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POWER; 1961 TO 1970 - Let’s talk
about engines!
At the inception of the Cowes
Torquay in 1961 the marine engines
used by cruising boats of the time
were low powered diesel, large bulky
and slow like the craft. Fast petrol
engined boats existed i.e. The
Italian Riva but they used American
Crusaders or Gray Marine and Chris
Craft in the States had their own GM
based engines. Entries in the first
race relied on a combination of
tried and trusted diesels, the prime
units being Perkins, Rootes based
Lister units, Rolls Royce, Volvo
Penta’s and outboards. The average
output of the diesels were around
120 to 240 hp, the new inboard
outboard Volvo’s at 80-100hp and the
outboards at 80hp usually EVINRUDE
or JOHNSON.
The exceptions were Glass Moppie
which was running marinised Chrysler
V8’s of 330hp upgraded for the race
to 400hp and the Bruce Campbell
Christina’s, three of them running
Cadillac based Crusaders, in
THUNDERBOLT and CHRISTINA’S case
they had the later 365 hp units, one
had a single 350hp and the other ran
Palmer flat 6’s of 135hp.
You must remember than in 1961
powerful marine petrol engines were
in their infancy and very much an
American dominated market, we Brits
relied on tried and tested Diesels
but all this was to change rapidly.
The Crusader units used by Campbell
were the first in the country and
the installations in the boats were
subject to no end of gremlins during
testing and in the race, the main
problem was fuel starvation, they
also drank petrol at a quicker rate
than
anticipated!
Both Thunderbolt and Christina were
fitted with extra tanks for the race
one mounted behind the helmsman and
the other in the stern quarter
starboard, giving a total of 175
galls for the 150 mile race. The
Fairey Hunstman and Huntress boats
used the Perkins diesel units of
around 120 hp, the bigger boats such
as Gay Gazelle used Rolls Royce and
the Monaco entries of Morgan Giles
used Rootes Listers.
The Outboard group were Johnson,
Evinrude and a Scott-McCulloch.
In 1962 the Horsepower went through
the roof when the mighty Tramontana
appeared powered by 2 Isotta
Franchini CRM petrol engines rated
at 1160 hp per unit, the rest of the
entries again relied on similar
engines to the previous year with
Perkins powering most of the entries
in the diesel group and the Volvo
inboard outboard was making its
presence felt but again it was the
American V8 that powered the fast
boys, CRUSADER’S, CHRYSLERS and now
FORD’s in Blue Moppie. Two new names
appeared on the entry list a company
called Mercruiser and Dearbourne
with their Ford based Interceptor,
the diesels had a new contender GM
but there were also some exotic
challengers to the American
powerhouses, Italian entry ULTIMA
DEA had three marinesed Maserati’s
and John Coombes Cheetah had 2 E
type Jaguar engines. The outboard
brigade again used Johnson’s or
Evinrudes.
With the CRM’s outlawed and the
rules tightened for 63 Dick Wilkins
returned with Tramontana 2 powered
by 4 E type Jaguar engines producing
1000hp, Jacky S dumped her 3
Chryslers and also went down this
path. John Coombes returned with
Cheetah and her Jags. The Volvo I/O
was taking the marine world by storm
with a total of 11 entries using
either the 80/100 or 110 hp unit’s,
this included the famous Jim Wynn
inventor of the unit.
British engine builders were now
responding to the need for power in
this new sport, Lorry and engine
manufacturer FODEN entered the fray
with 400hp diesels powering
ANGLESEY, Rolls uped the output of
their engine to 280hp and the
Perkins now had 140HP. The Parsons
Ford and Caterpillar also were now
finding favour but again it was the
Yankee V8’s that dominated and what
a choice… "CRUSADERS".
At 325hp INTERCEPTORS at 400hp,Ford
GALAXY’S at 400HP , CHRYSLERS at 280
and that name again MERCRUISER at
320HP.
Oddities included Rootes, Super
Snipes? , Chris Craft (Chrysler
based) and a Brooklands Aviation
Dolphin 21 with a HEALEY!
The Outboard brigade also had a new
competitor …the MERCURY 100HP….In
the end it was Ford Dearborne’s that
powered A’Speranziella to the win.
