Claydon House 26th July 2003

A really enjoyable weekend, good racing and social side. For those who read this web site regularly will know that Team Eagle consists of Ken Rigley and myself. Ken usually does the two open races per day whilst I concentrate on the 2 National F1 races. For this meeting we largely reversed drives as the meeting had two novelty races, a two-up race and a marathon, which would be better for me to do.

The meeting started with a bit of a wobble when my Father found the thrust engine driveshaft woodruff key behind the fuel tank when cleaning the craft after I had completed first practise. It seems that in the haste to try and get into the final race at Black Ditch we refitted the drive shaft bolt not realising that the woodruff key had come out! How the craft did a complete practise session without a properly keyed drive shaft is a complete mystery, especially so as the shaft was not particularly damaged and we could refit the key and Loctite everything together with relative ease. We managed to unhitch the engine, remove the fan assembly, repair the drive shaft and reassemble in time for the first race.

The National races were dominated by Conrad Beale and Dan Turnbull, Conrad is using a Rotax 797 twin whilst Dan uses an 809 as we do. The hulls are much the same, with Conrad's being a later model. Right from race one they were in close competition. Conrad "up ended" his craft at the transition to land - see video page for clip. Dan spent most of the time either sitting the craft on its tail or its side. F1 is now so competitive and close to the edge that the margin between quick and crashed is small. If you want to be a front runner then you have to take risks and accept the consequences.

Mathew Drake, Dan Newton and Luke also had some good scraps. Luke missed out in one race though with the Polaris engine running with one cylinder down. The disappointment of the weekend was that Tony Goldney's Honda Fireblade engine let go again. The oil sprayed from the hole in the crankcase ignited and needed quick action with a fire extinguisher to save the hull.

Claydon is very bumpy, with ridges running across the racing line. In previous years we suffered floor strikes. With the new Simonnini lift engine this was not an issue. This engine so far has proved a step forward over the Rotax 253 as it produces significantly more power (despite being run below its specified speed) yet being a single cylinder it is simple to install without gearing required. We will see if it lasts the season before making a final judgement.

The bumps mentioned are worst at the left hander at the bottom of the slope down from the hairpin which can pick the craft up in a nasty wriggle and at the first corner from the dummy starting grid as we join the main race course. Both Mathew Drake and Dan Newton fell foul of these bumps. Dan had the craft picked up by the bumps right into the thrust air of Dan T and roll. As Dan fell out, the craft rolled back right side up, pirouetted and landed on top of him. Five hundred pounds plus landing on top of you from a height is not good. No bones broken but as he was concussed for several minutes he was hospitalised for a few hours. See video page.

Our 809 is definitely down on power compared to last year. It seems that the work on the exhaust to reduce noise has not been successful as we are short of grunt out of the corners and still noisy! Nevertheless we worked our way up to joint third at one point.

The novelty races I thoroughly enjoyed. Race 1 at the end of the first days racing was a Le Mans start and "two up event". My girlfriend Vicky Stallwood was up for being the passenger even though she has never been in a hovercraft before. From nowhere to being in an F1 at racing speeds is a steep learning curve!! She admitted to being a little hyped up just before the race......

The Simonnini is not as easy to start as the Rotax 253 so although we got to the craft first we were virtually the last away... Charging through the field was great fun. On one corner we overtook 6 craft in one swipe. Since the Eagle Mirage does not have forward facing thrust braces there is not much for the passenger to hold on to apart from me. For this race we obtained a belt with handles (from a motorcycle equipment shop) for Vicky to hold on to. These worked reasonably well except the could rotate about my waist a bit and did not give quite the feeling of stability required. From the back of the field to finishing third just shows how well the Mirage handles with two up. Shortly after the transition to land just at the start of the finishing straight we were speed trapped at 58 mph.

As an exercise in overtaking the endurance race the following day was amazing. It was a handicapped race based on times from previous races. It meant that I had to give more than a quarter of the race away to the slower craft. From being first off the grid and determined driving throughout it was amazing to pass the electronic score board each lap and see that I was still not registered because I was dead last on handicap!! The fuel stop after 10 laps went well, I dropped the craft within a few inches of my Fathers feet, typically he didn't flinch, despite the approach being pretty much a full power sideways slide. The engine restarts were clean and I was away on full throttle just before Dad stepped out of the craft.

As I reeled in the handicap overtaking craft after craft the lap score eventually counted up my position to 2nd with just a few laps to go. At this point the thrust engine started to backfire intermittently. We think it is a fuel pickup problem as the fuel level at this point was lower than we normally use in National races plus it seemed to occur after the craft has been in an extreme attitude. Eventually the engine stopped on the water. I was able to restart but not before losing the 2nd place. If we had increased the amount refuelled at lap ten I think it would have been a close finish.

Add to interesting racing, good company, a very soggy pig roast (pity about the rain) and the relief of seeing Dan N back from the hospital made an excellent weekend.

Video clips of the weekend are on the video page

EExpand these pictures for more detail

Conrad and Dan T were at it all weekend - Conrad is climbing out from under his craft whilst Dan T seemed to spend the entire weekend on the edge.

The combination of Claydon's bumps on the left hander onto the course from the dummy grid and thrust air from Dan T had Dan N over. This shot was taken a split second before the one below.

"What do you mean, your sitting on the pull start ?" Don't worry, it doesn't get hot, just vibrates a lot.....

This is Vicky's first ride in a hovercraft.... passenger in an F1 race !!! Seemed to enjoy it though and is talking about driving herself !!

Team Meteor tucking inside Conrad at the hairpin.

As I was down to drive the novelty races - Ken did a couple of the National F1 races. Here at the hairpin he gets the Eagle Mirage on its side quite nicely - unusual for Ken who's driving style is normally much less dramatic.