Published by Fast On Water Publications 2023
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
Doug Cunnington
Alan Richards
Roy Cooper
Editor’s note
We send our best wishes to all our readers, worldwide, and hope that you all have a safe, successful, and happy 2023. Another racing season will soon be upon us and I hope the economic situation we find ourselves in, doesn’t impact the sport too badly. Enjoy this issue of the magazine and if you have any ideas or suggestions for future issues, please let me know.
Contents
1. Inboard Hydros – A History.
5. The Doug Willey Story
7. The Man Behind The Mic.
15. Art Asbury and the DOY in Canada.
17. The Longbow Project.
For 30 years now my voice, unfortunately for most, has been heard echoing through P/A speakers across the world at various powerboat racing events. But how, when, and why did it all start.
I was born January 1972 and was brought up in the town of Lowestoft, which was also host town for the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Motor Boat club.
The Club which has been in existence since 1933 hosts weekly events throughout the summer season. It was on a summer evening whilst my dad was driving me through Oulton broad, past the Wherry Hotel where the boats used to launch, I asked inquisitively what was going on and what were these boats.
My Dad took me to my first race, which I believe was 1975 and we would of stood in the park with me sitting on my Dad’s shoulders, so I could see the racing as the crowds were in there thousands back then.
From that moment on I was hooked, and we would go to the weekly races held on Thursday evenings.
I was very quick to pick up on who was driving what boat, which of course I had learned from the Commentators and also looking at the race programme. Often on car journeys or whenever Dad and I had some spare time we would go through the numbers 1-30 to see what drivers names I could identify with their race number. This was a fun game to play, and a method I still test myself on to this day.
I am not exactly sure why I got hooked on the racing, but it was probably the noise, smell and speed of the boats which had obviously impressed me.
I was soon to learn the big names in the sport such as Tom Percival, Neil Gregg and Bob
Spalding, who were all regular competitors at the club.
After the night’s racing and if I had been a good boy my Dad would take me across to the wherry hotel to watch the boats being taken out of the water. I remember this being a lot of fun and we would very often go and speak to the drivers and if I had my autograph book, I would get them to sign it. Most of the time I would end up walking away with many car stickers from the drivers who had given up their time to talk to me and my Dad.
Still in the 1970s I found myself going to some of the National events held all over the country. we would go to Fairford, Stewartby and Chasewater, amongst other venues.
It was always good to watch the racing at other circuits as for me I would get to see different drivers and get different autographs and stickers.
In 1977 we experienced our first ever Bristol Grand Prix. Wow this was something special. Although I was still a young child, I totally soaked up the atmosphere and got a buzz from watching from the grandstands. Looking back on it all I was very, very lucky to even be there, as my parents gave up so much time so I could watch the racing.
I was also lucky to have my cousin share the same interest and passion for the sport as I did, and we would often run around make boat noises pretending to be our racing heroes whilst our Mums and Dads talked about whatever grown-ups talked about. At school most of my Friends were into football and had no idea of what went on at the Broads on a Thursday evening. Some friends had heard of Percival and Spalding but would often get names confused which I remember really irritated me. However, a select few actually liked to watch the racing at the park. Some of these friends would go on to race a few years later; something which I was envious of at the time.
One such friend was Carl Poll who I had spent my school years with and in 1985 he told me he had got a boat and was going to race. I was hoping that he had told me a lie as I really wanted to race but after David Mason’s fatal crash at Bristol, which happened in front of us, I was soon told by my parents I was never going to be allowed to race.
Carl however wasn’t lying and went on to race the 1985 season. This was the year after we lost the Great Tom Percival. Someone who my dad would often take me to see at his boat yard in Horning. I wondered what I could do to be a part of the sport. At the age of 13 I certainly wasn’t allowed in a boat so I thought well perhaps I could commentate on the Junior racing at the club. I remember thinking we have Junior drivers but not a Junior commentator. This could be my involvement and after all, I knew all the driver’s names and had listened to some of the sport’s best commentators over the last 10 years. Surely, I would have picked up something from all of this.
