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Published by Fast On Water Publications 2015 All articles and photographs are copyright All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission.
Editors note Wishing all our supporters and readers a happy New Year. Fast On Water has now been up and running for 12 months and it is hoped that 2015 will be an even more successful year than last. We are always looking for contributions for future issues – memories, photos, specialist interests. So if you feel like putting pen to paper, we look forward to hearing from you.
Contents Editor Roy Cooper
Contributors Marcus Tonn Stephen Chase Roy Cooper Ray Bulman
Cover photo Paris Six Hour Powerboat & Watersport December 1971
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Marcus Tonn – Bristol restoration
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Heroes of Circuit Racing – Peter Inward
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Peter Thorneywork article
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Bob Spalding Harrier
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Bristol 1972 write up
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Ray Bulman – Bristol 1972
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Bristol ’82 Seebold
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Charlie Sheppard – Circuit Chat
Marcus Tonn’s Bristol Restoration/rebuild I bought the boat in 1992 from a friend and drove it for 4 years. It was the best I’ve ever had. I love the dynamics and the handling. After a few years the wood core was rotten, so I had to repair the aft. During the reparation in 2000 I realised that the whole structure was soft and I decided to restore the boat. Then I stopped my work for the last 14 years. Last year in spring I decided to build a bigger boat like my little race boat, because it was the best boat I ever owned. I still don't know anything about it, neither the exact year of construction nor the builder. When I cleaned my garage I found parts of the steering with the name Vieser on it. Later I searched the Internet for Vieser and discovered I is a small boat builder near Cologne. When I showed pictures of my boat to Vieser, they told me that it was not one of their designs, but it must be an English product because of the shape of the last stringer on the sides. I searched for English race boats on the Internet and finally found the information and photos of this boat on the Fast On water website. I wanted to get more information, which I need to know for my bigger project the Bristol 26 I want to build. I contacted Bristol Boats for more information. They told me that Plans never existed, as it was all in Charlie Sheppard’s head and the last negative forms were sold to a company in the Lake District which wanted to build ribs. I started building the Bristol 14 with some special amendments of my own. There should be no more wood in it. I built an aluminium frame and laminated it in. I wanted the parts to be light and strong and easy to fix without a negative form. I made them from a PVC
foam sandwich. The steering is with steel cables but nearly invisible as the cable is under the deck and comes out at the transom. I sanded the whole boat inside and out, removing the gel coat and laminating a 200g/m2 glass fibre mat in an out. I added a foot throttle, an automatic lens pump and some instruments (rpm, water pressure, engine temp and gps speed). The steering wheel is the old one, but it gets new black leather with red stitching. I bought a 1983 Mercury 70hp engine. I had a similar 50hp which is lighter compared to newer versions. The Engine is completely redone with new bores, pistons and bearings. Even the outside of the engine is newly painted. For the stickers on the engine cover I choose the design of the merc 650xs, I think it fits well and is also a similar vintage to the boat. To build the bigger version of the Bristol the small one was scanned to make the mould. On this I will fix the PVC foam to build the core. The Bristol 26 will be a full Sandwich.
Many thanks to Marcus for supplying article and photos of his project.
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Marcus Tonn’s Restoration Photos
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Heroes of circuit racing Peter Inward Peter Inward, doctor and Harley Street dentist, started his circuit racing career with the LMBRC in 1967, in the NE Class; his first boat being appropriately named ‘Incisor’. His racing followed the same direction as his dental practices – starting in the rough and ready Vauxhall Road and finally moving to the prime location of Harley Street. He raced in the inaugural event in Bristol Docks, driving a Bristol in the OI Class alongside the likes of Roger Jenkins and Andre Dierckx. He moved to ON in 1977 with Marlboro sponsorship and OZ in 1979 with the sponsorship of Durex. The TV cameras were at Chasewater for the 1978 World OZ Championships along with Princess Margaret. Peter wasn’t presented and the sponsors name was covered just in case a camera pointed in that direction. Peter was the only non-works driver to get to use the awesome Mercury T4 engine. Rosalind Nott’s description of Peter gives you a clue to how people felt about him. ‘To say that Peter was a marvellous ambassador; a quiet voice of reason among the mayhem; a gentleman in every sense and much loved by all, barely touches the surface of the feeling generated by the man.’ Ted Jones voices a similar sentiment. ‘Peter was a wonderful person and a great competitor. I feel honoured to have known him and call him a friend. I
