As you con see, r om hoving fun ond getting to grips with Windows'95

As you con see, r om hoving fun ond getting to grips with Windows'95 ! rt is
exciting ond full of voyages of discovery, but oh! so time consuming!!!
But now down to the serious business of bringirg you the News.....
CONGRATULATIONS TO JOHN
The UIM Central Asia and Middle East Continental
Championship, which started in Dubai in October,
is not yet over....there is the last heat still to go in
Abu Dhabi on May 10'n. But Milter and Jardine will
not be racing in Abu Dhabi because they have
already won the whole championship!
A{ter the slightly odd circumstiances of their De in
the i't heat, ALL OF A OUIVER set out to show
them that they did not need to bend engines to win.
They did just that! The 6 litre Midas high{ech cat
proceeded to convincingly win the next heat in Abu
Dhabi
In Oman on March 13, the course was shortened
because of rough weather - not that these Middle
Eastem courses are ever very challenging to
navigators - they just go round and round in circles!
Neil Holmes and Peter Little exploded ttfeir right
hand gear box on the 1't lap and really only
vraddled round for the rest of the race. Mark
Mulvaney and Dave Voyce fared a little better,
finishing 7th out of 13 starters in the ex-Stoneman
bat boat named CHARTERHOUSE ASSOCIATES
(not a very exciting name, Mark!). But Miller and
Jardine put ALL OF A QUIVER to the front from
start to finish - in fact they finished in amongst the
Class ll fleet with a race aveftUe of 70mph! Wth
our old friends the 'Walrus' Warelius twins in 2"d.
Miller now had 800 championship points to
Invemizzi's 622.
Also in Oman in Class ll were Brits David and Chris
Allenby in the new ASSAGAI V, and Geoff Purves
with Paul Hicks in the o/dASSAGAI lV. Phil
MILLER AND ADRIAN JARDINE
Duggan was again running for ABU DHABI TEAM
with Sheik Saeed B. Al Nahyan. The Ailenbys
were suffering from a filter blockage, but still
managed a 4th place at 65mph behind Arab teams.
And the elderly ASSAGAI lV took Purves and Hicks
to the finish in 7th, at a mere 48mph. This resulted
in 6th and 12rh championship placings respectivery
overall.
The offshore circus moved back to Dubai for the 4th
heat on 12" April. Over enthusiam had the 1'l
eleven craft judged to be ahead of the start boat,
and all got 10 minute penalties! Fortunately, it did
not affect the results as the 5 who got it right were
the slowest runnei's in Class ll anyway! VICTORY
TEAM of Hareb and Nasser did their 10 laps at
135.5 kph (How do I tum kilonetres to miles -
HELP!) powered by the V6 Sterling inboard. And
their accumulated 1153 points mean that they can
only be beaten now by VICTORY MARINE's Jaber
and Al Tayer.
But in 6 litre, the day belonged to ALL OF A
QUIVER. 'We've obviously got the chemistry righf'
said Jardine after Miller drove to a 136.0/ kph
victory - and it will not have escaped your notice
that the 6 litre was faster than the winning Class ll
!!!! With 1200 points, they are unbeatable, with
lnvemizzi looking like taking 2"d.
John promptly sold the boat, secure in the
knowledge that the Championship was his!
(Sorry, but my source did not tell me about the
other Brits' performances. )
Sad news for O.RD.A It seems that pounding the seas of offshore is simply NOT the
best thinS for your vertebrae- Dave Tlrrrell, who has loyaly been tryinS to keep
Smithy on track in SMPLY THE BEST has to retire from active racingi on doctor's
orders. And Robin Parish, who suffered a shoulder dislocation wittr tendon and
rlerve darnage when he went over at Somph in practice at last Cowes whilst leading!
ttre 2 litre World Championship, has similarly been forced to withdraw from racinS-
Happily, we should still be seeing; Iots of tl e lads as they will continue to support
offshore racinp events.

2
THE U.K.O.B.A. 'SPITHEAD TROPHY'- GOSPORT - sTH MAY 1996.
O.O.D. Ray Bulman fields the season's opening National heat with traditional style. The market-place pits were sunny and
warm to welcome us again to Gosport - old rigs and new converging there with growing interest at each new arrival.
BABY UNO, the ex-Andreas Ugland Arnestad mono, was there with novice proud owners Ken Thorne and Brian Proctor.
Yann Cadoret and James Moreau from La Trinite dished out Euro oacks from the FLYING OYSTER tent.
Alexi had become PENTHOUSE WITH FAT FACE CLOTHING, now owned by Max Walker with Alan Ward (ex
Powerhouse) as navvy.
Sperling's Campbell cat arrived with Nick Spence in new yellow colours - not yet sponsored, John Billington in the back
A new dua{eam - the Hammonds Brothers - Adrian in C36 NO GUTS NO GLORY and Philip in 835 WHO DARES WINS
had left ski-racing for offshore in monos looking incredibly like Bakdrafts but claiming to be from Birway Marine!
Alan Layton and Chris O'Dowd were the proud new owners of a Phantom 1.3 SPIRIT OF GREAT BRITAIN under the team
management of Taff Arthur.
LARGE lT - a Mannerfelt 1.3 - and new steed of lan Cutler and Lorenzo
Martin Purnell's brand new (and not yet wet) 28ft Revenger RIB caused quite an ELECTRIFYING stir!
And there was a whole bevvy of Touring Class craft - 7 in all - some of them even finished and ready to race!
The Aranow ULTIMATE with Tony Dowley and John Lambson; a Donzi called 10 DENIER; BLAST FROM THE PAST - a
Shead driven by Allen Prebble and Mike Berrow, SUPERLUMINAL Revenger of Tony Donald, Brian Pelham and Dave
Barham; John Eberhardt and Craig Elliott's Aranow SIDE WINDER; Shelley's team of Peter Berrow and John Burden in
the REVENGER MEDITERRANEE and old faithfuly TEAM EXTREME's Ring with Tony David and Jon Fuller.
The 1995 regulars were there, too; the LOS LOCOS BUZZIBUZZARD and VULGAR VULTURE; Gardiners' MERCURY
RACING; L.A. Racing's CITY OFFSHORE; COMMODORE FERRIES now with Scott Hodges in the rear; the Argo
CONDOR FERRIES 7 with Peter Wilson but without John Moore; the Hill Bros in FURNITURE DIRECT; Pat and Stefan in
UP THE BAKDRAFT (not LOST FOCUS as previously quipped!)
During an interesting practice session which saw Nick Spence nearly arrested for speeding (!), Mark Mulvaney and Dave
Voyce managed to split the hulljunctions on CHARTERHOUSE with one of the 3 hulls going independent!
Race day weather gave a moderate forecast, Ray Bulman gave an emotional Briefing, no-one was thereto give the '
breathaliser tests, and Yann Cadoret gave out French brochures. The Scruts worked hard to get the new Tourers through
scrutineering - BLAST FROM THE PAST went mechanical - and the rest of us went off to the heavily armed security gate at
HMS Dolohin to be craned in. But the SIDEWINDER did not make it to the start with the other "1, uM" and "D" class boats.
BABY UNO led for most of the 1.t lap until Charles
Burnett put the BUZZARD in front. TEAM EXTREME
took up 3d from the FLYING OYSTER. SUPERLUMINAL
ran well . . . . . . but only for one lap. They retired in company
with ULTIMATUM. 10 DENIER lasted another %lap
only with a small detour to Bembridge (!), leaving Tony
Davis and Jon Fuller the clear leaders from REVENGER
MEDITERRANEE - these 2 Tourers split by the FLYING
Frenchmen.
During the 2na long B lap, Charles and Ken swapped the
lead a couple of times as they tested each other, or was
Peter Dredge trying to find out if Brian Proctor knew his
navigation?!?! UNO did get a little lost thereabouts! But
also Dredgy reported a small electrical fire in the canopy
which sort of slowed them down for a while!
BUIBUZZI BUZZARD averaged 70 mph to the new
finishing procedure, and BABY UNO was only a mere 7
seconds adrift. Not bad for their very first race in Class ll
!!! Real competition for the BUZZARD at last??l!
Assured of 2no in class, REVENGER MEDITERRANEE
could not believe it when their fuel supply ceased....just
one turn mark from the finish! Fuel starvation as gunk
clogged up the fuel filter! A real shame for these novice
enthusiasts!
CITY OFFSHORE was driven superbly by Pete Little and
Dave Arthur and they were never bested in 2 litre - their
race average of 65mph giving the rest of the fleet
something to think aboutl Roy Smith and Scott were 2no
throughout in COMMODORE FERRIES with Spence and
Billington running regular 3'a to the flag, with only 10
seconds between these two! Nick has certainly got this
cat up on its toes with Chris Lewis' help.
PENTHOUSE came 4th but novices Adrian Hammonds
and Paul Lloyd went walkabout towards the Nab on their
B lap and were eventually flagged off by the new finishing
procedure without points, as they did not manage 70o/o of
the course distance. Mat Gardiner and father Ray only
got to North Sturbridge before their orange flag went up
on the first lap.
In 1.3, there was a terrific dice between CONDOR
FERRIES 87 and B'14 LARGE lT, Peter Wilson
averaging 53 mph and lan Cutler only 2 mph slower in
his first race in the Batboat. In 3'o spot, Pat Mohan and
Stefan were not far behind. But Layton and O'Dowd had
managed a couple of stuffings in SPIRIT OF GREAT
BRITAIN, settling for a waterlogged 4th.

A split bow tank had not helped the ride for Ricky and
Robert Hill leavrng FURNITURE DIRECT struggling in
5th, ahead of Phil Hammonds and Skip Green in a rather
nervous debut Debbie Cottrell had suffered a bad
overturn in 869 durrng a private practice session the
week before and was not really yet full of regained
confidence; this was evrdent as she drove Sarah
Bellamy gingerly round the course to be the thrrd 1 3
boatflagged before the last laP.
With so many boat casualties to retrieve, the safety fleet had thetr work cut out Only one Tourer had managed to fintsh the
race still going out of / potential starters! A hard initiation for some into offshore ractngl!! But eventually, all returned to
base and we got dressed for a formal prizegiving in the Officers' Ward Room at HMS Dolphin. The Commanding Officer
suggested that Charles Burnett should buy a round of drinks for wearing his hat in the Mess! But, with no microphone to
assist, Charles did not hear thisl We all enjoyed the buffet and bar and applauded their invitation for us to return to Dolphtn
next Vear. Ray Bulman sadly announced that this had been his last race as O.O.D. Liftle did they knowllllll
;d-c- -
lc, .-.

t-
THE "TORBAY CLASSIC'' RACE REPORT - 25THI26TH MAY 1996
Our arrival in Torquay on Thursday evening was in heavy rain, gale force winds and felt souldestroying.
This awful weather also stopped Mike Bellamy from leaving Shoreham in his 'go
anywhere' LANCING MARINE Sunseeker; our Navy warship who had volunteered to act as
Committee boat was stranded in Dartmouth and three other big cruiser safety boats stopped offat
Weymouth to get out of the storm. Only the 55 footer made it all the way to Torquay! Thank
goodness for the "six pack" who all trail to the race venues - without them, there would not have been
nearly enough local boats to make up a Safety Fleet - another sign of the recessed times we are in!
Of the 27 boats entered in this, the 2nd National Championship heat and the 72"d anniversary of
powerboat racing in Torbay, 4 did not arrive. Colin Stoneman chose LETHAL MENACE over his
Hydrolift MAXI MAILING; Mark Mulvaney's 3-pointer having broken in two at Gosport, Mark was
desperately trying to get his Ex-Stoneman Batboat back from Dubai. But it was oflloaded as
'dangerous cargo' through a slip up in the Arab paperwork and did not arrive in time for the 'Classic'
PAPA KILO was ready to make the trip from Manchester, but an envelope from the R.Y.A. arrived
with all sorts of warnings to canopied boat owners after the Dubai QUVER accident - and Rob Mills
withdrew - not wishing to repeat his last Cowes scrutineering fiasco. Dave Sperling's new shocking
pink Bakdraft 2litre was still in Neil Holmes' engineering workshop. . . . . . so we were down to 24 race
teams.
Notwithstanding this, Torquay was heaving with racers with and without their boats, ex-racers who
love to revisit the offshore circus and many old friends and followers who enjoy this venue particularly.
Well, it has been voted the favourite of th€ competitors for the last 3 years in our Drivers' Poll!
With the newly appointed President of the U.I.M. as our O.O.D., the organisation had to be spot
on. .. . .. and it was truly as good as Rob and I could get it with the space available to us. Richard
Ridout took the opportunity to hold an informal Drivers' meeting at the Yacht Club to sound us out on
views of the future of the sport and many of our Members were actively engaged in a quite heated
discussion on re-classification and usage of standard production monohulls to cap the cost spiral.
(See separate article for more details).
Saturday saw a small improvement in the weather, then rain again. We all went to the Wild West Party
not knowing whether we would get a race at all next day!
The fancy dress was brilliant - Brian Pelham just pipped Nick Boffee for best dressed fella and his
team-mate David Barham's wife - Elaine - won the ladies' pink champagne. The raffle raised f280, all
prizes donated by Ian Cutler's wife - well done!
Sunday.....reducing wind, reducing chop......AND BLOODY FOG!!!! Oh, no - not again! Ridout
and Salaman decided to hold the Briefing anyway. (Every third driver arriving to sign on was
breathalised - and all were clear. Yippeel) A 2nd Briefing was called for 1l a.m. We needed a visibility
window and a recce of the course - already decided as the rough-weather bay-only route.
ELECTRIFYING went offaround the bay and reported that it was raceable....and the vis dropped to
half a mile!
By I p.m. at yet another Briefing, we had set a new course and we had our window for a 2.30. start
All the boats were launched, the buoys laid and the Safety Fleet spread around the bay, ready for the
off.

