THE COWES TORQUAY COWES HISTORY
 
It all began in 1959/1960 whilst Max Aitken, soon to become Sir Max, proprietor of the Daily Express, witnessed and participated in the Miami Nassau Powerboat Race. Together with John Coote they formulated rules for a similar event to take place on England’s south coast the following year 1961. It would be for craft of the specification laid down in the rules, basically built around the cabin cruisers of the day in order to develop the designs into safe seagoing vessels. It was to start at Cowes and finish in Torquay, where the Aitken family had homes and would be sponsored by the Daily Express.
 
The first International Daily Express Offshore Powerboat Race was scheduled to start on August the 19th and would be the first race in modern day Europe since the 1930’s. Of the 62 original entries, 27 came to the line off the Royal Yacht Squadron at 10am that morning and off they headed off into the unknown and into some severe conditions, a fleet composed of mostly inexperienced crews, amateur’s and gentleman sportsmen in some highly unsuitable craft!
 

 
Seven hours and seventeen minutes on the first boat crossed the line at Torquay and so was born one of the most famous offshore races of all time, the one they all wanted to win, The Cowes-Torquay and with it the Beaverbrook Trophy (above left).The winner of the first race was Tommy Sopwith, ex Jaguar sports car racer and son of the aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith. His boat Thunderbolt was a strengthened version of a Ray Hunt designed Bruce Campbell Christina 25, powered by 2 Cadillac Crusaders totalling 650 hp, the course was covered at a speed of 21.4 knots which prompted the comment from Sir Thomas that he was doing twice the speed in the Thirties when he was racing in the Gold Cup! Tommy responded that they were not in force 5 conditions and miles out to sea!
 
By 1962 with the race in only its second year, it was attracting major entries, from the USA and Italy and names soon to become legends in the marine world were building their reputations in the Cowes Torquay…Jim Wynn, Sonny Levi. Dick Bertram. Don Shead Tommy Sopwith .Charles Curry and Peter Twiss the air speed record holder and test pilot. The list of entrants grew each year along with the stature of the race. Although problems loomed soon after the 62 race when Dick Wilkins entry, the mighty Vosper built Tramontana with twin Italian CRM’s totalling 2000+hp stormed ahead to win and make a mockery of the rules. The result being, the application of a 1000hp limit and capacity regulations for petrol and diesel engines, which were put in place for the ‘63 race.
 

 
In 1963 a new Tramontana appeared with four Jaguar E type engines producing in total 1000hp but also entered was one Sonny Levi in A’Speranziella his 61/62 entry but totally remodelled, strengthened and powered by twin Ford Interceptors totalling 800hp…lessons were being learned about a boats behaviour in offshore conditions and these were being put into practice by the now established offshore designers. It was third time lucky for Levi! Also in the fleet that year were two brothers Charles and Jimmy Gardner in a Bertram 25' called Scorpion. In 1964 and driving an identical boat to Dick Bertram’s Lucky Moppie they stormed the finish at Torquay minutes behind Bertram but their mount Surfrider won as the American had shot past on the wrong side of the marker and had to retrace his route and pass the right side! The score so far was England three, rest of the world one.
 
By 1965 it was not only the Cowes race that attracted major entries, The Wills Trophy, the Round the Island, Southern Speed Trophy and races for the up and coming Class 3 racers had large entries but it was still Cowes that drew the best the world had to offer and the spectators in their thousands along the coast to watch the “BIG ONE”.
 
It was 1965 that saw Dick Bertram conquer this race, he had been in there at the start, first with Glass Moppie then Blue Moppie , Lucky Moppie in the 64 fiasco, this year it was Brave Moppie 38ft long and powered by 2 Cummings Detroit Diesels, the first win by a diesel engined craft. .The race was a battle royal between Bertram and again the Gardner Bros in their new Levi Designed Surfury, destined to become one of the most famous powerboats of all time but it was Bertram who beat the others this year, Merrick Lewis was second in Thunderbird a FORMULA boat designed by Don Aronow (remember that name) and Surfury 3rd after suffering engine problems.
 
1966 saw the Yanks beat us again but with a British built boat, those master builders at Cowes the Souter family had built Ghost Rider for American sportsman Hugh Doyle and it was designed and driven by none other than Jim Wynn who also cut his teeth in 1961 with YOYO and had entered every race since. Driving the race of his life, with Bob Sherbert braced into the corner of the cockpit with broken ankles after landing badly off a rogue wave, he urged Wynn to carry on. Neither of them knew that Surfury had retired with a smashed engine mounting and Flying Fish had sunk off Portland Bill such were the conditions in what turned out to be one of the roughest races so far in its history….The second boat home was Spirit Of Ecstasy entered and driven by Steve Macey who had also entered every year since 1961.
 
