Cowes 2013 Update

[Ciao]

Winning speeds and winning boats have been up for some years on here >> http://www.britishpowerboatracingclub.co.uk/winners.htm

[Dozzer]

In order to get a coveted finish in the CTC I decided to strip Blastoff out and start again. Engines came out and went to Barrus for some of their magic, gearboxes off which had been upgraded the previous year. The Yanmar 440's have massive torque and I snapped TWO Arneson chains so I decided to get rid of the chain on one drive and convert it back to gears. As we were doing this and the gear ratio's were wrong for the 440's we decided to have some correct gear ratios made. At the same time we needed to compensate for the removal of the chains which gave us contra rotation so we settled on a drop box/reverser on the back of one of the gear boxes. So....who should we get to make these parts.....all advise led me to Traction Products/Weissman engineering in California who make bits for the Victory Team. McClaren etc. so I bit the bullet and placed an order and paid up front a not so considerable sum for a delivery of parts for delivery on 8th July.....so we would have time for installation and testing. 8th of July came and went, we phoned every day and we had excuse after excuse about the heat treaters not delivering back etc.etc. The gears for the drives turned up on the 7th August, one month late which we fitted the following day, so the drives were ready. So, drivers were ready, engines fully re-manufactured and ready, gearboxes ready, cockpit stripped out, tanks checked and ok, forward tanks reseated, all plumbing re-done, electrics checked and snagged, cockpit refitted with new Raymarine widescreen nav, engine hatch re-built with new air intakes and outlet fins and strengthened, all gell coat repairs done and all livery done.......still waiting for this drop box. Engines in, one drive on, driveshaft, plumbed so one side done. Other engine in, plumbed, drive on and now the wait for the box. Finally on tuesday 27th August the box appears and we unpack it and .....the bearing seal size is much bigger that the outlet bearing on the BAM! We scout the bearing traders who tell us no.....imperial on one side and metric on the other? So my brother in law who makes injection moulding tools worked his magic and reduced the size and re-seated the bearing seal......another day lost. Finally on Thursday 29th, gearbox in, boat ready for testing, boat delivered to Drivers that night. Friday morning, boat launched, engines started, tiny leaks dealt with and excitement levels rising. Then it was noticed oil starting to pour out of the four bolts at the back of the drop box where the oil pump was..........abort. Boat out, box off.....cant get to the screws........visit a local engineering works, a wack with a block of wood, bearing out and we find 4 posi-drive poorly rebated bolt heads with black shit around them loose holding the oil pump on. Not surprised they leaked. So an afternoon of cleaning and gluing and the box back together but no time to test properly, game over.........I dont want to be in the middle of Lyme bay with no oil in my drop box.

Maybe I am not meant to race.....or maybe its not my time.....

Thank you for everybody's help, and sorry to Ash and Neil who were coming with me on the race......next time?

[Pennpromo]

Dorian, really sorry to hear that all your efforts came to nothing, racing can just be so frustrating. Looking at the results we could have been right up there with Cinzano; we just needed to race ... Simon

[ashley nihell]

dorian worked his but off to not only sort out his boat but also the evnt and credit where credit is due he made one of the two work,the boat looks fantastic and we are looking forward to testing soon to get it sorted then on to next year....i know a lot of people really like the look of blastoff so i think you need to put some pics on here to show everyone what they missed.......... it looks fantastic,on the plus side for me i still got a ride with the birreta team...thanks again to them,so come on dorian some pics for all to see what you have been up to ash

[Ciao]

Thinking about Winning Speeds, Graham Stevens collated a definitive list of runners, riders, distance and photographs.