remember staying with him after a race before I flew back to the States. We were in London at his home when he said, “Let’s go for Indian food.” We walked for quite a while, ending up in a very dark back alley. We went down into a cellar into a small restaurant with only six tables. I didn’t know if I should eat or if I should run – lol. Turned out to be one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life. Later Peter shared with me that we were actually in the back stage area of a very upper class 5 star restaurant. We went in through the back door that only a very few were allowed. Peter was one of them. Great memories! Peter summed up his love of the sport. ‘It’s in my blood and its part of my life. I spend hour after hour in the workshop tearing down and rebuilding engines, and weekends were normally taken up testing in Belgium or actually racing. It’s almost like a full-time job without any profit, but I wouldn’t swap it at any price. There are some amazing characters in the sport and many of 6
them are my closest friends. Circuit racing is a bit like a travelling circus and has the same sort of family troupe atmosphere.’ Timothy Brand-Crombie remembers when Roger Jenkins once asked Peter, ‘How much is cosmetic surgery?’ Peter’s reply. ‘Two powerheads.’ Peter, like Tom Percival, had a preference for rough water, making both Bristol and Paris favourite circuits for him. He was a thinking driver who had no desire to go head long into the first turn. He said, ‘Apart from the sheer fear of approaching a race like that, I do feel I have an obligation to my sponsors. They spend good money to be represented out there in ON and in return the least I can do is try to keep the thing afloat, both as spectacle and as an advertising medium.’ Peter’s style of driving and detailed preparation helped him to win the Paris six hour race in 1980 and 1981, both times with Nick Cripps. In an interview for Powerboat and Waterskiing, Peter talked about how crucial preparation was. ‘this is where I do my bit in conjunction with George Bird, my friend who also acts as my unpaid mechanic. We spend hours and hours on the engines in the evenings and over weekends in an attempt to have the complete rig perfect right down to the last detail for the day. We both do it for the love of it, but there is a tremendous satisfaction to be found in winning a race like the Paris Six-hour. It’s the big pay-off for all the hard work. You have to be a bit of a nut to do it, especially
Peter celebrating with Nick Cripps, Bill Seebold and Ken Zielinski – Paris 1981
when you take into account all the trips with the car and trailer to Leo in Belgium. He’s the master at setting the engines up, but 20 trips a year takes up a lot of time.’ Peter was a great pianist and his other love was jazz, which meant he would be at Ronnie Scott’s Club whenever he had the chance. Peter’s love of the sport was plainly obvious, usually written in that smile which broke out whenever he was discussing powerboat racing. He summed this up in a quote about the forthcoming 1982 season. ‘One thing is for sure: I’m going to enjoy it. I’m going to be travelling all over the world with friends I admire in the sport I love. Who could ask for more?’
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Peter Inward died on Sunday 3rd July 1983 while racing at Fairford. As Rosalind Nott said in her obituary to Peter. ‘To imagine the sport without him is almost incomprehensible.’ Thirty two years on, Peter is still remembered with love and affection by all those who knew him.
Thank you to Ted Jones and Timothy Brand-Crombie for their memories of Peter.
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Taken from Powerboat Magazine, June 1974 9
BOB SPALDING HARRIER Having messed about in boats up in north Norfolk at Blakeney and Morston since I was small, cars came along to add to my adult life enjoyment. Classic Alfas being the centre of my attention, both restoring and racing. However , the boating has never ceased and I have had various ‘speedies’, including a flat bottomed rowing boat which I converted with a 5hp Johnson, stuck a steering wheel in at the bow and sat on the metal fuel tank. Result a rowing boat that planed – painted lime green and called Phlem; well I was 14! Then a Pearly Miss, a Dainty Miss and a Winner Wildcat. However, the subject of this yarn is my Bob Spalding Harrier. Driving through a north Suffolk village about 6 years ago I spied a red and white powerboat in a front garden. Hmm I thought, that looks nice, wonder what it is. Later that year passing through, there it was again…and so on for the next year and a half. Grass growing ever longer around the six-wheeled trailer. Curiosity killed the cat, but after another six months I could bear it no longer; a closer look was needed.
Having sat there for however how long without a cover, the story was a sorry one. The seat trim was split and brittle, most of the woodwork was rotten, including the floor, which had various small plants growing in it. The hull actually looked good. The most worrying though was the engine. It appeared that an unknown problem had meant that the heads had been removed and then the project must have stopped. The heads lay on the deck, rusting quietly and the tops of the pistons had been allowed to corrode over. Various ancillaries lay around, open to the elements.
