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BREAKING NEWS A SPECIAL REQUEST CAN YOU HELP? FOR SALE CELEBRATING THE PAST ! Who would have thought in 1961 that the sport of offshore powerboat racing would have survived and after years in the doldrums be in dramatic resurgence for 2010. It will soon to be celebrating the 50th running of the longest surviving race the Cowes Torquay better known now as the Cowes Classic yet what of the craft that won the race over the years since its inception and where are they now? Imagine if you were lucky enough to own a 1961 Le Mans or Goodwood TT winning race car, that vehicle would now be worth multi thousands and have been the subject of a restoration costing many thousands more. It and its history would be revered by many but our island nation with all its maritime history and success in all aspects of sea sport thinks otherwise and is sadly lagging behind the Americans and Europe plus the Automobile world when it comes to saving our "history makers", be they Yachts or Powerboats. You can count on one hand the surviving winning craft from the first 20 years of the Cowes Torquay. When after only 2 years it became the one to win, drew contestants from all over the world all desperate to win the Beaverbrook Trophy and the prestige that came with victory. Then when the Offshore World Championships were established you were not considered a true champion unless you had conquered the "RACE" In 2006 the 1961 winner Thunderbolt the first of 3 boats used by triple winner Tommy Sopwith was rescued from oblivion and after a 4 year restoration will be back on the Solent but Tommy’s other boats?..the unique Telstar again after a lengthy restoration by Colin Mullen was sold at a Bonham auction for £33,000.00 only to vanish to Australia, Sopwith’s other boat Miss Enfield 2 languishes in a Hampshire store shed desperately seeking an owner to restore her to original condition. From the first decade of the sport we have left in this country Thunderbolt, the half restored Italian built and designed A’Speranziella one of Sonny Levi’s race winning designs the other being Surfury which with the closure of Britain’s only true powerboat museum has again been locked away and at risk until somewhere can be found to display the 36 foot dart shaped craft that catapulted offshore design into the 21st century...of the others only GHOST RIDER survives fully restored in the USA. Don Aronows first race in this country was in Claudia 2 later known as Broad Jumper then Twelve Bore, she lay neglected in a Pitsea boatyard with grotty cabin till snapped up buy an astute person and shipped back Stateside. The powder blue hull of Sam Griffiths famous Blue Moppie is deteriorating badly on the Hamble. Worse still he mighty Vosper built TRAMONTANA sits slowly rotting away near Anzio in Italy, despite many attempts to save and return her to GB. Surfrider the Gardners Bertram has vanished and is probably now a cabin cruiser somewhere! Dick Bertram’s Brave Moppie sank off Florida and finally the Cigarette (but which one of the 3 craft used by Aronow) ended up also in Australia and may have also met its demise. As for 1971 onward when the craft became true racing designs and not the Cabin based racers of the 60’s, 2 are long gone Unowot / Uno Embassy was destroyed by the Gibraltan authorities and Yellow Drama the first Catamaran racer lost in the States. Dry Martini has been converted to a rather ungainly dayboat and Dry Martini 2 is suspended from the wall of a private museum in Italy dedicated to Martini rally and race cars. On the other side of the coin it is the Americans who are leading the world in restoration of past racers, Betty Cooks KAAMA and AEROMARINE 1X have survived along with a host of other offshore raceboats, including Bertrams, Formula’s and Maritime’s not to mention the Donzi’s and it does not stop there, the Maritime built Mona Lou aluminium turbine racer is also being restored, albeit they have very little surviving from the early years of the Miami Nassau but what they do have and frequently use are craft dating back to the late 20’s the origin of the sport, the Gold Cup racers and Harmsworth Trophy entrants, the Maple Leaf’s, Miss America’s the Chris Craft and Hacker’s all preserved in pristine working order and shaming us British, they are now saving anything with the remotest history from the modern day sport. We must be thankful that for every loss, Spirit Of Ecstacy, Gypsy Girl Gee (Ali) there are survivors, including many of the Fairey Marine products lovingly restored by their owners and including many CT entrants ie: Diesel Huntsman/Here and Now and the first Huntress entered Maid of Baltimore. They may not have won outright but often went home with armfuls of Silverware. At least one of Souter’s masterpieces survives Ghost Riders bigger sister GEE although with modified cabin and she is still racing. Since the inception of the Classic Offshore Powerboat Owners Club in 2006 and the news of Thunderbolt’s rebirth there has been a steady emergence of boats with racing history finding owners prepared to restore them and save them from certain loss. To name a few, Alan Burnards SEA FOX, the Telstar based Woodnuts built SNOOPY/ PRAWN COCKTAIL and one of the most ambitious projects to date Ian Swinney’s phoenix like MALTESE MAGNUM TWIN one of the great Don Aronow’s own race boats. As for the smaller Class 3 boats and inland racers very little if anything tangible survives in great numbers which is even more of a disaster as this is where names and reputations were made before moving up to the bigger offshore craft. Maybe at last some people in Britain are waking up what little has been done in the past, have started an unstoppable ball rolling to save the history of a sport in which our boat builder’s, designers and crews were the best in the world. Could we also dare think that some forward thinking South Coast town/resort will recognise the importance of this heritage, its potential loss and open a true hands on Maritime Museum where the craft are alive and not "untouchable" displays. Then and only then will the sport at last get the recognition due all its participants both human and mechanical. Maybe just maybe! Mike James |
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