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The Changing Faee of
POWIRBOAT RAII].|G
By
JOHN CHITTY
WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT?
OFFSHORE POWERBOAT racing,
in the form in which we recognise
it today is, in Great Britain,
approaching the end of its first
decade. lt all started with the first
Daily Express Race from Cowes to
Torquay in 1961
- considered a
breath{aking project at the timewhich
was followed the next year
by a group of madcap marine
traders -
(the forerunners of
U.K.O.B.A.) deciding to race their
little outboard cockleshells f rom
Putney to Calais and back again.
These great "epics" of eight and
nine years ago can now be placed
into historical perspective by comparing
them with the 1969 Daily
Telegraph - BP R o u n d Britain
Powerboat Race, which in turn, ten
years from now, may have dwindled
in importance by comparison
with some even more ambitious
events as yet unthought of.
But it is not only the events
which have "grown up". Boats,
engines, rules and even the psychological
make-up of the competitors
themselves have all chanqed.
sl-owly but inexorably during "the
intervening years. Change doesn't
necessarily mean improvement.
Some changes have been for the
better but there are oihers which,
while it might be argued that they
were inevitable, have detracted
from the enjoyment and value of
offshore racing. Typical of this kind
of rather unsatisfactory development
has been the alteration in
attitude of the competitors. When a
driver enters an offshore race he
is really pitting himself against two
opponents-the sea and the other
competitors. In the early days the
fight against the "cruel sea" was
the big thing and almost all one
asked was to be able to finish the
race. lf one could also win a prize
by beating the opposition this was
glory indeed, but it was a secondary
thought in most drivers' minds.
Now, with the advent of faster
boats and bigger engines, and
w h e n "safety" dictates that an
event shall be called off or put on
a sheltered course if the sea even
26
Our trilby-hatted Lieut.-Commander sometimes affected a notty woolly pom-pom hat
in,rtead !
begins to look bad-tempered, the
emphasis has swung in the opposite
direction and "to win" is evervthing.
lt can, of course, be argued
that there is no ooint in racino if
you do not want io win, but thi5 is
too easy an answer. Offshore
racing is more complex than that.
It is rather like a combination of
point-to-point racing and mountaineering.
Of course the contestant is
going to try to win (as in point-to
point) but more than 50'l of his
concentration must be on overcoming
the hazards that nature has
thrown in his way-the edges and
ditches of the point-to-point course,
and the ice-clad vertical faces of
the mountain. To finish the course,
or get to the top of the mountain,
is an achievement in itself, quite
unrelated to whether he arrives
first, or last.
THE CAUSE
The change in attitude of the
competitors is a "result", so let us
take a look at the "cause". This is
not far to seek and even a cursory
glance will tell us that we are faced
with a "chicken and egg" problem.
In the process of becoming faster
boats have become much less
beamy, are lighter and carry less
freeboard. In a nutshell, they are
less seaworthy. Because the boats
have become less seaworthy race
organisers are more inclined to
play safe and to cancel races (or
use rough weather courses) when
anything more than a Force 4
starts to blow. Knowing that they
will not be asked to go out in really
rough conditions, competitors (and
designers) feel safe in making
their boats even faster and even
more extreme, which in turn
causes organiser to be even more
cautious. And so it goes on. Of
course, there is only one way to
break the spiral and that is for
clubs to take a much tougher line
and not cancel races at the droo
of a hat. A few rough and hairy
rides will soon convince comoetitors
that seaworthiness is more
important than speed in an offshore
boat.
I should have altered the position
of the question mark in the
title of this article. lt should read
"What's new? Pussycat!" because
the current upsurge in interest in
catamarans for offshore racing is a
perfect example of the kind of
development we have been discussing.
A catamaran has many advantages
on calm water but there
cannot be a vessel much less
suited to rough offshore work-as
anyone will confirm who has tried
driving a power cat. in a heavy
beam sea. Offshore catamarans
are not a new phenomenon. A
number of well-known drivers, including
Doug Norvall, Tommy Sopwith
and Lady Aitken have iried
racing cats. offshore over the past
six or seven years, but without any
conspicuous success. lt was not
until 1969, when James Beard produced
his stepped catamaran,
Volare ll, that a twin - hulled
machine has shown any sign of
real I y consistent success-but
weather-wise 1969 was an exceotionally
favourable year. Nevertheless,
the faint whiff of possible
POWERBOAT

victories ahead has sent a larqe
number of seasoned competito-rs
scrambling on to the catamaran
bandwaggon for 1970. Unless the
coming season is another mild as
milk affair I predict a lot of disappointment
for these "cat lovers,,.
Another aspect of development
which is unwelcome (althouoh.
again, probably inevitabie) is ihe
loss of the old free-and-easv "fun"
atmosphere that used to surround
race meetings. As more races have
been placed on the calendar, and
more competitors have entered the
lists, so the rules and red tape
have proliferated and the attituije
to racing has become more
serious, more "professional", and
more cut-throat. ldenticallv bonedomed
competitors, having- waded
through a plethora of rule books
and paper work, line up wlth their
boats, like soldiers on parade to
be- inspected. The worried-looking
officer of the day, providing he has
extracted a guarantee of fair conditions
from the met. office and
assured himself that his safetv fleet
is neatly placed around the c6urse,
briefs the competitors and permits
launching by numbers to begin.
THE W]LL TO WIN
When the flag goes down thirty or
forty overpowered dart-like hulls
shoot away from the line in the
hands of grimacing, scowling competitors
each fired with the "will to
win" and the devil take the hindermost.
Allowing for a little artistic
exaggeration, such is the situation
today-and it cannot but cause
nostalgia to those who remember
what it was like seven or eight
years ago. Seaworthy production
craft were the order of the dav
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One of the early offshore cotanlarans (1961). Bert Rouse,,standing (there was no redr
seat), Doug Norvall and John Chitty. Not a ua:;h hat in.sight and life-jackets to
wearer's choice !
Photo: Mike Peter,y.
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(anything over 30 m.p.h. was really
fast!). and there was not a safetv
boat or a crash helmet in sigh{.
In fact I can remember one retired
Lieut. Commander who always
used to race in a trilby hat, and
another couole who arrived at Putney
at 5 a.m. one Sunday morning
(prior to setting off to race to
Calais) dressed as Edwardian
minstrels-complete with muttonchoo
whiskers. straw boaters and
b a n j o s. Such lightheartedness
would now be construed as illplaced
levity not in keeping with
a serious sport! In those years
gone by competitors were responsible
for their own safety (a
responsibility which has subsequently,
very mistakenly been usurped
by "the establishment") and
consequently were able to wear
the lifejackets that they happened
to trust and orefer. The rules-all
of them-could be typed on one
sheet of foolscap paper, and there
was a "gentlemen's agreement"
that a competitor would stop and
help another in trouble. An officer
of the day would have few qualms
about starting even a Class lll
event in Force 8 conditions, but he
might caution his competitors to
"stay in company, chaps, for the
first 20 miles-until you come into
the lee of such-and-such a headland-then
you can have a dicel"
An O.O.D. who gave such instruc-
By 1967 the needle-nosed darts were in-and ge.tting more extretne.
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FEBRUARY 1970
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27

The
Changing
Face of
Fowerboat
Racing - continued
The 1961 winner of the Purney-Calais Rally, courtery flag aloft, glides into Calais
harbour. A.similar craft totl.tty would t't

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