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    #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Serious News View Post
    Yachting Magazine / January 1966

    Cruiser competition of the early 1900s has been revived as Offshore Powerboat Racing
    By MEL CROOK

    OFFSHORE RACING has been widely touted as the most fascinating of the new cate_gories of powerboat competition. At the outset, let’s make clear that it is far from new. Marine application of the internal combustion engine in the early years of this century was soon followed by “cruiser” racing in open water and over consider_able distances. By 1916 “cruisers” and “express cruisers” accounted for more than half of the races sanc_tioned by the American Power Boat Assn. And these were no sissified events. The 100-nautical-mile race from New York to Block Island was won at a speed of 23.78 nautical m.p.h.

    Races of this type continued to play a dominant part in powerboat competition through the mid-twenties. In 1921 Gar Wood turned in four historic performances offshore in a boat named Gar Jr. II. He captured the race from Miami to Palm Beach and return at 32.8 statute m.p.h., topped the field from Miami to Key West at 37.3 m.p.h., turned in a solo run from Miami to New York at 26.6 m.p.h. and, again against time, ran from Miami to Detroit at 25.4 m.p.h.

    But the first half of the 1920s wit_nessed a burgeoning interest in han_dicap races for cruisers. This mode of competition slowly took over from boat-to-boat races in open water events and, in turn, gave way to the more equitable predicted log contest. And thus offshore racing vanished so com_pletely that its revival in 1956 was generally considered to herald the ar_rival of something “new.”

    What is offshore racing~
    Offshore racing, of the current vintage, might more accurately be termed rough water racing. The courses and the dates of events are selected to provide rugged weather and sea conditions. Total distance in_volved varies from 140 to 280 statute miles. Participation, according to current APBA rules, is limited to “high performance, seagoing pleasure boats suitable for operation offshore under normal weather conditions.” Races are run at the scheduled hour unless small craft warnings are being displayed.

    Technical restrictions vary among the several races now being run. Hulls are limited to a minimum of 18’ and a maximum of 40’ (or 50’) with little or no restriction on hull form. Some rules segregate hulls into “pro_duction” and “prototype” categories~ Engines arc classified according to piston displacement, with a general requirement (except for the Miami-Nassau Race) that they be of a type advertised and sold to the public as marine or automotive power plants. Inboard gasoline engines are limited to a total of 1,000 cu. in. of piston displacement per boat and inboard diesels, usually, to 2,000 Cu. in. Out_boards—eligible for offshore compe_tition where the race originates in the U.S.—are rated by displacement. Ac_cording to most rules, inboard en_gines may be hopped-up almost with_out limit.

    The revival—Miami•to•Nassau
    In 1956 the late Sam Griffith and Forrest Johnson, both active in the Miami area boat building industry and both veterans of closed course power_boat racing, met with international sport promoter “Red” Crise and con_cocted the idea of a powerboat race from Miami to Nassau. This contest, still tops on the annual calendar of offshore races, clicked from the very beginning. It provides the challenge of pounding 55 miles across the Gulf Stream, pin-point navigation for al_most 70 miles over the baffling Baham_ian shallows and then slugging a final 60-odd miles across the Atlantic depths into Nassau. Coupled with these natu_ral attractions was the flamboyant pro_motional skill of Crise, backed by the hospitality and publicity push of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.

    On Dec. 4 of 1956, Sam Griffith and Richard Bertram teamed up to best a field of 14 in Jim Breuil’s Doodles II. They averaged 19.92 m.p.h to finish four hours and 20 min_utes ahead of co-originator Forrest Johnson, who placed third. Since then interest has increased with a peak num_ber of 52 crossing the starting .lune in 1963. Similarly performance has been stepped up to the point that 1965 winner Don Aronow posted a new rec_ord average speed of 55.6 m.p.h.

    Around Long Island
    In mid-summer of 1959 the Around Long Island Marathon Assn. inaugu_rated its 280-mile event starting and finishing off Jones Inlet on the island’s ocean shore. Entries, then limited to those belonging to members of the recreational marine industry, were pre_dominantly outboards. In six subsequent annual runnings this marathon has become more of an inboard race, although outboard starters are still nu_merous. Now open to all corners, entry lists range in the 25 to 45 area. Speed has stepped up to the current record of 54.8 m.p.h. set in 1964 by Odell Lewis driving Mona Lou.


    Cowes to Torquay (England)
    In 1961 the “Daily Express” (Lon_don) sponsored the first of its inter_national offshore powerboat races from Cowes, down the English Channel to Torquay. in subsequent years the length of the course has varied as al_terations have been made in some of the marks to be rounded. Most recently it was 198 statute miles. In 1961 there were 27 starters of which nine finished; the list has run as high as 53. The record for the race, set in 1964 by Jimmy and Charles Gardner’s Surf-rider, stands at 49.1 m.p.h.

