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Editor’s note
Published by Fast On Water Publications 2019
As you will see from our update page, things are happening but they are all very ‘hush hush’ at the moment. We need to keep it that way until plans have been finalised. At which stage all will be revealed.
All articles and photographs are copyright All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission.
Contents
Editor Roy Cooper
Contributors Bob Williams David Jones Roy Cooper
Front Cover Steve Kerton, Bristol Harbour, Bristol 25 event, 2015. Photo Chris Davies
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Racing at Coombe Cellars in the 1960s
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Racing on the Ouse 1953
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The Ramblings of an Ex Racer
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The Motor Boat Trophy, Oulton Broad 1953
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Bristol 1982
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Hydroplane Racing, Swanage 1951
be either off the big clock mounted on the side of the pub or by a rolling start behind the start boat, driven by a man called Jim Furzsdon holding up a chequered flag.
Racing at Coombe Cellars in the 1960s Bob Williams Remembers
The South Devon Watersports Club was initially formed around 1959 to promote waterskiing and competitions at Coombe Cellars; a pub at the top of the River Teign, near Teignmouth, South Devon. In 1960 a group of powerboat enthusiasts got together and decided to start a powerboat racing section of the club. They applied to the RYA, who approved a certain number of club races per year. Club race in 1965. Ben Brown (3) and Jack Davis (5)
Boats and engines in those days were mainly basic ski boats; flat bottoms with a mixture of engine sizes. The drivers involved back then were the likes of Brian Grimshaw (a Derry called Little Gem), Roger Hook (an inboard called Yer Tis), Dennis Moore in an Albatross, Ben Brown (an inboard called Mucky Pup), Guy Williams racing a Freeman, Peter Roberts and John Armstrong, to name just a few.
A five-buoy course was laid out by a man named Dennis Ebdon, who was also the rescue boat and diver. The course was raced in an anti-clockwise direction. Meetings were held on either a Saturday or Sunday; times being dependent on tides. In those days the racing really drew the crowds, who lined the pub walls and foreshore; the pub being very happy with the takings. An Officer of The Day was appointed and a team of timekeepers were housed upstairs on the pub veranda, which faced the course. After each race times were adjusted accordingly to correspond to the handicap system. At the end of the days racing, the times would be collated and first, second and third would be announced, with the trophies being duly presented. Everyone would then retire to the pub to discuss and chew over the day’s racing.
Scrutineering on the foreshore 1965 In those days all drivers would be racing on a clock handicap points system and race meeting dates had to correspond to tide times and be approved by the RYA. The racing back in the 1960s took on a rather laid-back approach with the drivers racing three or four, ten to twelve lap races. The starts would
Some of the trophies raced for in those days included the Seymour Horwell Trophy, AC Blufin Trophy, Mackeson Trophy, Hook Trophy and the Watney-Mann Trophy. In between racing at Coombe Cellars the club put on races at the various regattas – Teignmouth/Shaldon, Dawlish, Exmouth and 2
Paignton, all with the approval of the RYA. These were all great crowd pullers. As the years went by more people got interested in the sport and got bitten by the racing bug. Drivers like Alan Langdon, Derek and Colin Rundle, Chris Clarence, Bob Williams and many more. In the late 1960s the club saw drivers coming down to the Westcountry to race from the other clubs around the country, for weekends or holidays and bringing their boats with them. Drivers like John Hill, Don Ross, Bill Picton, Max Milton, Ted Manton and Bill Brown to name but a few.
Max Milton and Brian Grimshaw
John Hill 1966 Then in the 1970s the SDWC was awarded the right by the RYA to stage some National status races, which saw the likes of drivers such as Roger Jenkins, John Pearce, Roger Hedge and many more competing in the National Championship. The racing continued well into the 1980s, when eventually the Racing Section of the club folded. The club is now purely a waterski club.
1966 club race with two-up and single seaters
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The Ramblings of an Ex Racer What Makes a True Champion?
are important and so are their views. Maybe you will make some adjustments to the boat or maybe the water conditions do not suit the prop you have chosen. Maybe the motor needs changing – ignition, plugs, fuel-air ratio. All these things need to be talked about with your crew/friends and adjusted accordingly.
To be a true champion, a racer needs to have passion and dedication to all aspects of the sport. They need a thorough understanding of their mind, body and equipment. Half measures will not suffice. None of these things can be bought with money. Yes, if you have the wherewithal, you can purchase the best equipment money can buy but if you do not know how to use it, there is no chance of developing as a driver. To reach the top echelons of the sport; to become a true champion, you need a level of dedication and understanding that very few people achieve.
Then it starts all over again for the next race. At the finish of the meeting check the boat again. You are the pilot; sit down, have a cup of tea with your crew and discuss the meeting. The process then starts all over again for the next race meeting. Slowly; very slowly you will start to learn what it takes to become a driver, along with all the other things you and the crew need to understand to become better. Over time, you will understand how all the different props work in different water conditions and how to set the boat up for those conditions.
Your head and mindset need to be in the right place. You need to keep focused. You have to love the sport and love driving the boat; if not, you will go nowhere. You need to be able to ask yourself, ‘why am I not getting better?’ You have the answer to this question. In every sport there is a constant learning curve. The idea that you have ‘learnt all I need to know’ shows a lack of understanding of the processes involved in becoming the best.
Drivers must learn from their mistakes. How many mistakes have you just made during your race? Be honest with yourself. It achieves nothing to make excuses. There will be more than one mistake per lap. These are your mistakes. Own up to them; think about how you made them and work out how not to make them again. One way of self-help is to get someone to film you. You can then sit down, watch and analyse all you did. There will be more bad than good when you watch yourself.
You must learn how to drive, how to race, how to set the boat up, how to get the motor working correctly, how to choose the right prop for the water conditions. You need to understand all these things. Once you leave the bank you are on your own. If you make a mistake when you are racing you cannot make up that 1-2 seconds (remember – time over distance). You have the throttle at maximum already (or should have). The driver who does not make any mistakes is usually the one who finishes first. After you finish the race and you, and the crew have checked the boat over, sit down with them and listen to what they say about the performance of the boat, and of you. They spend a lot of time on your outfit and a lot of time with you. They
Repetition, repetition, repetition. There is no substitute for time in a boat. Get as much as you can. Find a test lake where you can practice and try out various set-ups. This will help you with props as well as understanding the set-up of the boat; you can 6
move weight around in the boat to improve the balance. Extra testing and practice will give you a much better understanding of the best set-up on a race day. More time in the boat = better driving; better understanding of your outfit and better understanding of yourself.
A skill once learned seems natural, as if it is something we have always had and becomes so natural that you do not have to think about it. That frees up more of your mind. There are many things that go into becoming better. Why is that person winning races? He is not better than you; he may not have a better boat than you; or prop, or engine. The answer is, he is doing a better job of understanding how to make them all work together.
To be good; really good, you must have PASSION for the sport. If you do not love racing boats you will not work hard enough to be really good.
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Latest additions to the Fast On Water photo archive from the collection of the late Trevor Chatters
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From Motor Boat and Yachting – August 1951
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