POWERBOAT RACING was an extremely popular sport during the late 950’s and early 60’s (but more of a family sport). Real competition was limited to the various hydroplane classes and we competed against drivers of the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Rhodesia had some excellent drivers such as Lewis Hewitt who subsequently emigrated to South Africa and became a Springbok. There were a host of other greats who are now racing amongst the clouds of heaven, one worth mentioning is Gordon Lanham-Love. Gordon was a gentleman driver who resembled an english cricketer throughout his entire career. He never so much as put a foot in the water; he was either carried or became water borne in an ingenious fashion.

He was good - very good. His son is a Springbok Yachtsman today and has done extremely well in the Yachting world. Arch rivals of Gordon in the early stages were Dick Weddel and Peter Haas. Gordon raced Ford’s (inboards) and Dick and Peter General Motors.

I mention these three as they were in the early stages of South African racing a class of their own and had aura of gentlemanly vintage. They were wealthy and rarely had the occasion to end up with serious injuries. The middle 60’s really saw power boating take off in South Africa. Mercury Outboard Motors (controlled by Borris Jameson) did much for the sport and my very dear friend Lewis Hewitt and myself (Coenie Röntgen) became the first Mercury drivers in our country. At that stage there was much of everything on the water. The only real difference in speed was the engineering of our propellers.

 Another South African great, Dino Candiotes and his son Tony, were in my view the greatest exponents in our country (and possibly the world) in the exploitation of the performance of a propeller. Dino and his son were engineers and they were very good at manipulating the extra revolutions out of a non-competitive machine.

 We had no imported boats and had to rely on our local industry. In this regard my good friend Gerhard Jansen bears mentioning. Gerhard died as a result of a tragic racing accident in 1972 but he was one of the finest boat builders that I have ever come across. With the limited knowledge that we had in South Africa he did wonders. I was the only person to ever beat Gerhard in a race (using local craft). Borris Jameson started developing racing craft and he built them so light for me that they were only able to complete a few races and would then fracture. Competition was so severe in the unlimited class, (before the 0-N or F-i became established) that we had a minimum of 30 boats per championship and which resulted in serious accidents. I lost some of my very good racing friends during this period and I become hospitalised on no less than 1 9 occasions with extremely serious fractures. These accidents were all as a result of other craft colliding with mine. I think that I am one of the very view 0-N or Formula One drivers who had never flipped a Catamaran in his career.

 Up to the year 1967 our unlimited class consisted of specially constructed or remodled family run-abouts fitted with whatever unlimited power we could lay our hands on. Mercury was, at that stage, the most reliable machine on the water but Evinrude Johnson was steadily making their mark.

Peter Haas and Dick were the Evinrude-Johnson agents and Jameson that for Mercury. I, Dino and Lewis were Mercury drivers and Evinrude raced their machines with a number of young and promising drivers. The most outstanding driver was Bill Badsey who did extremely well. The year 1968 saw the Cats arrive in numbers.

I was the first driver to import a Catamaran in South Africa. I negotiated with Molinari and I recall that my first 0-N craft landed in South African at approximately 3600.00$. At that stage the $US was approximately R0.50. The dollar today markets around R6.25 to the Dollar. I also acquired two of the latest Mercury BP’s with a 1 x 1 ratio. I also imported a Twin Molinari which I fitted with Twin BP’s. At the same time Dick imported a Glastron with the latest Evinrudes and Peter Haas imported two Molinari’s which he fitted with Johnson’s.

Evinrude South Africa then contracted with CesaroScotti to drive the one Cat and Mercury South Africa obtained the services of Renato Molinari to drive one of the latest BP’s. Dick Summerfeldt of Canada was contracted to drive for Mercury in a re-modelled Molinari. I think the craft was constructed in England. We were then entitled to enter twins in the unlimited class and needless to say, Scotti was beaten and so was Molinari. However, the next year 1969 saw a complete change. We then had a host of overseas drivers and the single Cat was by far the quickest.

