Of course, not all speedboats are made of wood. One of the most famous boat makes in Britain is the Albatross. A tiny 12′-8″ all aluminium boat with a stunning performance considering the engine was just a little 10HP Ford sidevalve of 1172cc capacity.
Yet these pocket rockets could tow two skiers and maintain a good 35-40mph.
They were made by the craftsmen who built fighters and bombers during the War. From the very best marine quality aluminium with flush rivetting so good, that it’s difficult to see where the rivets are even after over 50 years.
They were direct drive, no clutch, no gearbox. To go ‘backuds’ you paddled with a tiny oar that came with the boat. They were delivered on the back of Albatross’s VW flat truck! 12 of the Mk1s were fitted with the fabulous little Coventry Climax FWE engine from the Lotus Elite, but that made the boats dangerous when the spray rails would “knife” a wake of a preceeding boat and turn the craft over in an instant.
I owned Hull No. 137 for a while, but the lack of anywhere to run it free at it’s design speed made me sell it. But not before measuring and photographing it and making a 1/6th scale model of it, which went to one of Windermere’s richest landowners for his private collection.
The model was made exacltly like the real boats, but was aluminium soldered, not rivetted. It had a fully detailed Ford sidevalve engine, including SU carburettor and pump, opening engine deck and working steering through cable and pulleys.
All deck fittings were hand carved from aluminium as well.
Albatross Sports No. 137 in 1/6th scale , all aluminium
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