At the start of the season, I had drafted a letter to the club commodore who at the time was Geoff Mortimer. I can’t remember exactly what it would have said but basically I
asked if I could help Bob Brister commentate on a Junior race one evening. I remember handing the letter in to the club not really expecting anything to come of it. Later that evening Bob read out my letter over the PA and asked me to join him on Top Deck (his Commentary position).
I was then interviewed in front of the large crowd and Bob gave me the chance to help him commentate on a Junior race. I remember being terrified at the time and found myself a little lost for words. Bob was very kind and congratulated me on my attempt and kindly invited me back the next week to have another go. He suggested that I should bring a tape recorder and record my next commentary so that I could play it back and learn from it.
This is something that I took on board and week after week I would record myself and then listen back with Bob Brister and he would give me advice on how to tighten up the gaps and I also remember him telling me that I needed to slow down a bit as I would get a bit too excited.
At the beginning of the 1986 season, I asked if I was allowed back for another year but sadly the club said I was too young and that was it. I was gutted! I was no longer involved, and I was still not allowed to race. I thought it’s all over for me.
From 1986 onwards I continued to attend the races every week still with my Dad and we still went to all the big races around the
country. However, we had stopped attending the Bristol Grand Prix.
In the late 80s early 90s we saw the decline of F1/F2 drivers racing on the national scene and eventually the American Mod VP class would become the premier class in the UK.
In 1992 we saw the introduction of the S2000 class in the UK and I was very, very impressed with this. I remember watching these for the first time at Oulton Broad with my cousin Simon and it was like going back 10 years. The boats had the noise and the speed, and a lot of the driver’s names were very familiar. The Jelfs had moved up from F4 to S2000 as had John Swarbrick, Mike Ashton and Julian Clarke. Tim Whitehead had moved from the VP class to race this new class as had James Peverelle, the Son of Jim Peverelle and even Phil Duggan From F1, found themselves in the mix in S2000.
Realising the racing would be good all season I borrowed my Dad’s camcorder and videoed most of the racing. I would then spend evenings and weekends recording a voice over for the videos. I was not quite done with commentating yet.
The S2000 class really grabbed my attention and one driver in particular, Marc Rolls, really started to impress me. He looked fast and the boat looked loose on the water. All in all, the buzz had come back big time.
In 1993 we saw the return of F1 back in the UK after a 3-year absence. Once again, we found ourselves heading West but this time to Cardiff Bay, Wales, to watch the British F1 Powerboat Grand Prix. The racing did not disappoint; action packed drama unfolded in front of us over the race weekend with close racing, crashes and almost a British Winner.
The next event we went to after this was Fairford, and with the S2000 class really picking up momentum we found ourselves
watching the racing from the raised bank viewing point.
Robin Hurst would normally be in attendance commentating on all of the action, as he had taken over a lot of Bob Bristers duties on the commentating front. Robin had recently commentated on the F1 race at Cardiff but for some reason was not able to make the next round of the British championships at Fairford.
I remember there was a battle for the lead in the first heat between Rolls And Ashton but sadly no commentary to build up the excitement and express the drama that was unfolding.
After the race I jokingly said to my Dad I could go and do the commentary and he replied, “Go on then”. With that, I marched to the race control along with my cousin and I asked Jerry Jerrum, who was doing Pit announcement if they needed a hand commentating. He very quickly gave me the Microphone and said, “there you go”.
Wow I was back! I seem to remember buzzing with excitement commentating for the rest of the day. Afterwards I thought, well that’s it, a one off but at least I had done it.
The following week at the club’s Thursday night race meeting a few people had congratulated me on my commentary at the previous weekends race meeting. One such
person was Robin Hurst, who had got to hear about my exploits and invited me to join him commentating on the rest of the evenings racing. Afterwards he told me he was organising a big race later that year at Nottingham that would include world Hydroplanes, F3 and S2000.
The 1990s was where I learnt my craft and along the way made some good solid friends; some of them were my childhood heroes.
He had a Team of commentators, Bob Brister and Phil Willeard, but also wanted to try me out as he said I sounded exciting.
