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.
Editor Roy Cooper
Contributors
Jason Mantripp
Bob Collins Mike ward Roy Cooper
Cover photo: Bob Spalding, 1985. Cover of the 1986 Powerboat Yearbook Photo by Kos.
Editor’s note
Well, another season comes to an end. Sadly, we have lost more of our powerboat family, including George and Nina sawyer, and Robin Hurst. People who, over the decades, have been major influences on the sport. They will all be missed but never forgotten.
We also lost Queen Elizabeth II, who was a great inspiration to many and showed us all what dedication truly is.
The Sensational Robin Hurst’
by Jason MantrippDuring covid and the months that followed I decided I wanted to do a live stream interview show featuring past and present powerboat racers.
One person I had in mind was so much more than just a powerboat racer. He was a driver, promoter, team manager and most of all one of the UKs most recognisable voices around the UK circuits commentating on some of the most memorable races that ever took place.
The man in question is of course Robin Hurst. I knew he would have some great stories to tell and maybe reveal some unknown facts about his life. My goodness I was not wrong.
Let me tell you a little bit about why I was excited to get Robin on as a guest and what his achievements in our sport meant to me and many others within the world of UK powerboat racing.
point Robin had moderate success but was also a young, keen businessman. Robin wanted to start a paint plant business and in doing so had to have a meeting one day with his local bank manager who was about to lend Robin the money to set the ball rolling for the new project. A few days beforehand Robin had crashed his boat in a national event trying to keep up with Derek Issit, who was looked upon at the time as the man to beat. Unfortunately, Robin had injured his leg, something that the Bank Manager had noticed when Robin walked into the meeting. When asked ‘why are you limping,’ Robin replied with ‘it was a powerboat racing Accident.’ The bank manager immediately said that if any money was to be leant then the racing must Stop.
When I was a young lad watching powerboats at Oulton Broad, I have a vague recollection of Robin racing in his Ingersoll Rand monohull. He later progressed on to the SE catamaran class, in a boat he nicknamed Leaky Clerici, because it used to take on water and Clerici because of the hull design. By this
With this in mind Robin retired from racing but it was still in his blood, and he felt he
still had more to give to the sport. By this time, it was the early to mid 1980s, and Robin’s son, James was soon to be the new generation of Hurst that would take to the water. James started his career in the junior class, sponsored by his father in the form of the new business, Rebvale Paints. This was a name that would appear on more than one boat over the course of the next few years; whilst James was busy racing and Robin was building up the Rebvale Racing team, which over the years had spanned over many classes of circuit racing. Not content with just doing that, Robin found himself standing in for Bob Brister who was the Local commentator at the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club.
Bob Brister was the voice of racing back in the 60s and 70s and in the 1980s Bob was asked to cover the Pro One F1 series and travel around the United States, which left the Local club without a voice. Robin soon took to the Mic and with previous years of public speaking at various events soon got the crowds excited. Robin had an incredibly unique voice very crisp clear and loud although off air he could be softly spoken. His excitement always came across over the airwaves and he had a cheeky but great sense of humour.
As a fan of powerboat racing, I always liked to listen to the commentary as I found it made the racing complete and was a great help in understanding the sport and the drivers themselves.
Robin had a very different style to Bob, and this was very apparent at events where they commentated together. Bobs style was Smooth calm and informative, whereas Robins style was off the cuff, exciting and animated. Bristol docks was a great example of this and has stayed in my mind forever. The racecourse at Bristol was long and twisty and it was not possible to see the whole circuit from the Grandstand. This meant that two commentators were required to cover the race with Bob Brister at the grandstand end and Robin covering the other end of the course. When the boats disappeared out of sight as they raced off towards the Cumberland Basin turn, Robin was ready for action. For those brief seconds, where the crowd at the pit end could not see what was happening at the other end, Robin really came into his own and made it sound absolute chaos with boats almost going over backwards or hitting the wall but of course this was to really build up the excitement for the crowd to see if they all made it back back past the SS Great Britain and down towards the grandstand. His voice really did suit the horn style PA speakers that seemed to echo around the racecourse.
As I mentioned earlier, Robin had set up the Rebvale Racing team, which included many local talents in all classes. One of
these drivers was Jerry Peachment, Robin’s son in law. Jerry, who went on to win the F2 world championship, raced alongside James in the F4 class and was to become very successful. F4 had a special place in Robin’s heart and he was soon to find himself promoting and being involved in buying and selling raceboats for this class. Robin’s enthusiasm was that great, he even managed to get TV coverage at some of the race events.
Mod VP boats for F2 boats and even the fastest man in a Hydroplane, Mike Smith, had been encouraged by Robin to race in this up and coming class. Former Mono and F4 drivers also joined in the fun, and it really did make something of a spectacle
1998 the sport peaked with strong numbers in all classes, and we raced at some great venues with large crowds.