 You will probably remember the introduction of the Rotary engine. This machine was extremely quick, but unfortunately only lasted a few laps.

 By the end of 1969 we had at least a dozen overseas drivers racing in South Africa and the 0-N (F-i) class was very well represented. The two main supporters remained Peter Haas and Dick. Boris Jameson (Mercury) had somehow decided that Evinrude Johnson were far superior and he was reluctant to sponsor new machines. At this stage I was racing for British Petroleum and I decided to change from Mercury to Evinrude. I remained with Mercury in respect of the 0ff-shore races.

 From the year 1966 onwards South Africa developed a very strong off shore racing class, and there were at least a hundred boats participating in this race per year with international entries. Our premier race was always in April and held in Cape Town. I was personally very successful in the off shore races and participated in Britain. My friend Lewis Hewitt was my co-driver. Lanham-Love also participated on two accessions in the British races and Ken Stevens and Bill van Niekerk in one. Bill subsequently became a very well known marine Engineer. Lewis and I were leading the field in 1969 but our boat unfortunately cracked up due to the tremendous pounding it took and we sunk. I was faster than Don Aronow’s cigarette that year. I made a fatal error in running with the three motors jacked out and the back of the boat just snapped.

I was invited to race at Lake Havazu in the World Championships in 1969 and Dino Candiotes joined me as co-driver. The afternoon before the race Dino flipped my boat (a Twin Molinari).

We worked throughout the night to have it ready for the next day. I was able to start the race and was lying first at times.

Eventually my readvalves gave a lot of trouble and I dropped to 4th position and eventually ended the race on one motor. Dino, Lewis, Laurie Sykes and I took part in several European races such as the Paris of 6 hours, the Lake Harval Race in Germany and in Windermere. The overall performance of the South Africans were not bad at all and we took many of the trophies home. A number of new boats were released on the marked and I acquired an Abati as well as two Moreuis from Cyprus. They were extremely quick but broke up after one or two races. I became President of the South African Power Boat Association in 1968 and held that position until 1976. My last race was on new year’s day 1976 when I collided with a boat driven by a friend of mine from East London. I was lapping him at the time. He suffered a fatal heart attack immediately prior to the collision. He lost control over his craft and swerved in front of me. I was not able to avoid the impact. Scotti had specially constructed one of his own craft for me which I ran in this particular race with a new Evinrude. I was extremely quick.

 Scotti was killed in the sister of my craft in Paris. You will recall him being virtually decapitated at the time. There was no way I could avoid the impact. My Catamaran was cut in half and I suffered extensive internal injuries and my right leg was badly mauled. They considered amputating it but I managed to save it. I walk with some difficulty but I still have a leg. Amongst the injuries I suffered in my power boating days, are a fractured neck (several times), fracture of my spine (x5), fractured Humerus, fractured Tibia and Fibula, fractured foot, fractured arm, fractured Clavicle, fractures of virtually all my toes and fingers, fractured Sternum. We lost several drivers in 1 975. Racing became the most hazardous sport, both physically and from a financial point of view.

 I had won a great many titles during my racing days and I was awarded the State Presidents Medal for Sport on two accessions in 1969 and again in 1972.

Apart from being actively engaged in racing I owned a number of farms on which I farmed on a very large scale. The accident put an end to my racing and nearly to my life. I lost millions due to this accident as I was unable to walk for nearly two years and thereafter only with great difficulty. I had some great friends in the racing fraternity. In 1969 I loaned Jimbo McConnell a complete engine for the Paris of 6 hours. Scotti and Molinari stayed with us when they were in South Africa. Those were wonderful days.

 The racing craft are far safer today and there are fewer on the water at the same time. Our biggest danger was the great number of craft in any race and most of the accidents happened in collisions between boats. There was rarely a turn when a dozen or more boats didn’t take a turn at the same time. A number of my old friends are no longer with us such as Peter Haas, Dick and Dino Candiotes, Gerhard Jansen. These are chaps who gave a great deal for the sake of racing and who kept it alive in South Africa.