SPEED IS THE SPUR

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29798, 14 April 1962, Page 9

SPEED IS THE SPUR

QPEEDBOAT drivers are in ° several respects a race apart. They are mechanics afloat and must delight in the smell of an oily rag They should make excellent husbands because they must learn to love and understand the vagaries of wind, weather and engines tuned to the highest pitch—more unpredictable than the flightiest female.

The drivers must have salt and fresh water flowing through their veins; they must be carpenters ashore and afloat. Above all. they must oe so smitten with speed that the disease cannot be eradicated in a lifetime. it also becomes hereditary.

Apparent These characteristics become apparent to the most pedestrian of spectators during the early morning speed •rials staged by the New Brighton Power Boat Club on the Estuary. Time and tide stand still; the pale sun glitters on the shallow water; the white flag is waved at the jetty end; timekeepers tense; the gentle lap of water on the buoy boat becomes a staccato slap and all the noise is drowned by the soupd of an outboard hydroplane skimming along the measured course or the re’ erberating roar of an inboard, v-bottom boat planning and bucking along, at times entirely clear of the water. The sound of outboards is racy music to the ear of the vice-commodore of the New Brighton Power Boat Club I Mr F. C. Williams) who has been racing them for more than 30 years. "Speed is the spur in this sport. The lure of going faster fascinates families. Ray Calvert has Susie Too going better than ever and his son, Peter is sharing the driving. Ray Savage has Javelin, and Javelin Junior looks to be the boat for his son. The rear-commodore’s son Gary White, is racing Vulcan. The secretary, Eddie

Peverill, doesn't drive now but you can’t keen his ™

wmiams m'.fieri alter recent speed trials.

"Then there is J. N. Robinson, of Hokitika, still driving. He is 72 and the oldest speedboat driver in New Zealand. He has a boat called Quickie on Lake Kaniere. I can remember his coming to regattas at Akaroa about 1930 with his speedboat—Pit-a-Pat she was called and a fast craft.

"Take F. J. Andrews, another grand sport from Hokitika. He raced Merry Moments .and Happy Moments at Canterbury Outboard Club regattas. I have a trophy at home which F. J. Andrews won in 1930 with Merry Moments.

“If you get smitten with the speed bug in this sport Iwitfr Missile, breaking New] I Zealand and Australian I

records this year—32 years after his father won that trophy.”

The Canterbury Outboard Club was formed about 1926. Mr Williams recalled. The New Brighton Power Boat Club at that time did not regard outboards with much favour. Formation “But a few of us had outboards and liked to race against each other and so the outboard club came into being. In the early 1930’s there were 14 or 15 boats in the club. I remember Stan Dalling’s boat, Atalanta. She would do 54 m.p.h. with a D-class engine and the NewZealand record today is 71 » T . II 1 “The late Mr Tracy I Gough’s boat was Demon-a,

and I had a B-class boat Tally-Ho. Alan Woodman used to come all the way from Wanganui with his boats, Ajax and Bjax and there w-as Seadevil, a Wellington boat with a 60 cu. in. engine.

"The big day of our year then was our regatta at Akaroa. The then Mayor of Akaroa would give us an official welcome. I can remember him now giving the visiting boaties the freedom of the tow-n. He would call in the local constable, introduce us, and say: "Remember, these boys can do what they like; they can paint the town red,” Mr Williams recalled with a chuckle. “Local officials and police Honuiriff of what is now called ‘tourist promotion,’ ” Mr Williams added with a smile. Stepped Hull

Hydroplanes were never thought of in those days, Mr Williams added. The stepped hull was then the last word in speed. “But we proved our point —that outboards were worthy boats for speed addicts. The Canterbury Outboard Club went into recess in the middle thirties, but when we suggested about nine years ago that the New Brighton Power Boat Club have an outboard section, the club officials welcomed the idea. “Today, the outboards have equal standing with the inboards. They have won their spurs. For example, the New Zealand record for Cclass, outboard hydros, with

engine capacity limited to 30 eu. in. is 71 m.p.h. But the inboard record for boats restricted to 95 cu. in. capacity is only 79 m.p.h.— three times the engine’s capacity, but the inboard record is only 8 m.p.h. faster.”

“It is the love of speed that binds us all together, of course. Only one driver can be a record breaker at a time, but even the driver of the ‘go boat’ in the handicap races for the slowest classes, within a season or two, will be tinkering with the engine and altering the hull for more speed—or getting a faster boat,” Mr Williams said.

“Make no mistake about that. We all recognise the i v?ur give his closest rival a tip; the driver of the fastest boat in a handicap will be genuinely pleased at being beaten by the slowest boat. Speed is the spur, but we fanatics derive as much pleasure from noting that a club member with a standard-engined pleasure craft rather than speedboat has increased his speed by a few miles an hour as we do from congratulating a driver on breaking a record.

Victories ‘‘The victories are not only won against the clock and other boats but also won against the limitations and engine performances of one’s own boat.” Mr Williams should know. In the six years he has had his outboard hydro, Hustler, he has built her speed up from 45 m.p.h. to 62 m.p.h.