Robin was the man who had the vision to make the sport big and he was at the top of his game. I was lucky to of been asked by Robin in the early nineties to be a part of the show and his belief in me as a commentator helped me achieve my goals within the sport.
In the 90s Robin had a vision of taking UK powerboat racing to the next level. This time using the new class, S2000, to be the premier class in the country.
For the first 3 years Robin focused on holding big international events at the Holme Peirrepont circuit in Nottingham, including world championships for Hydroplanes and F3, and gradually introducing Formula 2 with an international flavour.
In 1997 Robin had looked at new Venues to host powerboat racing, with a view of taking the sport to the public by racing in City Centres. Stockton on Tees and Willen Lake in Milton Keynes were very popular and attracted over 20 UK Formula 2 entries, something which has not been achieved since. Not only had Robin attracted some sponsors and great venues he also attracted some big names in powerboat racing too. Steve Kerton had retired from F1 and now found himself racing alongside former F1 drivers Paul Blackburn, Marc Rolls and both Jelf brothers, drivers who had swapped their
Robin’s last big involvement in circuit racing was at London in 2002 where the docklands played host to a round of the UIM F2 championships. It was great to see the boats back in the capital after an absence of a few years
In later life Robin found himself organising a part of the chomondley Pageant of Power weekend which was billed as the Goodwood of the North. Robin could see an opportunity to host a round of the national series on the very, very small lake within the grounds of the stately home. Once again it was a success even though he struggled the first year with sharing the microphone with the trackside commentator. This was resolved the following year, when Robin set up his own system just for the powerboat racing. Robin also decided to race an inflatable Thundercat boat at the event and proved he had not lost any of his skills.
During my Interview with Robin, I discovered that ITV had approached him to cover Formula 1 car racing as Murray Walker had mentioned retirement. Robin was commentating at a powerboat event at Southport when a spotter had heard his talents and he was soon contacted to do a
trial. Robin made it to the final elimination process where he found himself having to commentate on a pre-recorded horse race. Robin described the scene with a great description of his imaginary commentary box and what he could see out of his imaginary window. It was that good even TV presenter Steve Ryder was impressed. Unfortunately, Robin just missed out on this big opportunity, with the job eventually going to a certain young James Allen.
In 2018 the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club hosted the UIM OSY400 European championship with a large 16 boat entry. I asked Robin if he would like to visit old ground and be a part of the event as one of the commentators. To be honest I thought it would be a bit of a long shot as it had now been 20 years since Robin’s voice had been heard at the club. However, he was delighted to have been asked and sure enough he kept to his word and rocked up to the event. Robin admitted he was a bit out of touch with the sport but would make some notes. I told him I was hot favourite to win which was a little bit of a white lie, but it got me some good coverage when Robin was on the Mic.
As I mentioned at the start of this article, I was honoured to have Robin on as a guest of my Mantripp Meets shows I was doing during lock down and the months that followed. I contacted Robin with a little bit of help from his son in law, Jerry and I asked him if he would like to do the live show expecting him to say no but once again Robin was very happy to do it. Sadly, the first attempt was a failure as we both had technical issues, but Robin said he would come back the next week and try again. I was grateful for his time and patience and finally we got the interview done and broadcast. It was a great listen as Robin reflected on his time in the sport saying how he had enjoyed it.
In June 2022 Fast On Water Hosted the Bristol 50 event celebrating 50 years since the first ever Bristol Grand Prix. With that in mind I had an idea that perhaps we could invite Robin to our event and for him to be the MC for the day. Robin once again came up trumps and was super excited to be a part of this prestigious event. On the weeks leading up to the event Robin had contacted me on several occasions to get information on who would be attending and to also jog his memory on a couple of things that happened at the races back in the day, just so he could be on top form at the event. On the Saturday morning of the event, it was great to share our breakfast table with him as we ran through the days schedule. Robin was a bit of a perfectionist, and we tweaked a few things with just an hour to go before the day’s proceedings started. Robin had not lost his spark. There was still the passion for the sport, and he still had a mischievous twinkle in his eye, never knowing exactly what was going to come out of his mouth next. That evening I had the opportunity to thank him on behalf of the sport for all his work and efforts he had put in over the years.
The next morning Robin was still bright as a button and joined us for breakfast, where we discussed the possibility of Robin coming to Oulton Broad to commentate on the 2023 World OSY400 championships to which he said he would have a think about it. And that’s where we left it, we said our goodbyes I thanked him again for his efforts of the weekend and parted company.
On Sunday the 14th of August I received a message saying sadly that Robin had passed away. This news has taken me some time to come to terms with. I feel extremely lucky to have known Robin and even more so to gain his respect. I’m not sure if I would have achieved as much in my life if it wasn’t for him, as he was a big influence on me.