    Viaregglo (Italy)
    There have been four runnings of the race from Viareggio to Bastia, Cor_sica, and return, a 1 90-miler. It at_tracts somewhat smaller fields than its elder brethren (12 in 1965). Jim Wynne drove Maritime to the current 49.4-m.p.h. record in last year’s race.

    Miami to Key West
    Late in 1963 the fledgling Off_shore Power Boat Racing Assn.— about which more, later—ran its first 140-mile Miami to Key West dash. Twenty-two started and 11 finished in desperately rough water. Capt. Jack Manson’s Allied GX (pictured at the beginning of this article) averaged nearly 40 m.p.h. to win, the event. The following year Manson, in Kami_kaze, topped a 29-boat fleet to average 42.25 m.p.h.

    Miami.Lauderdale-Biminl-Gun Cay.Miami
    First of these 145-mile Sam Griffith Memorial Ocean Powerboat races was run in February, 1964. So rough was the water that only three of the 15 starters completed the course. The win_ner was Dick Bertram in Lucky Moppie. The following year saw half of the 22 starters make the finish line. Victory and the current~ record went to Bill Wishnick’s Broad Jumper with an aver_age speed of 44 m.p.h.

    Other rough water races have been run and show promise of becoming annual fixtures. Certainly worth watch_ing in this group are the shuttle back and forth across the lower end of Lake Michigan, one from West Palm Beach to Lucayan-Freeport and return and the zig-zag trip from Long Beach, Cal. around San Clemente Island, back around Catalina and thence to Long Beach.

    Politics
    Offshore racing, in common with most powerboat competition, has had its share of organizational problems and a touch of strife. Each of the early races—Miami to Nassau, Around Long Island and the English Channel dash— started out with its own set of rules and a single organization acting as both sponsor and sanctioning body. In short, there was no uniformity among races and none had an overseeing group to handle the inevitable protests. Following the 1963 Miami-Nassau event, a group of participants made known their desire to set up their own body and run some races in the Miami area according to their ideas. This stirred up short-lived acrimony be_tween the splinter group and “Red” Crise who handles the Nassau event almost as a one-man show. Meanwhile the dissidents incorporated the Off_shore Power Boat Racing Assn., set up their own rules and became the spon_sors (and sanctioners) of the first Miami to Key West and Miami-Lau_derdale-Bimini-Gun Cay-Miami races.

    Shortly thereafter the American Power Boat Assn. made overtures to both Crise and the OPBRA, seeking to provide them with a rules-making and appeals body. Initial meetings pro_duced more heat than light, but the idea of having uniform rules through_out the U.S. with all the other advan_tages of a sanctioning group, continued to attract the OPBRA. Thus, late in 1964, the APBA organized an Off_shore Racing Commission and adopted a set of rules for this sort of competi_tion, OPBRA president Jack Manson became the first chairman of the new APBA body.

    The promoters of the Around Long Island race had switched to APBA sanction even prior to this. The Lake Michigan and Long Beach events ran APBA from their beginnings. Thus, today, every U.S. offshore race runs under uniform rules.

    Miami-Nassau and the Cowes_Torquay races continue to be quite in_dependent but their sponsors are un_derstood to be willing to follow rules of the Union of International Motor-boating when, and if, that world rules body adopts a suitable code for off_shore competition. Since APBA is the U.S. representative of UIM, all the major offshore races may soon be op_erated out of the same rule book.

    Technical developments
    No other event, activity or trend can match offshore racing for contri_butions to the development of hulls and engines. Even closed course rac_ing, often considered a fine breeding ground for technical advances, is un_able to challenge the offshore variety when it comes to developments trans_lated into features of stock boats.

    Probably the best known result of research and development in offshore racing is the so-called deep-vee hull. Originated by the versatile architect Ray Hunt, the deep-vee has been per_fected in rough water competition by the Hunt followers (Bertram hulls) as well as by the team of Walt Walters and Jim Wynne (Formula, Donzi and Maritime hulls). Taking the Miami-Nassau Race as a prime proving ground, we find that every one of these events since 1960 has been won by one of these high-dihedral, longitudinally-stepped hulls.

    As for hull materials, all common forms are being subjected to the cruci_ble of offshore competition. Among this years’ top winners Brave Moppie (Cowes Torquay) was wood, Broad Jumper (Long Beach, Cal.) was fiber_glass and Maritime (Palm Beach-Free-port) was aluminum.

