Goldfinger could win

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32967, 13 July 1972, Page 10

Goldfinger could win

Alex Rodgers, of Christchurch, with his boat Goldfinger powered by two new Chrysler 130 h.p. outboard motors, could win the Vacation Hotels Boat Marathon at Queenstown on Saturday. The 16ft 6in craft has been doing a genuine 70 m.p.h. top speed and has been handling well the water in all sorts of conditions on the Lyttelton Harbour in recent weeks, according to Dick Farrant. Farrant, a class winner on several occasions, will be racing Hot Cat in the marathon, a single rig craft. Given calm water, one of the several big inboards

amongst the 96 craft entered, could win the event which will be run in well under the hour in good conditions. Last year, I. Reeves, of Rotorua, won comfortably in his inboard, Roaring Rat. This year he will be racing another inboard, Pathfinder. Another inboard that can “tramp” is Outlaw, a 17ft Ryancraft hull from Christchurch, powered by a “Spinner Back” through a 454 Chev engine. John Butterfield and Peter Phillips report speeds of more than 70 m.p.h. and if the engine can hang together they should do well. Probably the fastest boat in the field will be the Wel-

lington entry Bullitt 11, a 19ft craft powered by a Chev 550 engine. The boat has a top speed of about 90 m.p.h. but to date has proved unreliable in marathon events. The relative shortness of the event should be in favour of R. Smith, the driver of Bullitt 11. The former Mr Fi-Glass, in which F. Simpson, of Christchurch, scored so many successes, will be racing for Aucklander M. Johnson under the name of Miss Comsec. The craft is very reliable and a fast craft in all conditions, with a good chop suiting it best. Twenty-two of the entries will be from Christchurch.