1?b - Powerboat Archive

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Peter Stuyvescrnl lhrld Offshore Powertoclt Championship
Renato della Valle rn Ego Rothmans won this year's world championship, held
for the first time in UK waters. Ray Bulman tells the story
WIIETHER Ted Toleman made the right
decision in entering his 38ft (11.58m) Bertram
monohull Peter Stuyz,tesant, rather than his
faster 38ft Cougar catamaran of the same
name, for the three-heat Class I (16-1itre)
world championship on22l24l29 August will
never be known.
International rules stioulate that the same
craft has to be used throughout the series,
and as TedToleman was the onlventrvwith a
choice of two marques-one suited to rough,
the other to moderate weather -
sea
conditions prevailing at the time of the first
heat, the Pobjoy Needles Trophy at Poole,
were the vital factor regardless of possible
calm seas later in the contest.
Ted Toleman chose the monohull, and
although he and his American co-driver/
mechanic, Harold'Smitty' Smith, drove with
determination throughout, the first world
championship of its iype ever to be held in
British waters was won by Italian driver
Renato della Valle. The only consolation for
this defeat was that the winning craft, the 38ft
aluminium monohull Ego Rblhmans, was
designed in Britain by the Don Shead team.
The success of della Valle was undisputed.
He won all three heats to finish the
series with a maximum possible score of 1200
points, but it was not juit driving skill which
carried him to victory. High-speed navigation
is vitally important. A few seconds
spent correcting a course error should the
boat pass a mark on the wrong side can make
the difference between success and failure
and therefore both leading Italian contenders
took local navigators to show them the way.
Ego Rothmanswas directed around the course
by Tim Mellory-Pratt; Marlboro Leisurewear,
Alberto Smania's boat, which was to finish
third in the championship with 525 points,
carried Robin Culpan of Dorset Lake Shipyard.
It is to their credit that both teams drove
impeccable courses without making one
navigational error.
The winning boat was also well engineered.
Like the remaining contenders in
the top league it was fitted with a pair of
Mercruiser V8 petrol units totalling some
1300hp. Even the best maintained machinery
often lasts little more than a few miles in this
punishing sport and, apart from della Valle,
all had their fair share of mechanical
breakdown.
The power units and transmission in the
winning boat never once faltered -
in
complete contrast to those in the three British
Class I challengers. Toleman, in the Bertram,
was supported by Colin Gervase-Brazier in
the 39ft (11.88m) faguar-powered, Sheaddesigned
monohull Goldrush and Rosalind
Wright in the triple Mercury outboardpowered
31ft (9.44m) American Formula hull
The National Cruiser class was won br1 Peter Penn's Penn Trailers.
lohn Player Special. A11 suffered mechanical
problems at one time or another, but this was
not the only factor behind Ted Toleman
losing the title.
In the first race at Poole, organised by the
Royal Motor Yacht Club, his problems began
when he lost pressure in his fuel system. Peler
Stuyaesant finished on one engine, after Ted
Toleman lost precious time lifting one
outdrive clear of the water and struggiing the
final 70 miles (112km) without the aid of
power steering.
Toleman reached the Branksome finish in
fifth place, only to cross on the wrong side of a
buoy marking the line. His immediate
disqualification cost him 127 championship
points, a loss that he could hardly afford if he
was to stand any chance of taking the title.
The inevitable protest, over the fact that
the inshore mark described at briefing had
already been lifted by the time Ted Toleman
finished, was not upheld. An appeal to an

89
independentRYA iury was then lodged, with behind in second place at 35.83 knots.
the promise of a decision on the eve of the British drivei lohn Craxford, in the
Peter Stuyvesant Cowes International Classic,
marking the final six days later. Mean-
Sabre a Class II (i6-litre diesel) competing
diesel-powered Cougar catamaran Romans
while the British side kept their fingers here - in the Class I line-up returned a
crossed that the outcome would go in creditable performance in the - prevailing
Toleman's favour.
conditions and finished third with a speed of
Two of the three championship heats 34.86 knots. Meanwhile, at the back of the
were supported by Peter Stuyvesant, who fleet, Rosalind Wright and her co-driver
provided not only the necessary funds for Philippa Niel-Mee in I ohn PIay er Special made
organisation, but also personnel from their their way round this very rough course to
press and PRdepartment tohandlepublicity. finish at an average of 17.91 knots despite
It was fair to say this resulted in the best press being submerged on two occasions by large
facility ever seen at any powerboat meeting waves. They crossed the line in sixth placebut
both athome and abroad and was reflected in were elevated to fifth following Toieman's
the enormous amount of exposure Siven to disoualification.
