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Editor’s note
Published by Fast On Water Publications 2020
The Coronavirus has changed all our lives and it looks like it’s going to be around for a while yet. Our sport along with all others has been put on hold, which will probably mean that our plans will have to be held over to 2021. Keep safe and well at this very difficult time.
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. Editor Roy Cooper
Contents
Contributors Ross Wallach Rod Richardson Roy Cooper
Cover photo: Stewartby from the Pat Ainge Archive
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Stewartby – A Short History
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The Parker Enduro
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LMBRC 1968 review
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Bristol 1973
Stewartby Water Sports Club Ltd Powerboat Racing Section The First Thirty Years Recorded by Mr Cliff Watts History 1971 – 2005 Due to rough weather conditions the races were only run on two heats. The first driver to ‘flip’ was Nigel Bilton in the hydroplane race. Lol Hopkins set the five buoy course record at 1.05 mins.
Stewartby Water Sports Club was formed at a meeting of water sports enthusiasts in the Bunyan School, Mile Road, Bedford, on September 16th 1971. The Meeting was called by Bedfordshire C.C. after London Brick Company’s offer of one of their redundant clay pits, to the Beds C.C. for water sports, at a peppercorn rent of £1.00 per year for 21 years, with an option of another 21 years on the same terms.
May 28th 1972 Sportsboats – Secretary’s Cup; 1st D. Pratt. 2nd P. Pratt. 3rd A. Kelly. July 16th 1972 Sportsboats – Guest Cup; 1st P. Pratt. 2nd Ken Honey. 3rd Dennis Kendrick. Hydroplanes – Guest Cup; 1st Brenda Guest. 2nd Chris Applebee. 3rd Alan Richards. Tony Hall set a lap record for the three buoy hydroplane course of 48 secs.
Interested parties were asked to split up into separate rooms to form their committees. The number of people interested in powerboat racing numbered seven! Samuel Kidd, David Pugh, Bert Noone, Danny Keay, Cliff Watts, David Fuller and Joe Bridges. A number of meetings took place in an office of Joe Bridges, in Midland Road, Bedford, with members donating £1.00 each, to get the club funds started. Committee members were: Commodore, Sam Kidd; Vice Commodore, Cliff Watts; Rear Commodore, David Pugh; Hon. Sec., David Fuller; Hon. Treasurer, Noreen Bridges; Committee, Joe Bridges, Danny Keay, Peter Pratt, Norman Jeffs, Brian Timson, Ken Honey and Tony Hall.
September 3rd 1972 Sportsboats – Josephine Watts Trophy; 1st David Pugh. 2nd Ron Varney. 3rd John Clabburn. October 1st 1972 Sportsboats – Sam Kydd Trophy; 1st Alan Kelly. 2nd Derek Issett. 3rd R. Hall. Hydroplanes – Charles Wells National Trophy; 1st Erwin Zimmerman. 2nd Colin Cooper (fastest heat time separated the winner). 3rd R. Bisterfield. International Friendly Trophy – 1st Tony Hall (GB). 2nd Jon Rhom (Swe). 3rd R Bisterfield (W. Ger). ‘Le Mans Start’ – 1st R Bisterfield 5.24. 2nd E Zimmerman 5.30. 3rd C Cooper 5.47
Membership of the section consisted of Driver membership, Non-racing boat owner membership and social membership. All to include family members up to age 18. Work started on the site straight away and the first race took place on Sunday April 23rd 1972. A total of 15 sportsboats and 11 hydroplanes entered for the races. Sportsboats – Bedford County Press Shield; 1st Brian Timson. 2nd R. Hall. 3rd B. Hinton. Hydroplanes – Commodore’s Cup; 1st Ron Goodall. 2nd Brendan Guest. 3rd Reg Guest.
A social evening was held at the County Hotel, Bedford, for the visiting drivers and mechanics on Sat. 30 September. The Prize Presentations were held at the County Hotel on the Sunday Evening.
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The first Prize Presentation Dinner/Dance was held at the Dujon Bedford Restaurant on Friday 23 February, 1973.