1-
I picked the ihstest boat available as a substitutc Start Boat. .. but it had difficulty gerring orr the plane
as it led the trrst start offtowards Livermead and Paignton Pier (Wrong!) As the green flag rvent up,
the Class II and Touring Fleets (6 in all) had very different opinions as to where rhe nexr nrark wasl
LETHAL MENACE and SIMPLY THE BI:ST had got it right - the others made a pincer movenrenr
s\\'eep via Paignton, Goodrington et al before they eventually found it, but losing a lot of tinre
In Class If , a real head-to-head developed between BUZZIBIJZZA\D and BABY tjNO. r',,ith Clifl'
Srnith doing well in i'd until Alasdair McCabe told him that a gear box had ceased on rhe 5'r' lap Colin
and N4ark Bridees suflered with no power steering. and as Colin dropped ftrrther and lurther back, he
pulled out as the physical strain did not seem to be worth it for another 4laps Littla tlttl ha krtrn.r.tt,
Charles Burnetl and Peter Dredge led for 4 laps, Ken Thorne and Brian Proctor got in fiont several
times over the next 3 laps, BUZZAfuD and BABY UNO went through the lap gare to their final lap
absolutely side by side - after 80 miles of dicing at 80 mph - a terrific race! With all the stops pulled
oul. BUZZARD was just ahead at the last Ore Stone turn; BABY UNO was gerting closer - both
crews racing balls out for the finish - when
The BUZZI RIB started its usual twitchy chinning, and rolled over its port tubes. setrling upside dorvn
Martin Purnell and Robbie were alongside with Paul the diver and the Helo was overhead u,irh two
otller dirers leady to drop But thel'wele nor needcd as both Charles and l)etcl successluill cscapcci
their canopy and popped up beside the overturned RIB - slightly shaken bur not stirred!
Sinrultaneously to this drama, Ken Thorne anticipated a starboard roll from the BIJZZAP.D, swung his
steering right and hooked in a big way The big BABY mono appeared to spin up in the air. turninq on
its props, before dropping back right side up
Brian Proctor was knocked out for a short time, renraining in his seat as the Doctor arrived quickly to
check him out Ken appeared unhurt and wanted to stay with the stricken hull, which was in danger of
sinking with side delamination damage But he was persuaded to leave aboard ELECTRIFYING for a
medical check in the harbour.
Having safely landed, Ken was rather overcome by delayed shock and collapsed.
Both he and Brian were taken to hospital - happily Ken was able to join us later at the Prizegiving, and
Brian was kept in for only one night's observation.
In the Touring Class, SUPERLUMINAL had gone mechanical on Saturday, Messrs Donald, Pelham
and Barham unable to get the new parts in time after Gosport, and the old ones didn't take the strain!
TEAM EXTREME's Tony Davis and Jon Fuller were class leaders throughout from REVENGER
MEDITERANEE'S novice team of Peter Berrow and John Burden. But, there was a report of their
having gone through Mark 2 the wrong way on lap I - so they earned a DQ! Tony and Jon were not
huppy, they protested the DQ, the Jury upheld it and they were reinstated first. And they only did it
for a trophy, as the R.Y.A. did not give this race National status for Touring class this yearl
THE CLASS III RACE 9 two-litres, seven 1 3 litres and NO 4 litres went to muster
847 was in trouble already, Pat Mohan and Stefan returning under tow, zero power!
So the l5 starters headed off- all correctly - for Brixham Peter Little and David Arthur were reaping
the full benefit of a whole winter's hard work on race preparation - they were streaking ahead in their
own built Bakdraft and were starting to lap tail enders by the 4"'lap! Trying hard to win back the Tony
Needell Speed Cup, COMMODORE FERRIES was doing its best but just could not keep up with
CITY OFFSHORE's blistering62 mph average.

So Roy Smith and Scott Hodges settled into a Forgecraft fight against I\{ERCL-lRY Rr\CING's N4at
and Ray Gardiner. keeping in 2"d and 3'd spots to the line Max Walker. new owner of last year's 2
I-rtre Worlds 'Alexi' now in PENTHOUSE AND FAT FACE CLOTHING colours, was still trying to
get the right prop and balance to lift the extra 8 stone of crew weight (the Watts brothers versus the
bulk of Max and Alan Ward) and finally pulled out, needing a tow after the 4"' lap
Tlre 4'r'and 5'r'placings were involved in yet another close tussle - the Campbelllll4tctu.s cat DOUBl-tj
"lvl" N'IUSIC running alongside the ex-Sperling CampbelllWrightcat CONNELT-Y'S now in the hands
ol-Nick Spence rvith Mike Spinks navigating for the day as usual nawy John Biltington had damaged
his neck at Gosport Although 4 nrinutes offthe leader at the end, the Mumfbrds fbrced the pace and
Spence dropped a piston on lap 4 - retired under tow
BAT OUT OF HELL is actually the Campbell/Midas 3-pointer driven by young Paul Salvidge He was
i rninutes behind DOUBLE "M", with total novice crew Marc Gibbons and Jason l'lacker in the Frode
nrono t-E PARROT 2 minutes back But collecting points in their very first race
Ian Cutler and Laurence Bellamy have bought a Mannerfelt batboat - LARGE lT - and that shape
certainly suited the mixed sea conditions on the day LARGE IT led from green to chequered flag at a
50 nrph average overthe 50 mile course, finishing some i minutes ahead of 2"'r place on the water Bi5
ttoricc I)hilip Ilanrnonds in a Birway Nlarine built bak-e:rafi IJut thc gate at \lark I clainrcd sc\erAi
victinrs, including 835 who was DQ'd from the first results, reinstated after the TEAN4 EXTREME
protest. and is now subject to a double protest against his finishing points by the -l'd and 4'r' place
tlnishers - SPIRIT OF GREAT BRITAIN's Alan Layton and Chris O'Dowd and VULGAR
Vt-il-1-URE's girls Debbie Cottrell and Sarah Bellamy. These protests are yet to be heard .watch
this space! Also reinstated in the last posted results rvere Ricky and Robert Hill in FURNII'uRE
DIRECT
On his final lap, Peter Wilson had been chasing hard after LARGE IT when his Argo cat f'lipped over
sideways on the Ore Stone turn CONDOR FERRIES 7 deposited both crew in the drink, but they
were quickly rescued and checked out as OK, although Peter was limping as he dashed for the ferry in
an attempt to get back to the Channel Islands for a Monday race, with a swamped engine and broken
steerinq yet to be fixed!
The offrcial verdict was - we got our race under difficult weather conditions; we coped with 3 incidents
in textbook fashion - for which all credit must go to Richard Salaman and the trusty Safety Team and
Fleet - and, one day, we may even know who officially took 2nd and subsequent placings in rhe I i litre
championship heat. The Prizegiving was completely packed out, and we could watch the on board
cameras footage as BUZZI BUZZLP.D turned into a submarine - very impressive!
And so ended the "Torbay Classic". As a result of their re-instatement after protest, Jon Fuller and
Tony Davis in TEAM EXTREME were awarded the Anniversary Cup donated by Alan Webb, as they
had beaten REVENGER MEDITERRANEE by the highest margin of 8 minutes The fastest 2 litre lap
was achieved in superb style by CITY OFFSHORE, Peter Little and David Arthur winning the Tony
Needell Speed Cup for 1996. Max Walker was a popular winner of the Concours Cup in Penthouse.
Through this Ncrvslctter. Rob and I would like to givc enonnous thanks to all those Mcmbcrs and fricnds u'ho
hclpcd rrith the cvcnt - allof the Officials (Mcmbcrs. Richard Salaman. GcoffPinchcs- Chris Rccd. thc Cor
famrlr andRobAndrervs). toTonyDaviswhotransported -
l0CetrckbuoysANDthcirtacklcfromPooleand
back. to thc gang of helpcrs rvho got stuck in to carry them up frorn Haldon Pier; to Pctcr Marcnghr. Robin
Parrish and Horvard Wrctham for their assistancc at the vcnuc: to lan and Miranda Cutlcr fbr thc rafl)c prizcs
and to thc Boffcc family for selling thc tickets. to Mark Pascoe for helping us to afford a scrious hclicoptor and
to Charlcs Burnctt for not onll' paying for it but also NOT rvearing his hat at prizegiving! To thc sir-pack
(Menrbcrs Martin Purnell, Neil Jackson. Ro-v Bundle. Bob Eddings. and Val Brv-ant.) And to John Millcr fbr
hrs vcry,goncrous contribution of cash to thc causc. Thc O R.D A. "Torbal'Classic" could not havc happcncd
u,ithout all of vour hclp and support - not least from thc cornpetitors and all the safcty'boat orvncrs.
?f4a4 r/"o aA/

_.:
\''.
t\-. -
R;-
;sq1 :;:-
pn"ffa
U,r4- t-r1r-/tv4/ - 'fl

CtrT cFFsftoBz
1^174-\
)-Litp a^^l *Lc- 7o>r1
N €zli-tL SPzl 4
0"1.- Lffi/- n Dcr^t"-/h*144r
{Ddl- w4/L PU-aul I
rt(L- 44^;
fi,t(-ctt To"71
Dtur'g n Jot t
Ft ll.-u N,ut
144 To/n*4
I
fn"-"+"-4e\
0^P {t-^,a -
fvw ,r tM *Ia",t
h!.alG-
Wa,h^ * Cl-a')4 LJelLsB"*,.
( Col^'^rJ.^c',4- ol Zr v c)
U^toa^A ht\^;r^g 4
I . 3 Ff^a.
F .r-.. C^rJtt- n Va-t-'*^rg
S-lLn**) ; L*a1e lT.

i.iERAID EXPRESS, TUESDAY MAY 14, 1996
HEMLD
]BE
D(PRESS, SRrunonv, MAY 25, 1996
be
will go on
ORGANISERS of this
weekend's lbrbav Classic
poweiboht' race -featuring
moqlter. craft capable of up
to 9&nph say thby are confident
the event will qo
ahead despite bad weathei.
- Around 30 : offshore
powerboat teams hope to
compete in Sundav's twohour.
race -
the second
.heat
' in the powerboat
.national chamoionshios -
after ajhjg!-sp6ea prabtice
session.,. o_n
;Sa,fuiday'afterno-on.
' j:l i' .i;,.- ,i,
' r! Annie,rWallbrink-.iof the
' Offshord Raciiis. Drivers'
Association.i''ia!s :if tle
weather is e6bd;noush for
the safetv-boats to -leave
.bar.tiour ihen a race will
takb place, although it may
.be-shortered. n
'1i:;,i:ri.Tifacdce
is from 12-
4por thts., afternoon, with
:thd rae-.tiroper itarti-ns at
13Qpin tomo-iroy.t '
The best sites foi oublic
viewrqg of the rice ari: Haldon
Pier, which "will sive a
good vienr"rpf . the 1l30pm
start" and.Berrv Head and
DaddyholePlaii
-fIIE WATE,RBORNI]
cquivalcnt ol' ['ormula
( )nc r()ars iill() Titrlrav
month.
Around 30 nr()n\ler
l)()wett)()ltts.
s()tlle r iIl)lil)l('
ol.speeds of 9Onrph. u'ill be
cornpctinEi irt thc 'litrbay'
('lassic on May 25 and 26.
ILaccrs includc'l'exan
(-[rarlcs [Jurnett I] l. rvhosc
l-os l-t>cc'rs tcarrr hrlld tlre
rvorld specd recttrd ot
l35mph.
A Lamborghini Porvercd
catamaran called [-cthal
Mcnacc. raccd bv Susscr
businessman (--olin
Stoneman, is expcctcd to
push the Tcxan to thc limit
in a thrilling head-to-head.
-Ihe race. marking the
72nd vear Porverboats have
crompeted in thc bav. is thc
seconcl l.reat in the RoYal
Yaclrting Associalion's
natiilnal championshiPs.
Best circuit
For the last three Years
the 'Ibrbav lcq has be en
v()tcd the hest tltl thc circurt
by the racers.
Three classcs of btiats
will race. Class II is the
highest class raced in
Brltain Boats are uP to 40ft
in lcngth with eie,ht litre
petrol or 16 litre die sel
cngines.
In Cllass III thcre are
four litre craft uP to 30ft
Ionq catrablc of 9()rtrplt. tutr
tirri lzft boats caPat)lc ()i
specds in the [iOs and l '3
litre 22ft boats rvhich race
at (r0rnph.
'l'h e re is ai lso a n
invitation class for cr\llscrs.
s[)()rlsb()lIls and histortc
racing boats.
I{acing starts fronr
-lirrouav-s harbour at
I 30rrm irn SurrdzrY MaY 26'
L.lrst'ing irround tu'rl hours.
tlrc c()tlrsc txKcs ln
I'lrigrrton. IJcrrv I-lcirtl.
li.iurrrrrorrtlt. illilrlrltcotttlrc

o
H
L
a.
tr
I
o
tr
q)
!
tA
E
=
E
F
=o
=
I
E
k
t{
N
N
.E
o
.A
E
>,
F
Fl
H
H
F
F{
=
!.1
F1
fl L5F
I
o
t-
=
F
L^
t| CL;
H E?
cLO y
5og
F+re
.l (E
EH HH BEt E *t EE s g
F
g:gE 33A
;1.$p - E 3'E +,8E. P :> a,oE: - qos
Xfiea;Eae?E"tF€ !xtsi6 t'sF
::ecq S* tnlt g; : ;EE;€g B':
3:;frf :E.$r
g
;RE; *Eis,lr s E!€
;;g gg $ e;i ;€E-s x '3 8;5- - e- *
; e sE* -EleEi=;fifi ;=gg5'e t ;:g
HIrues;tiagE;lE
iEEEEiE s€s'
C)

*;
r.#ffi
,$".'":
I Ready to ?ace, left to right: Driver Debbie Cottrel, navigator Sarah Bellamy and mechanic Steve Reddish
from
Fower
Salcombe.
boat aces
hurled into sea
Tw o i n h o s p i t a I ffi ilT:"T::'i:::;;T':1il:
beins thrown from their boat while
I
racing at speeds of
8OmpTr
Kcn
_,
l nornc ano
IJrrirn proclor lrom
Report by
Ellen Grlndley
for weather conditions to
boats to
:tr'.",i::?:,',tft22
The course was short
(.ardir wcrc compcring ;ili.l ::rt*1'.itli: ;li#:][
in the high spced Trtrbay io'lcignrlourh ris planned. -
Cl:rssic racc u,hcn the 'ltrree boats capsizcd
irccrdcnt happcncd. tJLtrtng the cvcnl.
lhe' pair. in lhc boal
llal)\ Lino. werc racrnt Sell-built
ncck rnci ncck rqarnst lhc Wrnncrs of thc Iirrbar
Lflt/.zt lSuz.ttr(\. crewcd bv Anrtrtal Cttp u'crc 'l'crn1'
Icxan ('harlcs llrrrnclt lll I)avis [rtrtrl I'oolc rtrcl Joll
rr)d Pclcr Drcdgc frotrt Fullcr tlI Shcpperton in
Harnpshrrc.
Team Extrcnrc.
At the vcry lasl turn, And the lony Nccdell
hoth horls c:rpsiz(d 3s lhcv Spcctj ('upr wcnt t() Pctcr
$crc forccd to sucrve ld Lrttlc an.i f)rvi,l ArthLtl
avoid a collrsion.
fronr Oxford in a t\\'o lrtrc
-lhc crcrvs werc lhrou'n boal. Cily Offshtrrc. shrch
intl) thc walcr and immedi they built tlrctnsclvcs.
atelv reachcd bv divcrs and Winners of thc l.l lttte
racc wcrc Ian (lutlet lrttrtt
thciacc:;rlclvcrcu
specracurar H""'1.,lllX*',,ili,u ti,lX'i"ii
Rrcc ()r!,rniscr Anorc Llttgc lt
Wd llbu n k I ronr I lrc L) [l
shore Racing Drivers' i
Association said: "At the l
\cr!,lr\1 tilrn bct$ccn C)rc'
storc lrtd -llt;rtclter I{ock irt
ordcr to aroicl collidrng.
bolh boats took d!oldllS i
rctioD t)ul turnc(j ovcr.
I
''It uas a rrlhct sPcclrcu
lar cnri lo thc rrrcc.-
i
Nlr -llrocr and \1r l)roct()r
$crc not badlY hurt.
'l]]e\'$,crc c()ml)ctrng rn I
the sccond hcat of thc
i
I{oyal \ achting, Associati()o I
national charnpiottsltip. i
Org;rniscrs rltlaved the I
start ol thc racc b1,an hour

't
E
(
G
oit
(u
.oq
=N
'6
=ri
ru lo
c-
8s
ec
ilp
r€
o
(t
o
o
o
@
o
I
N
N
t
o
a
U z
o
U
=a
a U
r LX
U
o
J
(I
U I
sl
!r)
hi
N
c
-a
\
e)
=
\
,,Y
(!.0 (!
--_o
l-^-.

