The Inspiration
The long, hot summer of 1962 sweltered on into August, the ‘tropical’ heat returning day
after day. Most of the regular summer seasonal events had taken place, except for the new
Daily Express Offshore Powerboat Race from Cowes to Torquay, due to take place on the
Bank Holiday weekend. My father and I had taken out the 8 foot rowing dinghy we had built
during the previous winter, and it was our intent on to do some fishing. As the weather was
so balmy, we had ventured further out into the calm waters of Torbay in the hope of
catching something larger. There seemed to be a lot of other boats milling around in the
same area, so we felt quite safe.

Suddenly, and to our surprise we heard a muffled growl coming from the direction of Hopes Nose, the most easterly promontory that encloses Torbay. All eyes were turned in that direction and very soon a plume of spray became visible and apparently moving rapidly towards us. The roar of powerful
engines now became distinct, and within seconds a massive powerboat could be seen streaking into the Bay at an astonishing speed. Nothing like this had been seen in Torbay since the motor torpedo
boats of WW2 had patrolled the area. This boat was half their size but going at twice their
speed. Back in 1962 it appeared as though some alien spacecraft had landed on the placid
waters of the Bay. As this strange craft approached, it could be seen to be about 40 feet long
and was tearing along at 60 knots (nearly 70 mph) - an unheard of speed for a sea-going
power boat in those days.

It soon became clear that we had joined the waterborne crowd watching the finish of the
Cowes to Torquay Powerboat Race! After nearly getting swamped by the enormous wave
created by the wash of this behemoth, we rowed quickly to Torquay harbour and were in
time to reach the winner's berth as she was being moored up alongside under the gaze of
many admiring spectators. From the name on her stern the identity of the craft was now
revealed as Tramontana, and she certainly lived up to her name. At 42 feet long she was the
largest of all the entries in the 1962 Cowes to Torquay race, and the most powerful, with
twin Italian CRM petrol engines rated at a total of 2,308 horsepower. She was a beautiful
beast too, in her green and white racing colours and sweeping lines.

Stockbroker Dick Wilkins was determined that the Beaverbrook Trophy, presented to the
winner of the Cowes-Torquay race, should remain in Britain, so he commissioned the build
of Tramontana from Vosper and Company at the London Boat Show on New Year's Day in
1962, and she was completed 8 months later. Designed by Commander Peter Du Cane, the
MD of Vospers, specifically to win the Cowes-Torquay race, she was built by his company in
their Portchester shipyard. Although he was the owner, Dick Wilkins left the driving of
Tramontana to the team of Jeffrey Quill, the famous test pilot of the WW2 Spitfire fighter
plane, and Don Robertson, the navigator.

During her trials in the Solent, Tramontana set up some incredibly fast times over the
measured mile, hardly surprising with the power available. Other competitors had already
noted her performance and were questioning the rules that allowed such a monster to take
part. As testing continued, so did the design enhancement, and she appeared on race week
with a full wheelhouse and a mast atop in naval style, looking every inch the winner before
the race had even started!

Whereas most of the entries in the race were of a deep V design, Tramontana followed the
standard motor torpedo boat hard chine style with a bluff bow, a fine forefoot to cut through
the water, and a high chine sweeping down and back to the shallow 6% deadrise at the
transom. She looked just like an offspring of Vosper's Brave Class patrol boats that policed
the race in those days. The other distinctive features were her exhaust pods, exiting from
both sides of the stern flanks, a design feature years ahead in its style.

The 1962 Cowes-Torquay race ran on a newly lengthened course of 170 miles and had
attracted a fleet of 41 craft, which, considering this was only the second running of the race,
proved beyond a doubt that the new sport was popular with competitors and spectators
alike. The race conditions were rough in the east, so it was no surprise that they favoured
the bigger boats, and by time they reached Portland Bill at the halfway stage, it was the
mighty Tramontana that led the fleet. She set off across Lyme Bay in first place, to the
cheers of the crew of the Vosper built patrol boat Ferocity that was accompanying the race.
Tramontana took the rough Lyme Bay crossing in the stately manner of a duchess crossing a
puddle, never faltering once, to finish at Torquay in 5hrs 10 minutes at an average speed of
37mph. Due to the size and thirst of the engines a total of 650 gallons were consumed on
the trip at a cost of about £450, equivalent to £3,250 at today's prices.

Behind Tramontana, came two American entries; Sam Griffith in Blue Moppie and little Yo
Yo driven by Jim Wynn, repeating his previous year's performance. Blue Moppie took
advantage of the flattened seas in the wake left behind the leader's 13 ton bulk but still
found the going extremely bumpy, heaven knows how third place Yo Yo coped!

Tramontana's victory proved to those who questioned her eligibility, that the rules needed
changing, and we never saw her like again. She was sold in late in 1962 to Gianni Agnelli, the
owner of car giant Fiat and, with new spray rails fitted to her hull, was shipped to Genoa in
Italy.

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Building the Model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

of Tramontana.

Naturally, I couldn't have a full-size replica, it would have to be a radio-controlled model. I elected to make it 36 inches long; this length would represent a scale of one fourteenth of the full size.

I enlarged the plans using a photocopier, and from these traced the shape of the bulkheads
(the transverse components of the internal framework) onto 1/8" thick plywood. Then I
cut around the traced outlines to obtain a complete set of bulkheads of the right size and
shape. These I mounted vertically, but upside down on a wooden building board. Each
bulkhead had a slot cut in it to accommodate the keel, which is the longitudinal component
of the framework and forms the shape of the boat's bottom from bow to stern. The keel was
cut out of 1/16" thick plywood. Once sloped and glued into the bulkheads, the framework
or skeleton of the boat was complete.

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I then obtained two powerful German electric motors and mounted them side by side inside
the hull on a stout piece of plywood that was fixed to the keel and the chines. These motors
drive the twin propellers through universal couplings and stainless steel propeller shafts.
Between the propellers I mounted a single rudder on the centre line. This would be out of
the way of the slipstream from the propellers and therefore not interfere with the thrust
that they generated. The boat was controlled by two channel proportional radio control
equipment. One channel operated a small servo motor to turn the rudder as required and by
means of electronic speed controllers, the second channel adjusted the direction (forward or
reverse) and also speed (up to 11,000 rpm) of each motor. The motors were powered by two
8.4 volt nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries.

Having completed the installation of the internal components, I then fitted the deck, cut
from 1/16" thick plywood, and made a central opening in it to allow access to the
equipment inside. This cut-out was covered by the removable wheelhouse, made with
more 1/16" plywood, and acetate was used for the windows. Various fittings were made;
portholes, hatches, ventilators, a life-raft and an anchor, and these were secured to the deck.
The two lifelines were rigged up from the wheelhouse to the bow. Painting was done with
Halfords automotive spray can paint, and the deck was varnished after marking out
simulated planking with a ball point pen.
I hope that my model of Tremontana gives as much pleasure and interest to the museum's
visitors as it gave me to conceive and build her.
November 2024

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