    Inboard engines have undergone a great step-up in power during the short history of offshore racing. Not all can be attributed to this avenue of de_velopment because (1) the entire au_tomotive industry—builder of the basic engines for marine use—has been in the throes of a “horsepower race” dur_ing much of the time and (2) stock car racing has played its part in en_gine development. Regardless of the relative contributions of these influ_ences, since late 1956 the top Chrys_ler marine engine has jumped from 275 to 415 hp. and Fords—as con_verted for marine use by Eaton—have climbed from 215 to 400 hp.

    In the diesel field, where there have been no obvious outside influences other than offshore racing, the General Motors 6-71 engine, rated 271 hp. nine years ago, was credited with 550 untold varieties of equipment and accessories have undergone and are still undergoing improvements as a result of failures that developed under the stress of a high-speed rough water race. We have seen a radiotelephone torn asunder in a horizontal plane merely from the pounding of the boat. And more than a few transmissions have failed under the hopped-up power of engines used in offshore racing.

    The men who take part in offshore competition have a common character_istic that sets them apart from most boatmen—they hope for, and thrive on rough water. Where most of us will stay ashore rather than take a chance or even be uncomfortable, this breed of competitor is happiest when the starting field is decimated by treach_erous water conditions.

    During the ten-year history of this sport (as revived) there have been many outstanding owners, drivers and designers. Most of them have taken part primarily because they enjoyed the activity and incidentally because it directly or indirectly produced income for them. To select as outstanding any one, or three, or a dozen would likely be unfair to an equal number who were omitted. Their tribute will have to come through YACHTING’S regular coverage of their exploits, which ap_pears monthly on these pages.
    Searace pages 54-65,although `cock ups` a plenty in the screed.Good ol John.

    Note pic of Flying Fish was driven by Mike Trimming and Dick Staddon.Trimming was a premium apprentice at Vospers (i.e. daddy paid for his apprenticeship so as to be groomed for management).Staddon was the managing director.
    They took over after Dr.Emil Savundra ( an insurance con man),had originally ordered the boat,then got found out and flung into jail,as you do,just like the U.S. pillars of society.

    Not all winners of the early races where high deadrise.Tramontana 1 in 1962 was a warped hull like the traditional MTB`s,in fact it was just that with twice the horsepower of something like Blue Moppie,so it just smashed it`s way to win.Du Cane designed it having designed a lot of the Vosper MTB`s,and Hunt had not been influential enough as yet worldwide,in the bigger classes.Of course Levi was also an influence.It wasn`t till after those early races people could see which were the best boats to have.

    People like Sopwith,Shead,Wynne,were always visiting each other`s countries taking in all the major races like Miami-Nassau,Cowes-Torquay,Paris 6HR etc,virtually a rat pack making the rounds.

    If you really want to take the time and trouble to delve into Offshore history, wwwpowerboatarchive2.co.uk has 40,000 pages of scanned reports from early 60`s up to present day.Also all the builders boats and ex names,results and races held.
    Obviously with a data file it`s there to be modified as more info comes to hand,but there is enough there to get an idea of the history.
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    #22
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    Was 1966 the only year they ran the race in Cyprus? There isn't much out there on it.
    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Ratickle View Post
    Was 1966 the only year they ran the race in Cyprus? There isn't much out there on it.
    Yep,the only one.

    They also ran a circuit race on the open sea as well,which in those days were boats like Levi monos as raced in the Paris 6hr race.Just right for Reggie Fountain before sampling offshore.

    A sort of powerboat weekend.
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    #24
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    It was interesting to read the boat that finished second, the cabin boat with the 100 HP Merc, was three hours behind Merrick who finished in just over 4 hours.
    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #25
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    Here a short footage of the Thunderbird an offshore powerboat drove by Jim Wynne in the Sam Griffith Memorial race the February 22 1966. Wynne won the race but but since he was driving a boat powered by gas turbine engines was off the charts. The winner was Jerry Langers with a boat with outboards. The race was characterized by rough seas and on 29 starters on the finish were only three.

    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Ratickle View Post
    Here a short footage of the Thunderbird an offshore powerboat drove by Jim Wynne in the Sam Griffith Memorial race the February 22 1966. Wynne won the race but but since he was driving a boat powered by gas turbine engines was off the charts. The winner was Jerry Langers with a boat with outboards. The race was characterized by rough seas and on 29 starters on the finish were only three.

    You`ll have me in floods of tears at this rate.
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    #27
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    I just keep digging on anything I can find for offshore in 1966. The narrative is cut and past from the You Tube video information.

    The hardest part, is to find what has come from your archives but you have not been given any credit so the history is off. But, I'm sure you will help (even if in tears)....
    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #28
    What's Happening Serious News's Avatar
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    What 1966 race?