9
CnNCEp pESEnpCH CnMpntAru gnStC - p.rvl.y.C. - pOOLE - e'd June.
A week-end ot the Royol Motor Yocht Club is olwoys good volue - this wos no exception! Rodio
controf led model boots looking splendid in their fine detoil viedfor position in the Haven. Boot hondling
competitions were held for Members'RIBs. A Notionol O.C.R. heot wos held os well - fon Blocker in AI4
STILL CAN'T SAY won A closs, Robert Hunt won B closs ond Mott Shepherd in o little LETHAL
WEAPON took C closs honours. Debbie Cottrell brovely volunteered to novigote f or Gail Hogger in a
16ft Phontom C4l, ond they finished 17'hl With 22 OCp. boats ond 28 ossorted croft in the big Bosic
?ace,lhere wos o lot of people to sign in ond boots to scrutineer. The Saturdoy night corvery and lozz
bondportywentwiththeusuol swingonditwosollgoingsowell.....untilSundoymorning! fheraceboots
ot Solterns Morino woke up to flnd hovoc hod been wreaked during the nightl Intruders hod thworted
the security ond stolen the props off BLUE SAPPHIRE - the 30ft Donzi of Tony Donold, Brion Pelham
ond Dove Barhom; o prop ond on Ef i box wos gone from Monsbridge's newly ocguired from Roger Severy
SUDDEN IMPACT 3; the toolbox on the on-loon to Pascoe Argentinion Buzzi RIB hod been ottocked -
unsuccessfully; Monsbridge's 1 13 ON LINE engines were domoged in an ottempt to get them off the
Cunninghom cot; ond Cliff Smith hod no engine covers left on SIMPLEy THE BEST. As the police were
colled, Alosdoir McCobe wos sent off to the Homble where Chris Lewis ond the Los Locos workshops
weregetting spores reodily ovoiloble for oll the victims. Some teomwork!
Miroculously,the previous doy's high winds hod oboted ond the seo in Bournemouth Boy wos relotively
flat. Betweenthe end of the O.C.R. roce ond the stort of the bosic, weweretreated to o terrific
disploy by the Coostguord, Lifeboot ond SAR helo, oll under the locol control of .....yeoh.....Richord
Soloman.
28 boots wereino mossed stort post Bournemouth Pier crowds. excitedly reported on by Peter
Bloomf ield on the booming P.A. system. 4 didn't moke it to the f irst t lop! Colin Stonemon broke his
LETHAL MENACE steering, SUDDEN IMPACT lost one engine (hoving a really bod doy, eh?) A91 hod
blown 2 pistons bef ore orriving ond John Burden's REVEN6ER wos not ot oll well ofter on horrendous
trip round from Southompton the doy before (L?ft seas reported ot Heorsf!)
By the end of the?"d lop, 3 more hod given up: BLAST FROI THE PAST, still not properly fixed since
6osport; C7O Spence with o blown engin4 ond 869 retired.
On lop 3, we lost M20 SIMPLy THE BEST ond B14 LARGE IT for reosons unknown to me.
The lost lop, ond lA13 hod stopped I mile short of the f inish - helmets of f , crew on the f oredeck, willing
ON LINE ocross the line.
By the second of the four lops, No 1 Poscoe/Dredge/Arnow/Leigh in the borrowed grey Buzzi monster
were lopping the tail-enders. They won overoll - olone in Superboot Class - ot neorly 79 mph - surprise,
surpriselil i"d overollond winner of Sportsboot 100-25Ohp wos our own Fred Skinner ON A MISSION
ofter apretty hoiry stort run! He dead-heated with John ond Mork Mumford in DOUBLE "lv\" MUSIC
ot 62 mph, Mumfords getting l't wooden boot cup too. PENTHOUSE orrived 2 minutes loter. First
Tourer wos REVENGER MEDITERRANEE, followed by C100 BAT OUT OF HELL AND C40 LE PARROT -
good plocings for Solvidge ond novices Marc Gibbons ond Joson Hocker. Ex-sofetyboot SEAHOUND TII
earned Chris Stricklond 2"d in T closs with Howord Wrethom of the composs. Lee lloxom's
OBSESSION was 2'd in Sports 1OO-250, just oheod of our very own ELECTRIFyING - Mortin Purnell
ond Rob Beokhust leoving safety for avery serious fun roce - over 50 mph,3"d in closs ond 1'r R.M.y.C.
member. BLUE SAPPHIRE wos l"t Sports unlimited, despife borrowed props! Vol Bryont in his f irst
ever ?oce in BARWOOD (o.k.o FRENZy) roised the most sponsorship money of over €500 ond come 4'n
in Sports IOO/25O. (The trophy wos oworde d to T22 f irst, becou se the Concer Reseorch people hod
lost the first 2 poges of Val's sponsorship list). PHOTOGENIC with 6ordon McMoth driving wos 5'n
Sports LOO/z5O. 847 SHEFFIELD INSULATIONS come 1"t in 1.3 ond wos the lowest powered finisher.
HAVOC come next - 6th Sports |OO/25O. There followed 10 DENIER, CONDOR FERRIES 87 winning
theGuernsey Challenge Trophy ond Mortin Curry in the borrowed 882 is hisfirst race. LARGE IT wos
'Best Presented' ond Mortin lu\onsbridge got o speciol effort oword for rocing ON LINE.

2.
rThe Solent Ghallenget Royal Southampton Y.G. 23"t June.
With its new date in mid-season, this National All Classes event attracted quite a large fleet of racers - could it be
the Round the lsle of Wight Record attempt which drew the crowd?!? lt was a very ambitious programme and I
have to be honest and say that I thought that the Royal Southampton may have bitten off more than they could
chew - but with all available hands to the post - the event got under way at Ocean Village on a sunny Saturday.
The only bit that fell by the wayside was the boat parade - most craft still aniving or being scruted or deciding to
swap places! A little bit of a nightmare in Race Control!!!
The Saturday night bash had its usual excellent food and the DJ was up to speed - unfortunately by the time we
left, the dancers were not matching his manic pace. Perhaps everyone was planning an early night for once - or
were off to the Pickled NeM or some nightclub somewhere - who knows! Anyway 27 teams and the
Fletcher/Hampton/Peeters team in SHOCKWAVE attended the Briefing, which was filmed by Malaysian TV.
Why? Because a young Malaysian by the name of Mustapha Kamil (yes - honest!)had won a ride in a
powerboat on a TV programme like our'Jim'll Fix lt and Charles Burnett had fixed it for Mustapha to drive the
VOODOO VULTURE with Sarah Bellamy showing him the way. Mustapha had only ever driven a speedboat a
couple of times before - but, with his new ProvisionalLicence and oralpassed, he proudly donned the LOS
LOCOS kit and looked every inch a powerboat racer!
Tony Lewis - O.O.D. - got the start off just 10 minutes late - 3 Class ll, one 4 litre, nine 2 litre, eight 1.3 litre and 6
Tourists - all27 got away down Southampton water and I counted them past my perch on top of Calshot Tower
(80+ vertical steps up a series of ladders - Phewl) (They said - N0 SMOKING when I got to the top - they
must be joking!!!) First to show was Mark Mulvaney and Dave Voyce in D8 CHARTERHOUSE now back from
the U.A.E. and rebuilt after its horrendous transit. Then came BUZZI BUZZARD, BABY UNO, DOUBLE "M',
CITY OFFSHORE,CONNELLY'S, COMMODORE FERRIES, MERCURY RACING, TEAM EXTREME,
REVENGER now called THE PICKLED NEWT fl-ony - what are you up to?!), BAT OUT OF HELL, NO GUTS N0
GLORY, BLAST FROM THE PAST, LE PARROT, SUPERLUMINAL, LARGE IT, CONDOR FERRIES 7,
VULGAR VULTURE (with Simon Wood Power sittrng in the front!), 10 DENIER, FURNITURE DIRECT,
SHEFFIELD INSULATIONS, WHO DARES WINS, SPIRIT OF GREAT BRITAIN, ANd VOODOO VULTURE.
Then came the QE2!!! But as the crew were not wearing orange helmets - she was disqualified!
But where were M20 SIMPLY THE BEST and T60 VELOCITY - retired within minutes of the green flag.
Then Max Walker and Alan Ward stuffed it!! Boy, did they stuff it - PENTHOUSE was well and truly stuffed!
The tin flsh was really out of shape - structurally - and the lads had facial scrapes as their helmets were jerked
nearly off. But they succeeded in getting the bent Forgie back to the crane and haven't been seen on the circuit
since! Marc Gibbons and Jason Hacker retired LE PARROT, as did Tony Donald, Brian Pelham and Dave
Barham in SUPERLUMINAL - both near Hamstead Ledge buoy. 22 race teams turned left at South West
Shingles and headed towards St. Catherine's Point. Burnett and Dredgy now had the lead from D8 and BABY
UNO. Mumfords still led Little and Arthur in 2 litre. Tony Davis and Jon Fuller had TEAM EXTREME running 6'n
overall and Peter Wilson was ahead of lan Cufler. By St. Cat's, Cutler's LARGE lT had overhauled CONDOR
FERRIES 7, BABY UNO was ahead of CHARTERHOUSE and Mat Gardiner was working his way up towards
the front of 2 litre. 835 WHO DARES WINS was holed somewhere West of the lsland and ELECTRIFYING went
in search of Phil Hammonds, worried because a red flare had been reported thereabouts. But 835 was
eventually found and escorted home OK. Alan Layton and Chris O'Dowd broke the head gasket on 852, and
INVINCIBLE came to their rescue. At Bembridge, BLAST FROM THE PAST expired, Allen Prebble and Michael
Berrow in good company with Ken Thorne and Brian Proctor in BABY UNO, who required a long tow back.
Nearly at the Forts, Nick Spence blew the engine on CONNELLY'S and promptly sold the whole lot to Colin
Stoneman!!! Paul Salvidge's crew had some navigational problems and Wilson/Taylor blew their 87 gear box
near Gurnard. Apart from the one remaining Class ll on its lonely way round the extra bit, it seemed all over -
bar the shoutingl And Shouting there most certainly was!!! Back at base, I discovered that Mumford's, Roy
Smith and ScottHodges, MatGardinerand PatMohan had allbeen given DQ'sforpassingthewrong sideof the
Finish gate buoy! Right under the eyes of the O.O.D. as well! Honestly, chaps, it was all set out in the
Bulletin.....but it was a sad end to nearly 90 miles of offshore racing for these crews.

3.
At Prizegiving, Charles Burnett took 1" (and only) place tophy in Class ll together with 1 1 National points;
Mulvaney and Voycy 1't (and only)cup for 4litre with no competition, therefor no points either; Fuller and Davis
dua got 1't Tourist for TEAM EXTREME, REVENGER was 2nd and 10 DENIER 3'd; LARGE lT celebrated 1" in
1.3 Class, VULGAR VULTURE in 2'd place albeit that Debbie had to settle for navigator's points after a protest by
lan Cutler, and brothers Ricky and Robert Hill finished a good 3'o in Class. The DQ's donated 1't in 2 litre
to....ClW OFFSHORE, giving Peter Little and Dave Arthur a full house of points to date, with NO GUTS N0
GLORY picking up 2"d place cups.
And how did Mustapha make out - believe it or not, the VULTURE 882 was VOODOOd and ran out of fuel just
half a mile from a atul end Finish! But he did get a great round of applause and thoroughly enjoyed his week-end
of being areal Powerboat Racerlll
There was another very special trophy at Prizegiving! Remember that Mark Pascoe celebrated in high style
getting the Poole to Cherbourg record, causing him to fall off his perch and break the chair he was sitting on.
Well, Bob Eddings of Safety FOXFIRE fame quiefly collected the broken chair leg, had it beautifully mounted on a
wooden plynth and it was awarded to Mr. P. - the Mark Pascoe "LEGLESS" Award! And well earned it was, too!
ratulations to Bob for some quick and very clever thinking!
The Speed Records for the circumnavigation of Wight went as follows:
M1 - Class ll - 77.80 mph (yet another record for Charles the Third!
D8 - 4 litre - 67.26 mph (something at least for Mark and Dave's efforts)
C45 - 2litre Outright - 64.04 mph (Mark and John Mumford had not been DQ'd then!)
C27 - 2litre Monohull - 61.93 mph (CITY OFFSHORE strikes again!)
T1 - Touring - 61.52 mph - TEAM EX|REMEIy happy with this one.
814 - 1 .3 Outright and Mono - 50.13 mph (Speedy Cufler and Bellami)
VIV WILLIAMS eventuolly presented his
evidence in his own defence ogoinst
the 3 year O.O.D. bon imposed by the
Offshore Rocing Committee ofter the
1995 Cowes Event. Unfortunotely, our
O.R.D.A. Delegote wqs the lone voice
in support of Viv when it cqme to the
finol vote.....ond sodly the bqn remoitrs
in oloce.
We believe thot Colin Stewort will now
be ihe O.O.D. for Cowes 1996.
2 L|TRE W@|RLDS llN SWEDERI - The Entry List was closed last weekfor this Event as the
Swedes already had over 50 teams enteredfrom ltaly, F-inland, Norway and of course Sweden but N0
BRITS!! Et en though O.R.D.A. had secured a method of gettirtg National poirtts irt absentia for the
clashing Falmouth race, without some travel assislqnce or financial incenlives, the UK teams found
lhe cost to get to Ndrrtalje .jusl too expensive. Robin Parish is still not ahle to race because of his
lasl irtjury, Max Walker is already competing in his Sigma 34 yacht in Cowes Week (where he won hi.s
class last year) and L.A. Racing just could not stretch the budget thal far.
We will probably get oltr British bruckles wrapped again by the Scandinavians aI the (/.1.M. - but will
they remember the 91 Europeans in ltaly, when we were the onlv visitirtg natiort lo tunt up in some of
the Classes'/ !!??