Come 1967 and subsequent rule changes had allowed the American open style racers into the fray Class OP1 and 2 joined the cruisers but they would not compete for the famous Beaverbrook Trophy only points towards the world championship but who won?, none other than Surfury now in her Third year of racing , a famous victory for all concerned and the second time the Gardeners had won the race. Surfury was regarded as the most advanced design of the time with her Levi Delta hull and twin Daytona’s driving near 1000hp thro’ a single shaft, she was the epitome of the state of play in a rapidly changing offshore racing world. Levi’s design’s had changed current thinking but lurking in the wings was Don Shead who had owned and raced Levi designs i.e. Trident and Delta 28, he was currently designing class 3 boats and success was coming with his Avenger designs, 1968 was to be the start of his climb up the ladder…..
 
The ‘68 race saw another rough ride but this time the Cowes Torquay had another sting in the tail, it did not finish at Torquay, the fleet had to return home to Cowes a total of 230 miles! Flashing into the lead was Surfury again racing against Italian Vincenzo Balestrieri in White Tornado, a Don Aronow designed and built Cary but as they headed out into Lyme bay a small 25ft Don Shead designed and Souter built craft driven by Tommy Sopwith (the 1961 winner) took Telstar the smoother inshore route to Torquay. Unseen by the Gardner's and Balestrieri he avoided the boat breaking direct route, that was to condemn White Tornado to a watery grave and give Surfury one of her roughest rides. Sopwith won the race for the second time, no mean feat in those conditions for a single engined boat and one hell of a shock for the Gardner's when they arrived at Cowes thinking they had won!
 
The CTC as the race was now known was reaching its zenith and 1969 saw the American dominance surge to the fore again bringing with it the mighty Cigarette and Don Aronow, already World Champion and building some of the most successful boats on the offshore scene he stormed to victory in record time, 3hrs 33 minutes at a speed of 66mph…Also racing that day were several new designs, one from Don Shead , Miss Enfield, an aluminium hull with 2 V8 Mercruiser Inboard Outboards. Miss Enfield was the start of a revolution in hull building that was to dominate the 70’s and although unsuccessful in this race The ENFIELD concern of John Goulandris built some of the fastest mono hulls that competed in the 70’s.
 

 
The start of the new decade saw the boats still racing to the original rules with some minor and major tweaks along the way but this would change as rapidly in the years to come, as had the racing in the past 10 years, the emergence of Don Shead as the No1 designer and with him the Italian dominance, even higher speeds and the birth of the CAT.
 
The Cowes Torquay race since its inception in 1961 grew in stature and fame with each staging of the event, the previous decade saw entries from the USA , Italy, Scandinavia and as far as South Africa, usually it was 1 or 2 boats from each, with Britain providing the rest of the entries. From 1971 onwards the entry list, after the heady Sixties with its 60 plus fleets, stabilised to an average of 40 entrants till the mid decade when there was a dramatic plunge to an average 20/25 entries but they were all top notch craft!
 
The reasons for this reversal were several. the first being the loss of the original sponsor who then returned in partnership with WD and HO Wills, the fuel crisis that dogged all motor sport, the influx of sponsored boats by major companies and the boats themselves, which were becoming the FI of the seas.
 
Expensive to build, expensive to run and expensive to transport to World Championship venues which could be as far a field as South America!. The engines were now becoming highly tuned designs not for your every day cruiser, the hulls were either glass reinforced (with the new wonder fibre, Kevlar) or the new wonder material, Marine grade aluminium, light and strong producing some extremely fast craft, plus the transport rigs themselves costing upwards of £50,000.
 
1971 started the decade well, 2 American world championship contenders, Peter Hanks and Bill Wishnick, 1 boat from Italy 1 Danish and 1 from the Ivory Coast. New craft included Enfield Avenger for Tommy Sopwith and Edward Greenhall’s Gee both from the board of Don Shead, plus a sprinkling of ex American racers bought by English drivers, renamed and hoping to make their mark, also 4 catamarans appeared from the Cougar Yard. As if to reflect the 1961 race ten years earlier the ‘71 was weather wise horrendous, of the 41 starters only 10 boats finished. Enfield Avenger and Sopwith led the last 11 minutes of the race and what looked another victory in the bag was blown when a con rod let go. The victor was Ronnie Bonnelli in Lady Nara a 36ft Cigarette with none other than Attillo Petroni on board who raced with Sonny Levi in 61.They finished the race with Mr Bonnelli semi-comatose after being knocked out 40 miles from home in the rough conditions. The winners speed was 38mph way off previous years record speeds .The non finishers included top names Sopwith, Wishnick, Cassir in the ex Sopwith boat Miss Enfield 2 and even the veteran Spirit of Ecstacy. The new decade was shaping up like the first. so we thought.
 