the series in most daily papers and TV, Drivers from the United States were
including the first race, over which they had noticeable by their absence as a result of the
no control.
boycott of the championships imposed by the
The poor forecast and sea conditions on American national authority. The exception
the day was the main reason for Ted was Al Copeland, who entered his 38ft
Toleman's chdosing his Bertram monohuil. (11.58m) Mercruiser-powered Scarab monohull
Popeye's in the Harmsworth Trophy
Others were not fortunate enough to have a
choice. Walter Ragazzi of ltaly arrived with contest, coinciding with the first and last
his 38ft (11.58m) Active Marine catamaran/ championship heat.
based on a Cougar design, which he was Al Copeland found the sea conditions in
forced to use regardless.
comnlete contrast to his warmer home waters
Although Ragazzi had a slow race, he but ;till managed to cross the line in second
managed to cross the line in fourth place
- a place overall after averaging 44.08 knots,
higher position than that achieved by the although this was not calcuiated in the
disqualified Toleman.
championship listing.
Renato della Valle finished his 100-miie Two other world title contests were held
(160km) race in the lead at an average speed of alongside Class I but over a shorter course.
51.23 knots, with Alberto SmaniainMarlboro These were for Class IIID (fourlitre) and IIIC
Leisurewear
- an identical craft - some way (twoJitre). This first IIID heat was won by Les
Ted Toleman: u , otld an unwtse
ull Goldrush
Last year's Cowes winner A
Walling in Property Growth Assurnnce (Phantom/Mercury)
and the IIIC by Phil Fox in
Pteropus (Phantom/Mercury) against strong
competition from ltaly. Unfortunately Phil
Fox was another who later lost vital points, in
his case for fitting the boat's transmission
with a non-standard lower unit.
Class II (eight-litre petrol) was dominated
at this stage by Alistair Kendon in his new
Mercruiser-powered Phantom monohull
Warlord: only launched three weeks earlier.
The second heat was organised by the
United Kingdom Offshore Boating Association
(UKOBA) two days later from the same
venue. Called the Peter Stuyvesant Poole Bay
Classic, the course took competitors into the
western Solent, but caim conditions found
there were more than offset by the heavy seas
running on the offshore leg between the
Fairwai buov and the Poole turning mark.
Ted Toleman led the first two laps of this
race and looked all set to make up for his
disappointment in the first heat when he
suddenly began to slow with a burnt Piston.
However he still managed to maintain a clear
margin over Renato della Valle lying second,
only to slow further when his remaining
engine blew four miles before the finishing
line. The Italian went on to win but this time
Ted Toleman crossed the line correctly in
continued oaerleaf

90
Rendorursrfrrgs
rourd lrrc resl
continued
second place to gain an undisputed 300
DOlnts.
An outstanding British performance in
this race was set by Colin Gervase-Brazier
and David Hagan in the faguar-powered
Goldrush.It was the first time in two years of
development that these |aguar units had
stayed the distance, and although they still
suffered teething problems with a waterjacket
used to cool a turbocharger, they still
maintained a high placing throughout to
finish fourth.
|ohn Craxford in the diesel-powered
Romans Sabre fellbackin this heat after losing
precious time correcting a course error, and
finished the dav in fifth prace.
The decision of Ted-Toleman to use his
Bertram monohull was possibly vindicated in
this event. Italian Walter Ragazzi in his Active
Marine catamaran Hublothit a large sea near
North Head buoy which smashed the port
sDonson and broke the driver's arm. Both
ciew members were picked up by the
Countess of Arran, competinginthe separate
race for National Cruisers. They were later
transferred to a rescue boat and flown to
hospital by helicopter, bft Hublot sank and
was not recoverect.
And so to the Peter Stuyvesant Cowes
International Classic, marking the finale of
this three-heat contest.
Organised by the Cowes Powerboat
Committee, this event replaced the longstanding
Cowes/Torquay/Cowes which ran
from 1961 until last year. Instead of the return
leg to Torquay, the course was confined to the
Solent and the seaward side of the Isle of
Wight.
The appeal lodged by Ted Toleman
against his disqualification at Poole was
dismissed by the RYA jury on the eve of the
race, and therefore with Renato della Valle
already holding 800 points from his two
earlier victories, the British driver stood no
chance of success whatever the outcome. On
the otherhand, his one ambition since joining
the sport has been to win at Cowes and
therefore his determination was as keen as
ever. In order to show the flag for his sponsor,
Peter Stuyvesant, Ted Toleman entered his
Cougar catamaran in the non-championship
Class I event, held over the same course,
crewed by Clive Curtis and Grant Wilson.