THE DOLPHINE GRAND
This U.K.O.B.A. event had been scheduled to be at
Newhaven, but the good folks at Newhaven were
disinclined to contribute a penny to the costs or running
such an event, and Bryn Jones persuaded the even
better Naval chaos at H.M.S. DOLPHIN that we
powerboaters were good eggs really, and so we were
allowed into the navy base to play boats - our great
thanks are owed for all the hospitality shown - especially
in the Ward Room bar.
The entry list was pretty sparse for all that - and made
even worse during Saturday's practice session. M16's
team, having spent 2 days and nights working on
rebuilding/fitting their new turbo, watched Ken Thorne
and Brian Proctor take BABY UNO out - not so much to
'practice' as to test the troublesome turbo. I suspect that
they had not had any time to even look at the local chart
and they went straight onto the submarine barrier ( a
good case for having Drivers' Briefing before testing in
official practice?) The mono was quite seriously
damaged and had to scratch from the race. With no
competition left, BUZZI BUZZARD also pulled out - so no
Class ll boats! (Cliff Smith and Mark Bridges had
deserted M20 to play in C70, on loan from Colin
Stoneman). But at least the arrival of Yann Cadoret's
FLYING OYSTER and Rob Mills' PAPA KILO gave
CHARTERHOUSE two boats to race against in the
U.K.O.B.A. Championship in 4 litre. There were only five
teams entered in 2 litre and "T' classes, with 6 in the 1.3
line up.
Ray Bulman and Richard Salaman had a nightmare
weather forecast - 6 coming up the Solent. No way in the
world was this race going all the way to Littlehampton!!!
Lap 'C' was out! By the 11 o'clock briefing, so was Lap
'B'. Using 4local marks only and a 15 minute delay, the
fleet got the Green Flag. But without 87 and T7 who both
had a look at conditrons outside Port Solent and turned
back home! PAPA KILO did go out, but not to the
Start....they went to Cowes and on to Gurnard! First of
all, we thought that they had got hold of lhe wrong
'Gosport' Race Instructions! But Rob Mills explained
afterwards that, not only had he been delayed by
catching a rope round one of his props under the crane
and suffering water in the fuel tank, he was also not
happy with his own visibility if he turned towards the
starting area, and so had carried on in a southwesterly
direction where he could see where he was going, giving
up the idea of racing but taking the opportunity to at least
run the newly measured cat to see how it was handling.
PRIX - GOSPORT . 29/3OTH JUNE
So it was that only '16 boats started the shortened to 4
and 5 lap race. And THREE of them completed the first
lap!ll
j*- 3 --r-
As the seas took their toll, the Mark Boats could not keep
their stations, and three patrol boats were already
involved in towing brokendown raceboats. 12 minutes
after the Start, it was agreed by the officials to curtail the
race at the end of the lap. But 3 racers had just passed
the lapline and were heading out again. So the
'curtailment' turned quickly into a REG FLAG situation in
an attempt to put an end to the risk of further racing as
fast as possible. Correct or not - the decision was made
for the best, and the Safety Fleet rushed out their STOP
flags at all points of the course. FLYING OYSTER had
already pulled out (James Moreau said later: "You
English, you are all madl" Nigel Williams in HERON had
FURNITURE DIRECT on the end of a rope, and BLAST
TEAM EXTREME, who had lost allelectrics, was handed
over from ELECTRIFYING to their own team supoort
boat driven by.....Dick Strutton! LANCING MARINE,
never happy unless rescuing somebody,found
LE PARROT stopped by more than the red flag!
Before the race, I had said to Brian Pelham: "For
goodness sake, do at least ONE lap so that Keith Slater
can get some pictures of you actually racing, for the
Littlehampton poster!' "OK, Annie" said Brian. On his
return, Brian commented: "Well, we did what you
wanted....Do we get a prize, for being out of the water
most of the race!' Yes, Brian, you got a prize - for Third
Overall! CITY OFFSHORE were '1.t at the lapline, and
COMMODORE FERRIES took 2no. The race had not
lasted long enough to qualify for either U.K.0.B.A. or
National points, but the trophies were awarded in the
Officers' Mess by Captain Strange CinC of HMS Dolphin.
It was a very emotional evening as this was the last
powerboat race organised by lain and Gail Stewart Ross
of U.K.O.B.A. Gifts were presented to them by the Safety
Team, the LOS LOCOS team, the Bryn Jones team and
the Council of Management of UKOBA - fitting awards to
a couple who have given their working and private lives
over to the sport of offshore for over six years. Gail and
lain will be soon living in France, doing up their French
home for holiday letting and the French equivalent of
B&8. And I am sure that they will be involved in the
Quiberon Euro 96 event organised by their good friend
Yann Cadoret in September. We wish them good fortune
and happiness in their new venture.
+.

a
T'his 3''o llottnd of the U.K.O.B.A. Championships (and National R.Y.A. Championship heat) was thefrst event
lo come under the new management of Ben Mazur - appointed Manager of U.K.O.B.A. races. It was also the
.fir.sl cvenl to enjoy the_financial support of Charles Burnett, u,ho had once again been cqlled on to raid his
pigg,bank in support oJ'ofshore. Hozel Cox took over Race Control, qssisted my little old me. James Cox
rrnk over.from Richard Salamctn with his.frrst .full Sa/bty Oficer duty. And LARGE I'l' took over the marina
tarmac on their little motorbikes!
It wos a very average turn out, even with the l-os Locos T'EIAS tag and loads o./'cnthusiasm.frutm the new
Sovaraisn Harbour Marina team, headed by a smashrng young man called Dan! Dtd y'ou know that it wos
('arnival Week-End ql Eastbourne? No. neither did UKOBA, so we were no part o/'the .festivities this year!
liven the late cntry by Dave Sperling only made a lotal of l9 teams, and DST TRANSPORT' then had to concel
on)M'o)) -:;till not ready to race! Everyone was keen lo make themselves known to a voung lady called Luc1,
Jaco who is hoping/planning to prodttce er 50 minute R.B.C. docttmentary on powerboat rocing - exposure at
last-andfreetelevisionpromotionforourbelovedsportl ThismadeLucyextremelltpopularallw'eek-end!
N

It all went wrongfor so many.l Ken T-horne had a disagreement with his ntwigalor Rrian Proclor as lo v,hich
lap ccttrrc nart - the short one ? - ,I'RONG! COL.I\!ORDOM. FEIIRIES had lusi i:tlEi;:! ir;i/:':':: 4:ttd of
MERC(lRY IACING whcn lvfttt r4,ctzt \.,artitctll7,upu,ort!:;, cotnitlctali.'tlttu"i;f ii;x',;t:iL':' !1 ','1;;-'f i'i'1i! jgrtl As Rob
lhrotlled Itl:-D EYE tov,ards lltuii. onrl I grahbcd ihc ictdiu !o rL:fx,t"i iiiL: it;t'.v,;ltti:i'r'"1: ;! ilr;;tt'.,1!t,i.
RACING camc hack cJov'n and v'enr under on its right side. There could bc no E ii\J h*ck .fi'om this ",i[:llCUI|Y

Back at Race Control, Ricky Hill and others were protesting verbally that the race should be disallowed because of the
course confusion. There was some support from the Pascoe camp, putting Mark in the very awkward position - did he try
to get the results nullified (which would favour his 1.3 boats positions as well as the other retireds), but in doing so would
cause the final straw of frustration for his Boss at the TEJAS event. As the Protest time-limit exoired, the oroblem was
dissolved as no others would out their monev on the table.
At the Lersure Centre Prizegiving , we all watched to see if Brian and Ken were still talking to each other - they were and
sportingly applauded Charles Burnett and Peter Dredge when they took their trophy for the BUZZARD's win.
CHARTERHOUSE collected the 4 litre cup and UKOBA only points, as did 10 DENIER the Touring Class. The only
Class lll catamaran to finish was Mark and John Mumford's DOUBLE "M", they were 3d in 2 litre, behind Little and
Arthur's CITY OFFSHORE and Matt and Ray Gardiner in MERCURY RACING, Roy Smith and Scott Hodges
COMMODORE finished in 4tt,. 1.3 litre went to LARGE lT, lan Cutler and Laurence Bellamy already unbeatable in the
1996 championships. Pat Mohan and Stefan took a popular 2nd prize, with Alan and Chris 3,0 in good SPlRlT.
Earlier disagreements absent, and it was a good-natured affair. By the skin of their teeth, UKOBA managed a very
interestlng euenll
filE urftEtutpraf REetfTe aesrc ErEflf - E/Gril eaeasf
ln ltc M ycor, t&ic tuc M 5 osorted Cbct ll cfitrht. ln f996, thcn rcn 19 tcaas cptercd! iltl
cbtnc hnhthq cpoftseoo& ond an OCR cnr. fhe otaooqftirc roc rcolly frbndly atod co-optotios
oc tho Erao &oohd ttp tffihftan{too llot*ta, ncll cign-podcd ey fie hcol cotuuil, Cli.trSnuit& lwd
,rn'd. thc uSco llottc" neorlf-f,oathq ndatuotot/bor aoolb&h ot o.r noac eosc, otod fish tcol
ostt rrd twceoo& o good dry otod rd pet futliAy at docrctds.
Swpre&*gly' scacrcl ncll-kun offiaiok &cidodto Amo u,p blbtn ho tlw fui, (&ofrP*rches, &ob loc
otrd tfu &oyc, Godfny Stcch)...otod it rcolly r'os o fan uccla-cnd. Tfta Couwil &ochd o ecry rcbred
httfrct oto bod th^a octerun boryu ntorjho - thc bcal nayor prubobly bcheg tia moct 'rcbnd' of oll
of ut....chscly scconded ty tlnC rcll-&tuun &holbitq tcom from Jcrcc( Ctiff , hooc tyrll otd (bla
&ofrcc lnd ro*ed tlr€b twf, ofrto pttt oo o shor oad Sotut&y cacnhog fothrcd uitlo o uild
llouaibn Portf nAgU on 6ootd t&e Sco llortc, oU 3 declas pokd to hutteng polalt. t fnson't E€ctt Eo
nony eronn h,n hodics gytothtg co grotesguly for ycorc! lnd t'n sut tio Sco llorcc not& hos<
tunad tutle .,..if it ha&o't bcr ccnwnted to thc nbGthd!

2
With the local sponsorship all but zero, the offshore benefactor stepped in to fill the void yet again - the Charles Burnett
Covent Garden "TEJAS" restaurant lent its title to the event because CBlll footed the bill - again! Thank you, Chades.
We like Falmouth, lots of watery nooks and crannies to explore, most with a good pub in the corner, except that the low
tide times make going ashore something of an adventure! Saturday was warm and sunny as teams arrived after the long
trip to Cornwall to the dusty gravel pits; but everything was very centrally located alongside the slipway and yacht club,
where Race Control was set up nice and near the bar. Peter Cotgrove arrived (Chairman of the RYA Council); he was
quite unexpected - he had apparently been invited by lain Stewart Ross last time UKOBA went to Hull!!! With only one
each of 4 litre and T Class, two Class lls, and 7 each in 2 litre and 1.3 - it wasn't exactly a huge race fleet considering that
National points were at stake as well as the UKOBA series! The Town Hall receptlon was moved to the much more
friendly and convenient yacht club, and it was a good evening with lots of chat. The official RYA Observer - Graham Peck
- was hung over on Guernsey, so the RYA had elected Rob to be his stand in. So "Rob's Jobs' this weekend were:
Scrutineer, Safety Boat and Observer - a bit of an overload.
Race day was not so nice - grey and windy - and, thanks to a larger than needed Salaman road show, I wasn't needed in
Safety Control. So I was free (!?!) to go out with Rob in RED EYE. The Briefing was a little delayed for very good reason
- Burnett was meeting his mother off the QE2 and both were flying down from Southampton that morning. The Formula
One Car Grand Prix had cornered the market in helicopters, so the event's sponsor was in a small chopper and slowed
by head winds but eventually arrived on site. Launching was a nightmare - there was not enough water under the rickety
ladder down from the crane. Eventually, the 6-pack were in and clambering across dozens of linked raceboats to load
up the buoys. ln our 17ft Picton, we spent ages struggling to lay one of these buoys, which was actually bigger than the
boat and kept trying to escape over the back! | ended up laying ON it to keep it on board and this made for a VERY
exciting run off Pendennis Point! We were then despatched to "observe" Mark 1 - and there we sat for nearly four hours -
in the miserable sloppy sea - within 400 yards of the beach in front of our hotel!
With only 19 starters, it should have been one start - should have been! BUIBUZZI BUU RD and BABY UNO had
problems! First Ken Thorn picked up some seaweed and his Seateks overheated. He went back in to clear the
blockage. Wanting a proper 2 boat race for his boss and event sponsor, Pascoe called the BUZZARD back in as well.
The rest of the fleet took off after LANCING upped the green flag for a delayed start.
Then both M'l and M16 came out for a 2na start.,,.but the BUZI found that very same clump of seaweed and,,...went in!
Nearly a hour after the 1st start, Pascoe negotiated a re-start by radio with the OOD, and the Class ll race began.
lt was a real FALMOUTH FIASCO! lt was a rough ride for the 17 first starters and we saw BAT OUT OF HELL stuff
heavily just past us. Alwyn had taken a blast of sea water in the face and although Paul got the engine restarted, Alwyn
was not up to continuing. All the boats were skying off the wave tops and it was a very tense run. Mark Mulvaney and
Dave Voyce went off strongly in CHARTERHOUSE ASSOCIATES, followed by CITY OFFSHORE, DOUBLE'M',
LOVELY JUBBLY BUBBLY all the way from Guernsey to get some National experience ready for latter lnternational
races, MERCURY RACING, COMMODORE FERRIES, 10 DENIER, late entry C70 the Nick Spence cat now owned by
Colin Stoneman who was really NOT enjoying it today and was not at all race-prepared despite the enthusiasm of Mark
Bridges. Alan Layton and Chris O'Dowd were leading the 1.3, then LARGE lT, SWEET AS and VULGAR VULTURE
came together in a tight group, followed by UP THE BAKDRAFT, CONDOR FERRIES who pulled out very quickly as
Pete Wilson does not put the Argo through this kind of stuff, the VOODOO VULTURE and FURNITURE DIRECT.
On the first "8" lap, they were to go to the Helston Mark. But it wasn't there! This buoy is owned by the Ministry of
Defence - not the harbour authorities - and the MOD had removed it without telling anyone. The local mark boat had
found a similar buoy about a mile off, and was happily telling everyone that he was at Helston, No wonder the raceboats
were confused, several continuing on to the far Manacles, still searching the race line for the missing mark. Further
fiasco!!! By the end of this lap, only 11 boats were still persevering with the race. CHARTERHOUSE, CITY
OFFSHORE, MERCURY RACING, 'MM', COMMODORE, SWEET AS (DQd for wrong siding at the Zone Point mark),
10 DENIER, LARGE lT, BAKDRAFT, VULGAR and SPIRIT OF GB. They were on their third lap before the Class ll boats
joined in - it was going to be a VERY LONG DAY! The Observer asked when his lunch would be brought out to him!
Ken Thorne and Brian Proctor were in the lead! Now, their navigation was going to be tested as they didn't have Dredgy
out front to show them the way. And they did really well, pulled out a good lead, it was at last going to be their first 1't.
But, on their last of their 5 agreed laps, we could not believe our eyes! BABY UNO had completely missed OUR mark,
passing it just 30 yards on the wrong sidel Merde!!! (l'm practising ny Frenchl)