I put them up here >> LINK

[Mrs Smillie]

Originally Posted by Dozzer

In order to get a coveted finish in the CTC I decided to strip Blastoff out and start again. Engines came out and went to Barrus for some of their magic, gearboxes off which had been upgraded the previous year. The Yanmar 440's have massive torque and I snapped TWO Arneson chains so I decided to get rid of the chain on one drive and convert it back to gears. As we were doing this and the gear ratio's were wrong for the 440's we decided to have some correct gear ratios made. At the same time we needed to compensate for the removal of the chains which gave us contra rotation so we settled on a drop box/reverser on the back of one of the gear boxes. So....who should we get to make these parts.....all advise led me to Traction Products/Weissman engineering in California who make bits for the Victory Team. McClaren etc. so I bit the bullet and placed an order and paid up front a not so considerable sum for a delivery of parts for delivery on 8th July.....so we would have time for installation and testing. 8th of July came and went, we phoned every day and we had excuse after excuse about the heat treaters not delivering back etc.etc. The gears for the drives turned up on the 7th August, one month late which we fitted the following day, so the drives were ready. So, drivers were ready, engines fully re-manufactured and ready, gearboxes ready, cockpit stripped out, tanks checked and ok, forward tanks reseated, all plumbing re-done, electrics checked and snagged, cockpit refitted with new Raymarine widescreen nav, engine hatch re-built with new air intakes and outlet fins and strengthened, all gell coat repairs done and all livery done.......still waiting for this drop box. Engines in, one drive on, driveshaft, plumbed so one side done. Other engine in, plumbed, drive on and now the wait for the box. Finally on tuesday 27th August the box appears and we unpack it and .....the bearing seal size is much bigger that the outlet bearing on the BAM! We scout the bearing traders who tell us no.....imperial on one side and metric on the other? So my brother in law who makes injection moulding tools worked his magic and reduced the size and re-seated the bearing seal......another day lost. Finally on Thursday 29th, gearbox in, boat ready for testing, boat delivered to Drivers that night. Friday morning, boat launched, engines started, tiny leaks dealt with and excitement levels rising. Then it was noticed oil starting to pour out of the four bolts at the back of the drop box where the oil pump was..........abort. Boat out, box off.....cant get to the screws........visit a local engineering works, a wack with a block of wood, bearing out and we find 4 posi-drive poorly rebated bolt heads with black shit around them loose holding the oil pump on. Not surprised they leaked. So an afternoon of cleaning and gluing and the box back together but no time to test properly, game over.........I dont want to be in the middle of Lyme bay with no oil in my drop box.

Maybe I am not meant to race.....or maybe its not my time.....

Thank you for everybody's help, and sorry to Ash and Neil who were coming with me on the race......next time?

We were so sorry to hear you were not racing especially my girls as you know they love your boat. I hope you get the result you deserve soon thanks for a great event we had a fantastic weekend and Eric is still wearing his lip stick! Claire x

[Paul E]

Does anyone know how much fuel Going Lean used?

[Jon Fuller]

Originally Posted by Paul E

Does anyone know how much fuel Going Lean used?

£2400

We used £200

[PhatFrank]

Originally Posted by Jon Fuller

£2400

We used £200

I think you forgot to include booze, Jon

[Jon Fuller]

Well, we finished Cowes this year, so a vast improvement over last, but not without a hick-up or two.

There were only two boats entered in our (E) class, the other being Cookee in the 'E-Lites' boat. Unfortunately, they blew a gearbox on the friday just off the Needles enroute to Cowes from Salcombe, so they were out.
We still had the 3 boats in D class to have a pop at, those being the new stepped Boss 36 (two 350hp small blocks) and two stepped 10m Scorpion cabin ribs (two Yanmar 315's) The Boss a totally unknown quantity, the Scorpions very well respected, especially if it roughs up.
The race this year was split in two, 90 mile race to Torquay (from North Head) and the return 104 miles back to Cowes.
We ran down in almost flat conditions, just enough swell to make it annoying, where trimmed to be loose and fast left it porpoising and nodding, and a tiny dab of in-trim, stopped the poor pitch behaviour, but it then stuck and lost a few mph. anyway, we beat all three D boats into Torquay, the Boss by about a mile, and the Scorps by about 3 miles. The 1200hp 42' Buzzi rib 'Birretta' from Belgium beat us in by around a mile.
On the return (4 hours later) it was clear that the sea was a little more lively with the Westerly breeze pushing up a bit of a following sea as we left the shelter of torbay. We set off to Portland (via Berry Head) and quickly pulled out a lead on the 3 'D' boats, in fact it felt as though we were pulling away from them more convincingly than the outward leg....then mid way across Lyme Bay, the stbd motor dropped to about 3k rpm. We know that with the current set up (non wastegated turbos) once we stop, there's no way of getting back on plane with a sick motor, its hard enough with both singing properly, so we struggled on for some time at about 40mph discussing our options. We noticed a lot of odd stuff with the instruments, engine load reading zero, volts reading 12.9, boost low etc. After the 3 D class boats caught up and past, and their rooster/spray faded in the distance till they were out of sight, we tried a couple of things, and eventually the stbd motor just stopped and we fell off the plane. Two very unhappy bunnies!