1972 The “Embassy” years and the Italian onslaught began, 6 entries with their all conquering Don Aronow designed “Cigarettes” were headed by one Carlo Bonomi a Milan banker soon to become the most dominant racer of this and the next decade. Other entries included USA’s Bobby Rautbord with his Cigarette FINO plus entries again from Sweden and 1 from Argentina! Bonomi’s Cigarette Aeromarine1X sported the latest engines from who else but Aeromarine, making the world debut! rated at 1200hp the most powerful boat, the organisers called foul and deemed them illegal.
Bonomi protested, relented and detuned the engines! He was up against some stiff opposition Don Shead and Harry Hyams in UNOWOT, Tommy Sopwiths old Enfield Avenger, YELLOWDRAMA the ex Miss Enfield 2, Lady Nara was back for more punishment ,Balestrieri had Black Tornado 2 , one of Don Aronow’s ex The Cigarette boats of which there were 3) The weather was moderate to good, hence the winners speed 55mph and the winner was Bonomi even though he spent 20 minutes for repairs in Poole Bay, how? He did a Sopwith and took the inshore route beating Balestrieri by 5 minutes! Cigarette boats filled 6 of the top 7 places.
 

 
The Italians were back in 73, 4 of their top drivers including Bonomi again but no Americans! Was there a change in the air? Unowot appeared again with the same team but there were very few new British boats though many boats had changed hands and been renamed one of which was the veteran Miss Enfield 2 now driven by John Davy and called BLITZ. The most unusual entry was Tommy Sopwith in Miss Embassy a 40footer powered by Gnome Gas Turbine rated at 1000hp.
The race was slightly longer but conditions allowed a cracking pace and a battle between the 2 countries best. 2 minutes split UNOWOT which won at 62mph from Georgio Mondadori’s Nicopao X. Third boat home 1hr and 35 minutes later! was HTS the Monte Carlo Marathon winner with half the leaders power, the other hot shots including Bonomi in his renamed Dry Martini failed, he stopped in sight of the finish with broken steering going round in circles against a 1 knot tide! And the fourth boat home was Telstar a real veteran but was disqualified for missing a mark. The winner of the Beaverbrook Trophy was Steve Macey in Spirit of Ecstacy after 12 years of persistence.
 

 
In 1974 with the entry list at 31 craft and the split between the Open boats and the cruisers 50/50 and no Americans again! Britain looked to the Embassy team of Sopwith in Miss Embassy and Tim Powell/Ronnie Hoare in a new boat, a 40ft Planatec, UNO EMBASSY but the Martini boat of Bonomi was back for revenge!
Bobby Buchannan-Michaelson’s ABO a Shead Planatec 40 footer also looked promising but failed after 18 miles. UNO EMBASSY gave up the ghost at Anvil Point. Carlo Bonomi made no mistakes this year and romped home at 67mph, the only other Italian ERAF came to a halt of Hurst and was overtaken by the Cougar Cat of Keith Dallas finishing second with Sopwith and Miss Embassy coming good in third place.
 
1975 and Bonomi was back again as was Eraf and a new Levi boat ARCIDIAVLO 2 an unusual 3 pointer! Wally Franz from Brazil was hunting world championship points with PANGARE GRINGO and there were 3 Swedish entries also. The 31 (again) entries were still split 50/50 OP’s and Cruisers and the race length was reduced by 27 miles in view of the fuel situation. That did not stop the breakneck speeds put up by UNO EMBASSY (above) with the team using the old Ali boat as the new Planatec failed to reach expectations and PANGARE GRINGO. After leading for 70% of the distance Pangare suddenly stopped at Yarmouth with loss of power, Shead flew across the line to record a record 72.9 mph for the 199 mile course, Pangare got going and came in second at 72.8mph, work that one out…with Bonomi 3rd at 71.2mph. I Like it, the old HTS won C2. Of the new Levi design unfortunately she retired, a shame because someone was actually trying out a new idea but it seems Mono’s ruled the waves.
 

