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Editor’s note June 11 saw glorious sunshine for the Bristol 50 event, which was a great success. The full story inside. th
Published by Fast On Water Publications 2022 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 1. David Burgess – Master Boat Builder 7. The 1936 Spreckles Trophy
Editor Roy Cooper
11. Powerboat Racing and Me 15. Bristol 50 Review
Contributors David Burgess Graham Bloomfield Fred Emeny Lee Prewer Roy Cooper
Cover photo: John Hill’s Arie de Boom Burgess. Bristol 1990. From the Pat Ainge Archive
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David Burgess – Multi-Championship Winning Boat Builder - Par Excellence I left school at the age of 16, in 1961 and started a boatbuilding trade apprenticeship at Bill Shakespeare’s workshop in Tewkesbury. Shakespeare was a leading circuit boat racer at the time, and I was involved in Building his, and his friends, race boats. I worked at Shakespeare’s until 1969. I started on flat bottoms, progressed to deep V hulls and then onto cats.
SE, OE, OI and ON boats all through the 1970s. the SE and OE boats were very successful with European and world Championships.
The cat progression came about two years later than the continental challenge, as the RYA, under the stewardship of John Reed, deemed them too dangerous. John Hill Strongbow Burgess OI Cardiff 1975
In 1978, one week prior to the Bristol weekend, on the Monday morning, I decided I would build an NF boat in wood for the forthcoming Bristol race, bearing in mind I only had five days. I set too and designed and built the boat. I built the boat on my own and my painter, Leapy Lee, painted it on the Thursday evening/night. On the Friday morning I rigged it with a Mercury 650XS I borrowed from a customer on the understanding that his friend, Peter Balmford, drove it. Peter had not driven a boat for a couple of seasons. We loaded it on the trailer and off we went to Bristol. I gave good old Charlie Sheppard the sob story, that we had had a flat on the way, and said sorry for being late for testing and qually. Charlie said that after everything had finished, we
In late 1969 I was approached by Fred Miles, to work for him designing and building race boats. That was very successful in as much as the ON boats were going to the right people, in Europe and the USA. Fred raced one himself, mainly in the USA. After about two and a half years, Fred was racing in the Parker, USA event, where he flipped the boat. On his return, he promptly said he was finished and would close the boat building Miles Master Company. He said to me there are four or five outstanding orders with deposits. If you want to take them on, I will transfer the deposits, rent you the workshop, and away you go. So, in 1972 Burgess Racing Boats was born. Things progressed very quickly; I was building
Roger Hedge, Burgess monohull, Bristol 1979
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could have two laps. After the two laps, Peter had put the boat on pole and won all four heats over the weekend.
Roger Jenkins Pittsburgh1982. Photo Tim Schroer
The following weeks the phone never stopped ringing for NF boats. That’s when I made the GRP NF boat and sold about 50 of them; many are still around today. The NF/T850 was a very successful boat, winning the Bristol Grand Prix countless times in the motors. During the season I did a few small to the Velden. In 1982 things changed for the better. Roger got backing from Carlsberg and could lease his own V8 and he came to me for a boat as we had worked together on his SE and OE programs. I was a little apprehensive at first as the OMC Race Director said there was no way I could build an OZ boat. The rest is history – Roger going on to be the 1982 OZ World Champion.
Walsall Litho Burgess Chase Watersports Stand. Photo Pat Ainge Archive
At the same time I was still building the new F3 Class boats, with a list of who’s who in boat racing buying my F3 boats and winning world championships; Roger Jenkins, Lars and Lennart Strom, Danny Bertels, Andy Elliott, John and Steve Hill, Michael Werner, Ken McCrorie and Ian Andrews.
