Why Surfury?
This website attempts to provide a source of information and interest to an area of British sporting maritime history that is in danger of being forgotten & lost forever. The selection of “Surfury” – arguably the most successful & iconic of all British Class C1 Offshore Powerboats, radically designed by Renato "Sonny" Levi and raced by Charles & Richard Gardner epitomises the true spirit and innovation of offshore powerboat racing and its participants that captured the public imagination during the 1960’s.

 

The Gardner Brothers.
Charles Gardner ran his garage business in Sussex and learned to sail as an eight year old going on to become an outstanding helmsman. He qualified as an aeronautic engineer & won the Kings Cup Air Race in both 1936 & 1937. In 1950, returning to the sea, he competed in both the Transatlantic & Bermuda races. Charles’ personality was complex being both frugal & cautionary in all aspects of business and competition. He was however an innovator, committed & highly competitive in all he undertook.

R.E. “Jimmy” Gardner flew with the Fleet Air Arm during World War II flying Spitfires, Hellcats and Corsairs. By the 1960’s he had been appointed Chairman & Managing Director of the Yardley Cosmetic Corporation. The brothers were focused, highly intelligent and team working was instinctive & natural. These qualities when combined gave the team the its strength, development, tactics & the longevity of the successes that was achieved with “Surfury”.

Charles had commenced competing offshore when already in his fifties racing “Scorpion” admitting: "We knew nothing about it. We broke up the boat and we broke up ourselves".

Taking the sport seriously, Charles was joined by brother Richard and developed “Surfrider” in which, somewhat fortuitously, the brothers won the 1964 Cowes – Torquay from Dick Bertram in “Lucky Moppy” who missed the finishing marker when some ½ minute ahead of “Surfrider”, Bertram was unable to turn around & complete the course before “Surfrider” crossed the finishing line to snatch the race.

Charles Gardner and brother Richard 'Jimmy' Gardner post race c1967.

The Golden Age Of Offshore Powerboat Racing.
The 1960’s was arguably the “golden age” of offshore power boating in the UK, dominated by privateers racing without major sponsorship and utilising technology that was innovative and unique. The sport was truly International with the major races attracting teams from all over the world normally entered and run by the individuals who drove them. Sponsorship was in its infancy and racing though still hugely expensive was funded by the Teams themselves. Entrepreneurs such as Sir Max Aitken of Express Newspapers supported the sport and the major races such as the Cowes -Torquay were afforded live BBC television coverage & huge crowds gathered at vantage points along the route. Due to the infancy of the technology the crafts were developed uniquely and thus were clearly identifiable to the public as individual and with their own characteristics. The teams were patriotic and the craft all clearly carried their national identities in greater prominence than any sponsorship and the names of the craft such as Telstar, Thunderfish, Magnum Tornado and Avenger were eclectic and powerful. The owner entrants of this time were a dynasty scattered with charismatic wealthy individuals from aristocracy & industry: Vincenzo Balestrieri, Tommy Sopwith, Bill Shand Kydd and future designers who would become household names in powerboat design Sonny Levi, Don Aronow and Don Shead.

 

It was within this scenario that the two Gardner brothers Charles and the younger Richard competed, initially with “Scorpion” and “Surfrider” but it was with their craft “Surfury” that they captured the public imagination and with which they gained their greatest successes.

Through “Surfury” the memories of this unique period can be maintained, contributing to keep alive the memories of Charles & Richard Gardner and also many other such personalities who are now sadly no longer with us.

The Surfury Story.
Please follow the links on the left to find out more about "Surfury", the people that surrounded her and the innovation and expertise that went into her creation.