1st D Kendrick. 2nd P Pratt. 3rd R Varney. Hydroplanes 1st B Guest. 2nd T Hall. 3rd R Guest.
Challenge Shield Placings Sportsboats
A total of over 50 boats took part in the first year of powerboat racing at Stewartby.
Mark Wilson Roverhire OE Stewartby 1979. Photo T Chatters
Allan Gibson followed by Alf Bullen and Neil Greg. ON Stewartby 1979. Photo T Chatters
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Bob Spalding Carlsberg OZ Stewartby 1980. Photo T Chatters
Stewartby 1983. Photo Pat Ainge Archive
Stewartby 1979 SE Startline. Photo T Chatters
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Parker Enduro Hall of Champions 1963 Tom Davis 1964 Mike Wallace and Bill Cooper... Tiny Tim 1965 Bob Nordskog.. Viking Spirit 1966 Mike Wallace and Bill Cooper... Tiny Tim owned by Tim Wallace 1967 Louis H. Brummett...Rawhide 1968 Louis H. Brummett...Rawhide 1969 Howard McCormick... How About That 1970 Allan Stinson and Jerry Walin...Outboard DeSilva Wing 1971 Johnny Sanders and Tommy Posey... Abilene Marine owned by Alan Yaw 1972 Jimbo McConnel and Ted May...Black and White Scotti 1973 Denis and Duane Berghauer...Mercury/Molinari 1974 Bill Seebold, Jr. and Cees Van der Velden 1975 Renato Molinari and Bob Herring 1976 Geoff Briggs and Bob Larson...Larson Marine, Stockton Special 1977 Renato Molinari and Bob Herring 1978 Ron Hill and Fred Hauenstein...Brad Miller's Crazyhorse Campgrounds 1979 Bill Seebold 1980 Bob Spalding and Kenny Stevenson 1981 Johnny Sander and Don Johnston...Arcadian Motor Sports owned by Jim Hauenstein 1982 Jimbo McConnell and Ron Ackerman 1983 Art Kennedy 1984 Jimbo McConnell 1985 Mitch Lemke...Speed and Marine Jaguar Powered 1986 Dick Sherrer...Crusader powered by Ed Lane 2.4 Mercury 1987 Don Johnston and Johnny Sanders...Jim Hauenstien’s Arcadian Motor Sports 1988 Don Johnston and Johnny Sanders...Jim Hauenstein’s Arcadian Motor Sports 1989 Scott Gillman 1990 Francois Salabert and Michel Rousse (France) 1991-93 No Race 1994 Greg Foster...Crane Rental Service 1995 Jason Campbell...Steel Marine of Phoenix, owned by Scott Steel 1996 Todd Bowden...Concrete Coring Company 1997 Todd Bowden...Boat 34 Bowden Development 1998 Todd Bowden 1999 Todd Bowden 2000-04 No Race 2005 Ben Marrone and Paul Grichar...Plan B...Frank Marrone and Sons Pumping 2006 Chad Hill and Pat Bowman...BMB Storage, Parker and Fred Bowden 2007 Joe Abellera...Havasu City, Arizona 2008 John Lane and John Roth 2009 Gary Hairbedian Schida Twin Turbo[/I] 2010 Joe Abellera 2.0 Liter Mercury 2011 Greg Gluck/Mike Nobel Rayson/V-Drive 2012 Greg Foster and Chip Watkins: John's Custom Marine and Bowden Development (Al Stoker and Fred Bowden). 2013 Tim McDonald and Mike Quindazzi, Jr. STV 2.0 Litre Mercury. 2014 Randy Davis, Billy Dunsmore and Gordon Jennings Jnr: Nordic Boats. 2015 Brad (father) and Brian (son) Stern, Cameron Booky. 2016 Randy Davis, Billy Dunsmore and Gordon Jennings Jnr: Nordic Boats. 2017 Greg Foster, Al Stoker and John Lane: Integral Products. 2018 John Haddon: Sea-Witch Marine. 2019 Fred Brennan, Todd Haig and Steve Davis: Nordic Racing.
