Speedboat supremacy at stake

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32554, 13 March 1971, Page 14

Speedboat supremacy at stake

THE New Zealand speedboat' team which will attempt to recapture the Griffiths Cup from Australia on Lake Eppalock, near Bendigo, on April 11, will consist of Voodoo IV (W. L. Stokes), of Christchurch, and Air New Zealand (J. and K. McGregor), of Auckland. The two big hydroplanes, both capable of speeds of more than 120 m.p.h., were chosen by the New Zealand Power Boat Association, after the national hydroplane championships on Lake Karapiro and fee Masport Cup on the. Otago Harbour. Stokes, of the New Brighton Power Boat Club, won the New Zealand unlimited hydroplane title on Karapiro after a thrilling duel with Air New Zealand. The lead changed several times before Air New Zealand broke down. Stokes went on to complete a great double by winning the Masport Cup

with the greatest of ease. Stokes this season has been racing with a brand new Chevrolet 350cu.in motor, and has not broken down in any race. A foreman mechanic, Stokes has been speedboat driving for 15 years, Voodoo IV, a 17ft 6in hydroplane built of plywood, is eight years old. The engine is a high-performance racing model, fee one that powers the Corvette sports car. Air New Zealand is a new 19ft ply hydro hull, designed and built by F. MacLeod, of Auckland, a most successful boat builder, and driver in the smaller class hydros. J. and K. McGregor are engineers and have raced with considerable success. Air New Zealand is powered with the same model engine as Voodoo IV. The Griffiths Cup race will be over about 25 miles, with laps of either one and two-third miles or

two nautical miles. The New Zealand boats will need all the speed they have because the top Australian hydros are capable of doing 140 m.p.h. on the straights. New Zealand last won the Griffiths Cup in 1961, when Redhead (L. Southward, Wellington) won it in Australia. But in 1962, E. Nunn, the Sydney driver, came to New Zealand and won the cup back in Wasp Too. New Zealand has not challenged for the cup since. Nunn is still racing and has two hydros, one powered by a V/12 Maserati and the other by a V/12 Ferrari. S. Jones has the top Australian boat at the moment, Stampede, powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engine. Thirty-six New Zealand supporters, including Stokes’s wife, Marion, are flying to Australia and all are hoping, that New Zealand will win the cup again.