The lead in the opening Solent loop was
taken by Alberto Smania (Marlboro Leisurewear)
wlth points leader Renato della Valle
(Ego Rothmans) lying fifth behind Ted Toleman,
Clive Curtis in the catamaran and
American Harmsworth contender Al Copeland
in Popeye's. Clive Curtis, a principal of
Cougar Marine, was obviously out to show
the ability of his craft and after rounding the
West Lepe buoy opened the throttles on the
catamaran and headed back east at a
tremendous pace to be well in the lead at the
Southsea mark.
Meanwhile problems once again occurred
in the Jaguar engines powering Goldrush. A
loss of turbo boost just after the start forced
the retirement of Colin Gervase-Brazier, but
this was only one of severai craft to pull out in
the first 30 minutes of the race.
Early leader Alberto Smania retired east of
Cowes with an engine fire, followed almost
immediately by Al Copeland who already
had sufficientpoints to take the - Harmsworth
winner Fiat-A
MOTOR BOAT AND YACHTING
Glass I
Ego Rothmans
R. della Valle (ltaly) Shead/Mercruiser 1200 points
Peter Stuyvesant
T. Toleman (GB) Bertram/Mercruiser 600 points
Marlboro Leisurewear A. Smania (ltalv) Shead/Mercruiser 525 points
Glass lllD
Miss Avia Watches l. Birnie (GB) Phantom/Mercury 969 points
Property Growth Assurance L. Walling (GB) Phantom/Mercury 625 points
Tam Tam G. Soldi (ltaly) BuzzilMercury 525 points
Class lllC
Orville L. Radice (ltaly) BuzzilMercury 1025 points
Poco Homes
S. Bourne (GB) Phantom/Mercury 700 points
Pannell Group
M. Pannell (GB) Phantom/Mercury 395 points
Glass llWorld Cup
Aifo E. Riganti (ltaly) BuzzilAifo Diesel
National Cruiser Series
Penn Trailers P. Penn (GB) Fletcher/Volvo
Harmsworth Troph| (afterthree heats)
Popeye's
A. Copeland (USA) Scarab/Mercruiser
Trophy with mechanical problerns.
Another blown - engine, obviously as a result
ofitsboostfor speed, knocked outthe Cougar
cat of Clive Curtis. John Craxford in Romans
Sabre was next to go, with mechanical
problems, and therefore by the time the Class
I contenders had finished their Solent
circuits, only a handful remained in the
battle.
Ted Toleman took the lead on the
retirement of Marlboro Leisurewear and the
Peter Stuyuesanl catamaran and soon opened
up a gap of a mile or more over Renato della
Valle in Ego Rothmans, who was now lying
seconq.
The roughest section of this 779-mile
(328km) course was to be ,ound off the
Needles and the seaward side of the island. A
westeriy wind of some 25 knots was producing
a breaking sea off St Catherine's Point,
and it was here that Ted Toleman nose-dived
through a large wave with such force that his
wind deflector was smashed and cockpit
coaming damaged.
By now the two-girl team of Rosalind
Wright and Philippa Niel-Mee, supported by
Russell Culpan, in lohn Player Special was the
only other Class I contender still in the
contest, but even their efforts finally petered
out on this seagoing leg when two of their
three outboards suffered fuel starvation.
Ted Toleman maintained his lead past
Bembridge and on the final leg down to
Bridge buoy and back, but just after entering
the final short Solent loop between East Lepe
and Southsea, he began to fall back with a
burnt piston. This loss of power was to cost
him the race and the Italian creamed past to
finish almost a minute ahead.
Consoiationfor Britain came in the form of
the Class IIID world title
- a prize taken after
a tough battle by lan Birnie in Miss Aaia
Watches (Phantom/Mercury) -
but the IIIC
championshipwent to Italy together with the
non-championship Class II world cup after
Alistair Kendon'sWarlord failed to finish.
The three championship heats also contained
shorter course events for the National
Cruiser classes. Peter Stuyvesant presented a
special prize for the overall points leader
which went to Peter Penn in PennTrailers- a
Volvo
- powered Fletcher Zingaro - which
proved its worth against lighter craft in the
rough sea conditions experienced throughout
this exciting week of top class offshore
comnetition. . -
.