end still tlr"c plwno noc rhogitog nit{o bst ar,in .'d chotogct ti tho en*hc!!!
Ra,cc &y - Nli*a Sclh,ny ac 000 otodJomos Con ac Sofctf Offiat ftotdtftai'r &rbfing. (O-OflE t(eS
UfE! fhc (yur CobL f( cns ncn eusy iatercicrhog, and tltc pdlh ttottcd to lhu 6 docp oC oll thc
oontogc poiots. thc tcqbnt come doun otod ncnt up otod cama down ogain....otod rc all coneoyed
otttto muctcr. thc frrct nklnp soc nhcn ourur of thc CommiAtec Soot - noa'd lrith Joho - nos coct
offi occidonb&y (honect) in hit ditnghy otod hod to bc rcnud ty o hcol Rl&. luhily Srbn
Pcllwn ,tes drbiog tloc 55ft Stdlacr, to nn rcnc io good lwtodc.
tlU t9 ttottcd! lA 9 got ta the M of only 4 mar*s!! thcn Ntortin lloncerUgc iu SA00E( lilPeCf
pullad od ho tAth, fft.2 0i.& Nlotthtfuhs gtoundb o lwlt ln O&SFSSi0iU. endthc llfS crcn - ot bct
od ttcitog qoho - twd o ccry short twc. lloty 9hpd, lwcitog otto bct ddoa for old times' tok, luoe
bofting ott&c Chcooh ctogittt dia,k rhpthc eig (cbcthy lsopt hc sorn th. dcc& coning up
tr ncct lbhtt uurpcdedly, hst lbdtt fula,mc o fcll - ttith o cucpdod erokn pclok. end it noc poor Pot
Sind'c ocry M porcfioot twc! A(hat oto itol'tbtion! 0(ftilst Joaus Cox qu'&rtly got on ritlt thc tpccu
proccdttt, tfte ruce conthstud un6oted. Qccpito thctt bchog 2 Cbcs lc (Stona&on ond Sridgcs in
E-filet ilEttrcE eod Cltfu rtth tlisdab tcCobe in SIIUPU tlIE SESI) it was C0tUll000RE FERRIES itr
t'loo hod frrm Roe ti&c ot d Rhiwtd Stufron hr PllPll KllO ot thc ctsd of bp l.
lop 2 sow thc dtaoica of thc ACR eoot ,(tfKlt8 & SOhE , orod thc Jotnt(wn A(dlott/Gtolwn Jonson
teoao in SAESEI b 27ft fftuudcriird ntth 620llP lQcrcruiscr ponu) M bd oA thc cbc*hc on otn
ctugit].. Roy Sntth ood Scofr llodgcc still hodthc kod, nith fEllt €XfREtE crcrcd by Jon fullu otod
John Eudca hot oa tlwir crftaud.
SKPU fllE EEST ood PePe KU rctircd on lop E, hooirog t&c nst ta o asry crcdting ftaa'l ci'rcuit.
fEeil EXTRETIE got ptt tfte Fotgcctofrl'uct holf a bp fwn t'hc firuirt - E sccotods scporoted them at
thc f,eg! kss tlran a t aio&h bch ito Etd cotttt Jh* Sokr clth Gwftom 0U hr the horoncd ShGE|
OREilllS 4 IJ|RE gf2 cat, otod tlooy ncn onlf 14 c€cotods ohcod of sportceoot h.7. Ftpd Slbhoner ond
Ocoo A{iAoinc ffinitely 0X e ilBSPX. (fu*, ttt 4 pboes b 4 fficrttot cbcs€s - inhrcstdog, ch?A)
the torfts tumfotd and titfurt conn 2nd ln 2 titn - fith oocmll - tlorlo trttiort lwoitog
lluafotdto gilcc lbhn o go to gct hic confuorcc boch aftcrtloch oecttuo ott{rt cnd of C&c 1995 scocon.
It rot*cd! lEtllilt frEftlCE bolc 6t:h oactoU - lcC Cbcs ll. C5 SfEEf tS 2 rtth tttilte Spholac &i+itug
rhcn lon Cutlcr pohrtGd Aar ncru Etd 2 litre - 7th oo>',*+3c#&loyy (ooops!
one of my little kittens has just walked over the key board!)
REfEfleER tlfF REUEE, rith a clwtogc ho atr giotng ham nnnagt 9ftelly Joty o clwrca to soc hor
Petcr Scnpn could dtr:oc, cnjoycd o 2t d itr cbcs. Roe fitodrors tooh thc dust coacrc od 'For 9oh' cQn
ofrthc cldarly l{orclnn PRI%IilEER, atod kpt on cfe on lst thi,c &i,osr laho Uhilrhono. 0ccpitc o loill
wihh pnehn otod sonu ftnl Uoc&agin{, thcy rtill namged 6th ho 2 litn; ond 2nd ho Spotiboot
cbsc nos Stccs Kitoh (rho lraic mbroccdfor oa

thc &offce fanily for olJ their ew{a Morc, dtring ond ofter the etnnt; the fyreU *ftc who pitclwd in
mognifbcntly; fony hoeis for tronspottiog the mor* euoys otod 6eoff l(ordo for hndhog them to us
yct ogoin; Erbn Pclhom, fony 0ottold ond Oooo Eorhon; Eihcn Ebonfiold ond Chrb Rccd for ctopuohhing;
tlw morchals and nruts ond oll thc bcal cofcty chippcrs and outhariths.
fhe UttlcLanptan Counil hoac olnody ecggcd us to rchtrn ho 1997 - scc tho tocp Cotendar.
F
.,.t
Jt)..,
s
9i
I i ,kl* .i,i,^, ., .
I'r .r"l
i' il'i. .;:l4r:i..':ii-.,;f
i.
I t F '',
'I ,rrr r\-" 1,
,
*r rr',
?'bv,1,l"r cry

7
NEEDLE)/CA\IDEN TR2PH|E1 + EUR? CU59 I t ll - R.f/.Y.C. P00LE AUGUST lBTH
The Roce Conlrol woE in ?oole ?oltery', the pits were on Poole Quoy', 9HOCKWAVE wos the only Closs I in sight ond -
thonks to 9TEM BULK orriving from lweden - there would oi leost be o genuine Clossll Europeon lst heot. Chorles
Burneft hod lent hisY2CUJURED VULTUREtobe driven by Anericon JohnBishop under the 9tors ondStripes, with Xr.
? looking ofter hiE irteresls. 9o there were 7 ClosE lis Io be checked out, including the loie orrivols IRY 95 whose crew
were arcn nw seorching for nedicolsll
AND there werefour in 4 litre - 9X2litres -7 of the 1.3s AND 4f ourers - so on exlremely reosonoble field turned out -
possibly pronpted by being on telly in Lucy Jogo'sBBC progronne? But I think thot thiE wls overy ollrodive venue with oll
the octivity under the public eye on?oole Ouoy - high profrle with Po't'tery and f'locMillon sponsorship ond much hord work by
the Rovol Motor Yocht Club teon.
Cliff'9mith hodborrwed Mcri'in Monsbridge's 0N LINE RAC|N6, which hod tested q|108 nph. DuringSolurdoy prodice,
Clitr ond Chris Yleering thought thel hod bla,vn the middle engine ond o ldt hond generotor ond spenl nost of the niglrt
chonging geor boxes.
Hword Wrethom found thot Buuihod put o nev multi-bloded prop onTRM M12 - conpldely untried os the multihull rdurned
from ltoly vio the Chunnel thot doy. 9udden dense fog wos reported rolling in wer ?ld Horry by Richord lolonon, so prodice
wos curtoiled mid-ofternoon, but the trusty crorc in ELECI'R|FYING, INTREPID, INVINCIBLE ond DUt Ag MN6ER stoyed
out in the bqy till6 p.m. to givelole prodice cwer when visibility imprwed enough. Meontime, olher leons were toking port
in the booi' porode oround the old ta,vn - trffic chooE...or whallll
Ihe )oubond
ployed ot the front, o double-decker toplessbus sported the musicol chorus of Lloyd Webber hits, ond LE
PARROTs eponsot hod their cor oudio syslem blosting out ol Ihe rear. I22 rhe REVENGER teom desewedly won the
porode prize ond we oll wenl' off to the B-B-Q ot lhe ?oltery , follwed by o very noisy toble ot k Lupo lo celebrole
INVINCIBLE Neil Jockson's birihdoy! 9o we nissed the fireworks disploy ot the Quoy, but I heor thoi ii wos brilliont (oh,
pordon the pun!)
Roce9undoy - flohon, Burnalt ond Coltrelljust'mcde the
Bridtng os lhe doors closed - phewl lt wog o cleor
norning, lhe seo breeze giving o liffle lively chop ond slop .
Despite9inonFldcher hoving slued onthe boot oll
9otur doy, 9HOCKWAVE non-dort ed ond the Closs ll
fled gol under woy ot 1 p.m., follwed 3 minutes laer by
lhe resl - minus Geoff ?urves who foiled lo orrive ot oll (l
did heor o runour thot Chris?eders wos ill'- perhops
thot's why?) there wos quite o slruggle to gd lhe lorge
speclolor fled under cortrol....but lhe roce wos onl lt
wos the usuol course, out to Needles Foinvoy, Eost Hook
ond thoi nosl hord to frnd of oll Poole norls - lhe dreded
Dorsd Yocht yellow conbuoyl And it wos lhe full course,
f00.
All29 slorters gol os for os Hengislbury Heod - then we
lost CULTURED VULTURE who hod nisplocedthei
eledrics: Rob f'1ills ondTroq (exhousted by on oll night
ruckwer their hotel occonmodolion ofter on horrendouE
were dwn to only 1 working engine',DebroFroncein
NEilE5lg rdired. os did flork Gibbons ond JoEon
Hocker in LE PARROT, Peter Wilson in CONDOR
FERRIE9 stillwith fuel delivery problens since his flip in
f orboy, ?ot Yohan's UP THE BAKDRAFI pocked up ond
n BLA?T FROfl THE ?A5T Euffered nore expensive
mechonicol irouble for Allen ?rebble ond Michoel Berrw.
The renoinder monaged onolher lwo lops without mojor
incideni - Richord 9trutton ondHword Wrefhom hod
overto ken Bu rnefr ond D r edg e' s bu77l \UZARD, who
were in turn dicing for 2nd/3rd spoi with BABY UNO - in
fod oll3 interchonged positions Esrerol times ryer the
nextSlops. 0N LINE RACING Ehookloose werything
possibleinlhe engines/geor boxes ond weni inio
rgtirement on the 5th lop, Colin 9tonemon ond Mork
Bridges continued os regulor 4ih in LETHAL MEMCE,
ond the 9wedish 9TEM BULK clowed their woy up to
3rd plocejust bdorethei chollenge expred onlop 3.
drivefrom flonchester) pulledPAPA K|LO out os they

8
There were 3helos flying werheod when M'12 loppled over
ot obout BO+ TRM stoylng upside down with no sign of Ihe
crew. Rob Judgejumped from the oir, ond worked for on
extroordinorily long2ninules to help Howord out ond to
free Richord from the cockpit - during which time Ken
Thorne hod stopped BABY UNO ond dived in to render
ossigtonce olso olongside INTREPID' INVINCIBLE ond
HURRY ON who quickly orrived oI lhe scene. Both crew
were sodden and shoken bui not' stirredl And BABY UN0
continued on its woy, soonlo regoinits2ndploce ond
hounding BUZZI\UZT RD oll the wov to the finish- Even
though Ken ond Brion weref'ogged onelop bock, Ken wos
toking no chonces ond continued onlo do ihe full126 mile
course. LETHAL fIEMCE gol o 3rd olso fiogged less
one loo. 9o Chorles woe on his woy lo Cottes wirh 400
Europeonpoints in the bog from on lvercge of 78 mph ond
ihe Needles Trophy to bootl
Al 70 mphthroughout, Mork Mulvoneys
CHARTERH O U9E Agg}ClATEg ol I wi n ni ng M o n nerfeli
ex-Miller, ex-gfonenon botboot wos obly novigoled over
lhe 8O nn course io ioke the CondenTrophy fron f'og to
flog. And,thonks to the holf lop ochieved bv PAPA K|LO'
flork ocluolly gol some Notionol pointslool
ln 2 litre, ogcin ihe leoderswere swopping over mcrk by
mork. lt wos thot other botboot - well Bokdroft' ocl'uolly -
CllY O1F1H]?E C21 who sto rl ed it. . . . ihe n D )UBLE
'f1' XU9IC hod o crock until thev lost holf o propblodel
Peter Little ond Dove Arthur went for il ogoin ond held the
Xumford fother ond son offby o mere 40 secondstolhe
flnish. Thot other fother ond son duo of Gordinerskept
MERCURY RACING o consistenl3rd, whilst the other
torgie C0YY0D0R FERRIE9hod iis own ding-dong
boftle with 9WEET A9 2 os 9perling ond 9pinks regoined
sone of thot old confidence....go nuch so lhot they shook
the engine to the point ol coning offlhelronsone ondhod
to quit..just onelop from homel
This left 6lh ploce openfor Mox Wolker ond Alon Word in
thetrr Forgecroft ex-Alexei now PENTHOU9E., wirh BAT
)UI 0t HELL flogged down one lop short.
Yei onother wedge-shoped [lonnerfelt wos oheod in the
1.3 litre roce,lhe UP YOUR9 BAKDRAR of Mohon ond
Kondok getting off lo o flying stoir. But this only losled
for holf o lop, ond fhe\ conceded the leod to..'..you've
guessed it....thot purple Monnerfelt botboot I-ARGE lT.
lslhere ony doubt oslolhe succeee of this innovoiive
dello design of mono which, no motfer who is building it,
seens lo be domineering r oces lhis leo5on.
Or wos it thot todoy 0D4il0y, Peter Wilson pulled out his
Argo cot ofter iusI2
morks? V00000 VULTURE wos
hoving o belter doy, grobbed2ndploce onthe3rdlop ond
held on to it to the ffnishing flog - lhe best finish lo dote
for gu4Wood Power ond hubby 9imon. THE 9PlRlT 0F
GRW BRITAIN wosn't going bodly either, Alon Lovton
ond Chris O'Dowd cloiming I poinls ond 3rd in closs-
VULGAR VULTURE wos flogged to o slop one lop shol ,
ond the Hill Bros in FURNITURE DIRECT finished2lops
bock ond were nol clossified under the new finishinq
procedure.
The Touring CloEs included good ol' GTn HFg Phil 9ired
'
novr leomed with Tony Homilton. Now, whot is it with
Homilton ot Bournemoulh? Con't he wer poss
Bournemouth Pier without cotching sonefhlng on fire!!!
Bl-AgT FROM THE ?A91 hod oleody blosted to o stop
ot the end of lop1, ond HF9 pulled oui billowing gnoke ol
ihe end of lop 31 9o the usuol 1 I 2 ron oround their 1.3
lilre course ot o goodly poce,Il:"/rY EXTREME in front of
REVENGER LITE RELIEF. And thus did thev finish -
giving Tony Dovislsl in closs ond lst R.f1.Y.C. flembers
trophy , with Peter Berrw ond John Burden hoppy wiih 7
notionol points in 2nd ploce. And with this new ffnishing
procedure, it wos oll over in just 2hoursll
It wos o super prizegiving podium ot the Quoyside,
hundreds of people otl'roct'ed by lhe rozzonolozz of rocing
ond the lure ol seeing'N coneros.
gponsors ond oll were chonpogne showered by the
winnerg ond everyone seened to be smiling o lot. lt hod
been o good week-end.
The ofticiol prizegiving cerenony follwed in the Pottery -
only slightly interrupted by the sirens of the lre engines
orriving in r esponse t o ny 999 coll....yes, it wos H F9
ogoinl Without knowing thct their fuel tonk hod split, they
were droining off the bilges oll wer the quoyl This teom
were reollv luch thot their Pier-heod fire hod been
corloined....or there would hove been ever such obig
BAN6I