The 1964 seasons was again to be
dominated by American engines but a
new name DAYTONA…built in Florida by
engine wiz Sam Sara the GM V8 block
produced 400hp same as the
Interceptors and Galaxies.
They were used by Dick Bertram in
the not so LUCKY MOPPIE and by the
Gardener Bros in SURFRIDER, who won
the race.
Volvo Penta again powered 11 of the
entries, some using the new 125 hp
unit and the diesels were again GM,
CUMMINS, PERKINS and ROLLS, The
oddball this year were Rootes ! The
big American V8’s again included the
DEARBORNE INTERCEPTOR with the older
CRUSADER slipping out of favour and
Mercruiser on the up, the biggest
unit producing 310 hp.
Exotica still flourished with
Agnelli’s Maserati’s and Jags
powering Cheetah, Tramontana 2 and
Heatwave.
Five years into what was becoming
the most famous powerboat race in
the world and what a year it was
with Diesels setting the pace
instead of Petrol, Dick Bertrams
BRAVE MOPPIE won with her twin
Detroit Turbo Diesels rated at 550hp
each( it was the weight of these
units which was to sink the 38ft
Bertram Special the following year),
whilst it was the Daytona that
dominated elsewhere but at a price,
reliability was not yet its
strongpoint yet, they powered 7 of
the fastest craft including the soon
to be iconic SURFURY, her twin
Daytona Turbo Charged engines
pumping out 850hp through her single
shaft.
Fodens and Rolls were the
challengers to the Cummins and
Detroits pushing out 410 and 310 hp
respectively and Perkins powered 12
of the 56 starters. The exotic
engines still tried to battle the
simple V8, along side the JAGS was
John Robertson’s BOTVED powered by
an ASTON MARTIN !. Yet to make an
impression were the Mercruisers and
Volvo’s were still the choice for
reliability in C2.
The V8 boys included Holman Moody
Fords (read GT40) along with the
usual Dearborne’s and the odd
Crusader hanging in there.
Oddball of the year was Dr Emile
Savundra’s “SEA UNICORNS” rated at
600hp built by WESTLAKES it was a
diesel converted to petrol but it
needed more development time as it
ate spark plugs at an alarming rate
and the slowest the boat could
travel was 15 knots!
The Daytona made its mark in 1966
powering GHOST RIDER, The power was
up to 500hp, though when DELTA 28’s
engines were installed they found
they were touching 600 hp way over
Delta’s design limit! Flying Fish
had 2 new engines for the race and
these produced 625hp each. The
Daytona was the death knell for
other V8’s, the Interceptor survived
but was still only rated at 400hp
and Holman Moody units powered John
Willment’s Big Moose and
Thunderbird. As for the Diesels they
did not come any bigger than
Agnelli’s single Fiat diesel in
ULTIMA VOLTA, it produced 850hp.
450HP FODENS powered News of the
World and Anglesea. Cummins were
converting the Perkins owner and
Rolls Royce powered Steve Macey’s
SPIRIT of ECSTACY with 460 HP on tap
from each unit.
For some reason no entry had a
Mercruiser installation, maybe
Daytona’s success had sent them back
to the drawing board and the exotic
engines still could not prove their
worth even though Tramontana’s 4
Jags now pumped out 1100hp, John
Robertson obviously persevered with
the ASTONS as his new Tremlett,
VENUS appeared with two 350hp
examples. No oddballs this year and
only 2 entries used outboards.
If 66 marked the entry of Daytona to
the higher echelons then 67 was the
icing on the cake, Surfury’s twin
turbo charged installation now
produced 1100hp and winning the race
put her designer Sonny Levi on the
road to stardom and the engines into
all the best craft. The Levi
designed THUNDERFISH (ex Merry Go
Round) had units producing 1200hp,
DELTA’S were detuned to 1000hp, US
entry MOMMA MARITIME had 1200hp and
Italian DELTA BLU 1100HP. Class 2
used single installations of 500 and
520 hp in all 9 craft used the
engine and all were capable of
winning. 67 saw the reappearance of
Mercury with the 100hp outboard unit
powering 7 entries. The poor old
diesel was now in the minority but
the engines were now powerful
Cummins units pumping out up to
500hp and were used in VIVACITY, GEE
and the new GYPSY GIRL. Cmdr
Thorneycroft’s GRAND ESPOIR used 2
400hp Caterpillar units and it was
Perkins that powered the smaller
cruiser class.