Ripe for restoration I thought! Now to find who owns it and what it is. I found somebody with local knowledge who told me who owned the boat and where they might be found. I eventually tracked the chap down and met up with him. The conversation was short and sweet and went a bit like ‘I understand that 10
the boat belongs to you?’ ‘Yup, do you you want to buy it?’ A deal was struck and after freeing off the brakes and a wobbly journey back to base, the Harrier was mine! The owner had told me that the boat had come from the Bob Spalding boat yard near Ipswich and was understood to have been the demonstrator from which others would have been built to order, but tragically Bob had passed away before the project really got going. At this point, I would love to hear from anyone who could fill in any of the history, or if there are any pictures of the boat when new?
water cooling especially when using a boat in salt water! Two other great people helped me with the restoration of Harrier. Keen boater and fantastic coach and marine trimmer Bob Wells of Mildenhall, who did the interior, and car fanatic and engineer Chris Hollier from Stoke Ferry who helped me with the engine installation and various other technical problems along the way. He even built a test rig so we could run the engine before installing it (PIC) to check for oil leaks etc.
Anyway, the old owner had used Harrier on the south coast and even took it by road to the continent for summer holidays, but in the end an engine problem had stopped play and rather than get professional help his son had said that he could fix it. Heads off, presumably to no avail, and that is where the ‘fixing’, seems to have stopped until I appeared on the scene years later. I set to, stripping the interior from the elements and removing the rotten floor etc and also lifting the wrecked engine out. The hull and leg were in very good condition as was the stainless prop and power steering gear. After deciding that to rebuild the old V8 would not make economic sense, I went for a crate engine from the States acquired through Lancing Marine along with all sorts of other bits that were missing or needed replacing. I can highly recommend Lancing Marine and Mike Bellamy with his 40 year’s experience and knowledge; thanks Mike. The exhaust headers turned out to have been the cause of the original engine failure. When I took them to be shot blasted with other pieces, we could see that the wall had corroded and let cooling water into the bores; a common problem with raw
The engine proved to be fine and we installed it with the help of a telehandler one sunny afternoon. Bob Wells finished the trim and I put all the rest together including installing probably the most important device, a fuel gauge!
Once all the work was finished one thing remained, launching at Blakeney on the north Norfolk coast. 11
No alarms or excursions on the trip up and lovely medium tide at Morston meant that the launch was a success. The V8 started and off we went; one of those great moments when all your effort pays off. The Harrier is a very stable and strong boat, and quick to boot, a credit to Bob Spalding who got the job done in the first place.
This spring will be the 3rd year on the water and my plan is to go and have a look at the wind turbine cluster which has appeared on the horizon, and maybe a trip to Wells, fuel gauge allowing.
Many thanks to Stephen Chase for the article and photos.
If anyone knows if there are any other Harriers or has any more info then please let me know. (swgyplas@btopenworld.com)
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Write up of the inaugural Embassy Grand Prix, Bristol Floating Harbour, 8/9 July 1972 – Taken from the August 1972 edition of Powerboat Magazine
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Taken from Motor Boat and Yachting Magazine, August 1972
Taken from Powerboat and Waterskiing Magazine, June 1975
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The Last Race of an Iconic Boat
Bill Seebold’s 1982 rig in sponsors, Jack Barclay European and Tissot, colours. Anyone who was at the 1982 Bristol
event won’t forget either this boat or its driver. Bill went on to win the Duke of York Trophy and Embassy Gold Cup, where he raced against the mighty OZs. That same year, Ted Jones from America, borrowed Seebold’s boat which was in collision with Phil Duggan at the Casale Monferrato Grand Prix, Italy. 18
This article by Charlie Sheppard is as relevant today as it was when it was published in Powerboat and Waterskiing, June 1975 19
2015 is upon us and through the gloom of these winter months we will be planning our strategy for the year. We are hoping to attend this year’s Silverstone Classic as well as some local events, including a car show etc at Lowestoft and Yarmouth Rugby Club with all proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital. Believe it or not it will be 25 years this year since the last race took place in Bristol Docks. Twenty five years since the greatest event on the circuit powerboat calendar came to an end. It was events like Bristol that put circuit racing on the map. We are planning to commemorate those halcyon days with an anniversary dinner at what was the Unicorn Hotel. Watch this space for further updates. We are very privileged to now have three ex-Formula One drivers supporting Fast On water. Their input has already been invaluable in taking the organisation forward. We have also received official notice that the City of Bordeaux are happy to transfer ownership of the Bordeaux Collection to Fast On Water. This is great news, although it does mean we will have some serious restoration work on our hands. ‘Friends’ Membership Why not become a part of what is developing into the leading organisation in Europe for the preservation, enhancement and sharing of the history of circuit powerboat racing. You can become a ‘Friend’ of Fast On Water for as little as £10 per year For an application form please contact Roy Cooper at fastonwater@live.co.uk tel. 07799673451 Corporate Membership is also available – either Bronze, Silver or Gold For further details and an information pack contact Roy Cooper at fastonwater@live.co.uk tel. 01502 508606 mob. 07799673451
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For More info email fastonwater@live.co.uk
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