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T.E.B. "Tommy" Sopwith - The
Cowes Torquay Master
In the
late fifties sports and saloon car
racing was the sport of "amateurs
and gentleman racers". Goodwood was
the place to go to watch the best
racing in the country on a par with
the big continental races, Le Mans,
Spa and Reims. The best cars of the
day were the Astons and Jaguar "C"
and "D" types and of course the new
"E"…..plus the famous 3.8 Saloon so
beloved of Police and Villains!
The drivers were household names,
Moss, Hawthorne, Gurney, Salvadori,
Sears, Sopwith.….Sopwith? Yes Tommy
Sopwith Jnr. was a sports car racer
of repute driving for the best teams
and his own "Equipe Endeavour".
Tommy was often involved in on track
tussles with Mike Hawthorne but with
the death of his friend Sopwith
withdrew from racing .
It was
in the late months of 1960 as a
refugee from the sport, kicking his
heels , looking for something to do,
when he was approached by Bruce
Campbell, cousin of Donald, offering
him a deal on a boat for the up and
coming Daily Express International
Powerboat Race to take place in
August 1961. So lucrative was the
deal that young Sopwith (28 yrs old)
jumped at the chance to sample this
new sport, imported from America by
Max Aitken, son of Lord Beaverbrook
the press mogul, and so it was on
that August morning amongst the 27
starters was Tommy, his mount
Thunderbolt proudly carrying the "Equipe
Endeavour" badge on the cockpit
flanks, went on to become the
surprise winner of the event that
was to establish the new sport in
the public’s imagination and create
a new path for the young Sopwith to
follow.
The following year he was back for
more but unfortunately Thunderbolt 2
was sidelined with preparation
problems and a disappointed Tommy
never raced. 1963 and he was back
with vengeance driving Dick Wilkins’
THUNDERSTREAK, a new 31 ft Bertram
with twin Holman and Moody Fords
totalling 800hp. A battle royal
ensued in the Solent on that August
bank holiday between Sopwith , Lord
Lucan in the Christina WHITE MIGRANT
and Keith Schellenberg’s BLUE MOPPIE,
neck and neck through the Solent at
a timed speed of 42 knots….
Something had to give first it was
Lucan who sank, next it was
THUNDERSTREAK, Blue Moppie finished
second behind one Renato “Sonny Levi
”who let the "Brits" burn themselves
out.
1964 saw Tommy out in the revamped
TRAMONTANA 2 with 4 Jaguar "E type"
engines kicking out 1000hp, she had
troubles on the way but finished 25th…Tommy
was now one of the main stay
competitors in the sport and was
back in '65 again with THUNDERSTREAK
only to break a con rod on the start
line.
In 1966
Tommy Sopwith was giving the racing
a miss as he was on the organising
committee, adding his weight to
ensure the race maintained its high
profile, then came 1967 and still no
return to racing.
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By now others were taking
the headlines including one
Don Shead, racer turned
designer, and so it was in
1968 that Sopwith was back
in a craft the same length
as his ‘61 Christina
THUNDERBOLT at 25', with a
single engine of
almost the same power as his
twin Cadillac's of
61, a 600hp Daytona, and
racing in conditions on a
par with, if not worse
than ’61…..but and it
was a very Big But! The race
no longer finished in
Torquay but turned round the
mark boat and headed back to
Cowes….The boat was called
TELSTAR a class 2 design
from Don Shead’s board a
development of the 21ft
AVENGER design and sporting
the first Surface Style prop
drive on a stainless
extension from the raked
stern. The race saw THE
amazing SURFURY and the
Italian WHITE TORNADO battle
across Lyme Bay in
conditions that eventually
sank the Italian the
Gardeners thought they had
the race sewn up but as they
headed round the Torquay
mark failed to notice the
tell tell wake left by a
high speed craft as they
headed back to Cowes….. |
Little
Telstar had outflanked them, and
this is where "myths and legends"
are made because Tommy was not the
first driver to beat the Lyme Bay
killer by skirting the coast he took
the route that Bruce Campbell did in
1961 in his boat Christina ,
Thunderbolts twin…BUT… it became
Tommy’s route, because using it won
him the race and tucked another
first under his belt. He had now won
the first COWES- TORQUAY and the
C-T-C WHAT WAS NEXT?……
1969
was the start of Don Shead’s
ascendance as the offshore designer
to use and Tommy’s next boat T2 was
a development of Telstar this time a
33 footer built by Souters and was
up against Shead in the Aluminium
MISS ENFIELD of the same design,
again both boats proved fast and
seaworthy but both failed through
engine problems. Not to be beaten by
gremlins Tommy was back in 1970 with
another new Shead design a further
refined version of T2 and MISS
ENFIELD called MISS ENFIELD 2,
packing 950hp of MERCRUISERS into
her 33ft hull , in what turned out
to be the fastest race so far Tommy
romped home over the 204 mile course
at an average speed of a tad under
59 mph., 6th home that
year was T2, last years boat now
renamed HOT BOVRIL. Victory number
three and one for the record books!
Could there be more to come from the
race that now belonged to him? With
the dawn of 1971 and a new boat
ENFIELD AVENGER…destined to become
one of Don Shead's most successful
designs, but it was not to be so in
Tommy Sopwith's hands , it was also
the last year he raced, he hung up
the helmet and retired from the
sport that had again made him the
household name he had been in the
late 1950’s. …and left a legacy that
would not be beaten for quite a few
years to come……..
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Post Script |
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Tommy always
raced under boat
number 40 or 400
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His racing
colours were
ENDEAVOUR BLUE,
RED AND WHITE
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His first
navigator was
GEOFF FANNER and
thereafter
CHARLES De
SELINCOURT.
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Sopwith reunited with
Telstar in the 1990's |
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