 
In 1976 the entry list was still holding at 31 and the yanks were back, this time it was Tom Gentry in AMERICAN EAGLE….3 Swedes, an Australian and ARCIDIAVOLO back for a second attempt after some design changes. British hopes rested on Uno Embassy (the Ali boat) again but were bolstered by new kid on the block Mike Doxford in a Cigarette, Limit Up and Ken Cassir in his Cigarette YELLOWDRAMA 2.
 

 
The three main boats contesting for the lead were UNO, EAGLE and LIMIT with hot on their heels the ex Embassy Team boat the plastic UNO EMBASSY now renamed Thunderbird driven by Richard Benge who also ran Sopwiths old Telstar in previous years. Blitz the ex Sopwith, Cassir and Davy boat was now owned by Alf Bontoft but he lost control of her off Egypt point, bucking wildly, Blitz hit the beach and Mr Bontoft became the first fatality of the race in its 17 year history when he was ejected from the craft, striking his head on the hull in the process.
 

 
The three main boats contesting for the lead were UNO, EAGLE and LIMIT with hot on their heels the ex Embassy Team boat the plastic UNO EMBASSY now renamed Thunderbird driven by Richard Benge who also ran Sopwiths old Telstar in previous years. Blitz the ex Sopwith, Cassir and Davy boat was now owned by Alf Bontoft but he lost control of her off Egypt point, bucking wildly, Blitz hit the beach and Mr Bontoft became the first fatality of the race in its 17 year history when he was ejected from the craft, striking his head on the hull in the process.
In the race Tom Gentry led UNO EMBASSY but the Shead boat blew a stern drive in Lyme Bay, Gentry eased back and in the poor visibility and was passed by Charles Gill in I Like It Too who went on to take a fine win for Britain! Cassir in YELLOWDRAMA II was second, American Eagle finished third. Amazingly after being abandoned by the Embassy Team, the renamed Thunderbird, scooped 5th.
Some 1977 even with a fine English summer the CTC was in freefall with a fleet of just 19 starters, The table toppers were the best from the USA, ITALY AND GB, the only other foreigner was Stephan Linde from Sweden. The talk of the day was the new boat from COUGAR …Ken Cassir’s James Beard designed YELLOWDRAMA III, painted in bright yellow and with 2 rebuilt 4 year old Aeromarine inboard outboards in each Sponson, the first English OP1 Catamaran!
 

 
Italy had the ALITALIA team of Guido Niccolai UNO and DUE the Shead designed Picchiotti built Aluminium Mono’s ,a development of the old Enfield designs. Mike Doxford had 2 Limit Up’s both Cigarettes one 36 one 40 and Joel Halpern brought BEEP BEEP from the States even though there were no world championship points. Don Shead was also back with the old faithful ,UNOWOT……The American made it to Yarmouth and retired.
ALITALIA Uno spun backwards at 80mph off Brixham and retired , three hours later at speeds approaching 85 mph three boats thundered back up the Solent and leading the pack to the delight of the thousands of spectators was YELLOWDRAMA! She crossed the line at 3hrs.02mins 50secs, ALITALIA DUE swept in at 3hrs 3 minutes and the 36ft LIMIT UP at 3hrs 4 minutes.
The records tumbled ,75mph the winners average, the first win by a Cat and the fastest race so far……History had been made and it was by a British built and designed boat , offshore racing had been shaken and stirred but was it a fluke?
 

 
Maybe the previous years win by a catamaran had stimulated it but in 1978 the Americans were back in force, 4 of their top drivers entered their state of the art Cigarette’s and Joel Halpern was back with his Cobra BEEP BEEP. Billy Martin brought BOUNTY HUNTER, Bill Elswick had THUNDER ( top hp too at 1300hp) and a certain Betty Cook had her Cigarette KAAMA, named after an African Gazelle. The ALITALIA team were back with different drivers and Guido Niccolai had DRY MARTINI 2 another Shead Picchiotti Ali boat. Ken Cassir was back with the Cat. The fleet was back up to 26 but the cruisers were down to 5 entries , they were not true cruisers but built to the rules!
OP1 and 2 dominated racing now. The course was back to 200 miles and one by one the big American names dropped out all due to the high speed and with mechanical problems save one, in her first attempt Betty Cook took on the CTC men and won.
Bingo the speed went higher still, 77.4 mph trailing behind her the ALITALIA team UNO was 2ND and DUE was 3rd Willi Meyers brought in Mike Doxford’s LIMIT UP in 4th.Yellowdrama engines failed at Portland along with BOUNTY HUNTER and LIMIT UP 2, THUNDER’S at Bournemouth, MARTINI’S at Yarmouth and BEEP BEEP reached Torquay before they also expired. Notable finishers included Apache ex HTS and British Buzzard the now veteran Miss Enfield 2 that was. So for the second year running the CTC made the news Worldwide but was it going to raise its profile again?
 