    Non-Finishers
    "Bulldog" (Drummond Mussett) ; dropped out
    "White Marlin" (Bob Kieber) ; broken rotor
    "Harpy" (Bob Thayer. Jr.); engine trouble
    "Adios" (Gene White); took tow
    "Donzi OO8" (Jack Trotter) ; engines swamped
    "Sea Horse" (Howard Weiler); returned, rough water
    "Broad Jumper" (Bill Wishnick); returned with injured co-driver
    "Tuppence" (Bud Tuppen) ; lost steering wheel and gave up after trying to use pliers-steer
    " Loner" (Norris House) ; wave swamped engine
    "Thunderbolt" (Nick Fennerty) ;swamped engine
    "Sea Date" (George Newman); returned
    "Maritime" (Bob Rodman); universal joints caught fire
    "Tin Fish" (John Raulerson) : abandoned at sea after driver rescued by Coast Guard
    "Brave Moppie" (Dick Bertram);sunk while leading
    "Thunderball" (Larry Smith); lost power
    "Snagrom" (Dr. John Morgan); returned with 3 compasses broken
    "Gay 9O's" (King Fulton);engine brackets broke
    "Surfury" (Charles Gardner) ; withdrew from race after rescuing another crew
    "Dilly Doo" (Tom Wood); dropped out, rough water
    "Thunderbolt" (Chester Strickland) ; lost prop
    "Yellow Fever" (Roy Ridgell); withdrew
    "Sterndriver ll" (John Bakos) ; lost prop
    "Orca" (GarWood, Jr.); beached in sinking condition with hole in hull
    "Atlantic Star'll" (Frank Elgin) ; dropped out of race to take team-mate in tow
    "Atlantic Star l" (Jim Mahone); taken in tow by "Atlantic Star ll"
    "Thunderstreak" (Dick Genth); dropped out with blocked fuel lines
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    #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Serious News View Post
    What 1966 race?

    Non-Finishers
    "Bulldog" (Drummond Mussett) ; dropped out
    "White Marlin" (Bob Kieber) ; broken rotor
    "Harpy" (Bob Thayer. Jr.); engine trouble
    "Adios" (Gene White); took tow
    "Donzi OO8" (Jack Trotter) ; engines swamped
    "Sea Horse" (Howard Weiler); returned, rough water
    "Broad Jumper" (Bill Wishnick); returned with injured co-driver
    "Tuppence" (Bud Tuppen) ; lost steering wheel and gave up after trying to use pliers-steer
    " Loner" (Norris House) ; wave swamped engine
    "Thunderbolt" (Nick Fennerty) ;swamped engine
    "Sea Date" (George Newman); returned
    "Maritime" (Bob Rodman); universal joints caught fire
    "Tin Fish" (John Raulerson) : abandoned at sea after driver rescued by Coast Guard
    "Brave Moppie" (Dick Bertram);sunk while leading
    "Thunderball" (Larry Smith); lost power
    "Snagrom" (Dr. John Morgan); returned with 3 compasses broken
    "Gay 9O's" (King Fulton);engine brackets broke
    "Surfury" (Charles Gardner) ; withdrew from race after rescuing another crew
    "Dilly Doo" (Tom Wood); dropped out, rough water
    "Thunderbolt" (Chester Strickland) ; lost prop
    "Yellow Fever" (Roy Ridgell); withdrew
    "Sterndriver ll" (John Bakos) ; lost prop
    "Orca" (GarWood, Jr.); beached in sinking condition with hole in hull
    "Atlantic Star'll" (Frank Elgin) ; dropped out of race to take team-mate in tow
    "Atlantic Star l" (Jim Mahone); taken in tow by "Atlantic Star ll"
    "Thunderstreak" (Dick Genth); dropped out with blocked fuel lines
    I`d say Sam Griffith Memorial Race quicker than you can type that lot out.
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    #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by FLYING FISH View Post
    I`d say Sam Griffith Memorial Race quicker than you can type that lot out.
    This was the only race that Surfury did in the U.S.

    Extract from official CT programme for your amusement.

    In those days the sponsor produced nice little booklets on the race.I`ve never been aware something similar done for the early U.S. races,or even much retained reportwise on them.All we seem to have is the Crouse legacy,and the odd Sports Illustrated comment.Hotboat did some,but all this was before Powerboat Magazine started.Motorboating has a few write ups,but it`s all very fragmented.
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    #31
    What's Happening Serious News's Avatar
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    Yep


    1966 Motor Boating and Yachting, UK

    CARNAGE IN THE STRAITS OF FLORIDA
    Dick Benram's "Brave Moppie" foundered in a 1OO fathoms of Florida Strait and the British entrant "Surfury" went to the aid of her crew. Just one of the surprises in the Sam Griffith Memorial powerboat race run out of Miami recently, which saw the first confrontation between racing powerboats and ugly weather conditaons. The result of this confrontation may stimulate a revision in powerboat design and in the international rules which govern the sport.

