Before my father rescued 695 from a scrap dealer in Nottingham and restored it, it had an interesting history which saw racing as far away as across the Atlantic in the U.S.A.........

Jo-Anne Wilson was a successful junior hovercraft racer in the mid 1980's and to equip herself with a competitive craft for entrance into senior racing in the F2 class asked Ken Rigley of K & M Products in Newark to construct a new "Eagle" craft. The GRP hull was a development of the original K & M Products Eagle 1 design. The duct size was 750mm being considered the optimum in those days for the engines available. Steering was by side joystick. The craft was registered with the Hovercraft Club of Great Britain and given the registration number 695. The number quite simply represents the number of hovercraft that had been registered up to that point in the UK (ever).

The craft was originally planned to be coloured Metallic Silver (above) but the GRP gel coat process did not go quite as planned and the craft came out of the mould a greenish grey. It was subsequently sprayed white and large racing decals were fixed to the front.

The craft was fitted with a Rotax 503 500cc 2stroke two cylinder air cooled engine. The hull of the craft was reshaped to accommodate the exhaust run to one side rather than the vertical exhaust stacks as used in F3 configuration. The cut out in the cockpit side remains to this day. The craft could "catch air" quite easily and in F2 guise, ballast was carried at the front of the craft to improve the balance and stability of the craft. An elevator was also fitted.

Jo successfully campaigned the craft for two seasons (88/89) in F2 with many exciting races with very close racing in this competitive formula. Most of the craft were fitted with the Rotax 503 so reliability and drivers skill were the deciding factors.

Jo was quick and careful, having only two accidents with 695. The second one was directly before the World Championships in Troy Ohio (1989) in the USA. Jo's family worked through the night to repair the damage and respray the craft white before the craft was due 100 miles away at the central point chosen to load all the hovercraft going to America into containers. Jo went off partying - typical !!

Two containers were booked for the 26 craft (including 3 Swedish) that made the crossing. Each container took 12 craft loaded flat into the container then turned on their sides and slid into position facing each other so there were ducts at both ends of the package containing two craft. The running gear was removed and stored separately. To support the hull and prevent the side taking the weight stoving in, a wooden frame was fitted to spread the load. The 13th craft was inverted and slid on top of the other 12.

The course for the 1989 World Championships in Troy was by European standards fast with a quick water straight (the Great Miami River which despite it's width was very smooth to race on) which had numerous craft lifting (catching air). Speed traps were set-up and Magnus Ivanoff in his F1 was timed at 89mph (in 1989!) Jo had a good meeting completing all four qualifying races as well as competing in the open races. Jo and 695 raced head to head with "Wild" Bill Flett and came seventh overall for the meeting. Neil Sanger in his F2 crashed and was taken to hospital but fortunately not detained. Neil loaned his F2 craft to Jo in 1987 whilst he was qualifying for his full race licence and in so doing set Jo on the F2 and 695 route.

Jo was one of only three ladies competing (Ella Bader competed in one F2 race, Zoe Deacon (nee Kersley) waved the flag in F. A Japanese film crew latched on to Jo and 695, whilst filming a programme on American water sports, with hilarious results.

The following season saw Jo campaign 695 around the UK and in the closed season it was sold to Andy Newall with Pete Kirkham driving the craft in F2. My details are sketchy about this period - perhaps somebody could add to the story. The craft subsequently fell into a poor state of repair. The engine was sold (to Tim Shaw) and the craft in a severely battered state was stored in a scrap yard in a suburb of Nottingham. Enter Edward Hurn who had finally nagged Dad into buying a hovercraft.

When the craft was brought to our garage and we stepped inside it, we went straight through the floor!! We then set about rebuilding the craft. A new floor, spine section and rear cockpit bulkhead were made and bonded into place. A new 800 mm duct fitted. The craft was converted to handlebar steering and a seat installed (side joystick machines don't generally have them). A Yamaha RD250LC two cylinder two stroke engine installed to convert the craft to F3 spec. so as to be acceptable for Junior racing as I was 13 years old at the time. The hull was then painted blue. To get the hull to the paint shop I nailed a large plank of wood to my skate board and then balanced it on it and trundled it down the roads to the village garage - fortunately our village doesn't have masses of traffic !

The first meeting after the rebuild did not go well. The new fuel feed system did not work as planned at all, syphoning fuel to the point of the machine not running for more than  a minute at a time. The second meeting in Mere Brow near Stockport I crashed the craft in the first race quite heavily. The last race of the weekend I seized the engine through over revving. Our third meeting saw a third in the British leg of the European Championship. The craft just buzzed away all weekend and for the rest of the season.

After the rebuild 695 was as strong as new but was giving away a competitive edge to more modern machines with newer engines and lighter hulls. 695 was sold to a Youth Group in Newcastle on Tyne and occasionally is seen in the paddock at northern race meetings. At the last contact the engine was being re-pistoned and the possibility of a racing season discussed for 1999.