Engine trouble foils record bid

Press, 24 September 1980, Page 40

Engine trouble foils record bid

By

LES BLOXHAM

Fuel starvation a mere 30m from the finish foiled a bid to establish a new speed record for jet boating in New Zealand on the Brooklands Lagoon, near Christchurch yesterday. Bob Bradley, of Las Vegas, had completed one length of the measured kilometre and was making his return run .when the turbocharged Chrysler 426 Hemi VS engine, in his sleek American-built jet, backfired and died about 30m from the line.

Bradley diagnosed the problem as fuel starvation, but later found a .cracked exhaust manifold and blown hoses on the turbo-charger. The boat was travelling fast enough to carry it past the checkpoint, but the total loss of power cost Bradley precious seconds, and he clocked a time of only 117.073 km/h (72.7 m.p.h.). Bradley had hoped to exceed 134km/h (53.74 m.p.h.), the record set in 1977 by John Heslop, of Southbridge, who won the world jet-boat-ing championship in Mexico

last year. Conditions at Brooklands

yesterday were far from ideal for a high-speed run. A strong north-westerly wind had cut up the surface to such a degree that, at one stage, Bradley was unde, cided whether he should proceed with his attempt on tlie record.

However, after a trial run through the course, he planted his foot, and lOOOb.h.p, whipped his boat across the lagoon, leaving in its wake a; spectacular rooster’s tail of spray — until his engine failed.

John Heslop was also all the lagoon yesterday, to see if he could better his record in his new boat, P. and N.» which he raced in the Citizen Watch world championship marathon last week. His time for the measured kilometre was faster than Bradley’s, at 124.567 km/h (77.4 m.p.h.), but he was more than 10 km/h behind his 1977 record.

Bradley, disillusioned by an incredible run of bad luck with his boat in New Zealand (only 15 minutes of competitive racing in the 1000 km marathon), will ship it back to the United States today.