hands of Roger Hedge, Arthur Mostert, Jan de Vreng, Wiepe Torenvliet and Richard Wood. As with all things the orders eventually dried up and I sold the moulds to Wiepe Torenvliet, who was a customer who had bought several NF boats from me and continued to build the NF boats. In 1980 I built an OZ boat for Alfie Bullen, which was quite successful. He ran a 2.6ltr OMC motor. Later that year I was in Parker, USA with Alf, just spectating the seven-hour race. On the way back OMC kindly took us on their private jet back to O’Hare airport, where we met up on flight with OMC Race Director, Jack Leek. I asked him if we could have a loan of an OZ motor for the development of an OZ boat. His words were. ‘You don’t build a bad OE boat, but there are better, and there is no way you will build a quick OZ boat.’ This is, where my customer and friend, Welsh Wizard, Roger Jenkins comes in. The 1981 season saw Roger racing a Velden boat and one of the new OMC
Burgess Race Boats workshop
SE/F4 Was going well with Tony Williams, Dave Giggins, Duarte Benavente, Owen Jelf and Andy Elliott, all winning either European or world championships. Then there was ON/FONDA. Customers worldwide used these boats; John Hill, Chris Bush, Jon Jones 2
and Don Johnston – all won either World or APBA Championships. 1994 and 1995 we were F1 Constructor’s Champions, while Jerry Peachment and Marc Rolls won F2 World Championships. Not forgetting national championships in UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, France and Portugal.
months, then replace it and sell the old boat on to a national driver, who would move his old boat on to a club racer. That way it kept the grass roots alive. So that’s my brief resume on Burgess Racing Boats. 47 World Championships with my designs and still not quite enough to get into the Powerboat Hall of Fame???
The best two drivers I worked with was Chris Bush and Andy Elliott; Chris because he understood motors and would not tread through one when it was not right, and Andy Elliott was just sheer talent.
Ps. Must try harder.
Don Johnston, Bristol 1987
Chris Bush, F1 Winner, Bristol 1988
Jon Jones
Andy Elliott F3 Burgess
In 2002 I decided to call it a day. I really could not see my future building plastic/composite boats. I wanted to build and develop boats, not produce the same thing year in year out. To me, full composite boats have ruined boat racing; they may be safe, but they last too long. The wooden sponson/composite centre section was to me the best way. International drivers would buy new and keep it for a or 18 3
Burgess Championship Winning Boats
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what was going on stopped and stared towards the docks. I walked down from the Centre past all the boats that had been moved into the area in front of the Industrial Museum. I got to the pits and realised they were fenced off. This is where one of my father’s most valuable lessons kicked in “If you don’t ask, you don’t get”. I put my head through the door of the caravan and asked if I could borrow a pass for half an hour to take some photos in the pits. I was shocked when the answer was yes.
Powerboats and Me By Graham Bloomfield Roy asked me to write about my history of watching powerboat racing at the Bristol50 celebration. An appropriate occasion because my introduction to powerboat racing was in the very harbour where that celebration took place.
I am a born and bred Bristolian and I now live on the northern fringe of the City. My childhood interests were Aircraft, my father was an Aircraft Engineer and his enthusiasm for aviation rubbed off on me. I was going to be a pilot, I was going to fly medical supplies across the Australian bush or fly millionaires all over the world in private jets. By 2022 I should have been hauling those same supplies and millionaires around the Milky Way Galaxy at warp 9.
I was like a kid in a toy shop, walking around all the boats in various states of maintenance, standing by the crane while the boats were lifted in and out of the dock, watching them disappear under Princes Street Bridge, my camera capturing precious memories all the time. True to my word I took the pass back to the office and walked across the bridge and down Whapping Wharf past the cranes, behind the grandstands still being built.
I had no interest in boats, I never even learnt to swim. That was until the late 1980’s when I was working in Central Bristol. The local paper published a guide to the Powerboat Grand Prix and I realised that there was a practice on Friday afternoon. I took the afternoon off and as I left the office at lunch time and walked through the City Centre, I could hear the howl of the boats reflecting off the buildings. People who had no idea
I stopped many times on my walk, taking pictures all the time, within reason, this was the age of film! I found a favourite spot on the exit from the basin turn where I could sit on the slope with my feet close to the water, shooting boats accelerating out of the turn. This was a favourite spot for all the subsequent Bristol GPs. On the 11
Saturday I walked the whole course again, although barriers had gone up in some places. On Sunday I sat in the grandstand watching the races.
overlooking the lake. We walked back towards the pits and met Marion Palfreyman and Jeni Jelf sat outside a camper van by the lake. That was one of those meetings that changes your life. We talked about our history with Powerboats and they told us about the national championships. We also met Martin Powell who invited us to the next meeting at Stewartby.
This was my experience for the next three years, including my Friday pit walk, until the Bristol races ended. Me and my wife, Ruth, later went to the F1 Grand Prix in Cardiff, not quite the event that Bristol was but good viewing around the dock.
