Don Shead Gallery

[THUNDERBOLT]

Hello brian so your blue mist heh....
sent letter to son of Christina owner ....fingers crossed
Mike

[BluFin]

Nice info Fish, might have a pic or 2 of the Paris stuff somewhere, another dig around sometime soon see what I can find

[Blue mist]

Hi THUNDERBOLT, Thanks for the update.......(Smiths Dials) Have you tried Speedograph Richfield Ltd. Tel: 0044(0)1159264235 Might be worth a call.
Brian.

[littlenige]

At last the almanac has spoken!! Well done Graham!!! Thanks for clearing that up for us!

[Jon Fuller]

Originally Posted by FLYING FISH

For those who have asked the question re Shead history pre avenger,there have been several pieces written,one in particular 16 pages.A short resume as follows.
Began in 61 CT with a borrowed boat `Blue Marlin`,a 16ft,Fletcher built.Same year raced 14ft Yarecraft powered by 35hp Perkins in Paris 6hr.In 62 raced in Paris again with Wynne designed,Souter built boat.63 had levi design him `Trident` a 19ft,twin 110hp volvo.64 sold `Trident`and gained experience in class E levi hydroplane.He also raced with Mike Beard in `Mongaso`a class III levi in such races as Putney,Southend,Poole,Cowes.65 with John Dalton he drove `Alto Volante`,24ft levi with 800hp interceptor.Also 3rd in Paris in another levi rig.During 66 he campaigned `Delta 28 with Mike Beard winning the Wills Int.Then in 66 he and Mike Beard won Paris 6hr in LeanII,described as a slightly stretched levi delta,but because the volvo was unhomologated was disqualified and Molinari had the victory.When he returned to England,Pacoe Watson encouraged him to produce a fibreglass production version of `Lean II,lengthened to 21ft and thus Aengers were born.
So Blue Mist a nice piece of history sat on your trailer.

Good evening Sir, how are you doing? ....More uploads tonight, back from Madeira today.

[Blue mist]

Hi Flying Fish, A nice piece on DS. But not so the boat, she was a total wreck when I found her. I will post the restoration at some stage. I still own her and she is currently on display at The Classic Boat Museum in Newport, IOW...........Just a longshot - I wondered if you know where she went to after the Paris race in 1966?

[Blue mist]

Hi Blue Fin, when you get a chance to have a dig around for the Paris stuff, if by chance you find any info on Lean II Number 71, no matter how small, could you please let me know. I have very little knowledge of her history. Many thanks
Brian

[BluFin]

Ex in a spiteful mood
Every issue of Powerboat & Watersport / Skier from 73 thru 85
Pretty Much every one Uncle "Ray's" race report from when he started writing for MBY along with the pics
Home pics inc 8mm cine from Swanage 80, Whitby, Welsh 100, Sandwich, Weston,Cross Channel Race, Cowes-Torquay, Southern Speed, Fitting Out 50, Bedfont (LMBRC) at Iver. Paris was just Fab an annual trip as a kid just for the Race she trashed loads.
Anybody want the contact details so you lot can tell her what damage was done. If ever a number plate was more deserved B1TCH really does fit

Edit:
Just pulled out Bill Shakespeare's book, loads of old paris pics in it. Providing there are no great objections I'll scan the pics in it over next weekend & post.

[minto]

That is a real shame, what year was the Iver material, pre Len Britnell?

[TimB-C]

Len was Iver !!! oh happy days.......Does anyone know if Eddie is still with us?? Xmas cards stopped a couple of years ago.....prob thought I wasn't worth a foreign postage stamp !!! That bloody dog had me three times !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mike k]

Iver.......brings back a few memories. I used to go there with my brother when he first started racing in an old Bristol mono sponsored by Olympus. Len was commodore at Iver then.

[gurney]

Hi, New to the forum, and seeking info on a recent purchase. I have recently bought a Don Shead designed?, Enfield built aluminium 26ft, offshore power boat. Looks almost identical to, but shorter version of the "castoldi jet".I will attach pic if I can.

I do not have any real knowledge of offshore power, and bought this with the intention of converting to a "pleasure boat" with a half deck cabin in keeping with the lines of the hull. The boat appears to be in excellent condition, and apart from the engines and out drives, is almost complete and original(slight changes to the deck area and cock pit), but all there.

Having read the forums on boatmad, it occurred to me that I may get a lot of flak from your members, and with this in mind, I would like to know if anyone can give information on the boat.

The pic shows it in a race, event unknown, using the name "blast from the past". It is now painted red, but has not been vandalized, and has been stored carefully. Any help would be appreciated.

[gurney]

picture "blast from the past"

[Jon Fuller]

I raced against 'Blast from the past' back in the mid 90's.
Good rough water boat, though it lacked a bit of top speed to be competitive in the flat.

Built for Adnan Khashoggi (Arms dealer) in the early 70's (there were two I think) as tenders to his super yacht.

[gurney]

Thanks Jon, the previous owner had suggested it was used as a tender to a super yacht, but I could not be sure if it was initially made for that purpose, or ended up that way. It was manufactured by Enfield, it has the plate in the cock pit. The design and layout are very spartan, and would suggest it was designed for competition use, that, I suppose could have been at the whim of Khashoggi,if he had it made. The boat has the name of Don Shead on the side, and certainly looks like a Shead design, but again Enfield would have followed a proven design at the request of the purchaser. I believe your correct about its origins, but would like to find out as much as I can before I begin to make any alterations. It would be nice to keep it as it is, but unfortunately it would not be practical for my purposes. Thank you for your input, and if you or anyone can add to it, well, all the better. I dont feel too bad about making changes to it now.regards George.

[Ben]

According to a former owner, the boat exhibited the rather unnerving tendency to swap ends whilst travelling in a straight line.

[gurney]

Hi Ben, any idea who that previous owner might be, and when he raced it. I doubt I will be travelling fast enough to worry about the change in direction, I wander all over the place just getting about.

[Ciao]

Originally Posted by gurney

Hi Ben, any idea who that previous owner might be, and when he raced it. I doubt I will be travelling fast enough to worry about the change in direction, I wander all over the place just getting about.

Last time I was on that thing was October 1982 - Crickey, time flies!

[Jon Fuller]

I believe Andy Judge, or Judd (sp) bought it from Khashoggi back in the day. not sure after that, but I looked at it for a friend (Ian Cutler) in the early 90's at Eastlands boatyard Southampton, but he didn't buy it. Then it was bought by Alan Prebble, owner of the Silverlake salvage yard in Botley, Southampton who raced it in 'T' class in the mid/late 90's.

Various owners after that, including I think Andy Judge again, as well as Tony 'mad dog' Hamilton, and lastly Young Max Smilie who I assume you bought it off.

That's all I know.

[Cookee]

This was taken in 2005 in Tony Hamilton's place on the island.