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The Parker Enduro Ross Wallach My involvement in the Parker Enduro extends back to the late 70’s when I first moved across country and took up residence in Orange County, California, a nice enough Southern California suburb. As an 11-year-old that didn’t have any real interests, besides the norm of baseball, soccer, etc, becoming friends with another 11-year-old in the neighborhood, whose entire family was involved in boat racing opened up a new world, one that I’ve never left.
Nordskog, Brummett, Seebold, Van Der Velden & McConnell to name a few. The historical nature of the annual event is a large part of why the race took so long to die. Most did not want to see it go away but the race was struggling for several years to attract participants and days of “run what you brung” were replaced by a single inboard class, Grand National or “GN” V-Bottom boats vs. Tunnel boats mainly with Mercury or OMC power hanging off the transom. Predictably, the tunnel boats made quick work of the automotive powerplant based V-bottom boats and in 1999 the already 3 time Parker Enduro winner (’96, ’97 & ’98) – Todd Bowden driving for his legendary boat racing Father, Fred Bowden was so far out front that the team opted to have him sit in the pits for an hour until the white flag signifying the last lap was thrown. Only then did Todd go back out onto the course to take the checkered flag.
Some of my best memories growing up was going to the Parker Enduro each March and working the pits for different race teams. Fast forward to 1998 & 1999, as a newly elected Commodore of one of the oldest boat racing organizations in the country, The Southern California Speedboat Club, my job became clear in that putting on races that weren’t financially feasible had to go and unfortunately the shell of what once was the famed “Parker Enduro” fit that description to a “T.” By the 1998-99 Parker Enduro’s it was obvious to everyone that the idea of the Parker Enduro had basically run its course, no pun intended.
Also, during this time period of the Parker Enduro, the race became a four-hour event, a far cry from the grueling 9 hour that had started it all. From the checkered flag in 1999 the event was idled as it made no real sense, financially or competitively speaking to hold an event where the winner was predicted before the green flag dropped and with waning interest in both sponsors and competitors the fate was sealed. It gave myself and my organization no pleasure in closing the door on what had once been “The Race” to go to if you were a boat racer but it made no sense to continue so the race was scrapped and so came the end of a boat racing era.
The race was started by Marion Beaver and Cecil Florence, two Parker Arizona locals that travelled back to Miami Marine Stadium in ’63 to race in the inaugural Miami Gran Prix. Upon returning home the pair decided the long strip on the Colorado River would make a much better race than one in Biscayne Bay and thus created the Parker 9 Hour Enduro in 1964. The 9 Hour Parker Enduro attracted some of the biggest names in the world at that time including; an astronaut, world famous oil well fire fighter, a President’s son and of course the legends of powerboat racing including
Fast forward to 2004 and a bunch of boat racers were in an internet chat room waxing nostalgic about the glory days of the famed Parker Enduro and how everyone missed this 16
race. So, while playing devil’s advocate, asking questions like; if we did bring it back how would it look? What would be the rules? Where would we hold it? And most important, who would participate in it? Once I felt comfortable enough with the answers I assembled a group of advisors, most of who I greatly admired, to help put together the rules and then I went to the Colorado River Indian Tribes and pitched them on hosting the event at their newly built Resort & Casino on the very site where the original Parker Enduro started.
checkered flag and the rest is as they say “history.” From 2005 to today the back and forth battle between inboard and outboard continues every October at The Blue Water Resort & Casino, whose been the host and title sponsor of the race. The rules continue to evolve and after each year’s race a rule committee evaluates the event and looks to make changes for parity. The current race also has changed from a “point to point” back to a “timed” event and is now a 4-hour endurance race. 7 racing divisions allow for any competitor to find a division to compete in while also going for the Overall win and being declared “King of the River” and handed the Marion Beaver Cup. Speed is now capped at 110 mph and enforced with today’s GPS technology for those divisions capable of the exceeded the top speed. The entire race fleet start is still one of, if not the best start in powerboat racing. New for 2020 is the addition of capsules for all divisions as safety continues to drive the event.
