Reader's boats, nostalgia and restoration

If you get into a car in Sydney and drive out along the shores of Botany Bay to Sans Souci; if you cross the Georges River by the ancient and leisurely punt, head up towards Caringbah for half a mile or so and then turn left into the scrub, and carry on until the road has almost petered out, you will find yourself in front of a group of low buildings with an undistinguished external appearance. A casual observer might be forgiven for thinking that there was a little country garage which hadn’t changed since the days of hand pumped petrol.

How wrong would he be! Out of these sheds come at regular intervals fresh examples of those fascinating blends of inspiration, craftsmanship an applied mechanics – speedboats. And not just ordinary speedboats; for this marine stud farm has produced boats which in their classes have won championships or broken records in every State of the Commonwealth.
One blustery morning a few weeks ago, when the first westerlies of winter were rattling the doors of Sydneysider’s homes, we made the trip to Taren Point, took the photographs you see here, and extracted from the quiet and modest proprietors of the business the story of their rise to success in speedboat building.

Heath-Robinsonian in appearance, the steam bending plant is in reality efficient and easily manageable.

Frank and Ritchie Lewis owe a great deal to their father. Clem Lewis was an engineer whose hobby was model-making. He had infinite patience and a passion for detail, and even before he had finished one beautifully made model, he was working out design improvements to be incorporated in the next.

Some of his models were fascinating. One which we saw was a tiny working steam engine which, complete with flywheel, piston, crankshaft and valve mechanism, was so small that it could be completely hidden behind the top joint of a man’s thumb. Another was an eighteen inch long steam launch which instead of being made from a solid piece had been painstakingly carvel planked.

Clem Lewis’ interest in working model power boats led him naturally and easily to the challenge of getting speed out of full size boats. He became a keen racing driver, and his enthusiasm was catching. Frank and Ritchie, scarcely more than boys, felt interest in the sport stirring within them, became apprenticed to Shevills’ at Sans Souci and began to learn how to build speedboats.

15" circular saw and 30" bandsaw flank the
sliding doors of the woodwork shop. Entrance
to the shop is behind the bandsaw, out of the
picture to the right.

In 1945, when the war had finished, the two brothers, now with years of practical experience behind them, launched out on their own and started the business at Taren Point. From the beginning they built speedboats, but the name “Lewis Bros.” didn’t then mean much to racing men and they were obliged to fill the gaps in the order books by building “putt-putts – little open motor skiffs withy two-stroke engines. These sold like hot cakes, but the boys hearts and minds were turned towards speed, and they were glad when at last they were in a position to accept orders for speedboats, and nothing but speedboats.

Today they concentrate solely on clinker-planked round-bilge skiffs. But, curiously enough, the first speedboat they built for their own use was a hard chined carvel planked boat. This boat – “Comet” – was completed in 1946 and did 46 mph. With their next family boat, however, they reverted to the skiff pattern and their faith in the design was justified when “Miss Pat”, a 135 cubic-inch restricted boat, took the Australasian record, first with 46 mph and later with 50.35 mph.

A partly trued up propeller mounted on the
faceplate of a lathe in the machine shop.
Crammed with tools, this department is
equipped for all work on engines except for
crankshaft grinding.

“Miss Pat’s” success was the first step on the ladder of fame for Frank and Ritchie Lewis. By a tragic twist of fate, it was while racing this boat at Port Hacking that their father was killed on October 8th, 1948.

Clem Lewis’ death was a loss to the speedboating world and a severe blow to his sons. But it also increased their determination to carry on, as they felt he himself would have done, with the ceaseless search for more speed through improvements in design and building.

The speedboat which made people really sit up and take notice of the brothers was “Fox”. Built in 1947 for themselves, Dodge - powered “Fox”, with Frank driving, set a record of 52.25 mph in the 225 c.i. restricted class in 1948. When in the following year the engine limit was changed from 225 to 265 cubic inches, “Fox” set the record in the new class with 55.8 mph. She was then owned by Ossie Hall, who had Frank drive her in the record-breaking runs. After that year, “Fox” raised the 255 ci record to more than 57 mph.

