of monsters. The 

organisers are certainly well aware of 

the position and have been studying 

possible rule revisions since before this 

event. There is undoubtedly a very 

strong desire to maintain the race as a 

spectacular sporting contest with one 

outright winner and quite definitely 

Tramontana, Ultima Dea and their 

sisters do contribute to hull design and 

development. 

Finally it gives me great pleasure to 

review the performance of boat No. 44, 

Glass Moppie, entered and driven by the 

Hon. Max Aitken and navigated by 

Capt. J. Coote. Glass Moppie has been 

converted into a smart and comfortable 

Cruiser and is heavier and less tuned 

than last year. Driving to strict rev. 

limits with no other purpose than to 

finish, her crew made a copybook run 

into fifth placing and the vessel arrived 

as clean and smart as when she left. 

Mr. Aitken did not enter for any of the 

subsidiary prizes, otherwise he may well 

have been a serious contender for the 

concours d'elegance. Mr. Aitken and the 

Daily Express have provided the race, 

and John Coote is behind its organisation. 

The fact that they so ably practice 

what they preach emphasises still further 

the enormous practical contributions 

made to the sport and the industry by 

Beaverbrook Newspapers and its Chairman. 

Two of the scrutineering team: Mourice 

Hedgecock (reft) and lvlortyn Watkins, 

Production ond Art Editor of Watersport. 

621

we thing I can claim of my own 

efforts in connection with the 

International Daily Express Offshore 

Powerboat Race is that I recognised 

the winner as soon as I saw her. I 

can prove it, too, by my choice of the 

Theo Page drawing for the month, 

showing Tramontana in all her glory! 

She had all the winning cards, power, 

design, know-how, a good pilot and, 

above all, she was ready. Peter Du Cane 

and Jeffrey Quill must be very satisfied 

with a job well done, and let us hope 

that the very justifiably proud owner, 

Mr. R. S. Vy'ilkins, will continue to 

sponsor this atl-important aspect of 

power boat racing. 

After a week during which time I had 

a look round the entries getting ready 

on the south coast, and was lucky to 

arrive al the right moments to have a 

ride in both Tramontana and the beautifully 

prepared Pacemaker 21 from Port 

Hamble, I returned home to Norfolk to 

try out my own mount, Red Bandit, at 

Jenner's of Thorpe. It was a wonderful 

sunny weekend, and everything seemed 

to go well, although time was tight for 

the final trials, and to make certain of 

everything. When all possible tests had 

been carried out on the calm waters of 

the Broads. the boat was lifted out on 

to her trailer, and the long journey by 

road to the Hamble began. 

In order to coax a few more revs out 

of the engine, it had been decided to 

have the propellers slightly modified on 

the way, and it was not until late on the 

Thursday before the race that we finally 

left Moody's Yard, at Hamble, for 

Cowes. There were four of us on board, 

Geoflrey Milbank, who was to be my 

co-driver, and two of the boys from 

Jenners, Harold Faircloth and Terry 

Metcalf who were to stay with us until 

the 'off', in order to sort out any last 

minute snags. It was a nasty crossing, 

with a short sea, a lot of wind, and no 

chance to give her a real go, as there was 

too much loose kit and spare parts on 

board. However, she seemed to take to 

the rough water in a manner befitting a 

Norfolk lady. 

Friday morning was taken up with 

scrutineering, and here I must put on 

record that it was done most efficiently, 

and with very little bother. It must have 

been because we were the very first boat 

through!Next, a trip out for the benefit 

of the compass adjuster, and then all 

ready for a final run to get a few more 

hours in on engines that were still tight. 

Having called at the steps of the 

Gloucester in order to pick up our 

navigator, Guy Hummell, I confidently 

switched on the starboard engine, 

turned the key to start position but 

there was an ominous silence. Up floorboards, 

and there was one nasty hot 

burnt-out starter motor which had 

obviously been trying to keep up with 

the running of the engine for some time. 

Nothing for it but to have it off, and 

find a replacement starter and switch. 

This was done, and it looked as if all 

was well again. 