Of the old V8 manufacturers the odd
Interceptor and Holman’s were still
used but by far the most utilised
engine combo was the VOLVO. The
oddballs were now Bedford units in
DUM DUM, Jags still powered
Tramontana, Astons in Venus and
Chrysler reappeared in John Iddons
SEAHUNTER and there was a new kid on
the block called AEROMARINE destined
to follow the Daytona’s in to the
history books but that was sometime
off!
With the end of the decade drawing
closer it was still the Daytona that
was the leading manufacturer and
they were to score a third
successive victory in the Cowes
Torquay, in the year it now returned
to Cowes .The winner was a single
engined boat that completely wiped
out the favourites, it was of course
the 25ft Telstar powered by a single
Turbo charged unit of 650hp.
Throughout testing the installation
had caused minor problems and in one
race prior to the August spectacular
she stopped with a holed block!
everything came good for the 68 race
and she beat hot favourite Surfury.
The big Cummins diesels still held
court but a new challenger entered
the fray, SABRE made its entrance in
to powerboat racing fitted into a
Fairey Huntsman, its Ford based
units were soon to become a big name
in racing.
The largest representation of any
manufacturer that year was the
MERCURY CORPORATION with units
ranging from their 125hp outboard to
400hp inboard /outboards, there were
a few Holman and Moody installations
and the odd Interceptor now
producing 500hp.
That name AEROMARINE cropped up
again with an installation in Robin
Bateman’s Avenger “SCREWDRIVER” and
rated at 325hp.
Perkins and Volvo were still ever
present and their average hp was now
145 with the exotics represented by
Aston Martin, Cadillac( not
Crusader) but the Jaguars had long
vanished although a certain Maurice
Hardy was running a Daimler V8 in
Wicked Lady.
The Oddballs did not come much odder
than the Russian Hydrofoil Hydroski
1 powered by a SUDIPORT?
In many ways 1969 was to herald the
biggest impact on the sport in its
short history, it climaxed at the
CTC when a certain Don Aronow in his
Cary “THE CIGARETTE” finished in
record time powered by 950 hp
courtesy of the new power king
MERCRUISER. Who incidentally had to
settle with Volvo over the
infringement of patents regarding
the I/O DRIVE SYSTEM developed by
Jim Wynn and Volvo Penta, maybe this
was the reason they had not exploded
onto the offshore scene earlier!
The Daytona was still the engine of
choice with past winners Sopwith and
the Gardner Bros, the Holman Moody
still found favour now pumping out
450hp. The big shake up was not just
felt in the petrol power department,
the diesel brigade were now under
attack from the new Sabre engines
who were more than proving their
mettle and taking some big prizes in
the process and the Caterpillar was
now pushing out 450hp.
The outboard racers were also on a
comeback curve with all
manufacturers represented and the
trusty Volvo was still the tried and
tested Cruiser choice.
The Jaguar made a comeback with the
Tremlett “CRESCENDO” powered 4
ENGINES totalling 800HP and the
oddballs in 69 were the single 480hp
ROVER in SEABEAR and the LEYLANDS
that powered HTS (soon to be
replaced with SABRES).
For the first 10 years of the now
legendary Cowes Torquay the petrol
engine ruled the roost except for Mr
Bertram’s interloping diesel in 65,
and all the winners were American,
based on the GM V8 block.
The new king Mercruiser struck again
in 70, this time it was twice winner
Tommy Sopwith with Miss Enfield 2
powered by Mercruisers totalling
950hp. The manufacturers engines
powered 20 of the entrants in both
inboard and outboard categories
including Black Tornado 1000hp and
the turbo units of AVENGER 007.
The diesel war was going the way of
the SABRE with ROLLS, CUMMINS and
CATERPILLER in decline at least in
racing mode.
The once great DAYTONA had peaked at
550hp, HOLMANS were out of it and
the exotics had all but disappeared
but one name cropped up again
AEROMARINE, the oddball in 1970 was
BMW.
The next decade would bring in many
new names and a surge in the
horsepower ratings and a comeback by
the powerful diesels but in a new
form including a name from the early
60’s who’s petrol units were banned!
I wonder who they might be? |