 
Sadly though 1979 saw a dip back to 19 starters, 3 Italians ALITALIA Due the Cigarette boat, Dry Martini 2 the Picchiotti and a C&B boat called HAIKALA designed by one Fabio Buzzi. The only American to race was Michael Meynard who had Billy Martins BOUNTY HUNTER. The British fleet included Mike Doxford’s LIMIT UP team with Willi Meyers driving again, ROMANS SABRE the large diesel cat, UNO-MINT the ex Shead /Hyams /Hoare UNOWOT plus old timers APACHE and BRITISH BUZZARD and Ted Toleman in the dark horse Cougar TOLEMAN GROUP .The race distance was back down to 175 miles and the conditions light. In the race the first casualty was ALITALIA DUE which split a manifold as the gun fired BOUNTY HUNTER got as far as Yarmouth and Toleman was also out early.
Guido Niccolai in Dry Martini was having problems and succeeded in bouncing of a large yacht but carried on. Only 11 boats finished and it was Niccolai’s turn to break his duck, finishing first at a speed of 63mph pursued by Limit Up 2 Uno-Mint still in fine form and Doxford in the other Limit, Apache and Buzzard also made the grade again and the giant ROMANS took OP2 honours.
 
1980 and the end of the decade was a very lean year though there were some first class entries in the field of 18, Bill Elswick was back for America with Satisfaction, a Scarab with 1200 hp, Ted Toleman had new Bertram special, Guido Niccolai was back with Dry Martini and the Italian Alberto Smania with CIGA HOTELS. Mr Smania was to have a major impact in offshore, in the next ten years and break more than a few records on the way .This years new boy was Colin Gervaise-Brazier in GOLDRUSH, a cat built by Souters to a Don Shead design. The Limit team were back for more and that veteran of name changes Miss Enfield 2 was now known as SEA WOLF although now with 600 hp and not her original 1000 hp. Mr Elswick was out to make up for past years and Satisfaction took the race at 79.9mph. Ted Toleman finished 2nd and Mr Smania posted 3rd . The OP2 cat GOLDRUSH finished 5th despite shipping almost a ton of water through a leaking sponson. Only 8 craft finished. In view of the falling entries many viewed the CTC to be in its death throws but the organisers were far from finished.
 
Although fields were small in the next decade the speed and class entries more than compensated despite a few glitches. We shall see the revival of the diesel in the direct descendant of the CRM’S that powered TRAMONTANA in 1962 and the ear splitting roar of the mighty Lamborghini V12’s. Again it would be Italians to the fore but in Brit designed boats, Mr Shead still designing the best. The CAT would also make its mark again but there would also be more tragedy.
Before we start the history of this decade it must be noted the Cowes Torquay was undergoing drastic changes to suit A, the speeds now encountered. B. the changing face of the sport. C. the diminishing fields as costs spiralled and D. the fading away of the class that represented Max Aitken’s original purpose of the race, to promote safety at sea for all, in cabin cruisers and seagoing craft of a certain type….the pleasure boat!
 
The 80’s saw many changes, which resulted in a split between the American and European race organisers. There would also be high profile accidents resulting in death’s, which would damage the sport, this would result in stricter regulations that drove out the privateers.
 
On the technical side many advances were made but the Catamaran would only dominate in America due to the European seas! The Italians concentrated on their mono hulls and the cat was not successful on the European circuit until the middle of the decade when it began its resurgence. On the engine front the once mighty Mercruisers dominance was toppled by Lamborghini and the mighty Isotta Fraschini diesels a relative of the CRM Petrol engines that powered Tramontana in 1962 and steerable surface drives.
 