It all came together and slowly sponsors took notice and racers did too. The race was moved from its original month of March to end of October so as not to interfere with the regular racing season. True tunnel boats were outlawed and it became a true inboard vs. outboard which included flatbottoms, jet boats, Mod VP’s, inboard hydroplane and even Crackerboxes. Safety was and still is of paramount concern and the course was shortened from its original 13-mile course to its current 6-mile course. Also, unfortunately the glory days of cheap gas and affordable motors were long gone so it was decided do a “point to point” endurance race consisting of 300 miles vs. the original 9 hours. The hype around the return of the famous Parker Enduro was building and by the time of the actual race it had reached a fever pitch. For the 1st time since it’s death 5 years earlier in 1999 and really since the mid 1980’s the Parker Enduro was run the way was originally intended, a “run what you brung” race. Inboards vs. outboards vs. jets, in fact the mantra adopted for the race was “no boat left behind” (credit goes to Rod Zapf). That 1st year back in 2005, saw for the 1st time since 1985 when Mitch Lemke driving a Jaguar V-12 powered Silverwing won the Parker Enduro an inboard powered Grand National VBottom boat driven by Ben Marrone & Paul Grichar aptly named “Plan B” took the
It is my sincere hope to continue to be the custodian of this piece of boat racing history for many years to come. My hope is that one day we see 100 entries lining the shore waiting for the flag to drop! Anyone interested in racing The Blue Water Resort & Casino Parker Enduro Presented by Nick Rose Insurance can visit www.rpmracingent.com and download the rules and entry form or visit the Parker Enduro facebook page. We’ll see you in October! Ross Wallach, President/Race Director RPM RACING ENTERPRISES
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Those were the days – 61 entries in the Burmah 3 hour Grand Prix; 24 hour racing; HRH Duke of Edinburgh in attendance; Televised on ‘World of Sport’. What more could you ask for?
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Bristol 1973 – Editor’s Comment other classes, created a ‘them and us’ situation, in which the Formula One events became isolated from the roots of the sport. How many of our great drivers would have made it to Formula One under these circumstances? What was wrong with original format of allowing any driver who held a super-licence and could afford an F1 rig to complete an entry form and take part in an event?
The previous article on the 1973 race in Bristol’s Floating Harbour highlights one of the major reasons that circuit powerboat racing has fallen from grace. Ray Bulman puts it well when he says, ‘…it now places Great Britain in the forefront of the sport once again – and proves by lack of current support at many British venues – that circuit racing will only gain in popularity over here if more spectaculars of this type are held. The same applies abroad. The popular classics are Paris, Amsterdam and Lake Havasu, where the accent is on driving skill and where top-class internationals draw the crowds.
The 2018 F1 event in Victoria Docks was a good example of how, even with all the hard work of the organisers, there was little to entertain the spectators other than the F1 qualifying and race. Imagine having both F1 and F2 racing over that weekend and support events; how much more of a spectacle that would have been.
Bill Seebold wrote in his article for the Bristol 25 issue of this magazine, ‘Yes, my years at Bristol were very memorable and something I will always cherish for the rest of my life. I wish we had more races like it today, putting more focus on driving and not just horsepower!’
All these decisions have led our sport down a cul-de-sac of the governing bodies own making. All the hard work put in by the pioneers of our sport has been brushed away as if irrelevant.
Somewhere along the line, the sport and its governing bodies completely lost their way. Although not the only reason the sport declined, there is a direct link between the loss of those ‘spectaculars’ and the decline in both spectators and competitors.
I often wonder, if they are looking down on all this, what the likes of Charlie Sheppard, Len Britnell, Tom Percival and Bob Spalding along with many others, would make of where our sport is today. Some say its progress and it is what it is but it must be obvious to most that as things stand the sport can only move in one direction.
In the name of safety, the iconic race circuits were ignored and replaced, especially in Formula One, with wide open circuits set in large bodies of water. This meant that spectators became further and further away from the action. When the present organisers of Formula One decided they should be more like F1 car racing, creating a set number of teams, the top flight of the sport became shut off to many who deserved the opportunity to race at that level. This coupled to the organisers desire to keep Formula One separate from the
The pits area. Bristol 1973. Photo: Roy Ridgell
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