KEN RAYBOULD….one of the unsung
backroom boys.
Powerboat racing as with any motor
sport relies on the many people who
work behind the scenes, they are
based in the boatyard, engine
preparation bays and design offices.
Their names are rarely known to the
general public and sometimes not
even to the competitors whose boats
are prepared by them and on whose
meticulous preparation of the boat
their lives could depend.
One
such person is Ken Raybould who at
the tender age of 22 started work
with the Bruce Campbell on the
Hamble in 1959 and worked for the
yard until it shut in 1964.
During his years with Campbell,
Ken’s job was extremely varied, it
included delivering customers boats
to the Mediterranean (by land and
sea), conducting sea trials and
overseeing the yard. In the years
with the yard he would rub shoulders
with a veritable who’s who of the
burgeoning sport and celebrities
including Sir Rocco Forte, Joan
Littlewood who owned Christina’s,
Gianni Agnelli the Fiat boss, racers
Renato Levi, Tommy Sopwith and John
Bingham soon to become Lord Lucan.
It was
fortunate that Ken was working for
the yard in 1961 as he would become
involved in boat preparation for the
initial Cowes-Torquay powerboat
race, Campbell had a total of 5 of
his boats entered, one of which was
the first winner, Tommy Sopwith’s
Thunderbolt and Coralie entered by
Campbell’s business partner Derek
Hawkins, for which Ken was the
driver. Thunderbolt was fitted with
2 of the first Cadillac Crusader
engines in Britain and suffered many
teething problems during pre race
preparation, fuel starvation being
the main culprit, after several test
sessions a frustrated Ken kicked her
on the eve of the race.
He
arrived at Torquay with Coralie in
11th place, although outside the
time limit. When Ken bumped into
Tommy Sopwith in the Imperial hotel
Torquay after the race, he found
that Tommy was dumbfounded by the
fact that he had won! .
Coralie was fitted with one Crusader
and also suffered on the trip to
Torquay with…. fuel problems!
In 1962 Thunderbolt was driven by
Pamela Campbell, Bruce’s wife, in
the Cowes-Torquay, unfortunately she
retired after suffering “fuel feed
problems” a few miles from the
finish. Some of the rare film
footage of Thunderbolt taken at the
time shows Ken out testing with
Pamela Campbell at the helm.
Working
at Campbell’s meant Ken, as
previously mentioned, came into
contact with many in the new sport
of Powerboat racing, two such
persons were Albert Figgins and
mechanic John Hodder, it was in 1964
racing Figgins’ Silver Spray, an
open version of the 25ft Christina
that Ken finished the CT in 10th
place despite a disintegrated drive
belt. One competitor who stopped to
offer assistance when Silver Spray
broke down was Max Aitken,
apparently they could smell the
burning from some way behind!
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Silver Spray |
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Thunderfish |
When
Albert Figgins ordered his new
Halmatic hulled racer Thunderfish in
1965 it was Ken and John he asked to
prepare and drive her, they finished
3rd in the Miami Nassau,
they won the Wills Trophy, led the
Cowes Torquay before being overtaken
by Surfury and Brave Moppie and were
holding 4th until an
engine mounting collapsed eventually
finishing way down the field on one
engine. Thunderfish also ran second
in the Senior Service race until
forced to retire, apparently the
pounding gave Mr Figgins a bad time!
It was
a measure of his experience that
Dick Bertram offered Ken a job in
America at his yard but he elected
to stay with Halmatic, where he was
now working since the demise of
Bruce Campbell’s yard.
Halmatic was where Ken was to
develop his knowledge of working
with glassfibre and the newly
developing field of composite
structures.
In 1967 he worked on John Willment’s
BIG MOOSE a 44ft Souter built Watson
design powered by 2 x 500hp Holman
Moody Fords, in the previous year
this boat had been finished on the
eve of the race and was driven by
Bruce Campbell but failed to finish.
In the hands of Ken she came home 15th
in the CT, not bad for a big boat in
calm conditions.
John
Willment by the way had raced Blue
Moppie in previous years and the
hull sat in Willment's Southampton
yard deteriorating, Willment asked
for Kens advice on rebuilding and
strengthening the hull but it was
never carried out.
In 1968
he was involved with Broad Jumper
originally owned and raced by
American Bill Wishnick (ex Claudia
3), then entered by the Morris
brothers but now run by Phillip
Goddard, in the Cowes race she
finished 11th after
suffering electrical problems and
running on half power. As Claudia
she finished 3rd in ’64
in the hands of Dennis Miller the
famous Yachtsman then 9th
in ’65 with Wishnick. This was a
Formula hull, the company with which
Ken was to become greatly involved.
’68 also saw Ken involved with
another motor sport giant, one John
Wyer, of GT40 fame whilst involved
in setting up his Halmatic Ocean 25.
In 1970
he raced with Alan Burnard, Fairey’s
designer in Sea Fox finishing 2nd
behind Translucent, then raced Sea
Fox in several other local races.
1971
saw the emergence of Ken Raybould
the designer and builder of Miss
Delson, designed as a rough weather
racer and originally to be powered
by 2 500 hp Mercruisers, she was
purchased by Martin Harefield
engined with diesels and scored many
successful outings. The boat was
built by Ken built at the Willment
yard, the design attracting the
attention of many potential
customers including Lady Violet
Aitken, Jack Renouf and Richard
Griffiths but John Willment's prices
for the production units were
off-putting!
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Miss Delson |
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Broad Jumper |
Now
very much an expert in production
methods and designing new lay up
methods, Ken was in demand and was
asked by Don Shead to advise Colin
Chapman of Lotus, on a new design
for his recently acquired yard
building the Moonraker and Marauder
series of cruisers. Chapman
apparently did not follow Ken’s
input and had trouble with
construction problems and bits
coming apart!
In 1973 Ken was asked by Don Shead
and Douglas Garland to set up
Planatec to build the Shead 40ft
designs, ABO, Uno Embassy and Miss
Embassy plus others, in doing so he
was able to employ some of the
original Campbell staff to assist in
production. One of these boats, ABO,
went on to become one of the most
successful race boats of the time
under various names, highlighting
Kens unique talents with resins and
composites. In fact her hull today
33 years later still shows little
sign of stress such was the inbuilt
strength, despite her racing years
and it is rumoured she may start
racing again.
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ABO |
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Miss Embassy |
In 1976
Ken Raybould became Du Ponts
worldwide composite design
trouble-shooter, such recognition
led again to him advising such
personages as King Juan Carlos of
Spain on the interior fitting of his
new Shead designed Motor Yacht, plus
some of the sports great names, Don
Aronow, Reggie Fountain and the
master of power boating Fabio Buzzi,
although Messer's Aronow, Fountain
and Buzzi being very strong minded
people probably did not take on this
advice or maybe they did!?!
Ken’s
own company Martech, has seen many
of its composite design structures
used worldwide in both the sailing
and powerboat sectors including the
winning three quarter ton and one
ton class yachts and also by the
mighty Formula/Thunderbird Company
of America which have won various
championships with their designs.
There
are a multitude of stories and
exploits that could be told, this is
merely the gloss on a very varied
career but one which affects many of
the boats that cruise the waters of
the world today, safely, thanks to
one mans understanding of how to use
such methods of building,
effectively!
I
wonder how many of you remember or
have heard of the quiet man
responsible for so many of these
craft and their victories, very few
I suspect, I feel honoured to put
history to rights.
Post Script. When it became
known I had acquired Thunderbolt, I
received a fax offering any help
needed, at the end of the simple
message was the name Ken Raybould
…history had come full circle.
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