NIGEL RILEY 

sees the Offshore Race 

THROUGH 

DRIVER'S EYES 

The only close turns were at the start 

and, as from last year's experience I 

knew that we were not likely to see very 

much, we set offon a full-scale rehearsal, 

with Guy pointing out the various 

points to me so that I could identify 

them quickly the next day. We took it 

very gently so as to run in the motors 

quietly, and all went well until we 

approached Southsea, when a cry of 

'fire' had all the crew jumping around 

at high speed until the trouble was 

located. No great drama, but another 

faulty switch had caused the port 

starter motor to suffer the same fate as 

had the starboard earlier in the day. So 

it was back to Cowes, and more rushing 

about. 

Despite these set-backs, it was with 

reasonable confidence that the full 

crew, Geoffrey, Guy and myself, 

gathered on board the following morning. 

It was bright and sunny and from 

what we had been told by the W.R.N.S. 

Officer at the briefing the night before, 

we had little to fear from the sea. Her 

actual words, to be remembered later, 

were, 'waves of not more than two to 

three feet'. 

I had decided that, as we were not in 

the fastest class, and there was a long 

way to go, it would be better to keep 

out of trouble at the start and pick the 

clearest passage, so we set off for the 

back of the penalty area. On the way a 

cheerful roar through a loud hailer 

shattered my left ear-drum, and there 

was the beaming Cyril Benstead, with a 

party of the L.M.B.R.C., waving us on 

our way. 

I took up station towards the outside 

of the line; I could see Tramontana 

behind me ready for a long run-in, and 

alongside were Len Melly and John 

Merryfield on one hand, and Doug 

Norvall and Ron Clarke. in the outboard 

Cat, on the other. The minutes 

ticked away and slowly Brave Borderer, 

the Naval start boat, began to move. I 

opened the throttle and we started for 

the line. Faster boats began to creep 

past, but we were still right there in the 

middle of them with the line coming 

closer every second. The gun fired and 

we were over. There were boats all over 

the place and the sea boiled. As soon as 

I found a flat wake to follow, a faster 

boat seemed to cut across from nowhere, 

and there was yet another dirty big hole 

to fall into. By the time we had rounded 

the flrst two markers and headed back 

to the start line and Cowes, it was 

apparent that all was not well with us. 

The revs were still not there and 

although there were still quite a few 

behind, the main field began to draw 

away from us. Still, it was well worth 

pressing on because anything can happen 

in a race of this length, as was soon 

apparent when we saw one race boat 

after another halted with hatches open 

or frantic bailing in progress. 

The run down to Southsea was uneventful, 

the sun shone and there was a 

following sea to speed us on our way, 

but we still could not get those extra 

vital revs. Out at the Nab Tower there 

was an armada of small craft to wave us 

on our way. A bit more sea here but we 

were soon under the lea of Sandown and 

Shanklin. Then came St. Catherine 

Point. Multiply the forecast wave 

height four times, and it was not far off; 

with our reduced power we could not 

get over the top of the waves and after 

the third or fourth green mouthful the 

Naval Met. service came under discussion! 

About this time some home 

supporters from Norlolk came over in a 

chartered aeroplane. I hate small 

aeroplanes but I began to wonder if they 

had not got the best seat. One consolation 

was that others were flnding 

things unpleasant too; we began to 

overhaul one or two who could not cope 

with the seas as well as we could, and 

this was better. Past the Needles, with 

Geoffrey driving now, I had a good look 

round. No sight of anything ahead but a 

number of clouds of spray behind indicated 

that we were by no means last. 

Once under the lea of Bournemouth 

we had a chance to take stock and it 

soon became apparent that we were not 

going to make it this year. The boat was 

fine and had done all it had been asked 

to do in the rough passage that we had 

been through, but with the lack of revs 

on full power our fuel was clearly not 

going to last out, so rather than get 

caught out with our trousers down in 

Lyme Bay we headed into Poole 

Harbour and the hospitality of the 

Royal Motor Yacht Club. Here we 

found John Blue who had arrived just 

in front of us with similar troubles. We 

did make Torquay, thanks to him. By 

car. But next year . . " 

622

1962 cowes - torquay.. - Powerboat Archive

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