    PETER FEVERSHAM takes a look at the race and draws his own concluslons.

    THE thirty-one strong powerboat fleet of I the third annual Sam Griffith Memorial Race burst out of Biscayne Bay on Tuesday, 22 February, with all the fanfare of a Cecil B. De Mille extravaganza. The time: 7.30 in the morning, or as one American observed, "early enough to scare a year's growth off the sleepy-eyed waterfowl in Mami Bay waters". The waterfowl in sheltered Biscayne Bay may have been sleepy-eyed, but out in the Straits of Florida a frothing, boiling, wind and rain-swept Atlantic Ocean gave conditions far from conducive to sleep. Against some of the toughest weather imposed on a
    powerboat race, only two competitors completed the course. One of them was a tiny outboard and the other an awe-inspiring gas turbine boat. A third boat was called into Bimini by race officials 70 miles from the finish and declared eligible for prize money.

    Out of Biscayne Bay and into trouble, as the powerboats bucked and reared in a nasty Gulf Stream swell. Eight to ten foot seas were running, churned up by winds of force 4 gusting to 5. First to go was the giant 47 ft. Cummins powered "Orca" driven by Gar Wood, Jn-r. "Orca's" hull stove in offCape Florida on Key Biscayne, and her owner was forced to beach to keep his boat from sinking.

    Engines Drowned
    The early leader, Jake Trotter, driving a 28 ft. Donzi "008", charged into the Atlantic like a man with fully paid-up insurance premiums, only to have his engines drowned by a wave as the 70 m.p.h. craft leaped skywards and settled stern-end into the sea. Bill Wishnick, who won the race in 1965, turned back his 28 ft. Donzi "Broad Jumper", after co-driver Allen Brown was slammed down on the deck so violently that both his ankles were badly sprained.

    The worst was yet to come, as committee boat "Disco Volante", of Thunderball movie fame, crackled news of the carnage out in the Straits of Florida. Only ten of the starting fleet were still running after the second check point at the sea buoy off Fort Lauderdale. Boat after boat either broke down or headed home as drivers exercised their discretion rather than valour. Of those who battled on, Dick Bertram's "Brave Moppie" and Englishman Charles Gardner's "Surfury" were leading. Then only four miles out from Fort Lauderdale "Brave Moppie" punched her bottom out in the heavy seas, sending Dick Bertram and his crew of Don Wilcox and Doug Baker scurrying into the life raft. The famed racer which had carried Dick Bertram to victory on so many occasions, including the 1965 Cowes-Torquay event, and which set up a world record for a diesel-powered boat, sank in less than five minutes.

    As "Brave Moppie" foundered, Jim Wynne's turbine "Thunderbird", which had started some eight minutes after the field, came thundering past Gardner's "Surfury". "Thunderbird" was putting up an amazing performance and was to complete the course in a surprisingly fast time. Charles Gardner saw little hope of catching "Thunderbird", and seeing that the weather showed no sign of abating, he put back to rescue Dick Bertram and his crew. "Surfury" sustained some damage on the port side of her hull, but will be in fighting trim for the Miami-Nassau race in April.

    Jim Wynne and his 32 ft. aluminium hulled "Thunderbird" crossed the finishing line first, after averaging 36.95 miles per hour. However, "Thunderbird", powered by two 445 h.p. United Aircraft 5T6 gas
    turbine engines, was not in the running for local prize money. It received only experimental classification from the sponsoring Offshore Powerboat Racing Association of Miami, and the sanctioning American Power Boat Association.

    Despite Jim Wynne's interesting performance in the race, the popular heroes and official victors were stocky Miami Beach marine dealer Jerry Langer and his co-driver Davey Wilson, who arrived home two and a half hours after "Thunderbird". Their boat, "Langer's Outboard", was a 20 ft. Deaco Craft powered by two 100 h.p. Evinrude outboard engines. Langer personally helped build his boat in two weeks at the Deaco Craft yard, beginning with a 24 ft. hull and eventually chopping it down to 20 ft. Work well rewarded, for Langer won the Hennessy Grand Prix trophy, $3,000, and the distinction of driving the first outboard engined boat to win a major offshore race.

    Long after Langer and Wynne were safely home, Don Aronow's new 35 ft. "Maltese Magnum" crept pass Bimini with sputtering engines. The race committee, faced with weather conditions that were going from bad to worse and the knowledge that "Maltese Magnum" was the only competitor left in the race, called Aronow into port, where he was declared an official finisher.

    Thirty-one had started; two had finished.

    A pair ofexpensive boats had sunk, another had caught fire and still another had been abandoned. John Raulerson's 33 ft. aluminium "Tin Fish" was lost at sea because conditions prevented a safe recovery of the craft by the coast guard, who had to make a night-time rescue of the driver. Raulerson offered a $1,000 reward for its return.

