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Published by Fast On Water Publications 2017
Editors note A very Happy New year to all our readers, contributors and sponsors. As we all know too well the 2017 season will soon be knocking at the door. We all hope that the coming season finally brings something new and positive to the sport in the UK. Rumours abound but as yet they are only rumours. Only time will tell what sort of season we have ahead of us. Here at Fast On water the feeling is that 2017 could be a great year. Our application is with the Charity Commission, who has requested a more detailed account of why we feel we can be called a charity in terms of educational benefit to the public. Hopefully once they have received this it won’t be too long before we know the outcome. The new revamped website is now up and running. As you will see we have expanded it to include International Drivers and Hydroplane History. Please let us know if you would like to add anything to the website or if you spot any errors.
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 Steve Pinson Kevin Desmond Roy Cooper
Cover photo by Phil Addison Formula Grand Prix start, Bristol 1987
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Heroes of Circuit Racing – Jon Jones
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Coombe Cellars and Fairford 1965
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James Beard circuit boats pt 4
10 The Gar Wood Story pt 2 14 Unlimiteds 3
Heroes of Circuit Racing Jon Jones Jonathan Jones was born and brought up in Cardigan, Mid-Wales. As a child, Jonathan used to watch Cardigan's annual power boat races. He was given his first opportunity to try the sport for himself when he was 15 in a 12ft boat with a 25 hp engine and after a few races, he was hooked. In 1979 he won his first big race - the Formula IV monohull world championship at Bristol Docks in a Suzuki powered Concorde hull. He took the British title in 1981 before moving up into Formula One ON. In 1985, at the age of 22, he became F1 world champion, which included winning the Duke of York Trophy race in Bristol. He went on to win the F1 World Championships a further three times in 1989, 1991 and 1998.
His 1991 victory was won even though he'd been involved in a horrific crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix, suffering a compound leg fracture, which prevented him from competing in several rounds of the championship. He underwent an operation, which involved inserting a metal plate, running from his knee to his ankle and held in place with 18 pins. Despite this, he was determined to compete again that season and in the final grand prix at Singapore just three months later, he won the championship by a single point from German competitor Michael Werner. In 1997, Welsh Motoring Writers switched from land to water in awarding the Tom Pryce Trophy to Jonathan Jones.
He picked up the laurels and the Duke of York Trophy again in 1987 and 1989, showing his race skills in the tight confines of Bristol’s Floating Harbour. 1
The prestigious Trophy was awarded in recognition of Jon’s outstanding achievements over the years in the premier Formula 1 class of circuit powerboat racing, having won the world title three times in 1986, 1989 and 1991. They recognised that F1 circuit powerboat racing demands a similar level of skill, courage and dedication as F1 motor racing. The Group also considered him to have been an excellent ambassador for Wales.
A few weeks after the dinner, Jonathan crashed at Abu Dhabi in the last race of the 1997 season. Despite wrecking the boat in a spectacular corkscrew accident, he was fortunately uninjured. Jon’s then sponsor, Gold Leaf, decided to withdraw from the sport in 1998. Undeterred, Jon, with the assistance of David Burgess started Dragon Boats, building boats to contest the 1998 season. Jon has also continued his involvement with F1 circuit racing through commentating for the F1H2O World Series. The Tom Pryce Trophy commemorates Wales’ greatest motor racing driver, who was tragically killed in a freak accident in the 1977 South Africa Grand Prix. 2
Coombe Cellars 314th August 1966
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Coombe Cellars 14th August 1966
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Coombe Cellars Entry List
We would love to get people’s memories of Coombe Cellars. Please get in touch if you can help. fastonwater@live.co.uk
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Peter Tolputt, Officer of the Day, taking the driver’s meeting before the Cotswold Motor Boat Racing Club’s first Relay Team Race. The year is probably 1966. 8
James Beard Circuit Catamaran Designer Extraordinaire Part 4. Text: Steve Pinson. Photos: Graham Stevens.
Revolutionary 3-point design, which James Beard raced in the 1976 Amsterdam 3hr race. I was in this race and passed James a few times and this boat looked a real handful. His race ended when he submarined it. I knocked the bottom out of my entry and Alf Bullen went on to win.