After doing my successful trial I land a role as support commentator at the Nottingham Powerboat Grand Prix. Following on from there I was asked by Jim Peverelle to Commentate at the Chasewater club and also Bodymoor Heath, and later Carr Mill.
The 1990s was pretty special as S2000 had progressed to become Formula Grand Prix and then on to F2. Of course, there were all of the other classes that made up the RYA series and I was lucky enough to talk about them all.
Robin Hurst had put a lot of trust in me to do a good job and alongside my CoCommentator we made the perfect duo. Phil had started a year or so before me and also had his finger on the pulse when it came to knowledge of the sport. We would soon strike up a genuine and valuable friendship and often our off-air chat was more interesting than what we said on air.
Garth Bishop the man behind Double Take Video Production filmed most of the National events and could often be seen dangling a Microphone lead down from whatever roof he was standing on and tapped into my commentary. It was great to work with Garth, helping him with interviews on his productions.
As the calendar turned from the 90s to the 00s things started to change within the sport. We had lost a few classes and the ones that were left were not as well supported. However, we still had some good venues and even the odd new race circuit to visit.
In 2003 I had a go in the Outlon Broad training hydroplane and found it very exciting to be behind the wheel. For once the commentator could talk about me driving a boat and for me at least I could say I had done it. With two heats down and one to go I was going for it and on the final turn of the final race of the evening I found myself in my first ever powerboat crash. I was in the Middle of a three boat pile up and ended the night in Hospital with a broken Shoulder. This however did not put me off and once recovered I soon purchased my first boat. Needless to say, my Mum was not best pleased.
The next few years I found myself multitasking with doing a bit of racing and a
bit of commentating, quite often at the same meeting.
In 2008 the Credit Crunch hit the UK and I, for the first time ever, found myself out of work for a couple of weeks. With time on my hands, I was tidying up the back garden and suddenly I received a phone call from a certain Jeni Jelf, who asked what I was doing and was I busy. I thought this is Odd as the Jelf Family live a good 3 hours away from me and I thought, do they not have any decorators in Kent. Jeni went on to explain that the World F2 Series had its final round of the championships in a few weeks’ time and Steve Michaels was unavailable to commentate, as he was busy with F1. Jeni then carried on to invite me to Malaysia to be the race commentator for the event and even better, it would be all expenses paid and my time would also be covered for. This was a dream come true for me and so off to Malaysia I went. There are too many memories for me to put into words in this section but certainly the highlights were being taken out for a spin in the two-Seater F1 press boat; my driver was none other than Michael Werner. Part of my job that weekend was to MC the Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony, and it was with great pleasure for me to announce the F2 world champion for 2008, Colin Jelf.
The next season the F2 Promoter asked me back to commentate on the whole series which saw us travel around the Middle East, with yet another epic season of racing.
Sadly in 2010 the promoter lost the contract of promoting F2 and that was the end of an era for me (or so I thought).
The next 2 years I found myself doing more racing but in 2012 big changes were coming and once again my phone rang and once again it was Jeni Jelf with another big offer.
This time it was huge. Jason Brewer had taken over as the UK Powerboat promoter and had some great and exciting ideas. One of which was to televise the sport on Sky TV. My role was to work with Tiff Needel and between us present the show called Powerboat GP. This was once again a lifetime ambition to cover powerboat racing on TV. Bob Brister had done it so had Robin Hurst and now it was my go. The racing would take place and I would travel to either the Ilse of Man or Manchester to put the voice-over on to the show This is where it all started for me, back at home in those early days of my Dads camcorder and me adding a commentary track to it. I had gone full circle.
Powerboat GP lasted quite a few seasons but eventually stopped when the sport changed Governing Bodies.
With this in mind I went back to racing more and had become quite successful. Instead of going to a race trying to beat people I was now the one to beat, which was a very strange feeling. Occasionally I would still keep my hand in and commentate on some of the nationals or club events but the racing side of things In 2018 two big events happened in the UK; one which was F1 back in London at the Royal Victoria Dock and the other was the European OSY400 event hosted by my home club.
F1 was first and I was very lucky to be asked by the Promoter of the event, Dene Stallard, to be the event commentator.