The successes of this speedboat went a long way towards establishing the reputation of the Lewis brothers as designers and builders of fast boats. But Frank and Ritchie were determined to do better. Early in 1950 they built a second “Fox”. This boat, which bore the A.P.B.A. number of “A33” (the “H33” of the first Fox was a club number), had a much finer entry, a lower shaft angle and was, says Frank, better balanced throughout.

The new boat attracted a good deal of attention as she was gradually brought up to peak performance in racing, and men in speedboat circles predicted a bright future for her. When she was given her head in time trials held by St. George Motorboat Club in July, 1950, she did not disappoint them. With a flashing 68.055 mph she not only broke the record for her 255 ci restricted class, but also set an Australasian unlimited restricted class record – and both these records still stand today.

Sanding planks is simple with a stroker-type
belt sander. The part to be sanded is placed
on a bench; the operator uses a handled pad
to press the continuously moving abrasive
belt on to the work. Changing belts for finer
or coarser sanding takes only a few moments.

“Miss Pat” and both “Foxes” were built by Frank and Ritchie for themselves. But the boats they built for others have been equally successful. Take, for instance, “Doodles Too”, built in 1948 for Don Gorringe, which held the Tasmanian unrestricted championship. Or “Typhoon”, the Jaguar XK 120 powered boat in which Norm Thurect, of South Queensland Power Boat Club, fights his classic battles with Dave Rogers. Take “Sinbad” and “Tango”, for western Australian rivals Howie Sangster and Clive Stannard, each forming the only real opposition to the other. Or Ron Lynch’s “Mercury”, holder of the Victorian Championship

and record (63 mph) in the 255 ci restricted class. Or “John B.”, with which Bert Wakefield holds the 255 ci restricted record (though he lost the championship recently to another Lewis built boat). And last, but far from least, take “Fossy” Fred Foster’s famous little skiff.

“Foss’, built last year, is almost a smaller version of the second “Fox”. A 135 ci restricted, powered by a Holden motor personally converted by Fred Foster with a self-built cylinder head, twin camshafts and six carburettors, “Fossy” set an Australasian 135 ci restricted record of 62.97 mph, a speed that was actually better than the existing world record figure, but could not be recognised because international rules allowed only one carburettor for each two cylinders.

As this formidable list of successes indicates, the Lewis brothers are now firmly established as builders of fast boats. Their workshops look nondescript from the outside, but are filled with modern machines for both woodworking and engine conversions. In the latter field they work in closely with engine specialist Mervyn Waggot; all of their camshaft work is done by him, and Lewis built boats with Waggot-converted-and-installed engines rate equally with 100 percent Lewis boats for guaranteed speeds.

Owner Ted Higgs takes a first look at the
finished hull of his new runabout.

Four main types of speed skiffs are built at Lewis Bros. They are a 135 ci boat, 13 ft. overall, a 14 ft. 255 ci boat for standard motors, a slightly larger (14 ft. 8 in.) 255 for hotted-up engines, and 16 ft. runabouts.

The same basic hull shapes are used in successive boats in each class, but each individual boat has small changes in design incorporated in the light of past performances of boats of the same class.

When engines have been prepared and installed either by themselves or by Waggot, the brothers guarantee that their boats will attain the following minimum speed: Runabouts, 45 mph; 135 ci, 50 mph; 255 ci 62 mph.

As we emerged from the Lewis Bros.’ office after finding out all these things, the hard glare of the sun from a clear Sydney sky shone on the immaculate varnish of the newly completed runabout hull near the door. We said our good-byes and turned for a last look at the buildings before heading off down the road for the city. By comparison with the sleek and shining speedboat they looked even less impressive than before. There and then we mentally coined a phrase which is so corny that we wouldn’t inflict it on you if it didn’t seem to sum up something about Frank and Ritchie. “The Lewis Brothers”, we thought, “put speed and performance before spit and polish”.