9
Ihehordesl working "morshol" Eeemed to be ihe newly oppointedHeod of the U.l.M. osDick Ridout could be seen mwing
borriers ondboqls ond generolly doing on excellent job of work. lt wos nice Io see so mony old friends like Gordon Wright,
Robin Porish, John l"1iller, 9cofiEllis ondAnncbel...even Phil Duggonpoppedinfor ochotl Luq Jogopockedupher conero
crevt ond the whole affshore circus moved out ond off t0......
THE COI4/ES CIASSIC - A(IGUST 25TH
This has been running now for 36 years, and the event has its own unique and inexplicable buzz! It is
expensive, crowded, chaotic and yet many hail it as the UK 'Mecca' of offshore powerboating. 1996 was
OOD'd by Colin Stewart - Viv Williams sadly under a 3 year ban - and Tim Powell had a good strong team
in an honest effiort to silence the critics of the 1995 event. And it workedl Very hard indeed!!!
It seemed that hrurdreds of people showed up at the Friday night Northwood House reception, which had a
very substantial buffet spread to feed the larger than life characters in offshore. "Where do they all come
from?" asked Tim whistfully as he surveyed racers mingling with officials, sponsors and followers and
Medina Councillors trying to stay aloof from all of us rabble. After the feeding frenzy, the traditional
pilgrimage followed, meandering (or staggering) to the Royal Corinthian via the Marina beer tent. It was a
good start to the week-end! My personal thanks go to all those who looked after my Robbie that night - and
to Tim Brand Crombie for walkins me home in the rain!
There were no Marathon Enduro U'outr, *f,i"tr seemed to disappoint the crowds who had come to see and
even more to hear that particular throaty roar of big diesel lumps running up revs at Cowes Marina. But
there was plenty of craft to see there.....33 various offshore rigs and l7 RIB racers there for their Gold Cup
event. Although it was suffry and warm, the wind threatened to strengthen above force 7 - so early plans
were laid for contingencies. Already, the Torquay end had gone from the equation along with the Martini
Marathon. Would we even get them as far as Portland, we wondered?!? As practice was followed by the
lst RIB heat was followed by more practice, the North and South Basins of Cowes Yacht Haven were filled
to near bursting point as over 70 patrol and rescue craft jostled for berths, many arriving late because ofthe
weather, but all determined to get there in the end! Such loyalty, such enthusiasm....such hasstle!
Then it was time for the big Briefing in the Royal Yacht Squadron marquee. Colin Stewart and Geoff
Warde as Safety Officer did a good double act, preparing the teams for an early moming weather briefing
with potential course changes in mind. We went offfor a 'quite' dinner at the Rawlings and somehow got
involved in some raunchy antics involving a yuppy stag nightl My lips are sealed, but Jon Fuller was caught
looking through the window so I suppose my secret is out!
Worst fears were realised on race moming......out went Portland, and out went Poole Bay for all but the
European Classes I & II. I rushed to stand down my safety boat volunteers west of Poole, then rushed offto
my Coastguard Lookout on top of the Needles. The narrows were like a cauldron in the triangle between
Bridge Buoy, the Shingles and the Fairway, but surrounding seas were quite raceable. We had quite a job
persuading the big HMS Dolphin boat to remain on St. Catherine's Point in the rough conditions South of
the Island, but GeoffWarde persuaded them to stay, thank goodness! Only 5 safety boats did not make it to
their stations, so we were reasonably well covered all around the course, with LANCING and most of the 6-
pack standing by to sweep around the island.
Cliff Smith and Chris Meering had struggled all week to beg, borrow or steal enough engineering to make it
to the 2nd heat of the Class II European Championship in ON LINE RACING. Their race this day lasted 3
minutes before they reported one engine on fire....and theywere in the lead at the time!.....the big dream gone
up in smoke! STENA BULK took one look beyond Hearst and retired, starting back under their own power.
M2 CULTURED VULTURE made it as far as Freshwater Bay but needed a tow back with only one engine
left working. It took no less than 3 boats to accomplish this task!
The remaining 2 Class IIs played cat 'n' mouse games of 'I can navigate better than you can!' all around the
course and their finish was absolutely breath-taking! After 2 and a quarter hours of strenuous racing, there
was only inches between them as they crossed the Squadron line - an absolute dead heat on the clock.

ic
But it was Charles Bumett who had grabbed those precious inches of lead in BUZZI BUZZARD,
once again nicking the long awaited victory away from BABY UNO, their season-long rivals Ken Thonr and
Bnan Proctor. CBIII and Peter Dredge celebrated yet another Championship - even if their speed was only
45mph - with maximum 800 points!
Notwithstanding a slight detour to Swanage, the SHOCKWAVE team of Roger and Simon Fletcher and
John Hampton managed their lone trip at 56 mph, eaming lots of trophies but no points!
One whole hour after the start, little B82 was still bravely tryrng to get through the wind-over-tide mess to
reach the Bridge Buoy. We watched Debbie Cottrell bobbing around like a yellow cork, taking one
mountain of wave at a time, a picture of sheer and total determination! Finally, she conceded the battle
under pressure from young Martin Curry, but not until she had rounded the buoy! The 55ft Sunseeker
HIGH ENERGY had been standing by the tiny VULGAR VULTURE throughout, and was greatly relieved
to see the orange flag raised finally. But we all readily admitted....that girl has real guts!
3 boats started in 4 litre - only D8 fmished - Mulvaney's super-bat-boat on charter to Max Walker and Alan
Ward and renamed....yes PENTHOUSE...foT this event. Yes, Alan, you said you would be on the podium in
1996 and vou finallv made itl
Jim Baker and Graham Old in D12 SWEET DREAMS
had been struggling well down the fleet. Then they ran
aground on Ryde Sands - reportedly following a certain
INVINCIBLE boat! Both crew were hypothermic by the
time they were rescued back to Cowes. And PAPA KILO
was eventually found by ELECTRIFYING after an
anxious search, needing a tow from St. Cats!
NnTiONn
l:fT:h-Lf,<
"(^
illl::
JS
There were only 5 in the 2 litre fleet! NEMESIS then did
not start; SWEET AS 2 retired again just short of the lure
at West Ryde, towed by Will Haycock; and BAT OUT
OF HELL was trying to sink by Nab End! Paul needed
to be salvaged! Ho, hum!
There were also only 5 craft in 1.3 litre. FURNITURE
DIRECT withdrew before the start. I have already told
you the story of 882 and then there was only 3 ! LARGE
IT won at 38 mph; The Wood Powers came 2nd 8 minutes
later, and SPIRIT OF GREAT BzuTAIN took another
half hourto finish 3rd....but thev did finish!
6 Touring monos started ( well, only 5 once we found out that T60 Ben Mazur's VELOCITY had already
scratched out!) HFS retired at the 2nd mark before Sconce, in company wrth T6 - the 10 DENIER tearn.
T7 BLAST FROM THE PAST fought their way as far as the Nab before giving up the struggle.
This left....you've guessed it! TEAM EXTREME the winners by 13 murutes from REVENGER TEAM.
Although they had entered, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, SIDE WINDER and ULTIMATUM joined the
list of mechanical non-starters.
[So sorry, but I have run out oftime and space so no details on the RIB racers, I'm afraid!]
One thing that everyone agreed was.....lT WAS HELL OLI-I THERE! But we got a race, and you could not
have wished for a better finish to the Class I[ Europear-r Championship! It was quite an emotional
prizegiving, with Lady Vi Aitkin and Ray Macinall of National Express presenting the many trophies to the
celebraturg teams. Another triumph for Cowes, even with the low number of entnes. Sadly, on Monday, we
heard the news of the traggic death of Trevor Clark at the Jersey OCR race. Our sympathies go to his
family and friends.

)3
Just 7 days later, it was time to set off for La France and the start of another big adventure! l!!!! M !
QAIBERO^Y- CLASSIIIETTROPEAilTCIIAilTPS - 4- L SEPT.
yann Cadoret had long dreamt of bringing his beloved sport of offshore to Brittany, where his family own the massive
oyster beds in the Bay of Quiberon. With a great deal of British support at the UIM, the experimental 3 race series
for all the sub-categories in Class III became a reality. Even though some of the sponsors let them down, the Cadoret
family continuorrlj paid out to cowr the costs of the promised schedule of events. British officials and safety crews
added their assistanie, and with the Franco Domicile lain and Gail Stewart Ross organisational team, this promised to
be a super event. The wnue was superb, magnificent scenery around the peninsula gave rugged bleak bluffs on one
side, with beautiful sandy beaches and pine trees along the other, leaMng acres of rock pools at low tide.
The town, with its port and harbour, shops, restaurants and bars, clubs and casino, gave endless entertainment and
the people were just 50 friendly and helpful. The pit areas rapidly became little international encampments, whilst
others used the 4 star hotels or smart apartments, and everyone could be withing a couple of square miles. The race
control was based at the local sailing school, with excellent views across the course. Really perfectl
The response to this Championship was tremendous, helped by the very generous deal with Brittany Ferries. Teams
travelled from Finland, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Jersey, Guernsey , only 2 actually from France and I I offshore fi'om
Britain, with 18 OCR boats coming for their European Championship as well. There was a greal reunion of European
friends as the pits started to buzz in anticipation.
But also news that Dave Sperling had collapsed and was in hospital back home - so no SWEET AS here.
The OCR boys and girls caused the first upset, deciding to boycott the event over an arguement about the French race
insurance. Discussions went on all day at their pit, and eventually lhey came to terms, just 90 minutes before the
end of 'signing on' and scrutineering. 5o us workers had a tough job to get them all through administration in timel
The Main Briefing was a bit of a French farce - language difficulties to say the least - but Iain Stewart Ross and
Richard Salaman reVe.ated the Briefing next morning to clari! the arrangements, to the satisfaction of Tony Lewis as
Commissioner for the UIM. Rob and Martin Purnell decided to ask a few Brits back to our studio for a patio party to
start offthe socials - about zlo turned upl What a lowly surpriselllll Phew - thank goodness for French plonk, bread,
cheeses and pates....and a dishwasherl
OCR were due to have their first heat on Thursday morning, but - being more than a little tender after the rash of
bad accidents in Jersey - they did not like the look of the windblown water and did not want lo yace in it. The officials
rescheduled for them, and Class III took the stage.
There were 2 of the 5 litre boats; 7 in 4 litre; 15 in 2 litre and 9 in 1.3. for a course of 5 different laps - a
navigator's dream.....or nightmaret The 6-pack were strategically placed by Richard Salaman, who was working with
his usual English team alongside the French Safety officer -
)ean - the Comman der of a French Naly SEAL unit when
he wasn't powerboat racingl The French OOD Christian got them off to a fllng start thanks to Mike Bellamy, who
had come all the way from Sussex by sea in his trusty Sunseeker LANCINGI Immediately the chaos startedt The start
chute buoys were abil skewiff, some boats took them on one side, and others went the other way. One or two,
including Matty Gardiner correded, most did not. Retrospectively, it was agreed by theJury to discount this mess
and judge the race on the rest of the 70 mile course.
The 88 Norwegian Argo cat stuffed it on the first corner; PAPA KILO now crewed by Rob Mills and Richard Strutton
pulled out almost immediately and the Italian cat CI7 retired after 3 turn buoys. Everyone else continued on to the
finish, although ltaly's D65 appeared to be doing the laps backwardsl On lap 2, the leading pack ofScandanavians got
their navigation wrong and the four of them completely missed a mark. C3, C4, C5 and C5t - disqualified! our Lap
Liner reported that CITY OFFSHORE had wrong sided at the end of two of the laps, and Pat Mohan's BAKDMFT was
missed completely on one lap by the timekeepers. As the crews signed off after lhe race, Laurence Bellamy was
reportedly saying that he had got the lap line wrong too. As soon as the results were posted, there started an
avalanch ofProtestsl
Debbie Cottrell and Peter Wilson protested Ian Cutler and Laurence; Little and Arthur protested the results; and Pat
Mohan protested the organisers for not giving him onel As I had landed thejob ofSecretary to theJury of 8
delegates, I cannot go into details of their discussion, but LARGE IT survived their protest and CITY OFFSHORE and
BAKDMFT were reinstated. The Warelius Twins in E55O ULTRON easily won 6 litre. Max Walker and Alan Ward
enjoyed another Ist in their borrowed Batboat PENTHOUSE from Sweden's Tibblin kids in KALVI. The Italian team of
Bertolacci and Fabrizio in C47 won 2 litre with CITY oFFSHoRE 2ND. And it was Brits I,2 and 3 in 1.3 - LARGE IT/uP
THE BAKDRAFT/CONDOR FERRIES 7. (see the results pagefor the full final finishing order.)
whilst all this was going on, the OCR fleet gol in their first heat - although it was all a bit of a rush for the organisers
and safety teams who had been working all day long without a break. Several OCR personnel wanted to attend Trevor
Clark's funeral in )ersey that day, so their first heat was relegated to basic status for those who stayed to race.
Again on Friday, OCR did not like their scheduled start time as it was the roughest time of the day. Yet again they
were accommodated, but it made everythingvery elongaled. R lot of lessons had been learnt by the officials on that
first day, and the organisation was much improved for the second heats.