1981….and the Cowes Torquay was still drawing the best names to the Bank Holiday Spectacular ! and the crowds. It was also the year that the Italians started their dominance of the race. The current sponsor was now Toyota and the 214 mile race was again subjected to the unpredictable weather, it seemed that any year ending in 1 had the monopoly on ROUGH! And ’81 was no exception. Ted Toleman was the British flag flyer and American Paul Clauser was chasing points to secure the Harmsworth Trophy but it was also a low pointing the race history only 12 entries including OP2. The entry included Goldrush, Mike Doxford and Tim Powell in Peter Stuyvesant 1, Romans Sabre and Robin Cook’s Aquaglide. Within an hour of the start the forecast good weather turned sour and knocked out half the fleet, Toleman within 10 mins and favourite Della Valle in Ego lost a drive shaft. The surprise winner was Italian Alberto Smania in Rombo a 38ft CUV at a speed of 47mph.Smania would go on to win the European and Italian championships and Renato Della Valle would dominate the Cowes races over the next 4 years.
 

 
1982 The year started badly when the sport lost Cougar founder and designer James Beard to Leukaemia, the catamaran design which he had championed with veteran Clive Curtis would dominate racing in the States but never attained the same level in Europe due to our “rough sea’s”. The Italian’s still preferred the deep V and so it was for the Cowes Classic which would not run to Torquay this year but sponsored by PETER STUYVESANT, be based in the Solent and surrounding waters of the I.O.W., a course distance of 205.9nm and yet again the weather played its part!. Ted Toleman was again our leading contender in the 38ft Bertram named after the race sponsor with Clive Curtis in the 38 cat PS2, there were 5 Italian teams including Della Valle in his 38 CUV Rothmans and Smania in the similar Marlboro plus Al Copland from the US in the Scarab “Popeye's”. Again it was a poor fleet in terms of entries 14 in total OP1 and 2. The race was a brutal test of seamanship with boats sinking, catching fire and retiring with broken engines, six foot waves at Christchurch ledge added to the drama which in the end had Della Valle in Rothmans beating Toleman by sec’s at a speed of 65 mph taking the Sam Griffith trophy to boot!
 
1983 and thank goodness it was back to Torquay with the Italians dominating the entries yet again, another low entry though with 10 OP1 and 2 OP2. Della Valle was back with Rothmans Ego, Smania with Marlboro and Buzzi’s Red Iveco driven by Maurizio Ambrogetti. Only 2 OP1 boats finished the 192 mile course Della Valle in Rothmans Ego/Ego Nooxy (2 names given for same boat) followed by Smania who took the European title. The only crumb of comfort for Britain was the redoubtable Lady Aiken and the Countess of Arran winning the cruiser class!
 

 
1984 The year of the second Round Britain Race in which a certain Mr Buzzi registered his future intent on the offshore world with not only his designs but also his engines……The Cowes Classic was still sponsored by Peter Stuyvesant and the 192 mile course cut out Torquay. Entrants from the Round Britain made up some of the fleet of 16 OP1 and 2 and a revival of the cruiser class ran their own course. Among the big names were Bill Bonners Supercat and Gervaise-Braziers Jaguar the Legend and of course that man again Della Valle in Cinzano .Yes he won the race again, equalled Tommy Sopwith’s 3 wins but in consecutive years! His speed 76 mph and just for a change it was the smoothest water known for the race.
 
The Cowes Torquay was back with a vengeance though with a new format out to Torquay a 1hr stopover with refuelling. then back to Cowes.
The regeneration sparked an upsurge in entries all quality and still Italian dominated but the Brits had some good boats if not the luck! A total of 19 OP1 and 2 plus 7 Cruiser class filled the entry list, top Brit was Ray McEnhill in Outsider a giant mono from Stain with 2250 hp from 3 Isotta Fraschini diesels, Ken Cassir was back in Ideal Standard a leased 38ft CUV……The Italians again were led by you know who, a certain Mr Renato Della Valle, with 2 720hp Lamborghinis in the CUV’s engine bay and the Spelta family came with Nooxy, the big surprise was the big Buzzi mono driven by Len Bylock from Sweden…also on the list but did it appear? was “Telstar”.
 

 
The Race was run in moderate conditions with the Giant Buzzi mono taking honours at Torquay , the first Swedish win hotly followed by Nooxy Fresh and Clean, on the turn around Della Valle swept into the lead ,the Spelta’s were left with flat batteries losing time hunting for replacements and Len Bylock’s Buzzi was sinking at the dockside. Della Valle sped back to Cowes hotly pursued by Outsider who unknown to her crew was shipping water with her speed falling with every mile, the Spelta’s meanwhile had found their required 24 volt batteries and set off in hot pursuit of Outsider and Cinzano Bianco but once again it was Renato Della Valle’s race and another record set of 4 consecutive wins! McEnhill finished 2nd and the Spelta’s 3rd.
 
Article courtesy Mike James - Photographs courtesy Graham Stevens
 
 
 
 

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