The OSY European championship did not go according to plan as I was one of the fastest drivers that weekend, but with two gearboxes blowing up, wrecked any chance of being on the podium. But at least my long-time friend Carl Poll was there to support me; after all these years it was his turn to cheer me on.
In 2019 I received a very unusual text message from F2 race Director Pelle Larson, who said that the Grand Prix of Lithuania was going to be live streamed and asked me if I would come over and commentate on the event. Just as I thought that my chances of going away again would never happen another door opened. John Moore and I shared the commentary, and it was once again a new experience. Commentating on a Live race to spectators is one thing but when you are commentating to a Live audience who are dotted all over the world it then becomes a totally different ball game. Just like with any TV commentary your audience can only see what is in front of them on the screen, where if you are at an event, you are fully aware of what is going on around you; not to mention the atmosphere. It is a totally different technique. You have to adapt and only talk about what the viewer can see otherwise it makes no sense to them, so you are relying on a good TV producer to get you the shots and info you need. I think we did a good job that weekend, as I then got asked to go to the last race in Abu Dhabi.
My visit there was amazing, and I was made to feel most welcome. The racing was close and full of thrills and spills that most F2 races provide. At the end of the event all the teams were treated to a trip into the desert. Camel rides, Sand Skiing, along with driving over the sand Dunes, were all on offer.
What I failed to realise is when we got to the venue, I would be the host for the evening and was dropped in at the deep end to front the entertainment for the evening. It was a moment I will always treasure.
As we all know the World changed in 2020 with the Pandemic and all the problems it brought with it. For the first time ever, I had a year of no powerboat racing in the UK. Some events were happening in various other countries but not too much.
F1 H2O had resorted to racing Playstation F1 cars on live stream and once again I found myself in the Lounge commentating on a live stream that went out on the F1 H2O YouTube channel. Shaun Torrente being in a Ferrari and getting wiped out by a Junior driver was hilarious, although Shaun took it all very seriously. Even Erik Stark took to the virtual track alongside Alberto Comperatto who was unbeatable.
I think we kept people and ourselves entertained over lockdown.
When restrictions started to lift, a bit more racing could happen and once again I was to team up with John Moore to commentate on a couple of the Lithuanian races.
In the early months of 2021, I decided to do some live stream Interviews on Thursday evenings and included some of my heroes, from Ken McCrorie to Steve Kerton. It was a Good excuse for me to get to know them better and more importantly giving them the recognition they deserved. I really enjoyed these productions and kept the sport in the public eye whilst nothing was going on in our sport.
Later that year we saw the return of racing in the UK, and I went on to win the Club Hydroplane Championship In a new boat we had purchased over lockdown.
More racing and less talking was to happen in 2022 in preparation for the 2023 world championships at Oulton Broad but in June 2022 I was lucky to be sharing MC duties with my Friend Robin Hurst at the Fast On Water Bristol 50 reunion. Once again I found myself interviewing the big names of the sport from the good old days including the legendary Billy Seebold and Jon Jones.
rescue and the Race Director which did not sound good. Colin’s wife, Jeni was trying to find out what was going on. All this was happening in front of me whilst I was trying to keep the crowd informed of what was going on, but obviously not telling them about Colin’s condition. It was very hard for me to see people I care about in awful situations like this. Watching the Air Ambulance arrive really hit home and was reminiscent of when we lost young BJ Noone. The conversation in the car on the way home was very minimal as it had been a bad day. However, I am pleased to say thanks to our beyond dedicated rescue teams, Colin made a full recovery and returned to racing the next season.
To Sum up my Life though, as a commentator, I have been very lucky to have made so many friends who I treasure dearly. I have also been lucky in that I seem to be in the right place at the right time.