t+
Friday-Heat?'. ClThadgonehomeandpAPnKILOstayedondryland.Sweden'sHOTsHOTcouldnotgetoverthe
start line and D56 retired before the end of lap 1. C18 SELVAAG GRUPPEN and 88 both fi'om Norway were Dqd on
the first lapline and Morgan Spro of Norway's TEAM TINTORERA (who was trying to do BOTH 1.3 offshore and OCR)
went mechanical on lap 7. Roy and Irene Bundle were reliably marking the buoy by the oyster beds and reported
that C3 and c+ were once again in the lead. TARGE IT, BAKDRAFT and CONDoR were continuing their battle.
PENTHOUSE was just keeping ahead of KALVI with the FLYING OYSTER catching up fast. And ESSO was easily ahead in
6 litre.
Then on the 6th tap, with the helicopter right above them, the French SlO MISS CAT went over. But the crew were
quickly out ofthe cockpit and safe. Bob Eddings was despatched in FOX FIRE to assist, but the Frenchies seemed to
have it under controll.......apparently, it was local pride that the oyster fishing boats had to be the heroesl 824 the
Swedish LUST CAT had a hole in it....and DOUBLE 'M' MUSIC gol an engSne problem on their last lap. Apart fi;om
this, the race continued uneventfully....until some really close and exciting dashes to the finish line brought us all to
our feeI.
Swede Ulrik Ingvarsson in C3 (confusingly named B-23) was desparately trying to stop Finns Saarinen and Marjamaki
in C4 LUUCAT beating him to the line. The newyellow Mannerfelt mono was weaing from side to side to balk the
yellowandgreenLuukilacat. C3madeit.....by7O/Ioolhsofasecondl c5HoTSTAFFwas3rd. ThencameLittleand
Arthur,onlyjustaheadofSteveNicholl'sLOVELYJUBBLYBUBBLYbyl3seconds. Thenextthreewere2litrecats,
taking advantage of the flat conditions, and relegating the Forgecrafts of Roy Smith and Mat Gardiner to last.
And in between all this excitement - the 1.3 leaders came chargingto the flag - the 87 Peter Wilson CONDOR cat
taking on the lucky LARGE IT, and winning by 7 seconds on the line. And Pat Mohan with Stefan Kondak in
BAKDRAFT 3rd - all within 30 seconds of furious actionl VOODOO WLTURE, FURNITURE DIRECT and WLGAR
WLTURE were also successfill finishers, albeit a bit offthe pace.
ESSO averaged 86 mph and claimed the 5 litre titles after only 2 heats - their French opposition demolished in more
ways than onel
Yann Cadoret andJames Moreau overtook KALVI and took 2nd place 4 litre points, behind PENTHoUSE - it was
looking good for Max and Alan - 76 mph - 8oO points and only one more to go!
It had been a good race, and NO PROTESTSI I even nearly got to the podium presentation, arriving just after it was
all over - but just in time to share Max Walker's magnum of bubbly (Did you know that they spell 'Champagne' as
C I D R E in France?!?! Magnums of....local ciderlll Not surprisingly, there wasn't any shaking of bottles and
spraying of onlookers at this venue!) Chris Avis had spent 3o minutes steeling himself to try his very first live oyster
- his face was a picture as he swallowed the glob, to the entertainment of_.;ohn Ide & Co. The locals had put on
tresstle tables loaded with the fi'eshly caught delicaq.t, fi'eely available at every presentation. We noticed that the
locals always took the little ones, which were sweet and tender, whilst we roughty toughty racers picked out the
biggest (a nd toughest)ll!!
CHARLES BURNETT
INITIATED BY THE
OYSTER KINGS WHO
ALSO HONOURED
RAY BULMAN AND
IAIN STEWART ROSS
WITH A TRADITIONAL
LOCAL CEREMONY
FROLTCS ON "QUrvER"
JOHN MILLER IMPRESSES
CB III'S FRIEND FONDA
WHO WAS SPORTING
BOW POINTS WHICH ANY
OVERWAVE WOULD HAVE
BEEN PROUD OF!

tf
SATURDAY - FINAL HEAT: and apart from 6 litre, it was all still an open chance for the
Championships. oCRagainaskedforachangeofschedule,soeveryrthingwas delayed byacoupleof
hours. But at 3.3O p.m. we were off again, without Morgan Spro who was wiped out in the OCR race,
and with no 6 litre boats - no needl The first 2 laps went quite smoothly, then the overall leader in 2
litre - C47 Bertolacci and Fabrizio - stuffed in frontwards and shot out backwards - it looked nasty!
Happily, both Italians were only wet....and bitterly disappointd as they saw their Championship hopes
under tow. ELECTRIFYING reported that Max Walker was down to one engSne and CITY OFFSHORE
was leading the 2 litres. FOX FIRE said that Ian Cutler's LARGE IT had missed out the furthest mark
and that Peter Wilson was now in front. Roy -s;v1i1ft had decided that he could not win in the clam
waters at Quiberon, so he had gallantly lent his powerhead to Mark Mumford, as DOUBLE "M" still
had an outside chance. But Mark blewthat one as well on lap 4. Then C5l the Italian team in the
ANTONIO DERRICO red cat flipped over spectacularly rounding mark A. HURRY ON kept us informed
of the situation, and that the crew were OK. Meanwhile BZ CONDOR FERRiES was neck and neck with
88 - the Norwegian Argo finally getting on song in a very evenly matched contest. And the locals
were ecstatic - Yann's FLYING OYSTER was the winner in 4 litre, with Max struggling to get 70% of the
course finished, with a last lap at50% of his full speed (Yes, this is the qualification equation to be
classified as a finisher under the new procedurel)
In 1.3, the Argos 88 and B7 took it to the wire, the Norwegians in 88 nicking it by just 4 seconds from
Pete Wilson. Pat Mohan ended in 3rd spot. Then, C3, C5 HOT STAFF, the Italian C2+, C+ LUUTCAT,
C27 CITY OFFSHORE and C99 LOVELYJUBBLY all finished within 70 seconds in an amazingTlitre
dash for the line - in fact the first four of these were running almost line abreast to the flag in the
closest mass charge seen in offshore for yearsl!
This was a truly exciting end to three days of hard racing in the Bay of Quiberon....but it wasn't over
yett C47 Bertolacci lodged a protest against Ulrik Inprarsson's C3 because the navigator was out on
top of the foredeck atthe start- claimed to be the only way to getthe new Mannerfelt up on the
plane and apparently a normal occurance in Sweden. The whole 2 litre Championship hung on the
outcome-itwouldgotoPeterLittleandDaveArthuriftheProtestwasupheldl Sportingly,Peteand
Dave considered that Ingvarsson should get it as he had honestly beaten them on the water. But it
was not their decision........I gotmy notepad out again, and convened theJury..,againl It was not
easy.....because there was mayhem in the post-race scrutineering pit! One of the engines used by Max
Walker in the last heat appeared to have been worked in the exhaust ports. The scrutineers wanted
to look at Yann's powerhead for comparison, but the FLYING FRENCHMAN refused to take his covers
offl, - Instant DQ by any Rule Bookl! Father Francois was going potty with rage and stormed off. The
scruts then stripped the Tibblins' KALVI as the potential next in line - father Anders in attendance -
so I was already 2 Jury members missing. Anders was recalled to discuss the C3 situation and, as the
)ury were about to go and look at the boat - in stormed Yann Cadoret and James Moreau, furiously
smashing the wheelchair through race control, overturning tables and yelling abuse at all the officials
of the UIM. His dream eventwas in ruins! Tony Lewis had had enough and walked out, leavingthe
rest to struggle on to a decision. It was a hung)ury - voting 3 for and 3 against. Now what??l!??
The French Federation Chairman tave u? the struggle and it was agreed to refer the matter to the
UiM in St. Tropez the following week. The OOD refused to issue any revised results in 4 litre despite
the Race Committee concurring on the technical reports, so there was nothing more could be done
that night (it was by now 1O p.m. ih Race Control and a lot of very upset officials) so we went to the
party!
Gallons of wine, heaps of localfoodfare, hundreds of tins of La Trinite biscuits (one Scandanavian
leam cornered enough tins to get their expense costs back!) and everyone was given a sweet plaque
momento of Quiberon. But there were no trophies presented, excepL of course for squeelgr clean
OCR, because the offshore results were still in turmoil in all but 1.3 litre. This class was in no doubt -
PeterWilson and PaulTaylor werelhe undisputed 1.3 Euro Champs in CONDOR FERRIES 7. Butthey
did not receive their trophies until the next dayl Several teams arrived at Race Control on the
Sunday morning, eagerly looking for some news - there was no-one fi'om the Race Committee therel
The faxes started flying next day, and eventually c: found favour to become the 2 litre Champ, and,
according to the latest docum ent received from the UIM last wee( young Nicklas and Annika Tibblin
in KALVI the 4 litre title holdersl The racing at Quiberon was the very best at a fantastic venue, but
the politics surrounding official procedure got into such a mess that the event was in danger of being
declared null and void. And thatwould have been an evenbigger shame!

It"
EARO OFFSnOne - QATBERON - FRAIVCE - 4*,/g* SEyr 96
FINISHING ORDER HEAT 1 HEAT 2 HEAT 3 OVERALL
No: BOAT NAME.. Nat: ;::,:9"81L: pts lfr$n:tt:t'l pts lp$nti pts Fts,.:t Psn
CLASSIII-6Litre:
s44 ESSO ULTRON FIN :::/,:l 400 :iiir 400
:800 1
',,#$:i:,t,
s10 MISS CAT FR 2t 300 i;NE
,300 2
CLASSIII-4Litre:
D87 KALVI SWE 300 iltiiili:i: 225 t2,i1;i, JUU 82i5, 1"'
D15 GRAPMOKEN ITALY t;4,,,tlrrtr;,;, 169 t4) 169 rU:t::lr 225 i5$3 2no
D24 MIKI ITALY 1$,:,.i:.t: 127 ffiiii: 127 25i4, 3to
D11 PAPA KILO G.B. ffi
D56 MMZUCCATO I NTERNATI ONAL ITALY
1NS,u,;t
D8 PENTHOUSE G.B. 400
t::llt
400
D7 FLYING OYSTER FRA .i.ti:iiiri 225 /l 300
CLASSIII-2Litre:
i i iirt
t4,,,1,,,,,1,'
169 g6g, DQ
4
I 400 g2'5 DQ
I
c3 823 SWE
':::::{r.;.;.:::1: 400 400
"frO
800l 1"'
c27 CITY OFFSHORE G.B. 'fltttltttt 300 t4;, 169 5"t: 127 596: 2no
c5 HOT STAFF NOR ttut'1:l 225
l:al6aa::
'aZ:,:::
300 i;ii2:51 3to
c47 GIORNALE DI BORDO ITALY tLt',ii 400 ,1::f":iiri 95 495 4tn
i0-,8;':;;1'1'1
c4 LUUCAT 26 FIN
:2,;';';'
300 4:, 469 5tn
c24 GARATTINI- INVERNIZI ITALY :,:ll;t;,., 169 i,3.;:,, 225 394 6tn
c99 LOVELY JUBBLY BUBBLY GUERN q6
iilr:.iiiii: 127 5it,ii: 127 6tii: 349 7'n
c68 HOT SHOT SWE
'fi,;i'i',;;,:, 225 8;,:,,;,";,,, 278 g'n
c8 BIMBA RACING ITALY :,1$',1:: 71 {tttt:rt 71 iiltgS:i:, gtn
JERSEY
a4
c54 COMMODORE FERRIES
/.' II '9,,1', 40 NS; ft11 10'n
c45 DOUBLE "M'MUSIC G.B. ia.: 95 95i 1 1tn
a,:,.,.1
c18 SELVMG GRUPPEN NOR
.i,f-0',; ;,, 30 40 70, 1z"',
c26 MERCURY RACING G.B. ;A':,i
tts,,,,,tt: 40 f,0, 30 INE',,
':74l 1 3"'
c51 ANTONIO DERRICO ITALY ll)a"",, Et,t,i 53 ''53 14tn
CLASS III - 7.3 Litre:
87 CONDOR FERRIES SEVEN GUERN :i3r:i::i 225 400 '?':,tt 300 925::i 1"'
'{l:'t'it)l
B,47 UP THE BAKDRAFT G.B. i'2tli:ltii,ii 300 ;..itt:::t::. 225 225 750 i 2no
814 LARGE IT G.B. 400 ::::;Zu:: 300 tDQ:'
.7O0,i 3ro
:i4:,:
127 423 4tn
B69 VULGAR VULTURE G.B. 5l 127 :|4 169
B8 n0 name NOR
iDA,i;',,, tf;,:;;r: 400 400 5tn
B.24 LUST CAT SWE
t4,1,
169 4, 169 3:38 6tn
B,41 FURNITURE DIRECT G.B.
:':t7tl,,ti
II .,.,5.,,, 127 .6iii: 95 293. 7'n
882 VOODOO VULTURE G.B. :,8,tti :o:
o5 t7 t:: 71 '2,1i9:
gtn
851 TEAM TINTORERA NOR t6 a6 1v5 ,'95 gtn

'uh
s i"*));*

l6
The Pier to Pier records v'ere sponsored bv Cetrek, and the Grand P.ix by Bournemouth Tourism and Uglond
Olfshore Racing! Returningfrom France after afew doys holiday boating with INWNCIBLE, FOX FIRE and
ELECTRIFYING, which included afantastic day out at Belle Isle and lots offresh seafood, we arrived straight
off the overnight ferry* to brilhant, hot English sunshine! The Race Control was a sn:eet but far too tiny beach
hut, hence Hazel and I set up our deckchairs on the sunny promenade. I was still in holiday mode and apologise
to all for sheding down to a bikini - I couldn't resist the chance of a bit of suntan - my Jirst this summer!
In near perfect conditions, the speed attempts got under way during Saturday. SUPERLUMINAL T9,
VELOCITY 760 and HFS G71 all got Touring Class records around 70 mph. NeiI Jackson achieved 58mph in
the safdy RIB INWNCIBLE, but Graham Peck in the borrowed M2 CULTaRED WLTURE could only get it
up to 107 mph! Below the Strutton/lltretham recordfrom 1995. So, Mark Pascoe asked if U.K.O.B.A. rpould be
prepared to give a couple of hours on Sunday morning - when the sea roas like o oil slick -for some more runs.
Geolf Warde said yes - and we all went into overdrive to get iI set up.
Just managing to avoid the slack tide uclusion zone, Graham went on to crack the record and take it to
121.04 mph - and TEAM EXTREME got a new National speed of 73 - and lan Cutler had jumped LtIRGE IT on
to the bandwagon - doing 56.68 for a 7.3 mono Pier certiJicate. It was all a bit of a scramble, but thanks again to
the 6pack and the Timekeepers, everyone was happy - particularly Mark Pascoe!
The race entry list wasn't brilliant - only D12 renamed ANTLOW COMMANICATIONS in 4 litre; NEMISIS,
DOUBLE 'M', COMMODORE and BAT OUT OF HELL in 2 litre, and CONDOR, L./IRGE IT, AP YOaR
BAKDRAFT, SPIRIT OF G.B. and WLGAR ,/ALTaRE in 1.3 litre. Perhaps because there were no National
points to be fought for? ! ? But not too good for the last race of the year. In T class, where National points were
aI stake, il was a better turn out: TEAM EXTREME, BL/IST FROM THE PAST, REVENGER, WLOCITY and
HFS crossed the start line - SUPERLAMINAL having gone bang afier their record run, and poor John Eberhard
and Craig Elliott knocked out again by mechanical nightmares on SIDEWNDER - it has been a terrible
initiation yearfor this team!
And this wasn't an easy course, two laps off Bournetnouth and then right out to the Needles Fairway -
knackering! - but at least il vas deadflat, so it should be a very quick race. But REWNGER retired eaily on;
HFS pulled up at the end of theJirs't lap; and DI2 having led the early part, had to stop racing on the way back
from the Needles - of course! But at the Needles on Inp 3, the running order was:
TEALI EXTREME, DOUBLE 'M', VELOCITY (that got Ben Mazur very excited d the end of the Pier, listening
to the P.A. system reportsfrom Peter Bloomfield!!), COMMODORE FERRIES, BAT OUT OF HELL,
NEMESIS, D12, BL./IST FROM THE PAST. Then the 7.3 race turned thdfar mark: CONDOR FERRIES,
I}IRGE IT, AP THE BAKDRAFT, VULGAR VULTURE and SPIRIT OF GREAT BRITAIN.
It took Jon Fuller and Tony Davis jufi 59 minutes to win their race - TEAM EXTREME's average of 68 mph was
just 5 mph off their record speed run! WLOCITY and BL/IST got 2nd and 3rd place points.
Mark and John Mumford took 84 minutes winning the 2 lbre pot, hut theirs was a longer course! Even they
travelled at an impressive 67 mph average - bearing in mind that i7 was to the Isle of Mght and hack!
And, keeping the huge crowd of spectdors on their toes, along came Roy Smith8cott Hodges in COMMODORE
FERRIES juf 11 seconds ahead of Rory Power and Debra France in NEMESIS, who in turn squeezed just 2
seconds ahead of Paul Salvidge and Ahuyn in BAT OUT OF HELL!
It should have been Pete Wilson's day - Argos like itfli - but, uncharacteristicatty it has to be said, PauI Taylor
had made a little error! But it was enough to let lan Cutler and Laurence Bellamy get to the line 12 seconds
ahead in LILRGE IT! Nationsl and UKOBA Championsfor 1996. But then Peter did have the European craun!
3rd was the BAKDRAFT; 4th VULGAR VaLTaRE and 5th Alan Lavton and Chris O'Dowd in the SPIRIT OF
GB.
The hizegiving in the Star Bar recrs very good natured - helped by Mark Pascoe's g{t to the Sunday Records
contributors - thank you from all concerned Geoff llarde presented the speed certiJicates in his own flamboyant
style and the Lady Mayor presented the champagne - there were no trophies because the Beachmaster's oftice
had sent them back - apparently un(npare of UKOBA's arrival that week-end Oh, well, it didn't really matter -
they will be presented at this week-end's Powerboat Ball instead!