1976 Cougar sprint boat driven by Peter Thorneywork and powered by a Johnson 122 cu in 2 litre V6 Johnson Hi-Line. Peter ran most races using a 1-1 6 box on this outfit. No good for rough races but at Chasewater in 1976 he managed to outpace Tom Percival and Bob Spalding running V6 injection Mercury outboards on Molinari hulls. 9
Bristol 1977. Dutch driver, Hans Pelster, OMC factory driver out of Brugge. Cougar with Johnson V4.
This was the pickle fork boat James Beard ran at the 1973 Windermere 3 Hour race. The boat was owned by OMC Brugge and was powered by the famous Johnson rotary outboard on this occasion.
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The Gar Wood Story – Part 2 By Kevin Desmond The bidder for Miss Detroit I was none other than Gar Wood, who not only buys the boat but also buys up Chris Smith’s boatyard, commissioning Smith to build Miss Detroit II, the hydroplane that Gar Wood piloted to win the 1917 Gold Cup. He then went one step further. He became the first person to put an aeroplane engine, a 12 cylinder Curtiss V-type, in Miss Detroit III. Experts considered him mad!
racing; the British International ‘Harmsworth’ Trophy, whose rules specified that every aspect of the competing boat must be national – pilot, mechanic, engines and hull. To comply, Wood, who had been using Honduras mahogany to build his boats, changed over to Philippine mahogany. From using German Bosch carburettors, he now developed American ones, and Liberty 500hp aero engines, originally developed by Jesse G Vincent of the Packard Motor Company and rebuilt by Howard Grant from war-surplus parts; two per boat.
That 1918 Gold Cup race was something of a family affair. Gar Wood and Jay Smith in Miss Detroit III, George Wood and Bernard Smith in Miss Detroit II and Winfield and Louis Wood in Miss Minneapolis. Walt would certainly have been proud. Despite being bunt by flames shooting out of the exhaust stacks of III, Gar Wood successfully defended the Gold Cup, keeping it in Detroit. On the strength of it, the Detroit Marine Aero Engine Company was formed, purchasing 600 Fiat, 100 Benz, 200 Mercedes, 100 Liberty’s and 50 Beardman aero engines. Before long almost every high-speed powerboat on the East and West Coast had one or more aero engines. 1919 saw another successful defence of the Gold Cup by Miss Detroit III. Ever ambitious, Wood now turned his sights to the most coveted prize in powerboat
Gar holding the Harmsworth Trophy
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Chris Smith built two boats for the challenge. The 38ft Miss Detroit V for rough weather and the 26ft Miss America I for calm weather. Gar took the pair to Southampton Waters, England and in August 1920, averaging 61mph, he won the two heats necessary to take the bronze Harmsworth Trophy back to Detroit. On his return home, Gar went out in Miss America I, successfully defending the Gold Cup, averaging 70mph for the three heats – a record that would not be beaten until after WWII. He then went out again and clinched the Mile Championship by setting a new World Speed Record of 77.89mph.
Hydroplanes such as Miss America would no longer be eligible. This annoyed Gar Wood, who felt they were trying to break his stranglehold on the Gold Cup, which it did, allowing Jesse Vincent’s Packard Chris Craft, built by Chris Smith to win. Baby Gar Jr came third.
It was the first event in years that Gar had lost. The fact that Chris Smith should let him down by building the better boat for Vincent was impossible for Gar to believe. Although he raced Baby Gar in 1923 and Baby America in 1924, Wood was never again able to regain his former Gold Cup supremacy.
Miss Detroit III restored
Gar now progressed one stage further and put four Grant Liberty engines, totalling 2000hp into his newly-built Miss America II. The experts considered him even madder!
During the next two decades, two companies fierce in rivalry, were to produce a range of fast runabouts, sportsboats and cruisers. GarWood Inc and ChrisCraft are names synonymous with quality; their boats still sought after today.