    These were results of the first confrontation between highly developed offshore racing powerboats and comparatively rough weather. It was a test to give designers much food for thought, and from which questions have arisen on the administration and rules governing powerboat racing.

    Conclusions
    The Sam Griffith Memorial Race was the first race to qualify for the annual U.I.M. World Championship for powerboat drivers. The result of the race has caused some confusion as to the clarity and interpretation of U.I.M. rules. Although "Thunderbird" was not classified by the bodies governing American offshore racing, Jim Wynne's craft was powered by standard engines (even though they were gas
    turbines). Under U.I.M. rules, boats powered by engines available to the general public are eligible for championship points, thus Jim Wynne's performance at Miami is understood to give him an important lead in the World Championship. United Aircraft 5T6 gas turbines come expensive at some f 10,000 per engine, and it is debatable whether the championships should be open to those with unlimited resources to the detriment of less wealthy sportsmen. It will be remembered that in England following "Tramontana's" victory in 1962, the organisers of the Cowes-Torquay race put a stop to unlimited capacity engines for competing boats. By limiting the power of the engines they hoped to stop what looked like becoming an expensive arms race, although the major powers are still re-arming pretty expensively under the terms of the new convention. If Jim Wynne does take points towards the World Championship from the Sam Griffith Memorial, it looks as if we are in for a very expensive race indeed.

    Another point of interest concerning the World Championship is the fact that the organisers of the Sam Griffith Race maintain that Don Aronow is eligible for championship points under a clause in U.LM. rules, even though he did not finish the course.

    One could question the advisability of allowing the Sam Grifnth race to be run in what the organisers knew to be severe weather conditions. On the other hand it is difficult to judge just how much bad weather a powerboat can take, and the organisers lacked a precedent to help them in their judgment. We do not know how much responsibility for the mortality rate in the race rests with the drivers themselves. The leaders were setting a hot pace; had it been slower more competitors might have completed the course. It is interesting to note that while Dick Bertram and Charles Gardner kept out to sea on the first leg to Fort Lauderdale.,' Jim Wynne hugged the shore, and caught up a deal of time in doing so.

    A sad consequence ofthe sinking of Dick Bertram's boat. is that we shall miss the battle of Titans which would have been fought at a meeting between Sir Max Aitken's new "Merry go Round" and "Brave
    Moppie".
    The total length of the course is 172 miles, Bimini being somewhat over half way from the start at Miami. Only two boats passed the control point at Bimini, while the majority were knocked out in the first leg betrrueon Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

    Results
    1st. "Langer's Outboard" (Jerry Langerl; 20 ft. Deaco Craft. 2/1OO h.p. Evinrudes.
    Time: 7 hrs. 12 min. 47 secs.
    2nd. "Maltese Magnum" (Don Aronow); 35 ft. Magnum, 2/5OO h.p. Holman and
    Moodys. (Called in at Bimini checkpoint bV race committee.)
    First to finish. "Thunderbird" (Jim Wynne, Miami) : 32 ft. Thunderbird Maritime,
    2/445 h.o. United Aircraft gas turbines. Time 4 hrs. 45 min. 23 secs.
    Last edited by Serious News; 05-24-2015 at 08:31 PM.
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    #32
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    Friday, Mar. 04, 1966

    Powerboat Racing: Madness off Miami

    They aren't taking volunteers for the Alamo any more, and it is getting harder to find cannibals to invite to lunch. So what does a man do when he's bored and restless (and maybe a little masochistic) and has $50,000 or so to spend? He races powerboats.

    Offshore powerboat racing is no delicate art like trying to steer a skittery hydroplane around the smooth surface of a protected lake. It is simple, straightforward stuff: slamming headlong through the open ocean in anything from a souped-up outboard to a PT boatuntil your ribs rattle and your face is white with salt. It is madness, of course. But as Ohio Millionaire Merrick Lewis, 41, explained on the eve of last week's Sam Griffith Memorial Race from Miami to Bimini and back: "Once in a while, you have to force yourself into doing something that petrifies you. If you don't, pretty soon you turn into a chunk of Jell-O."

    Too New for Money.

    Lewis, alas, was unable to compete in the 172-mile race himself because he had four broken ribs, three cracked ribs and a gash on his skullmementos of the Houston Channel Derby two weeks before. But he sent out no fewer than eight of his boats, including Thunderbird, a 32-ft. aluminum "hot dog" powered by two 500-h.p. United Aircraft gas turbines and piloted by Designer-Driver Jim Wynne. So radical that it was classified as experimental (and therefore ineligible for the winner-take-all $3,000 prize), Thunderbird had been clocked at 65 m.p.h. in practice runs. That was enough to make it the prerace favorite, but there was no shortage of high-velocity competition. Miami Boatbuilder Dick Bertram was at the helm of his diesel-powered Brave Moppie, the 1965 world champion. Following in the example of his father, a champion hydroplane racer, Gar Wood Jr. was driving Orca, a needle-nosed, 47-ft. monster that packed 1,200 horses under its deck. British hopes were pinned on Surfury, a molded plywood 36-footer with twin supercharged engines that generated 525 h.p. apiece.