Our thoughts are with Hilda, James, Sukie, Jerry and the rest of his family.
Thanks for the Memories Robin they really were ‘sensational’ .
I joined circuit racing in 1968, working for Tony Williams, in his workshops in Northwood, Middlesex as a mechanic working with him on his Bristol/Carniti rigs. From there I went to Clive Curtis and James Beard in 1970, when they had Swordfish Marine in Twickenham, working on their Levi Hummingbird and the introduction of Catamarans with their Schultz, Molinari and Torrigia catamarans. Chris Hodges was one of the carpenters who worked at the next door marine business and as I was leaving Clive and James, Chris joined them, and Cougar Marine was born.
I left the industry to pursue a career elsewhere but started designing boats in 1976. My first design, an F3 (and, subsequently, all my designs) were built by Bob Nelson of Barracuda boats in Birmingham, who were the most prolific and successful UK F4 builder in the 1970s. That F3 was raced by Tony Williams and won the UK F3 Championships in 1976.
In the 1980s I designed all the Laing Homes sponsored F1 rigs for Steve Kerton, including the first all carbon fibre craft that Steve ran very successfully in 1984.
In the 90s I worked with Mercury Marine to bring SST120 to the UK and Europe and this is now the current (2010) F2. I designed several F2 boats, one of which was raced by Jon Swarbrick.
Paul Blackburn F3 Nottingham
At age eight, Art Kennedy was flying down the Mississippi River at 35 miles per hour. He had saved up $80 selling newspapers to be able to buy his first boat, which he named ‘Judy Pie’ after his girlfriend. By the time he graduated from Sumner High School, he had already been racing for a decade and owned a $1,300, 75hp boat. There were few places for Art to hone his racing skills in St Louis but on weekends, he could be found on the Mississippi River or Creve Coeur Lake, putting his skills to the test.
Butch’s father, Arthur (Art) Kennedy Sr., was also a professional racer, and Butch grew up surrounded by racing culture. They were two of the first black professional speedboat racers in the world. In 1955, they were still the only two African American members of the National Outboard Association. Butch raced in high profile competitions across the United States and Europe, sometimes reaching speeds of 150 miles per hour. In 1982, he won the Parker nine hour Enduro and the Havasu World Championship back to back, a feat rarely achieved in powerboat racing.
Butch, as he was known, had a need for speed and was one of the first African Americans to become a professional powerboat racer. By the end of his career, he had set 14 records and was ranked one of the top ten drivers in the world, running against the big names like Bill Seebold and Earl Bentz during his illustrious racing career.
Although he set those 14 world records over his 37 year boat racing career, he described racing as a hobby. He served in the army between 1968 and 1974. His full time work was in commercial heating and air conditioning with Kennedy & Sons, the family business his father founded in the early 1950s.
Sadly Arthur J. Kennedy died young from a heart attack in 1992, aged just 48. A short life, but one lived at full throttle.
From the Columbia Guide to African American History
Ebony magazine article 1950s
With thanks to Hydro Racer Live and the Quincy Looper website for the info and photos.
2022 has been the first year since Covid 19 and the lockdown that Fast On Water has begun to get back on track. Like all charities, and many people, the last few years have been quite a struggle, not improved by the state of the British economy.
We are now thinking about 2023 and making tentative plans to promote both Fast On Water and the sport in general. July 22nd and 23rd, 2023 will see the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club holding the OSY400 World Championships and we are aiming to have a display of classic circuit boats on the water on both the Saturday and Sunday. We are also contemplating setting up a Classic Circuit Club If you are an owner/driver of a classic boat and would like to take part, please contact Roy or Jason at fastonwater@live.co.uk.
Due to a variety of issues, Bristol as a venue for our museum is no longer an option. Maybe we were being a little too over zealous in thinking Bristol would be a good location. We are now returning to our original plan of wishing to base the museum in the Lowestoft/Oulton Broad area. Part of this decision is based on the fact that the LOBMBC is close by and is the powerboat club that offers the best venue for the general public to see circuit powerboat racing in the UK. We will be looking at our options and talking to
other museums, local authorities, and relevant groups over the next few months.
The Bristol 50 event was a great success and probably the last event that will see so many of the drivers who started racing in the mid 20th century attending. We would very much like to continue holding similar events in the future, for both past and present circuit racers, and so keeping that historic link alive, which connects all those involved in the sport.
The above photo shows Bert Savidge winning the Daily Mirror Challenge in 1949. Bert’s Jakoby hydroplane ‘Antelope’ is part of the Fast On Water collection, and one we hope to see on the water next July.
We are looking for further people who would like to become a trustee of the Fast On Water Charity. Specifically, anyone with a skill or interest that would help us in our future plans. If you feel you would like to get more involved, please contact Jason Mantripp or Roy Cooper at fastonwater@live.co.uk
