The yellow Shakespeare cat no21 was driven by a Belgium Factory driver Andre Derix he ran in the OI Class the picture of no 34 and 79 were both Bristol GRP Cats. I heard somewhere Bill Badseys name mentioned I was a friend of his when he was over in Europe.Bill Shakespeare was killed whilst practising for the 1971 Windermere 3hr race.
Thanks for the correction on Bill Shakespear Steve. Bill Badsey was a good friend of my dad. He was a great racer, always very innovative and cutting edge. He was a super guy and always very quick in any boat. He designed and built a fancy gull wing door fibre glass car that was bolted onto a VW Beetle chassis which sold rather well.My dad had a big get off racing a Molinary tunnel. In the flip, his life jacket was ripped off. His legs wer badly broken plus major chest injuries. He could not swim and Bill came flying past , saw what was happening and jumped out of his boat at full tilt and held my old man up untill the crash boat arrived. A true hero in my book.When someone else flipped the boat again, Bill helped cut about 2 1/2 feet off the nose and made it into a pickle fork boat. They raced it together in a 6 hour and were lying second behind a very fast Cesare Scotti when the motor let go. Bill had consitantly clocked over 106 mph when they retired. He moved to the states in the 70s I think. Of Mr Badsey, we have fond memories.
I first time I saw Bill Badsey race in the UK. was in the 1974 Windermere 3hr race he had Clive Hook as co - driver I think Clive lived in South Africa at sometime maybe that's how he had got to know Bill.I first new Bill Badsey from 1975 he managed to get a drive for OMC at the world ON championship race in Europe but he flew his boat and broke his back he ended up in hospital we had no idea how serious this was but Bill needed to get back to South Africa and bought 4 seats on a Jumbo to fit his stretcher on.A few months later he had sold his kit car business in South Africa he was worried that his son would get conscripted in to a war that Bill thought might start anytime so he moved to the UK.He set a business up using his South African connections importing car parts I know it included alloy wheels and other car parts.When OMC brought the new 2.5 crossflow OZ outboard out in 1977 Bill purchased one and ran it on a Cougar cat`i think he lived in Birmingham near his old friend Chris Appleby who raced hydros.In 1978 I had Bill as a co-driver for the Paris 6hr race we drove a Molinari together the last time I would see him would be around 1979 I do know he moved to the US but I am not sure when.
Again , thank you for the update and also helping me clear the cobwebs of time. I was drafted into the army in 1976 and at the time wished I could have done what Bill did but that is all dirty water under the bridge. I am sure you will agree that he was a super chap and a gent and he could go quickly in a boat. His kit car was called an Eagle and I think the mag wheel partner you speak of was Eddie Keizan , owner of a huge company called Tiger Wheels.
I am really going back now but I do believe that Bill came from a Hydro background? We had a series where a couple of Swede's came to SA and ran 3 pointers with Crecent motors . Our chaps all ran 500cc Konig motors at that stage but those sweet sounding crecent engins were very quick and if memory serves, Bill ran a hydro then.
As an aside , I commented on the boat with the square cowling and noted that it may have been an Abbate. However I think you are right about it being a British boat. I had forgotten all about them but a couple of them were raced here and left behind with new owners. The Abbate of Tulio Del Rey was also left here and looked quite similar.
Incedently, this is a pic of my dad's Molinari after the second time it flipped is where Bill Badsey came in. A good section of the nose was broken off. Later Bill arived with a big power saw and chopped some more of the nose off and made it a much shorter pickle fork. The boat was quick in a 6 hour later in the year and Bill was running second behind Scotti when the motor let go.Attachment 58784
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