Gee 185

[biffer]

i look after and did the fit out on GEE185, i have recently been offered a 21ft avenger which i am told was the tender to gee back in the sixties/ seventies, i'm trying to find early pictures to verify this claim, can anybody help, biff

[FLYING FISH]

The Avenger 21 is not listed in the Shead Design book,but then again being as it was a production boat, it is more likely to be in the Avenger Boat Co production list.John Walker may know being as he was involved with the company.Also in mid seventies Gee was refitted as Melodrama for John Galliford,and I think Keith Dallas ended up owning it,so may he could throw some light on it.

[biffer]

this avenger was owned by tommy sopwith and then sold to ed greenhall by all accounts, i'll check with the owner of gee about the early name changes, i'm not sure if it was this one or the later one which had the same name

[biffer]

Originally Posted by FLYING FISH

The Avenger 21 is not listed in the Shead Design book,but then again being as it was a production boat, it is more likely to be in the Avenger Boat Co production list.John Walker may know being as he was involved with the company.Also in mid seventies Gee was refitted as Melodrama for John Galliford,and I think Keith Dallas ended up owning it,so may he could throw some light on it.

i dont think these were the same boat, back in 1968 both gee and melodrama raced in the same ctc, the gee that we have was built for the first round britain race, it looks like tommy sopwith had a kevlar boat built as his tender to philante and this is what he raced, still not found any definate pics of it yet still searching

[FLYING FISH]

Gee was refitted and renamed Melodrama after John Galliford`s boat which was also named Melodrama, which he bought from Guy Renwick,a Souter built 25ft powered by 3 X mercury outboards.
Gee wasn`t built for the RB69,but built in1967 and won it`s first race (Needles Trophy)
As far as I know Tommy Sopwith never raced Philante`s tender.I have been asked for pics of that boat before,but unfortunately I have none.

[FLYING FISH]

It can`t be the TBS tender,as I have just been informed that another `old school`powerboater has it.

[Jon Fuller]

tbc

[biffer]

Originally Posted by FLYING FISH

Gee was refitted and renamed Melodrama after John Galliford`s boat which was also named Melodrama, which he bought from Guy Renwick,a Souter built 25ft powered by 3 X mercury outboards.
Gee wasn`t built for the RB69,but built in1967 and won it`s first race (Needles Trophy)
As far as I know Tommy Sopwith never raced Philante`s tender.I have been asked for pics of that boat before,but unfortunately I have none.

you are right about the names, just talked to chris and he confirms what you say, have got some pic's of this 21footer and the transom has a recess in it, the story was that the recessed drive was so he could get it on the deck of philante, i'm not really interested if he raced it or not, we're just trying to find a link to gee, if that can be found we'll will probaly look at buying it. i'll sort these pic's out later and post them

[FLYING FISH]

What you say about the tender mod to fit Philante stowage is correct.So the mystery deepens.No doubt the `old school` powerboater will advise his thoughts on this.Ask John Moore if his Guernsey contact (worked with Gee) who he met on the 2009 Guernsey trip can advise.

TBC Jon,are you fishin`.

[john price]

Hi there fellas
this is my first post on this superb site, while your talking about avenger 21s
can any body rememenber a 21 footer called Devils Choice ? unfortunately my step dad sunk her in 1969 or 70 just off staiths north yorks . she had 2x merc 100s i think, frightened the hell out of me as a seven year old ! i only had one ride in it before it sank never to be seen again even though divers searched for two weeks. After that he went on to build the seejen boats which did well in class 3. There are some pics on here of Born Free in action
which is great to see them.
John

[biffer]

Originally Posted by john price

Hi there fellas
this is my first post on this superb site, while your talking about avenger 21s
can any body rememenber a 21 footer called Devils Choice ? unfortunately my step dad sunk her in 1969 or 70 just off staiths north yorks . she had 2x merc 100s i think, frightened the hell out of me as a seven year old ! i only had one ride in it before it sank never to be seen again even though divers searched for two weeks. After that he went on to build the seejen boats which did well in class 3. There are some pics on here of Born Free in action
which is great to see them.
John

hi John, welcome, i'm sorry i don't know the name but that's not uncommon as i hardly remember my own name sometimes, i'm an engineer and jump on loads of boats, i just don't look at names i'm afraid, some of the other guys do more history and names, good luck

[FLYING FISH]

There was an Avenger 21 called Devils Choice,but not much mentioned in dispatches.,what were is at odds with your account John.

1969 Yorkshire Race - One last minute starter was hot favourite Devils Choice,a brand new IIIE that Keith Schellenberg was to drive.He in fact had trouble with one motor and after borrowing a unit off Norman Barclay`s `Kings Favourite` had another one also pack in.

A month later the same boat was driven by Les Seed in the Poole race and retired.Maybe this was the race it sunk,with the Seejen man at the helm.

[john price]

thanks for such a quick reply maybe Les bought the boat of keith schellenberg , it was definately sunk off whitby , i will have a look for the newspaper cutting from the time as it mentioned a race which was on at the time of the sinking and the crew that rescued Les and navigator from the water !

[FLYING FISH]

In 1970 Les Seed drove Robin`s Folly a IIID Avenger 21 in the Whitby Race,so I wonder what happened after the 1969 Poole race in July.I have no record of Devil`s Choice after that.If you have any pics of the boat it will be the first time I`ve seen it.

[john price]

Yes thats correct Les did race Robins Folley after he sank Devils Choice, the only picture i have of DC is a small oil painting ! ! I will take a photo and try to post on here, many thanks for this info it is much appreciated
John

[Catweazle]

Just sorting out my pics found these.

[biffer]

nice pic's the top one is the newer one and we've got the older one (bottom pic) here and she still going well, on her today just to run her up and knock her in and out of gear

[Catweazle]

Originally Posted by biffer

nice pic's the top one is the newer one and we've got the older one (bottom pic) here and she still going well, on her today just to run her up and knock her in and out of gear

That must belong to chris.i helped out working on her with andy before the CTC .Did he ever get the props right.?CW.
Nearly forgot he melted a piston on my boat.ha ha.Was the later one alluminium.

[biffer]

Originally Posted by Catweazle

That must belong to chris.i helped out working on her with andy before the CTC .Did he ever get the props right.?CW.
Nearly forgot he melted a piston on my boat.ha ha.Was the later one alluminium.

later one was ali but they say it was never as good as the first one, got the boat more or less where it's capable of getting but chris is always looking to get that bit more out of the old girl, we've talked about all kinds of things like bigger engines, grp copies, wood replica's, i get an idea a week, he's a good guy and it's a good escape for him

[Phantom666]

for those of u who r interested in the resting place of the aluminium hull gee185, the attachment shows u. It's an image of google map showing where it sank in gibraltar! it still remains there i believe!

first time attaching so hope it works! lol