sad photo of an old classic

[Adam Younger]

Came across this sad sight on the Isle of Wight.

Don't know the history of the boat - but it looked very much like a Magnum, deck was similar to say Maltese Magnum. Looked very much the 60's raceboat, no mechanicals left though. It had been in a field near to Gurnard.

Now it has turned up at a yard in Cowes - deck has gone - and It's fate is probably to be splashed for a RIB hull!

[Rupert Munro]

Very sad state to see any boat. What a shame.

[Ben Mazur]

Can see the family resemblence.

[Delta28]

Hi there

Just to let you know that I've bought the hull in question...and there is a great deal of work to be done, as you can see! My thanks to Tony Fiddy and John Iddon for their help, along with the other members of the UK's Classic Offshore Powerboat Owner's Club.

There has been speculation about her identity, but once the dark green gel coat and side exhaust ports became visible there was little doubt that this is Maltese Magnum Twin (re-named after a second, in-line mercruiser was installed, her race no then was 040). She raced at Cowes and around Europe in the late 60's and was leading the '69 Round Britain until cavitation problems forced her retirement (later cured by moving the rudder further aft).

I've been in touch with John Kennerley and Jim Roddick, who used to race her back then. Of course, she was built and raced by the great Don Aronow himself (with Don's lucky no 4 on her side), her second place at Naples and victory in the Dauphin D'or helping him to clinch the 1967 World Championship... My thanks to Black Tornado for the early pics when she was "Maltese Magnum 2"

What I need most of all (apart from a shedload of money) is more old photos (seen Mr Hulman's US single / sterndrive one, Magnum Tornado - twin inboard - and got Crab Searle's RB69 book..) modern pictures (anyone know Hugh?) and plans...!! Got to make a new deck and transom...nothin' like an interesting project to keep you out of mischief is there? Hope Graham Stevens doesn't mind the use of his (Boatmad Gallery) pics... and I'll keep you posted of (any!) progress...

Cheers, ian

[Ben Mazur]

Welcome to Proprider!

It looks like a great project you have undertaken there. Please keep us updated as to the progress.

Charlie McCarthy, (Top Banana here) might be able to fill in some of the blanks.

[Delta28]

Here are the old MM2 pictures hinted at in my first post...

Thanks Black Tornado..

[Delta28]

Thanks Ben... I will keep you informed of developments! ...and I might just pester Charlie too..!!

All the best..

[Top Banana]

These might be of some help to you when you get to reconstructing the deck area.

It shows both the outboard and inboard Magnums that Don had in Europe.

[Delta28]

These might be of some help to you when you get to reconstructing the deck area.

It shows both the outboard and inboard Magnums that Don had in Europe.

Thanks Charlie... just the sort of thing I'm after!

As you can see below, there is alot to do and I only have the aft part of the deck... so the photos are of great value.

After a high-pressure hose (no worse than 70 mph at sea) some of the dark green gel coat shows ..and the exhaust ports and bolt holes for the (fairly unique) stainless steel exhaust cowls...

All the best, Ian

[FLYING FISH]

Another trawl through the archives reveals some more MMT pics as well as a few others of that era.

[FLYING FISH]

A few cuttings from 1969 Daily Telegraph,which although of crud quality may help with some details.

[FLYING FISH]

Looking at the photos,the exhaust outlets for the twin engines in 69 looks as if they exited the transom and well as the starboard topside.On Highland Fling which had a single mercruiser (Ex Propulser), the exhausts ran out equally port and starboard in the similar exhaust cowl arrgts in topside,which makes me think was the topside exit on MMT for forward engine.Also I note how close the tabs were to the centreline of the boat.The cockpit arrgts as supplied by charlie which although are very useful ,are slightly different to that for MMT as can be seen in the 1970 film on Boatmad.Sounds like you need to contact John Kennerly`s mechanic Digby Maitland for a detailed machinery arrgt.Is it the 1968 or 1969 recreation.68 sounds easier.Looking at the stern colour pic,how on earth did they avoid getting ejected out of that cockpit,there`s hardly any protection let alone the drag effect.Perhaps they were standing on a fuel tank just to make the comfort zone even more hazardous.

[Delta28]

You are so right Flying Fish! How in the hell did they stay aboard when they were "taking it green"?! ...those were the days! When men were men and women... had even bigger moustaches (gotta be so careful what you say nowadays)

And yes, judging by the internal layout, i think they were standing on the fuel tanks... Health & Safety? ..pah!! Every photo of Vincenzo Balestrieri ..he's got a smoke on the go ...just him and 300 gallons of AvGas. What a guy..

The forward engine had an exhaust port either side (the aft one, two ports in the transom) and thankyou for pointing-out the exhaust cowls on "Highland Fling"... that's the only other boat i've seen them on (may have come from MMT with the engine). Is she still in existance? and if so, where? Could you tell me the year she was built?

Many thanks for the photos... just great! (Any more out there... keep 'em comin'!) I'm beginning to build-up a library and these will help with the reconstruction no end...

Thanks again, ian

[FLYING FISH]

These were made from scratch,along with all the sterngear in NAB.This was a handy perk working in a shipyard that constructed fast patrol boats.The build began in Sep1970 and boat was ready by April 1971.Highland Fling (hull only) was sitting in the back garden of Lady Arran`s home in Scotland many years ago.Probably bonfired by now.

[Top Banana]

Here are a few more that may help.

I also asked Michael Aronow if he could come up with anything that might be of help to you...either photos or a rememberance of the boat itself.

For those who don't know, in the 60's, Michael Aronow and Knocky House had the responsibility of moving these boats around Europe from race to race. Don had to fly all over the world racing to build up points, so he had other crews in the USA for example doing the same thing.

[Ben Mazur]

I give up. What is that next to the guy sitting on the deck of Delta?

[Delta28]

I give up. What is that next to the guy sitting on the deck of Delta?

The rulebook in those days was quite clear on this matter: Competitors must carry, at all times, a headless corpse... with no hands...

Thanks for those, Charlie ...and to Flying Fish. Great stuff. Nice one Ben!:eek:

[Boatless]

I give up. What is that next to the guy sitting on the deck of Delta?

Life Jacket.

Back in the day's they looked a lot different than today.

[Top Banana]

Life Jacket.

Back in the day's they looked a lot different than today.


Someone told me that today's drivers have bigger heads than the old ones did, so they need more support to hold them up. Personally knowing some of the older egos....I can't believe that is true.

[Delta28]

Gets pretty dark, pretty early here in the UK, this time of year... but in a spell of mild weather just before Christmas, i was able to get out in the evenings to try some paint stripper ("Removall 620") recommended by Scarron over on Boatmad... This stuff is very easy to use, works well and is safe on GRP... must be over 4 degrees C to work, so no progress now the frost has returned.

Interesting archeaology... found some of the original stripes and race no. 910 from 1974 (she was painted black by then, fitted with a gas turbine and sponsored by Black & White Whiskey) ...so i need to go carefully in case there's anything more of interest, though i suspect she will have been well sanded before new paint was applied.

Will keep you posted... Happy New Year to all, ian

[Delta28]

Here's some shots of Kingston (UK) University GIS Center's Dr's Ian Greatbatch, Ken Field and James O'Brien making a digital 3-D image of the boat.

Accurate to within 1 mm, it should be very useful in constructing a new deck, supplying drawings and taking sections for making a cradle.

[Delta28]

The image can be rotated to look at the boat from any angle...