Backdraft on Ebay

[Pennpromo]

The rude and arrogant man was probably arguing with a scrutineer so missed being in the picture!
Talking of which here's a picture with him in from 1986 ish testing a US-1 46' with Didier Peroni, Mr Mercurio, (Cougar importer- France), Grant Wilson, Martin Levi, a couple of others and me on the bow with the camera. Looks quite young there doesn't he ?

[Pennpromo]

Here's a bigger picture :

[Jon Fuller]

Originally posted by pennpromo
Looks quite young there doesn't he ?

Yes, but still has a remarkebly rude & arrogant look about him!

I doo hope he sees this!

TD and I are having lunch with the nobba tomorrow

[Pennpromo]

Looks like he is teaching Peroni, ex Ferrari F1 driver and class 1 powerboat racer, how to drive by leaning over and grabbing the wheel !

[Jon Fuller]

Originally posted by pennpromo
Looks quite young there doesn't he ?

Elementary my dear Watson!

[The gArfish]

fuk mee hee luks lyke lea vann cleaf inn de filum forr a feww dollers morr wiv clinnt westwud

gArf

[Jon Fuller]

Originally posted by pennpromo
The Team!

So that would be a VERY young looking Martin Curry on the right then! (Ruby Murry on BM)

He was Marks 'crash test dummy' during the V-V-23 design/test programme. he got a tad wet on occasion due to capsize as I remember (well, everytime they tried running the boat really!)

[Pennpromo]

Correct Jon, that is a very young Martin Curry, he wasn't the only one to get wet: I arrived in Cape Town for the 1.3 World's was picked up from the airport and within an hour I had taken an unscheduled bath in the Atlantic testing the new 1.3L world beater ! Managed to keep hold of the GPS only to be told that it wasn't waterproof. Scariest thing was getting a ride back on the deck of Pete Wilson's Argocat ! Pascoe on side deck, me the other, geting very very wet.

[Ciao]

It seems pretty unbelievable that 1.3 l was scrapped in this country.
We certainly had our fair share of World and European Champions in this class over the years.
OK some years the number of competitors was low, but it was cyclical. In the current climate of high fuel costs, you would think it would make a great deal of sense to reintroduce it, not just as a "beginners class", (Penn Promo has already said how much he enjoyed racing it "on and off" over the years) but as a competitive national series.
The boats that fit the class can be bought relatively cheaply, an old P16 springs to mind, bet French Phil didn't part with many euros for his Argo 18 etc...
The engine choice of the Yam, Tohatsu leads to some interesting arguments.....
I know the OCR boys will point to their 1.3l series, but having raced both there is a huge difference - and you can't do 80+ in an Argo Cat in OCR!

[Adam]

It all ways seems a great shame about 1.3 - everyone knows its a good idea and the class should flourish - but no one enters it! Hence the class being 'scrapped'.

I think it comes down to costs to a large extent and unless you can entry fees right down people are not going to race this class.

["Old beardy"]

Originally posted by Adam
It all ways seems a great shame about 1.3 - everyone knows its a good idea and the class should flourish - but no one enters it! Hence the class being 'scrapped'.

I think it comes down to costs to a large extent and unless you can entry fees right down people are not going to race this class.

Having raced a season in 1.3ltr in a B22 a couple of years ago I agree with Adam regarding costs. Although the entry fees were less than 2ltr and we did not use as much fuel, the remainder of the costs were on a par. The preparation of the engine was far higher to get a production motor to a standard where it would hold together to complete the courses. We had to replace the top engine mounts on the Tohatsu after every race. We ended the season racing against 1 boat, the B23 from Gibraltar, which we never managed to match for speed in any conditions. Hence the reason we decided to go 2ltr.
I think it could still however be a great class to race if a little more thought were put into the costs by offering a financial incentive to get people started. I also did a season in OCR 1.3 ltr which was terrific fun, mainly because everyone was running similar equipment (P16 with 90 Yam). There were about 5 or 6 boats out there and it was real close racing and in the rough it was fun to be mixing it with some of the slower 2lts. With the K1000 class the youngsters have got a natural progression into OCR 1.3 but with no class three 1.3 ltr we are surely losing some of tomorrows stars?

[JBP]

Originally posted by "Old beardy"
With the K1000 class the youngsters have got a natural progression into OCR 1.3 but with no class three 1.3 ltr we are surely losing some of tomorrows stars?

Most of this years K1000 raced along side the rest of the basic fleet at Allhallows this year and it made for some really close racing too, races within a race meant there was always somethng going on.
K1000 was set up just for that raeson too, so far Will Nurse and Frank Rose have gone onto 2L and OCR but like all classes there is still plenty of room for more.

[Ruby Murry]

Originally posted by Jon Fuller
So that would be a VERY young looking Martin Curry on the right then! (Ruby Murry on BM)

He was Marks 'crash test dummy' during the V-V-23 design/test programme. he got a tad wet on occasion due to capsize as I remember (well, everytime they tried running the boat really!)

That was me and despite being a crash test dummy I did really enjoy the short time I raced 1.3Ltr it would be good to see it make a come back. I would be interested just need to convince the wife!

Ruby

[Matt]

Hey Martin, good to hear from you again.
Looking forward to catching up with you next weekend - assume you'll be at the Friday do?

M

[Ruby Murry]

Thanks Matt

Yep I will be at the Friday do....so see you then.

Martin