During the winter of 1921/22, the American Power Boat Association decided that, in the future, entries for the Gold Cup should be limited to displacement boats over 25ft long and engines of not more than 624 cu in piston displacement. The intention to encourage the construction of ‘Gentleman’s Runabouts’; race boats that would be useful for something other than racing.
In 1929, Gar got his own back on the APBA. The Fisher-Allison Trophy had been offered for Gentleman’s Runabouts. Previously Wood’s entries had been ruled out because the rules prohibited the use of 12
aircraft engines. The opposition finally backed down and ruled that any craft with an engine up 1050 cu in could enter. But, off the record, the opposition joked that, ‘No gentleman would ever ride in one of those boats.’ So Wood and his riding mechanic, Orlin Johnson, showed up in white tie and tails, their top hats secured by strings under their chins. Even the two teddy bear mascots were dressed in evening attire.
America II, by crashing into a tree at the side of the Indian River, Florida, at over 50mph. He’s now building the III and IV and buying five new Liberty engines at $25,000. In an 80 mph trial on Lake Geneva, Excelsior-France caught fire; her two 16 cylinder Breguet engines sink to the lake bottom. The Harmsworth contest was cancelled and Wood was left with two brand-new boats he might never use. 1926 – Esdres builds Excelsior-France II and challenges again. When Wood’s finds out the French are on their way to the States he builds Miss America V. The French, even with sporting help from Wood’s mechanic have an unreliable engine, breaking down in the race. 1928 saw Betty Carstairs challenge for the Harmsworth with the single Napier-Lion engined hydroplanes, Estelle I and Estelle II. So Gar went one step further with Miss America VI by having two Packard V12 aero engines, developing 1,060hp each. Miss Carstairs was so dissatisfied with both Estelle’s performance that she withdrew then changed her mind. Roaring along the Snycarte River, near Algonac, at an unprecedented 105 mph, America VI disintegrated, almost killing her mechanic, Orlin Johnson.
They won in Baby Gar IV, driving up to the judges’ stand as immaculate as when they had started. ‘You see, this really is a gentleman’s boat,’ Wood quipped as he accepted the trophy. During the next decade, Gar was to keep two major priorities to the forefront. Firstly, to defend his tenure of the Harmsworth Trophy from increasingly threatening opposition and secondly, to retain the title of World Water Speed Record holder. The Harmsworth Trophy contest was to grow into one of the North American sporting calendar. The bare facts speak for themselves, merely as front page headlines.
Miss America I
1925 – Henri Esdres challenges with ExcelsiorFrance Gar Wood has just written off Miss
To be continued... 13
UNLIMITEDS
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Follow the ‘History of Unlimiteds’ in our next issue Due out end of April.
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Welcome to the Updated Fast On Water Website
Our updated website is finally online. Some pages are still under construction, so please bear with us. This is mainly due to lack of info in certain areas, especially hydroplane history and those involved in hydroplane racing. We have also now included an International Drivers section. Any help filling in the blanks or adding anyone who has not been included would be much appreciated. We do hope you enjoy the updated website. Please feel free to make comments or suggestions to fastonwater@live.co.uk
Another season will soon be with us; coming rapidly on the heels of the festivities of bringing in the New Year. What will 2017 bring? Only time will tell on that score. Rumours abound as always and we can only hope that the truly positive ones come to fruition. If that be the case, 2017 could be the dawn of a breath of fresh air within the sport. Fast On Water’s plans for 2017 are still on the drawing board but you can be assured that as a ‘Friend’ you will be the first to know of any developments. May we wish you all a peaceful, happy and successful year.
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The Bristol 25 event DVD Is now available £10.00 + £1.50 p&p (£12.50 if using PayPal)
LMBRC 60th Commemorative Programme with Enamelled Medal (70mm dia) Limited to an edition of 200 £17.00 inc postage. (£19.00 if using Paypal)
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Our mission – to preserve the history of circuit powerboat racing. To educate, involve and entertain. If you would like to be involved, Make a donation Become a ‘Friend’ Find out more Email – fastonwater@live.co.uk
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07799673451 fastonwater@live.co.uk
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Preserving the Past 20
Developing the Future
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