Of course, there has been some incredibly sad times. As with any sport there is a big risk of getting hurt or even worse, having a fatality. I have commentated on a few races where there has been bad accidents. I remember commentating on F4 at Willen Lake, where Trevor Hamilton Gibbs had his fatal crash. It was terrible as it happened right in front of the crowd and his daughter. All of which I clearly remember to this day. Colin Jelf’s crash also in an F4 sticks in my mind as we all watched as he struggled to escape from his safety cell after a collision with another boat. Colin effectively died in his boat. This was hard to witness, let alone be the commentator for the race in which it happened. His wife was in the Radio tent next to me on the right and the Race Director was standing to the left. I could hear some of the communication that was going on between
I also have many favourite memories whilst being involved such as me commentating on Colin Jelf winning his 3rd world title; being on Management for many years; being the host for the RYA Award Evening and, not only sharing a microphone on many an occasion with Billy Owen but also to have him commentate on my first ever National event win was an Honour. The race event I will treasure the most is commentating on my
best friend, Sean Barnard winning the 2007 World OSY400 championship in a boat which I had lent him. I must admit I had a tear of Joy in my eyes and a lump in my throat announcing him as World Champion.
I am not sure what will happen in the future as far as my racing is concerned but I do know I will be returning to the microphone a bit more often in the coming years.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me on my journey over the last 30 years. I’m not sure what exactly I have done right over the years, but it seems to have worked. I only ever want to give the sport the voice it deserves and hopefully people can enjoy the same excitement I take from the sport.
30 years has gone by quicky. I hope I can give you all another 20 years of service.
Thank You All
Jason MantrippFor most of us the mention of the Duke of York Trophy, conjures up memories of Bristol Docks and the races from 1977 onwards, where the world’s top drivers competed for this magnificent trophy.
What many don’t know is that for two years, 1958 and 1959, the Duke of York Trophy races were held in Canada. When the Duke of York (later King George VI) decided to instigate a trophy for 1.5 litre power boats, it was decided that subsequent races would be hosted by the country of the competitor who had last won the trophy.
Prior to 1958, the last Duke of York Trophy race had been held on Lake Windermere, in 1951. The winner of that race was Art Hatch of Hamilton, Ontario in Costa Lotta As a result of Canada being the last winner of the Duke of York, Art Asbury along with Huntsville Mayor, Don Lough and the Canadian Boating Federation successfully brought the international race to Huntsville in 1958.
The entries for the race consisted of a fiveboat team from America and a five-boat team from Canada.
A couple of weeks before the Duke of York time trials, Art Asbury was racing Miss Muskoka at Rideau Ferry when he hit a wave and bounced about four feet into the air, throwing him against the instrument panel, breaking the oil pressure gauge and magneto switch. Despite his many bruises he managed to get her seaworthy in time for the Duke of York trials.
During the trials Art hit an object in the water and damaged a sponson. He and his crew managed to get her back on the water before the end of the trials and although daylight was fading, Art was able to complete the trial and qualify for the Duke of York race.
Sadly, the 1958 event ended in tragedy, when Bill Braden, racing Ariel V and a close friend of Arts, died in a collision with another boat. Bill had been part of the committee that lobbied to have the event held in Huntsville. The event was immediately cancelled and the following morning it was announced that the other drivers had unanimously decided, on the request of Harold Bucholtz, that the Duke of York Trophy should be awarded posthumously to Bill and presented to his widow with his name engraved on the trophy.
The Duke of York race was again staged in Huntsville in 1959. Canada put forward a strong entry including, Art Asbury in Miss Canadiana, Dave Miller driving Miss Muskoka and Laval Verrault in Miss Rimouski, which sank during the second heat due to breaking a prop, which destroyed the transom. After the three heats, the winner was American Harold Bucholtz. Art Asbury was the top Canadian driver, finishing in third place.
After the event Art spent more than five weeks searching for the sunken Miss Rimouski. After various attempts, he reverted to the traditional method of dragging a line. In the process he managed to hook onto something that turned out to be the steering wheel Art dried her out, overhauled her and when completed, contacted Aubert and told
him his boat was ready to collect – a testimony to Art’s character.
South African co-driver, Bill Badsey took the chequered flag. The trophy remained in British hands, when Bob Spalding once again one it in 1975.
In 1977 this most coveted of awards was presented by Count Johnston Noad to Renato Molinari, the Formula 1 winner at the Embassy Grand Prix.