+
CLASS IT WORLD CHAI4PTONSHTP - OfuIAN 25-297H NOVEI,IBER
Thc Ml VULTURE VENTURES teom got there early. Becouse they hod suffered from popped
tubes in the post, they were experimenting with composite tubes on the stern sections. But
they were not ollowed into the woter to test until the Sundoy. fn long t metre swells, they
eventuof fy went out on triol, .....ond broke the front tube sectionl No time to get new ones,
so, looking very weirdly like o huge ond unstoble surfboard, they hod to run minus most of
their rubbers, which resulfed in an exceedingly hord ride for Chorles ond Dredgy.
A German owned boot orrived from the Stotes, opporently unowore thot CATATIAARANS hod
to hove CANOPIES! Whoooops - expensive errorl
Officiolly therewereL4 storters; 1 Finn,3 ftolions,6 Arobs (excluding ony from Abu Dhobi
who considered thot their geor box rotios were uncompefitive) ond 4 Brits -
. Chorles Burnett/Peter Dredge in BUZTI BUZZARD
. Ken Thorne/Brion Procfor in BABY UNO
. Dovid ond Chris Allenby in ASSAGAI V
. Geoff Purves ond Poul Hicks in ASSAGAf IV
Heot 1 took ploce in I metre chop on top of swells, 15 knots of wind. VICTORy lu\13 took the
chequered, followed by stoble-mateVICTORy,tA3. CERA,IIICA PANARIA come 3rd with the
Sheik in MUTHEER 4th. Nicolini in SEA RACER 30 wos fifth, ohead of BUZTI BUZZARD ond
EINN RACING ond nssn6 AI V. A breokdown left BABY UNO in llth ploce ond Purves' f V
did not f inish.
Before the stort in heot 2,Ken Thorne wos in the fight forluelling on the woter. His
bottery wos not fully chorged, ond, by the time for the start. his electrics were nil!
In f lot glossy conditions, the flying EINN f inished f irst oheod of M3 VICTORy, with ltolion
CO\TO D'ESTE 3rd. MUTHEER wos 5th leoding theBUZZARD, 1 68 the only other finisher.
The finol heot, 10 knots of wind ond colm seos. It wos onother first for VICTORy /1i\13 ond
the chompionship on 800 points. But Ken Thorne ond Brion Proctor drove o stormer of o roce
to bring the aged mono in in Znd - af lasf, EABy WO had beafen fhe Texan BUZARDI
Burnetf wos pipped into 4fh ploce by I UTHEER, but did achieve 5th overoll, one plocing
oheod of the Welsh teom in BABy UNO. ASSAGAT V wos 8th followed by IV in 9th in the
heat,givir:g them overolls of 12th ond 13th in the chompionship.
To coincide with the Southampton Bbat Show, thc
REWNGER TEAM of Peter Benow,John Barden
and ShelleyJory threw a "T'Pafty fot offshore
racens at Hedge End. A really enjoyable evening
of chat, fuoze, high-jinls and very little tea -
A great idea for an end of season bash....
s

8
q4o"t 6, ./hftin, @-ftn - ottr ntat?/ ha Joul/v .frrbo'....
Upon arrival at a sunny and hot Cape Town airport, we were met by Tony Fraquet (well
known on English shores since Hull's World Championship meet) and other members of the
Oceana Powerboat Club, who helped to get foreign competitors and visitors to their respective
hotels. After dropping offthe Norwegians on the way, the final stop was our hotel, where Nick
Boffee, James Cox and I were stayrrg I was shown how to get to the Boat Club, GIVEN a
courtesy car for the duration of our stay and, with the promise of all that cheap beer, it took
about 20 minutes to freshen up and find the Powerboat Club. The aftemoon was spent
boating, drinking and SUNBATHING I !
Five British teams had made the long trek south. Ian Cutler and Lawrence Bellamy with
LARGE IT; Pat Mohan in CITY OFFSHORE with John Miller navigating and mechanical
back-up from Pete Little "I think they were serious". Alan Layton and Chris O'Dowd in
SPIRIT OF GREAT BRITAIN, with team manager Taff Arthur, and the two boat Vulture
Ventures teams consisting Simon and SuzyWood Power in VULGAR WLTURE and Mark
Pascoe with Martin Cu.ry in an as yet unseen VOODOO VULTURE. Peter Wilson - who was
representing Guemsey with his Argo CONDOR FERRIES SEVEN - had two secret weapons!
The first was Guernsev Yamaha dealer Barrv Clavton - the second was local navisator Leon
Heroldt!
Sunday saw boats on the water testing, the most notable being the brand new Vulture Ventures
V23 monohull. Unfortunately, whilst in the hands of Messers Pascoe and Wood Power, and
negotiating awkward seas, the boat capsized - ejecting both crew and floating upside-down - as
flat on the water as Mr. Bumett's bigger boat at Torquay earlier in the year. Red faces were
also the order of the day when, after putting 869 on a trailer and being towed over uneven
surfaces, the engine's skeg touched the ground. Once the battery condition and security of its
connections had been eliminated as possible causes, the engine covers were removed. The
space where the power head lives was emptlt! OOOOPS! Happily, all was fixed by race day.
Monday: The only duty that had to be performed was to attend the Safety Briefing at the Club
at about 6 p.m.ish. Among ths srrggestions which were approved was that safety boats should
not carry alcohol on board nor should the crew drink for an hour after racing had finished.
This went along with the order that - for intemational races - the local competitors also may
not drink whilst racing!?!
Tuesday moming: James Cox, Nick Boffee and myself were taken to look at the course by
Tony and the Safety Officer Ralph Rijo. Part of the intended course was flat; in another
section there were long swells, about 1.5 to 2m high andthe remainder consisted of a 0.5 to lm
angry chop, driven by the on-average 40 knot wind - which was kept out of the city by a rather
large mountain!
That evening, invitations in hand, we all attended the welcome reception. After greeting all
competitors and guests, the South African Power Boat Association took the opportunity to
proudly present the first-time intemational participants with their national colours.

9
Wednesday: t}re event officially began. And the first problem encountered by one of our
British crews was the insistance by one of the scrutineers that a galvanised metal bucket should
be carried as part of the safety equipment?!?. Apparently, local fishermen - in the event of a
breakdown - syphon a small quantity of fuel from the tank into said receptacle, add a rag or
two and set light to it. A useful beacon!!!???
10.00. Drivers' Briefing was in the Porhret Tower. All compaitors were present except the
local crew of 88 PERNOD, who were busy preparing their boat for the parade and looked up
to find themsleves all alone. For non-attendance at briefing, they were disqualified from taking
part in the first heat by the OOD. They later appealed the decision, but were unsuccessful.
The boat parade went very well, achieving its objective of bringing the town centre to a
complete stand-still for a while. The organisers were very proud of that!
Later in the evening, all were invited to the Cape Town Civic Centre for another reception with
lots of good food and a chance to get to know our hosts. Oh, and free beer!
Thursday: After the 10.00. briefing, boats were taken from the pits which were in the dock
area and towed about a mile to the Oceana Club for launching. As space was tight, a marshal
was employed to keep order - a rather large hairy gentleman with a microphone, a megaphone,
a 3 swear word vocabulary and a meaningful marl, which seemed to do the trick!
Entries were: 9 South Africa - 5 Great Britain - 2 Norway - I Guemsey.
14.00. Heat l:
For the races, James Cox went onto the VIP spectator boat to assist in explaining 'powerboat
racing' to the sponsors, and Nick and I were given the use of Tony Fraquet's RHIB, stationed
on the Start/Finish line. The flag was dropped about two miles out in the bayto allow the
boats to sort themselves out before a tight 90 degree turn and the actual start, just in front of
the Portnet Tower. First through was CITY OFFSHORE, the field gun was fired (now that
was a surprise) and I nearly fell out of the boat! LARGE IT was second, TEAM TOTAL
(South Africa) 3rd and fourth was SPIRIT OF G.B. followed closely by the rest of the flea.
DULLDq one of two Norwegian teams in a borrowed Phantom l6s, broke down after I lap.
On the 3rd lap, the new VTILTURE rolled on a tum, thankfully quite slowly and both crew
were unhurt. By now, LARGE IT was suffering from fuel problems and visibly slowing. Four
laps was enough for Peter Wilson who pulled CONDOR FERRIES out - the bumpy bits were
just too bumpy! Of 18 starters, only 9 made it to the finish. Pat Mohan and John Miller in,
CITY OFFSHORE (usually UP TFIE BAKDRAFT in tJK) were convincing wirurers; TEAM
TorAL came second and GorcHA (s.A.) 3rd. ofthe rest ofthe Brits, vooDoo
VULTURE came 5th, SPIRIT OF G.B. 7th and LARGE IT had sropped several times but
made it to the line ninth, in spite of the attempts to remove the course before they had finished.
The prizegiving was held at "A" berth. Karaoke was the theme of the party which carried on
all evening. Performances of note were Mark Pascoe and friends with "UPSIDE DOWN you
tum me..." (Ihe MC said he'd never been asked for that one before!), Ian Cutler's strained Joe
Cocker and Miranda Cutler and friend who could both sizg.
Friday was spent getting over Thursday!
Sitting on a beach watching
racing small inflatable cats through
the surf. Who said cats were flat
water animals! Later we found a
bar and Friday took on a life of its
own. Bad move!

tc
Saturday 14.00 Heat2
First across the line this time was LARGE IT and second CITY OFFSHORE. Soon the gap
between these two was reduced to absolutely nothing. Going into a tum and seeing half an
opportunity to get past, Pat tried to take the lead. The Bakdraft hooked and rolled [Is this the
first time over for a batboat?l and this left LARGE IT clear water.
CONDOR FERRIES had retired before the start, Pete Wilson not happy with his tired engine.
Alan Layton was again performing well up the fleet and the two WLTURES were going well
in the middle.....until the top engine mounts let go on the VULGAR one. Once the tow line was
sorted, both Wood Powers turned their attention to securing the loose engine. Unfortunately,
the tow was taken up at 90 degrees and, as the boat whipped around, Suzy fell over the
transom into the water. Not wanting to lose his wife, Simon held tightly onto her foot,
dragging her backwards through the sea until he could attract the attention of the recovery
boat's captain!
The winner of this heat - after a faultless performance - was LARGE IT. Ian and Lawrence
were followed home by TEAM TOTAL, therefore effectively leaving the championship a
3-horse race, with TEAM TOTAL on 600 points, LARGE IT on 440 and CITY OFFSHORE
on 400. Others could still do it on paper, but these three were the main contenders.
The prizegiving was followed by a huge buffet, a live band and......lots more beer!
Sunday: This beach was hard to resist.....so we didn't. "More factor 9, Mr. Scott"
'-
Monday - Heat 3:
Today Peter Wilson got his own back on Barry! After spending all week explaining that the
engine had had its day, and that he @arry) was doing all that he possibly could with it - just
two and a half hours before the start of the final heat - Peter bought a brand new engine! He
handed it to his gob-smacked mechanic to fit, sat himself in his car and calmly started to read
his newspaper!!!
A few of the South African teams had - for reasons only known to themselves - swapped
engines with each other for this heat. The winner amongst all of this was Grant Harrison in
JAMESON WHISKY, he who had started the week setting the boat up claimed fourth in this
final heat.

Race Start 14.00.
Today the conditions were a lot flatter so the racing was faster.
And VOODOO WLTURE rolled again on the first tum, the crew quickly removed from the
water and the boat moved out of harm's way. During the course of this race, the lead changed
sixtimes - between CITY OFFSHORE, TEAM TOTAL and LARGE IT - andthis was the
order in which they finished. CONDOR FERRIES' new engine was too new but still allowed
them a fifth. SPIRIT OF G.B. finished 7th.
With three 2nd places giving 900 points, Dean Grimmbacher and Mark Freeborough in TEAM
TOTAL of South Africa becamethe 1.3 litre WORLD CHAMPIONS. With 800 points total
from onlytwo finishes, Pat Mohan and John Miller were second and Ian Cutler and Lawrence
Bellamy's 740 points gave them 3rd overall.
The prizegiving was shared with the inflatable racers, whose racing was also for a world
championship. Then the top 1.3 teams received their prizes, which included a large cheque
each. Afterwards, the celebrating went on until the early moming....and then it was all over.
[Annie pressed Martin for details ofthe 'celebrations' - but he declined - his memory for daails
appears to have been swamped!]
Our holiday still had 2 days to run, so there was time for a little sight-seeing. Sadly, we had to
hire a car for this as Leon - PAe Wilson's local navigator and our chauffeur - had managed to
get our loan car stolen! This took a whole dayto sort out as even the owner could not
remember the registration number! !
The last word must be......NEWR. NEWRfly Air Eg1pt. Not only can their planes not pass
an airport without dropping in, but they all go to CAIRO!!!!
Ihere is a new dryslorage tacilityauailaile
t0 p0wcft0at 0me1$ in Gowes-
Seueral lnou$and lecl 0l hatd standing on
the wc$l side ol the ileilina, lull security
and 20 lon Glanagc - l$ details 0t uery
low charge$, Gonlact fony llamilton ol
[ilillrolt ilmtilt