For you Richie.
VBV 1973,entering the harbour after the race; You,Bonomi and Petroni on the 36' lighter Dry Martini(III) followed by the third overalls,Tom Gentry with the 36' American Eagle.

Richie,

I can tell you what you missed at the Deauville Trophy, can't remember if it was 73 or74. As everyone was climbing a steep ladder to go from the pontoon to the quay, Carlo Bonomi emptied a bottle of champagne directly on the (shapely) rear of the pretty girl who was preceeding him up the first rungs. I can tell you that she wasn't expecting it !
Much more enjoyable celebration for us spectators than what we see in F1 GP....

I went back there last week, sat down on the low granite wall where we kis, used to spend hours watching you guys getting those boats ready. When you fired up those Aeromarine engines, we used to feel them through the vibrations in the granite. I'd give anything to go back in time.....

Phil.

Phil - another great pic! Thanks for posting!

Itīs strange looking back, I thought I was kind of unique in my passion for powerboat racing (with the exception of a couple of local kids who were also keen on the sport) - yet through the internet it transpires that kids all over the world at the various races were all equally thrilled when the powerboats arrived in town. The thing I could never understand was why the whole planet wasnīt as crazy as I was over the sport - to me it was the most exciting spectacle ever - to witness the start of a race like the Cowes Torquay race and Iīm sure many others, was just mind blowing.

I agree Nigel. Offshore Powerboat Racing was mystical for me. Difficult to put the finger on a single cause. The boats looked awesome (thank you Mr Arronow) and most had great names (Black Tornado) or great liveries ( Dry Martini or Miss Embassy). Then, there was the sheer power of the engines. The big Aeromarine (or Mercruiser) V8s gave at least 600 bhp at a time where F1 cars ( the yardstick for us in Europe) had no more than 500. To that you can add the silent restrained impression of speed that the boat on the trailers conveyed. You could just tell that once in the water they would be just like buckling broncos, only able to be handle by a handful of men in the world. This brings me to the crews. The mechanics who disappeared in the engine bay, fine tuning those monsters and who we pestered for stickers (sorry Richie). The navigators, who for me have been underestimated at times, and the drivers/throttlemen which I envied for being able to dominate the power of the beasts in conditions which I didn't appreciate at the time.
To all this you must add the mystery that surrounded Offshore racing in 1970's France. No internet back then. Info about the sport was so hard to come by. No dedicated magazines, only one seasonal report a year. Being an Offshore fan was a frustrating affair at times.

That is why I am so grateful for this forum and the Horba site, these two mediums allow me not only to re-live these great days and fill the gap in the knowledge I thought I had but also to meet people like you and Marco whose experience is somewhat similar. Furthermore, we are now able to communicate with and read the stories of the men we admired at the time.
This is just great.

littlenige....wondering what boat that is in your avatar? What a piece of retro art. Can 7X or anyone from that era explain the pro's / cons of side-dumping vs. running the pipes aft?

Red bilge and Patterson side mounts looks like Gentry 36` I agree it does look great. Patterson built a set of 45 degree headers for one of the custom Gentry 36` the Blue and red metalflake boat, headers swept to the side of the boat and tail pipes exited thru the transom at the corners, they were real bears to install, but looked and sounded incredible, all polished etc.
Side headers were VERY LOUD and could tend to mesmerize you, meaning after awhile like couple hours, the sound at various RPM`s all sounded the same, and it was hard to judge the rpm VS speed. At least that`s what happened to me. They were extremly loud, but sounded the badest of any exhaust system ever installed on offshore boats. If I were to refurbish a 70`s type offshore race, it would be a 36` Cig with fuellie motors and side exhaust. I used to live on the intercoastal in Miami in the late 1980`s, and my friend crazy Craig Maudslay with a couple of buddies bought the old Blonde 36` that had side headers, and everytime he would run the boat I would go out on the dock to watch and listen, you could hear him for miles away, I could even hear him in the ocean running hard, wish I had a recording today. When we went to thru transom headers, the cockpit became much queiter and for me much easier to run constantly, they were still loud but not like the side exit`s. Later great exhaust system`s were done by Errol Lanier ( one of the greatest throtlrmen ever ) for Kaiser systems boat, called two into one with megaphone tailpipe, was one of the most distictive sounds on the circuit, also a beautiful sound, if you see tapes from some of the old offshore race`s early and mid 1980`s you will hear for yourself. hope you enjoy. 7XCHAMP

Nigel: First book goes to my daughter who is now 15 yrs old and a pre proffesional ballerina, my champion, second goes to you as my # 1 fan and LONG time friend, third to Marco, fourth to Deauville as you will all be needed for research and to refresh my memory as you have so kindly done thru these forums. As I have said before these forums and you guys, and let`s not forget Charlie and HORBA have given me new enthusiasm for the sport as it really was. I enjoy telling my stories, I have SO many that if I wrote continuously on this forum it would take months to elaborate on each phase of my carreer, I guess therefore a book ??????? As I have said before, I basically lost interest in offshore racing and the new people who came into the sport, and the promoters who took no significance in the past, only for now and how they could best profit themselves. Showing up for races was demeaning at best, as the NEW offshore was all about the current day, and who they were and their accomplishments and contributions to the sport. The new people seem to be about the present and blind to the past, of course this is not everyone, but as time moves forward it removes the past that much faster. And since we had no one interested in the past until now, we would have no past, past yesterday in offshore. Thanks to all who are into these forums and I hope the interest continues and we can entice others to tell their stories, I am more than happy to do what I can to assure that. sorry for the soap box, but someone has to speak up.
7XCHAMP

Phil: good to see you back, I would love to go back to deauville and sit at the little cafe on the corner accross from the harbor where we launched the boats, and all the teams would gather. remember the year we raced after a major strom, I believe it may have been a Hurricane, I remember making the crossing on the ferry boat from Southhampton to Lahavre on the way to Deauville, we were on the top deck inside and took waves over the entire ship, waves had to have been 40 to 50 feet in highth, scary exciting to say the least, plus it was freezing cold and rotten, I think it was the same year we had the accident on the way to deauville where three people were tragiclly killed when they skidded head on into our truck which was pulling the Dry Martini, it was horrible, I was helping the people best I could until help arrived, it was cold rainy and slippery like ice. Anyway when we raced the seas were still probably 8 to 12 foot big rollers, I took one big one over the entire boat just trying to get out of the cut and to the start line, anyway we won. Also the best steak au poivre in the world at the big fancy hotel we stayed at, they made it table side, unbelievable, I sure miss those days. thanks for the pix you send, how about some of how it looks today. 7XCHAMP

The pic is from the Bill Elswick (?) Cig 36īcalled Thunder which raced at Cowes in 78 I think. Marco can confirm but I think it was one of the ex Blonde Roger Hanks boats. As Richie says - they looked awesome just sitting there!!

Thanks for the insight Richie about the headers etc. Itīs a shame there arenīt a lot more famous offshore racers from the era who could also come forward and bring their stories. Imagine combining the stories of racers such as yourself, Stuteville, Wilson, Sirois, Lanier et al - an offshore Bible if you will ("The men who made Offshore"). And thatīs just the throttlemen. No doubt people from all over the sport have great tales to tell - if only they could be collated and put into print. If their stories are half as interesting as yours it would be a book I would read time and time again.

We alls wait the Richie's Memories,wait the Crouse new book....and who was there in those legendary years.
Yes Nigel,the Elswick's Thunder at the CTC of 1978 was the former Blonde III of Hanks.
That boat renamed John Player Special sank during the Mar del Plata's World Championships race in the next December.
I don't know if then the boat was recovered from the bottom of the sea.