We found a “beach” by Stewartby lake giving a spectacular view of the pits turn. The first time we saw an F2 boat fly past, splashing us with spray, making that familiar howl, I was transported back to Bristol in the 80’s.
A few years later me and Ruth were driving through the Cotswolds one day and stopped at the Old Rangoon, and realised there was a Powerboat meeting on. We had lunch in the garden then drove around the lake and watched the boats racing. We saw an advert for other meetings so attended a few meetings there. Then the racing stopped….
We have made many friends in the Powerboat family and are always made to feel very welcome. We have spent so many happy days by the lakes at Stewartby and Kingsbury, we went to a few internationals in Nottingham, a couple of meets in Cardiff Bay.
From a Powerboat point of view we lost track of what was happening. I got freelance photography work shooting Formula 1 cars, ASCAR racing at Rockingham, aviation events etc.
We have made friends in the Offshore and Thundercat championships as well.
In the late noughties I saw an advert for a Powerboat meeting at Kingsbury Water Park. We drove into the park, not really knowing where we were going, we drove past the pits and parked in a small field 12
I’m proud to say that our photos have been shared all over the world across many platforms and media.
National scene and make some new friends from the International circus. We had a wonderful weekend. We had always planned to go to Portugal but it hasn’t happened yet so having an F1 GP in our own country was a real treat. Nobody knows the future of Powerboat racing or our future but we look forward to new experiences. Perhaps we will get to a Portugal GP one day……..
The highlight of all our Powerboat experiences was the 2018 F1 Grand Prix in London. We managed to get media passes so we could get closer to the action, meet up with our friends from the
Graham and Ruth at the Bristol 50 event
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No one said it was going to be easy! I guess not. But no one said it would be this hard, either. I should write a book – ‘The Trials and Tribulations of trying to preserve the history of circuit powerboat racing’.
second in the world championships in 2000. As you will see from the following article, the Bristol 50 event was a great success. What the organising of the event did show up, was the attitude of Bristol City Council towards what we are doing. To them, it’s as if the 19 years of the powerboat races never happened. If they are mentioned anywhere in articles on the history of Bristol Docks, it’s usually a short paragraph or sometimes only a sentence, or sometimes not mentioned at all. One of the few people on the Council who could see the benefits the races brought to the city, is the elected Lord Mayor, Marvin Rees. From what I hear, he was in the minority on the Council.
Someone asked me last week, ‘was there any research to suggest that there was a ‘public interest’ in preserving the history of circuit powerboat racing.’ From the feedback I get, there is, but how much of an interest is hard to quantify. Fast On Water’s Mission Statement states, ‘To create, for the public good, a definitive collection of circuit powerboats, engines, memorabilia and archive and to display these in a dynamic and interactive museum setting that will inspire and educate.’
Next year will see ten years since we officially set out on our journey, with the long-term aim of setting up a museum. The Covid lockdowns certainly didn’t help us in moving forward. Our collection continues to grow in size, making storage an ongoing problem, which, if anyone can help with, please let us know – fastonwater@live.co.uk
Never fear, we will keep at it, with a rethink on the location. We thank all those of you, who continue to support us and welcome anyone new who would like to become a member or get involved in our aim to inspire and educate through the history of circuit powerboat racing.
The latest edition to our collection is the loan of Robin Stoddard’s Burgess F3, in which Ken McCrorie won the world championship in 1998 and Robin came
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The Bristol 50 Event A 50th anniversary is always a milestone to be celebrated, and this anniversary probably deserved the celebration more than many. The first race in Bristol Docks was on the 5th March 1972; a trial race to prove to Bristol City Council that such an event could be held safely. This was followed by the first international race on July 8th and 9th.
Bill Seebold with the Duke of York Trophy (Charlie Sheppard in background), 1981
This was the beginning of what was to become the most iconic race on the international circuit powerboat calendar; often compared to the Formula One Monaco Grand prix, the narrow, twisting course with its high granite walls, tested both driving skill and boat set up.