    The rest of the fleet consisted mostly of standard inboards and outboards that might have come from a showroom window. But Jerry Langer's No. 10 was strictly do-it-yourself. An out-board-engine dealer from Miami Beach, Langer had borrowed a Fiberglas mold, poured himself a hull, tacked two ordinary 90-h.p. motors on the back. Just before the race, he decided that he didn't like the pitch of his propellers, so he took a hammer and pounded away until they looked "about right."

    Two Minutes to Swim.

    On race day, a 20-knot crosswind was kicking up 10-ft. swells in the northward-flowing Gulf Stream, and visibility was down to half a mile. But away they went anyhow, 31 boats roaring out of Biscayne Bay into the heaving Gulf Stream. Within minutes, last year's Griffith winner, Bill Wishnick, was back at the dock: his co-driver Allen Brown had smashed both ankles on the jolting deck of their 28-ft. Broad Jumper. About the same time, Gar Wood Jr. bounced Orca onto a sand bar off Cape Florida, clambered out, and watched helplessly as his $150,000 craft split open and sank.

    After an hour, most of the boats had given up and turned back to port. The rest wished they had. Owner-Driver John Raulerson and a crewman had to be pulled off his wallowing, 33-ft. Tin Fish by the Coast Guard (at week's end the empty boat was still floating somewhere in the Gulf Stream). World Champion Dick Bertram didn't even have time to radio for help. Brave Moppie was blasting along at 50 m.p.h. in second place, behind Thunderbird, when disaster struck. "A red warning light suddenly went on, meaning water in the bilge," Bertram said later. "In two minutes we were swimming." Speculation was that one of Moppie's 550-h.p. diesels had pounded its way clear through her hullnobody would ever know for sure, because she sank like a rock in 90 fathoms of water. That gave second place to Charles Gardner in Surfurybut with true British sportsmanship, he hove to, hauled Bertram and his two-man crew aboard, and abandoned the race to ferry them back to Miami.

    Only four boats reached Bimini, and only two attempted the return trip. Aboard Thunderbird, bearded Jim Wynne was having his problems his engines cut out three times when waves tossed the boat clear out of water. CoDriver Walt Walters was knocked unconscious when a wave broke across the boat but Wynne grimly kept going. So, incredibly, did Jerry Langer in his little outboard. Finally, 4 hrs. 45 min. after the start, Thunderbird churned back into Biscayne Bay, and Winner Wynne gratefully stepped ashore, muttering: "Now that was a wingding." Runner-up Langer, who finished 21 hours behind Wynne, could not have agreed more. "Where are the Band-Aids?" was the first question he asked on arrival in Miami.

    But Dick Bertram, who had lost $65,000 worth of boat and very nearly his life, could hardly wait to do it all over again. "If they made it any easier," he said, "It wouldn't be ocean racing and I'd quit."
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    #33
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    The winner in the race.
    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Serious News View Post
    TIME
    Friday, Mar. 04, 1966

    Powerboat Racing: Madness off Miami

    They aren't taking volunteers for the Alamo any more, and it is getting harder to find cannibals to invite to lunch. So what does a man do when he's bored and restless (and maybe a little masochistic) and has $50,000 or so to spend? He races powerboats.

    Offshore powerboat racing is no delicate art like trying to steer a skittery hydroplane around the smooth surface of a protected lake. It is simple, straightforward stuff: slamming headlong through the open ocean in anything from a souped-up outboard to a PT boatuntil your ribs rattle and your face is white with salt. It is madness, of course. But as Ohio Millionaire Merrick Lewis, 41, explained on the eve of last week's Sam Griffith Memorial Race from Miami to Bimini and back: "Once in a while, you have to force yourself into doing something that petrifies you. If you don't, pretty soon you turn into a chunk of Jell-O."

    Too New for Money.

    Lewis, alas, was unable to compete in the 172-mile race himself because he had four broken ribs, three cracked ribs and a gash on his skullmementos of the Houston Channel Derby two weeks before. But he sent out no fewer than eight of his boats, including Thunderbird, a 32-ft. aluminum "hot dog" powered by two 500-h.p. United Aircraft gas turbines and piloted by Designer-Driver Jim Wynne. So radical that it was classified as experimental (and therefore ineligible for the winner-take-all $3,000 prize), Thunderbird had been clocked at 65 m.p.h. in practice runs. That was enough to make it the prerace favorite, but there was no shortage of high-velocity competition. Miami Boatbuilder Dick Bertram was at the helm of his diesel-powered Brave Moppie, the 1965 world champion. Following in the example of his father, a champion hydroplane racer, Gar Wood Jr. was driving Orca, a needle-nosed, 47-ft. monster that packed 1,200 horses under its deck. British hopes were pinned on Surfury, a molded plywood 36-footer with twin supercharged engines that generated 525 h.p. apiece.