The trophy was again raced for in 1963 at Chasewater, this time won by a Frenchman. But it was not until 1971 that the Duke of York Trophy was properly revived. This involved the National Powerboating Authority, the RYA, approaching the Queen Mother to alter the ‘Deed of Gift’. For up until then, the trophy was awarded to inboard powered craft and the driver, boat and engine had to come from the same country.
By 1971 there were few, if any, inboard powerboats, and the majority of outboard engines were made in America. If the ‘Deed of Gift’ remained unaltered there would not be a British competitor. The Queen Mother graciously agreed and for the next five years the trophy was hotly contested for at the Windermere Grand Prix, the last big Grand Prix of the racing season.
In 1971 the Italian ace and current World Formula 1 champion, Renato Molinari, won the trophy, with Britain’s Bob Spalding winning it the following year. 1973 saw the first mighty unlimited Rotary engines from OMC, and it was with one of these that the American team of Mike Downard and Tom Posey captured the trophy. It returned to British hands in 1974 when Clive Hook and his
With thanks to Doug Cunnington (Art’s nephew) for use of text and photos, taken from his book ‘Art Asbury Speedboat Driver, World Record Holder, and Friend’. Published by First Choice Books. ISBN 978-0-2285-0430-6
A British team is taking on the challenge of a lifetime. Breaking the current water speed record in the purpose-built jet hydroplane, Longbow, with a wood structure hull bonded and coated with Epoxy.
Forty-four years ago last November, the current holder, Spirit of Australia, set the record at 288mph, then a year later set the current record of 317mph in October 1978.
At this stage of the build a big shout out goes to a couple of our sponsors and so in the first instance to Alan Holly and all his team at SGS Gases for their superb service and support in keeping our welding guru Steve Charlesworth, constantly supplied with shielding gas. Secondly, to Chris Baker and Leo Creno at ESAB for their sponsorship of providing us with welding equipment, consumables and technical assistance.
So, with all of that in place and delivered to Steve at his farm in the middle of nowhere up on the moors around Huddersfield, he commenced converting our various boxes of steel tubes and plate into our metal framework that will carry Longbow’s twin pure thrust jet engines. So no pressure there then Steve! When I say he lives in the middle of nowhere I really do mean it is off grid and my little old banger of a car would wince every time it sensed our destination and go, oh no we are not off there again are we? There are probably delivery drivers frozen in trucks who, looking for his address in the middle of winter, have never been seen again.
Anyway, first of all Steve did a test joint of the BS4 T45 tubes using the TIG filler rods that Leo from ESAB had recommended for this application. Once satisfied with the results he was up and away to start making the first of the three ladder frames that would form the
engine cradle. You will also note from the photos herein that he has welded caps on the exposed tube ends in order to seal them.
It is essential when fabricating something like this to have a perfectly flat surface to build the engine cradle upon, which Steve thankfully has with this massive and extremely heavy former machine bed. How he managed to get that to his farm from the main road I have absolutely no idea. It is also a requirement to get the engine cradle tacked
together as a whole and then cross brace it to try and minimise any tendency for the frame to pull or twist in one direction or another, as each of the joints are then fully welded.
One of the things I have learnt with age is you cannot beat having somebody that has a lifetime of knowledge and experience in their field of expertise having a second look at a drawing you present them with to fabricate. Always be ready to take on the advice they give you and an example of this was Steve saying that whilst the outer ladder frames will be rigid in the hull once bolted into the craft, it would reduce the risk of distortion during fabrication if we added some additional triangulation to the framework. At the same time it would also improve the rigidity of the cradle as a whole with minimal additional weight trade off. Whilst we could have had these additional pieces of tube laser cut from a revised CAD drawing it would have held progress up, so Steve just rolled a piece of paper round the tube as a template, shaped it as required with hand tools and cracked on, job done.