After a mess about, linking the batteries and a re try, it re-started, and ran perfectly all the way back to Cowes! But we had lost at least 10, maybe 15 mins with the breakdown and though we passed the Boss off Anvil point crawling along on one motor, we never caught the Scorpions and they finished 7 mins ahead of us.
We averaged 65mph on the way to Torquay, and 58mph on the return.
Once it restarted it ran brilliantly, and the boat behaved really well in the building following sea back past Anvil, Needles etc, so a real shame. We were indicating 70 all the way up the Solent. but in the morning (Mon) when Nick went to start it, the stbd battery was totally flat, I think probably broken internally, this may have caused the issue (bloody electronics! They have no place in a race boat).

So that was our Cowes 2013 event
Could have been better, but could have been a lot worse! We know only too well what a miserable trip home it is from Lyme bay @ 5knts, and I had a very early start on the Monday morning, so that really wasn't an option!

On the Saturday we (Nick & I) took a ride on Mike Rings new 34 footer 'Overlord' up to the Folly Inn for lunch. Knowing my liking of the Sittingbourne rockets, Mike was determined to get me in the driving seat of the LA hog so he could snap a pic to play with, I obliged and I attach the resulting 'picture' that emerged from 'Ring Powercraft' via email that night. He does enjoy a laugh that Mike!

[Jon Fuller]

Originally Posted by PhatFrank

I think you forgot to include booze, Jon

Oh yeah, Dean, £3400

We used £200 (I'm Tea Total)

[Paul E]

Originally Posted by Jon Fuller

£2400

We used £200

[Renegade]

So whats it looking like for next year?

[COLIN C BUSHELL]

Well what a race!! After many years of trekking down Milford shingle bank to Hurst we decided to venture to Anvil point, Never been there before so didn't know what to expect, We were pleasantly surprised! The sat nav took us to Durlston castle car park and after a short walk we were there , Anvil Point Lighthouse , Brilliant viewing spot on the cliff top, With a very gentle northerly breeze the sea state was very calm so we thought speeds would be high, And we weren't disappointed !! With yellowbrick logged in it showed the first three Going Lean,Silverline, And Smoking Aces flat chat, And the rest of the pack going well too! It was very good to see Dry Martini going so well at this stage What a fantastic looking boat! We had a bit of a wait until the return leg and got chatting to a couple of very knowledgeable guys, One who knew quite a bit about the organising team and was in Cowes on Saturday Didn't get his name! We then relocated along the cliff top so we could see St Albans head for the return and that's where we bumped into a chap by the name of Graham Stevens who greeted me with "Ah you must be the fireman from Salisbury" Well my son looked at me and said how the hell does he know that? Then I explained about Boatmad! We exchanged a bit of banter and Smoking Aces appeared round the headland in the lead but was too far out to get a decent shot, Silverline was next and catching fast and by the time they went out of sight they were neck and neck, Going lean was a lot closer to the shore and going somewhat faster, As were Dry Martini and Warpath who both passed very close to the cliffs so got some good shots, Sad not to see "HTS" return, we could tell from yellowbrick that she had turned back in Lyme bay, All in all a very good day ,and the weather was a bonus! Thank you to all the crews for giving us spectators a good race, But please next year come in a bit closer! And finally a big thank you to the organisers , All your hard work paid off, Please do it again next year!! Regards Colin Bushell

[Miss Daisy]

Here's the story from HTS:

Many thanks to Nick Wilkinson for inviting me to join him as navigator on the wonderful HTS. The third member of the team is Matt Wilson, head of Perkins marine, known for his ability to achieve dirty overalls within 16 nanoseconds. Joining us for the day as 4th man was Paul Fisher who was also with us on leg 1 of the CMC prologue.

