Some old school machinery. What a joy to witness.

Perhaps the most important boat there - Thunderbolt - the winner of the very first race in 1961 in the hands of Tommy Sopwith.

What happened to the paint of Cinzano?
Bad painting or the results of the waves of Lyme Bay or bad adjustment with photoshop?

I think that Thunderbolt was the most precious boat in Cowes.

These are the best - thanks for the pics!

The Gancia still blowing smoke out the side, I wonder why he didn't revert back to the original exhaust where they all went through the drives? The side exhaust were added when we upgraded to the twin turbo engines. It made the water a little cleaner but you saw more of the exhaust smoke.

I see a couple more Buzzi projects in the background as well - nice!

Hi Nigel : I would have loved to have been there. Looks like the weather was bumpy, and a real offshore race of old. Good times, I miss the isle and the good times. Unfortunatly for me I am going through life struggles, unemployed, and single again, looking for some type of work. I would have loved to see you again. I think you wre 7 or 8 when I headquartered at Groves & Gutterridge, great times back then, and to have won CTC three times out of five atempts is like winning Indy or Lemans that many times. Thanks for the pix, my old 35 cig. dry Martini looks good, would have liked to grab the sticks for the race.

Richie good to hear from you again and I'm sorry that times are difficult for you right now.

It would have been just great to meet and talk about the old days. I spoke with Charles Gill at Cowes about the day they beat you guys! , what a nice chap!

For me Richie it was the Martini boat that made it all the more special - probably because of the memories I have of the event in '74 when I first met you and Susie. What a thrill that was for a ten year old kid who was mad on the sport. I will put some more pics on here of the 35 as she is today. Mike Bontoft has done a great job going over the restored hull and ironing out the bugs, including some long time stringer problems in the hull I believe. He has hinted that the next time I am present when the boat is afloat I will be in line for a ride out!! That will be the thrill of a lifetime for me.

You would have loved it this year - Bounty Hunter! Uno Embassy! Dry Martini! Just amazing.

Marco I think the letter 'B' was just a decal stuck on rather than painted - hence it started to peel off in the weather conditions - I believe it was a bit rough during the race the further west the boats went. (This shot was taken during the Cowes 100 race on the Friday).

Not the letter 'B' which seems to be still there but looks best the colors above the engine bay. It seems to me like painted with a marker ...
Ok was just a joke account!