    The rest of the fleet consisted mostly of standard inboards and outboards that might have come from a showroom window. But Jerry Langer's No. 10 was strictly do-it-yourself. An out-board-engine dealer from Miami Beach, Langer had borrowed a Fiberglas mold, poured himself a hull, tacked two ordinary 90-h.p. motors on the back. Just before the race, he decided that he didn't like the pitch of his propellers, so he took a hammer and pounded away until they looked "about right."

    Two Minutes to Swim.

    On race day, a 20-knot crosswind was kicking up 10-ft. swells in the northward-flowing Gulf Stream, and visibility was down to half a mile. But away they went anyhow, 31 boats roaring out of Biscayne Bay into the heaving Gulf Stream. Within minutes, last year's Griffith winner, Bill Wishnick, was back at the dock: his co-driver Allen Brown had smashed both ankles on the jolting deck of their 28-ft. Broad Jumper. About the same time, Gar Wood Jr. bounced Orca onto a sand bar off Cape Florida, clambered out, and watched helplessly as his $150,000 craft split open and sank.

    After an hour, most of the boats had given up and turned back to port. The rest wished they had. Owner-Driver John Raulerson and a crewman had to be pulled off his wallowing, 33-ft. Tin Fish by the Coast Guard (at week's end the empty boat was still floating somewhere in the Gulf Stream). World Champion Dick Bertram didn't even have time to radio for help. Brave Moppie was blasting along at 50 m.p.h. in second place, behind Thunderbird, when disaster struck. "A red warning light suddenly went on, meaning water in the bilge," Bertram said later. "In two minutes we were swimming." Speculation was that one of Moppie's 550-h.p. diesels had pounded its way clear through her hullnobody would ever know for sure, because she sank like a rock in 90 fathoms of water. That gave second place to Charles Gardner in Surfurybut with true British sportsmanship, he hove to, hauled Bertram and his two-man crew aboard, and abandoned the race to ferry them back to Miami.

    Only four boats reached Bimini, and only two attempted the return trip. Aboard Thunderbird, bearded Jim Wynne was having his problems his engines cut out three times when waves tossed the boat clear out of water. CoDriver Walt Walters was knocked unconscious when a wave broke across the boat but Wynne grimly kept going. So, incredibly, did Jerry Langer in his little outboard. Finally, 4 hrs. 45 min. after the start, Thunderbird churned back into Biscayne Bay, and Winner Wynne gratefully stepped ashore, muttering: "Now that was a wingding." Runner-up Langer, who finished 21 hours behind Wynne, could not have agreed more. "Where are the Band-Aids?" was the first question he asked on arrival in Miami.

    But Dick Bertram, who had lost $65,000 worth of boat and very nearly his life, could hardly wait to do it all over again. "If they made it any easier," he said, "It wouldn't be ocean racing and I'd quit."
    Those were the days when a prominent magazine would cover the racing.One reason why we don`t see the coverage any more in major magazines is that the racing just doesn`t have a story to tell,unless somebody kops it.I remember the Didier Pironi crash and also Stefano Casiraghi.The social glossys had pages on it.
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    #35
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    All right, what's your definition of kops? The on-line British dictionary says "a prominent isolated hill or mountain in southern Africa".


    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Ratickle View Post
    All right, what's your definition of kops? The on-line British dictionary says "a prominent isolated hill or mountain in southern Africa".


    Officially means gets into trouble,but is used to mean is killed.Could be spelt with a `c`.

    I should go back to learning Italian for that tin boat.
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    #37
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    If someone "Cops" something over here, it means to steal it.
    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #38
    Founding Member fund razor's Avatar
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    Don't listen to him. It just means to get, procure. May mean steal. Not necessarily at all.

    "Cop a feel."
    "Cop a buzz."
    "Cop an advance on my paycheck."
    "Cop a free t shirt."
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    #39
    Quote Originally Posted by fund razor View Post
    Don't listen to him. It just means to get, procure. May mean steal. Not necessarily at all.

    "Cop a feel."
    "Cop a buzz."
    "Cop an advance on my paycheck."
    "Cop a free t shirt."
    Oh dear,`A rat in a trap`.
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    #40
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    Don't pay any attention to him. The only thing he knows about Cops is "RUN!!!!!"
    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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