Preps were smooth on Friday and Saturday, no work needed having repaired and strengthened the trim tabs after the prologue. Lots of walking between Jubilee Haven and the accomodation boat in the Yachthaven but it was very kind of the RYS to step in at the last moment.

On Sunday the trip down to Hurst was good with plenty of 'interraction' with the spectator boats. We started to the right and rear of the fleet not wanting to get in the way of the really fast boats. Their wash then tossed us about a bit until they pulled ahead soon after '2 buoys'. Our own battle was with Francis and Martin on Fugitive being of similar speed. We ran together for a while but then started to steadily pull ahead, I'm guessing about 1-2 knots difference in speed. We came in shore at Anvil point for the photographers but got really close at Portland Bill. HTS gives a comfortable motion but as can be seen in the photos is slightly nose high. The tabs will be enlarged this winter to compensate and as the props are still not right we're hoping for a bit more speed too. We passed Warpath after a while when she was moving slowly westwards at about 6 knots, obviously working on their electrical fault. We crossed the finish line after 1 hour 44 minutes, fault free, ready for lunch and keen to hear the news of the rest of the fleet.

The return leg started fine, wondering for a while how we were staying with Warpath until she pulled ahead to the horizon, more gremlins perhaps? B8 also suffered problems at the start but roared past us after about 15 minutes. Some 25 minutes in Nick said 'I can smell burning'. Coming off the plane we lifted the hatches to find smoke and steam from the rear of the starboard engine. The thrust bearing between the propshaft and the carden joint up to the gearbox had failed. A few buckets of water to cool things down and keep us safe and then a slow turn towards Torquay (still the nearest port) and retirement. Had some difficulties getting hold of race control, too far for VHF and mobile but managed in the end. 18 miles at 47 knots is one thing but the way back at 6 knots took considerably longer!! Arrival back at Torquay, swift one with Barrie, Tom et al and then taxi to Southampton and the Red Jet saw us back in Cowes about 2230. 2 pints in the Anchor and a bite in the Portuguese place at Shepherds with the Warpath team etc saw us falling into our pits about 0130. A long but enjoyable day, frustrating not to finish but that's racing!

Many thanks to all the organisers and of course all the photographers various, there's some good shots out there, much appreciated.

Here's to next year......

Jonathan Napier

[Jon Fuller]

Francis & Stuart.

[Miss Daisy]

Oops thanks Jon, sorry Stuart!

[woottonwillis153]

May I say what a gentleman Mike Bontoft is, after completing the C-T-C he still wanted to make time too take me and my son Sam down to Dry Martini to have our photos taken and have a sit inside, and then talk everything racing. Many thanks Mike it was a pleasure, the boat looked and sounded great. steve and sam

[Zed]

After fitting our deck rails and obtaining our measurement certificate, the boat was ready and the big weekend of the year had arrived.


We arrived at The Royal Yacht Squadron on Saturday, the boat passed scrutineering and we could now relax.


Ollie’s (Warpath) birthday meal in Toninos was excellent, a big “thank you” to Glen for his hospitality and generosity, it was an excellent night. I hope



Ollie and the rest of the Warpath team enjoyed it.


The morning of the race arrived and it was an early start with a 7am briefing.


Weather forecast was 2 – 3 with the possibility of 3 – 4 in the afternoon.
All the race boats headed out of Cowes to the muster area following the start boat down the Solent. We had the added problem of a swimming race across to the island as we came past Hurst Castle.