Bill, along with 76 other ex-drivers and guests, attended the Bristol 50 event, organised by The Fast On Water Charity, which took place on 11th June. The Guest of Honour for the day was Charlie Sheppard’s daughter, Penny, who played a major part in helping her father organise the races. As always, when a group of powerboat racers get together, memories and stories flow as swiftly as the alcohol. And what memories there are of those great races in Bristol, with the stand-out year being 1982. That was the year when Bristol was the only event on the calendar that had both the OMC V8 powered formula One boats and the 2 litre Grand Prix boats. The Seebold Team and Mercury decided to compete in both the 2-litre class and the over 2 litre class, which was made up of boats using the mighty OMC V8. By achieving a seven-and-a-half-minute powerhead change, fitting a powerhead that was 2001cc; just enough to allow him to compete against V8s, Bill completed a gruelling 96 laps over that weekend and won both the Duke of York Trophy and the Embassy Challenge Cup.
Formula lll start line Bristol 1973
The top powerboat racers from all over the world would come to Bristol every June to take on the challenge that was the Embassy Grand Prix. One driver in particular made Bristol his own. Bill Seebold won the coveted Duke of York Trophy no fewer than six times and became the ‘darling of Bristol’ to the spectators that turned up in their tens of thousands to watch the spectacle of tunnel hull boats reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph racing around the confines of the City Docks.
The day commenced with a trip around the harbour aboard the Tower Belle. For many, like Phil Wassall, the first time they had been on the water in Bristol since they last raced there. Those attending the event covered all of the 19 years the races took place. Brian Kendall, who took part in the trial race in the 15
docks; Tony Williams (who raced in every event held in Bristol); Andrew Pugh, who raced in the first event, and Jack Wilson, whose Cosworth powered Hodges reverberated between those granite dock walls. Jason Mantripp picked up his microphone while on board and interviewed Bill and Tim Seebold. Bill was keen to show Tim what the race course was like and the strategies he used to be so successful in Bristol.
The commemorative dinner setting was completed by Jon Jones’ loan of one of his Dragon F1 boats, stickered up with the Bristol 50 logo and in tribute to Andy Elliott. Dinner was served, followed by Robin introducing Ken McCrorie, who gave a very moving tribute to his best friend, Andy Elliott, which was followed by a short video on Andy. The raffle was a great success; one of the prizes, organised by Jason, being a large, mounted print signed by all the drivers present who had raced Bristol. Jason also brought along a model, made by Jamie Tenant, of Bill Seebold’s 1987 Budweiser rig, which Bill happily signed.
The ex-monohull drivers who attended reminisced over the trials and tribulations of surviving the rough water of the docks. Adrian Morse, Malcolm Cox, Anne Walder, Will Chambers, Bill Owen, Phil Lagden and of course, Richard Wood, the last winner of the City of Bristol Cup. Following the harbour tour, everyone decamped to the MV Balmoral for a welcome drink and reception. At this point the one and only Robin Hurst, MC for the event, took over the microphone. Robin was the Cumberland Basin end commentator in Bristol, while Murray Walker did his thing at the Pits end.
Photo Lee Prewer
Powerboat racing generations were represented not only by Bill and Tim but also by Celia Alcock, wife of the late, great Rupert Alcock and mother to Denise; James, Mark and Lee Peverelle – sons of racer and boat builder Jim Peverelle; Andy and Kevin Bullen – sons of Alf Bullen; Adrian Morse – Son of Geoff and brother of Owen.
Roy, in memory of Roger Jenkins, presented Roger’s son, Dean, with one of the limitededition framed prints of his dad, racing the Carlsberg Burgess F1 in 1982. Penny Sheppard was invited to say a few words about her father, Charlie, and the part he played in preserving the City Docks for future generations. Roy, on behalf of Fast On Water, presented Penny with a commemorative award and a bouquet of flowers, and also an award to Jason Mantripp for his dedication in helping to preserve the history of circuit powerboat racing.
Besides Bill and Tim, Kathy Hauenstein, wife of the late Jim Hauesntein, Arcadian Racing’s Team owner, travelled from California; Morten Bjerknaes flew in from Norway and Ronald den Hartog from Holland. Sadly, Wiepe Torenvliet, Jan de Vreng and Martin Molenaar had their flights cancelled at the last minute.
A big thank you to all the staff at the Bristol Hotel; The Bristol Packet and the MV Balmoral, who all helped in keeping the day running smoothly. Also, a big thank you to all 16
who attended, and a special shout out to Ryan and Lee Prewer, who were brave enough to take on the responsibility of filming and photographing the event, and Elaine Gowing for her fantastic ability to sell raffle tickets. The weather gods were kind to us and a great time was had by all.
Bill Seebold and Jack Wilson. Photo Fred Emeny
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