You can see that Steve also welded some temporary corner brackets on to the frames so that it was easier to measure / check alignment of the structure compared to trying to measure the round tubes alone. In the meantime, and in order to keep me from annoying him whilst he got on with doing the important stuff of gluing bits of metal tube together, Steve handed me back all the steel plates I had taken for the cradle and told me to get rid of the black oxide coating from all the surfaces as it would contaminate his welding. Black oxide is a chemical process applied to various metals (in this instance to steel) and it is done for various reasons by the manufacturer, such as reducing light reflection, reducing corrosion, helps maintain sharpness and adding microscopic thickness. I don’t know how easy black oxide is to apply to the steel (and there are at least three different ways to do so) but in this case, whichever process was used to apply it, it sure wasn’t the easiest thing to remove, especially when dealing with such small awkward shapes in many instances. Nevertheless, we got there in the end, and I could then drive back over to Steve’s (car definitely not happy), to proudly present the
now shiny plates over to him with all the enthusiasm of an apprentice on his first day of work. To which Steve glanced up, said ‘aye they’ll do’ and carried on welding whilst I huddled by the log burner in the workshop, hoping his guard dog Roxy cracking apart
another large (hopefully animal rather than human) bone in the corner wouldn’t devour me in a similar fashion.
In the next photo of the cradle, you can see the trunnion mounting structure being fabricated which will allow the main mounting points on either side of each jet engines to be bolted down into the cradle frame. A flexible head on the TIG welding torch really came in handy for reaching into all these awkward areas, though I am sure I heard my name being cussed a few times from under Steve’s welding mask.
At time of writing we (as in Steve) are not a long way off completing as much of the twin jet engine cradle on the build table as he can, and we should be able to get it back over to my cottage workshop in the next few days for a trial fit in the hull of Longbow. There is a point at which you have to take the engine cradle structure off the build table and carry
on with the rest of it actually in the presence of the craft, otherwise you run the risk of something not quite fitting how you thought it should and just making unnecessary work for yourself (as in Steve) having to move something he has already welded.
Away from all the engine cradle fabrication, something that was rather a shock this month was my good friend in the USA, Doug Ford who was for a number of years Director of Safety, Technology and Competition for H1 Unlimited hydroplane racing, a brilliant hydro & aerodynamicist passed away suddenly. Doug was part of the volunteer crew for the propeller driven Outright World Water Speed Record hydroplane Slo-mo-shun IV back in the early 1950’s that held the record at just over 178mph prior to it being eclipsed by Donald Campbell’s Bluebird K7 pure thrust jet hydroplane.
books and technical papers upon hydroplanes and knowing him over so many years, he was just a really genuine lovely guy, who was such a great help to me with his vast amount of knowledge and advice relating to high-speed hydroplanes, safety cockpits and in particular how all of that related to our little project. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.
On a somewhat brighter note this month I was back at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Preston at the invitation of Paul Critchley who is the Technical Manager for Workshops & Engineering there. Paul has very kindly offered the use of their commercial sized walk-in Prepreg composite oven and associated purpose-built freezer the latter capable of storing Prepreg material down to at least -18ºC prior to use. All of this being within a dedicated clean room with setting out tables, etc which we are hoping to make use of with some elements of the building of Longbow in the times ahead.
Doug was instrumental in the development of design specifications for the structural enclosed cockpits of high-speed hydroplanes that we see in use today and that have saved so many lives making the sport so much safer to compete in. Doug was involved with improving a number of hydroplane hull designs, perhaps most notably his work with the Unlimited class hydroplane Budweiser T4 hull based upon aerodynamic characteristics of the aerofoil boats of Dr. Alexander Lippisch developed back in the 1940’s. Lippisch discovered that a vehicle with a reversed drooped delta wing would create an air cushion under the wings that would enable the craft to skim just above the water using minimal power. Doug wrote a number of
So that is where we are currently up to folks. It is a great start to 2023 for the project and such a very big thank you really has to go to Steve our welder, who despite the snow and terrible weather up on the moors where he lives, kept his log burner going in the workshop, got his head down for us and cracked on like the hero he is, to help in such a very big way to make the venture happen. I just hope it fits………
David Aldred. Jan 2023
This article appeared in the spring 1990 issue of Powerboating International.
Is this the type of craft our sport needs now?
A boat designed specifically for club racing. Stable, not too fast, easy to handle and with a more affordable price tag
A boat suitable for novices and experienced racers alike A well balanced, straightforward design that is fun to drive.
What more could you ask for.