Going Lean, Warpath, Silverline, Smokin Aces, Dry Martini and No.8 all pulled away from the rest of the pack across Poole Bay and the smaller powered boats settled in for the run to Portland Bill and across Lyme Bay.


We were chasing Biretta Due and Swipewipes who were quicker than us, but we were having trouble keeping ahead of Grey Ghost and Hot Lemon who had the advantage of experience over us.


As we came across Lyme Bay we saw Warpath at rest with the engine hatches open but no smoke so we knew all was ok.


The run down to Torquay was very calm and it was really a case of who had the fastest boat.


We arrived in Torquay, first in class with the 2 Scorpions close behind.


Torquay was full of people and the harbour wall was a sea of faces all peering down at the boats. The Mayor of Torquay had even provided the race teams with lunch which was an excellent idea. The only downside was the annoying music played over the tannoy system on the harbour wall.


At 2 o’clock the race back to Cowes began and the battle was on. Hot Lemon was right beside us together with Grey Ghost right from the moment the flag was dropped.


We were neck and neck across Lyme Bay until we found a little bit extra and slowly crept ahead.


We passed Swipewipes who seemed to have engine trouble about half way across Lyme Bay and at about the same time Warpath came passed as well.


As predicted it started to get a little choppy past Portland Bill and across to Arish Mell which enabled us to see how the Boss ran in choppy waters.


By the time we got to Anvil Point we had opened up about a mile lead over the Scorpions, the boat was running great and we headed for home. But as we passed Swanage, about 20 miles from Cowes, disaster struck and we snapped the water inlet pipe on the starboard engine and she shut down into guardian mode.


We had to make the decision to retire and limp back to Cowes on one engine.


All in all we had a fantastic weekend both in terms of racing and the social side.


A big thank you to BPRC, John and Dorian for putting the event on, to Sally and Gill and also to Rob Andrews, Martin, Gary and the rest of the organising committee.


Also thank you to the safety boats and crews and in particular “Dragon Fly” for making sure we got back to the Solent safely


We would love to come back next year and hopefully finish the race.

[Goinglean]

We had additional fuel tanks secured in the boat giving us 1600l of Super Unleaded all jerry canned in from the BP garage on Northam road (The glamour!!) ... Cruised down to the Start line .. positioned the boat carefully and set off on Yellow flag .. all was going well until the yellow flag stayed up for a while and we had to fall off plane to stay behind the start boat .. as we did ... Green ... Bugger .. our worst start ever !! We had a strategy on the way to Torquay to go as slow as possible and arrive first in order to save fuel, nobody had told Silverline or Smokin Aces so we ended up running at 88mph average. Uneventful trip there .. pulled into to Torquay ... and had a few issues ... Port engine Fuel filter had developed a crack and we had been leaking fuel (only dripping) so quick pipe divert and we had a filter bypass set up .. and one fuel pump had failed so we had 91l of petrol stuck in a tank in bow of boat we couldn't use ... hmmm this is gonna be tight on way back !!!! .... Set back off at 2 ... boat was running OK .. usual stuff .. go slow enough to win !! ... Dave ... I can smell smoke ... hmmm me too ... lets keep going whilst we have a think .... 4 miles later and mid way across Lyme Bay smoke bellows in around both of our feet and we clearly have a little fire onboard ... as Dave gets the extinguisher I peel off to port and head for a 45ft Fairline cruiser I could see a few miles away and we pop over to them at about 60mph .. circle them twice and request they stand to as we are on fire .. we came to a stop ... Dave dives into bow hatch with extinguisher .. I head for engine bay .. Dave finds culprit .. some magic later and he drops back into his seat and says .. no point cruising back .. they passed us ages ago ... so we gunned it .. Drew and Chris were ahead by a few miles .. we could see one rooster in distance ... pushed along at between 95 and 100mph .. at Old Harry they were about a mile ahead so we popped it up to bout 105 ... overtook them pre needles then ran to finish racing John in the heli ..

All in all a great weekend .. well ran as ever

Dean