Speedboats

[carlo]

Recently I could purchase an old program for a European speedboat GP on the "Lago di Lugano" in 1954. I hope some of you like the scans....






The boat type on the first two photos seems to have the grille of a tipo 158/9 Alfetta. Is it indeed equipped with an Alfa engine?
I heared of such a boat, but couldn't find photos.

The other two photos look like "Laura 1", but I am missing the Quadrifoglio sticker on the hood that I noticed on all photos of the Laura boats....

Best regards
Ciao Carlo

[carlo]

Oops, sorry for the double post! Obviously I hit the button too early...
This here is edited better

[charley]

A friend from New Zealand,on a recent visit told me of a Alfa speed boat that he had seen ,although he had no details . After a little digging around I found the speedboat that he referred to, it is in fact a hydroplane called "Little Cracker" and she certainly is a little cracker she's powered by an Alfa Romeo 3 litre v6 24valve engine producing 290hp @8000rpm.The hydroplane holds a number of Australasian and New Zealand hydroplane records at between 202.776kph to 204.326 kph .
There is a web site for the team. http://www.littlecracker.com/ach.html
I post a few photos below to whet the appetite.
Charley

[charley]

At this years Venice Boat Show , an interesting craft made its appearance after a seven month reconstruction by the Dalla Pieta boatyard of Venice – Malcontenta. The boat is Idroscrivolante T108 powered by an Alfa Romeo 9 cylinder radial aircraft engine.
The T108 Idro participated in the famous Pavia –Venezia race between the years 1933 and 1938 , piloted by Colonel Prospero Freri. These were the years that the race was dominated by Theo Rossi ( 1933, 1934,1935) of vermouth fame and Col.Renato Donati (1936,1937) who also held the world altitude record at that time in the Alfa powered Caproni Ca.113.AQ.
The attached photos show the original condition of the boat ,as it was delivered to the yard and the beautiful finished item, the reconstruction of which was sponsored by the yard itself.
The T108 actually belongs to the Civic Museum of Naval Education Milan and will be displayed and stored at the Leonardo da Vinci museum in Milan.
This of course not the only boat powered by an Alfa Romeo aircraft engine probably the most famous being the Sant’ Ambrogio 11 of Achille Castoldi which featured an Alfa Romeo AR RA 1000 rated at 1.800hp and was capable of at least 124MPH.
Details of Idroscivolante T108
Weight 1.5t
Depth 7.95m
Width 2.80m
Skate Width 0.80m
Speed 130 km/h
Engine 9cyl Alfa romeo.

For more details see….
Dalla Pietà Yachts — architettura nautica
Amalfi Coast Charter Noleggio barche Costiera Amalfitana

[Subtle]

On another thread there was a pic showing a partial view of the engine and struts, but not the floats.

Couldn't figure it out.------

[gt601]

Man! that has "Hey y'all watch this!!" written all over it. You would have to be out of your mind (or Italian/Latino/Hillbilly) to get into something with whirling blades at that speed.
Paul

[carlo]

Quote:

At this years Venice Boat Show , an interesting craft made its appearance after a seven month reconstruction by the Dalla Pieta boatyard of Venice – Malcontenta. The boat is Idroscrivolante T108 powered by an Alfa Romeo 9 cylinder radial aircraft engine. The T108 Idro participated in the famous Pavia –Venezia race between the years 1933 and 1938 , piloted by Colonel Prospero Freri. These were the years that the race was dominated by Theo Rossi ( 1933, 1934,1935) of vermouth fame and Col.Renato Donati (1936,1937) who also held the world altitude record at that time in the Alfa powered Caproni Ca.113.AQ. The attached photos show the original condition of the boat ,as it was delivered to the yard and the beautiful finished item, the reconstruction of which was sponsored by the yard itself. The T108 actually belongs to the Civic Museum of Naval Education Milan and will be displayed and stored at the Leonardo da Vinci museum in Milan. This of course not the only boat powered by an Alfa Romeo aircraft engine probably the most famous being the Sant’ Ambrogio 11 of Achille Castoldi which featured an Alfa Romeo AR RA 1000 rated at 1.800hp and was capable of at least 124MPH. Details of Idroscivolante T108 Weight 1.5t Depth 7.95m Width 2.80m Skate Width 0.80m Speed 130 km/h Engine 9cyl Alfa romeo.

[gtv2000]

Assuming there was only one built (seems probable), it used at least three very different kinds of engine cowling, according to the pictures here. Probably a hint at dating the various pictures.

Carlo, you may know that the pic you bought is in the Alfa Romeo Immagini book.

[gtv2000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charley This of course not the only boat powered by an Alfa Romeo aircraft engine probably the most famous being the Sant’ Ambrogio 11 of Achille Castoldi which featured an Alfa Romeo AR RA 1000 rated at 1.800hp and was capable of at least 124MPH.

[carlo]

Quote:

Carlo, you may know that the pic you bought is in the Alfa Romeo Immagini book.

[charley]

Hi Carlo,
Can I draw your attention to the photo that you posted of the idro and point out a few differences to the IDRO that I originally posted. The Idro in your photo has a platform stretched between the floats ,however this may be merely cosmetic. The idro in my posting has at various times a spinner and a Townsend ring ,it is also fitted with a 2 bladed prop. Probably the most important difference is what is written on the back of your photo , it states that the Idro is fitted with an AR Lynx engine which when you check the photo it clearly is ,as the Lynx is a 7 cylinder engine, however the engine on my orignal posting ,is, as I stated in the posting a 9 cylinder engine . This leaves us with a number of possibilities , either this is the same Idro upgraded from a 7 to a 9 cylinder Alfa motor , or it is a completely differrent boat .
There were in fact more than one of these boats that took part in the Pavia -Venezia race , That would explain the lettering on the side of your boat, so could this be another boat.? They were banned from the race post WW11.
Charley

[smestas]

There are some good photos on this previous Alfa Romeo boat thread. Perhaps we should combine these threads together?

Alfa Romeo Boats