The Steven Hughes story; 35 years of powerboat racing in New Zealand

On FaceBook we from PowerboatPro came into contact with Sam Hughes. Sam is a powerboat racer from New Zealand. During our conversations we found out that Sam’s father Steven has been involved in powerboat racing since the mid seventies. This of course got our attention. Would there be a story in there? Boy, is there a story. Steven’s experience and history and him now still being in the game and his love of the sport is in our opinion a real tribute to the sport. But we will hush now and let Steven Hughes do the talking.

First meeting was at Lake Kaniere on the West Coast New Zealand. This was in October 1975 where I drove a Mono Hull with a 70 Hp Johnson in a 1 hour Enduro. I finished 3rd in class at an average speed of 40 mph.

There were 40 entries on that race and the winner was a 20 foot 2 man tunnel called ‘Hi Jack’ which had twin 150 Mercury’s using 1 to 1 gearboxes. Its top speed was 75 MPH its average was 63 mph. Driver was Jack Gallagher from Christchurch. 2nd was another slightly shorter tunnel with an Evinrude KC Strangler on the back driven by Phillip Mills.

Right then I knew if I was going to race power boats it had to be in a Tunnel. Bought my first Tunnel Hull (catamaran) the following year. It was a 13 footer with a 50 HP pull start Red Band Mercury. Called Gold Cat. Top speed was 50 mph using a bronze 2 blade Quicksilver 17 pitch thru hub exhaust propeller. This boat I raced in the 45 cu inch outboard Hydroplane class. There were often 10 boats competing in this class and racing was close.
Motors used were either standard types like I had or older Mercury and Koning race motors

After 2 years in that class the Mercury was worn out so a 65 XS Mercury was fitted instead and I moved into the 50 Cu inch class. The popular motors then were 75 hp Evinrude Hustlers or Johnson Stingers or the XS 650 Mercs like I had.
The OMC Engines were more reliable (even though their gearboxes were weak) the Mercs were faster but harder to tune and often burnt pistons. I raced 2 seasons in that class, won a few races but never the Championship.

In 1981 I moved to up to the 100 Cu Inch Class in an 18 foot Cooke’s design Tunnel fitted with a 150 XS 15 inch shaft Mercury. Success was immediate as this was a demon machine. The boat was light, fast and handled well.
Name of the boat was Hi Flyer and it flew, it had wings on the front so could be hung high to gain lots of lift out of corners. Without a doubt these Peter Jamieson built boats were the best of their time. With a Merc 150 XS nothing could match us. We won the NZ R class 100 Cu inch stock title 2 years in a row with this boat as well as set a NZ speed record which still stands at 91 MPH. Unfortunately that boat being so light had a limited life and after 3 years of hard competition was past it best

From there I moved into the open 100 Cu Inch class with a Stead Craft boat and a Mercury Twister 2X Motor. This was an ex championship winning set up and was Very fast. First time raced at a local river race in front of a huge crowd I flipped in spectacular fashion. I was winning at the time. I should have slowed down as it was quite gusty. No damage to me but boat broken and ego severely damaged. We fixed it up and the next start that summer was the National Championship. While leading in the 2nd heat the gear box blew sending the prop shaft and my best prop out the back, lost forever.

Still we knew the boat was fast, so get a new 13 / 16 box and prop from Mercury in Australia and start again.
If the wife knew how much that all cost she would have chucked me out sooner. Next start was the Wanganui Bridge to Bridge and King of the River races. We won the King of the River but in the Bridge Sprints when lapping another slower boat the driver lost steerage and hit me, broken again, more $ and time to fix.

Off to the Wairarapa next for another River race. Fastest all day with the T2 X really screaming. That evening the holding club was Running a Kilo Trial for record attempts. The water was perfect, with long run ups and ideal conditions, was this the right time too? Go for the record. Why not? At 8,000 revs using a 17 prop on a borrowed 14 / 15 box I flew up the river well over 100 MPH. Coming down river was into the slight breeze; I got airborne and flipped crashing heaverily at about 110 mph. We never had cells in those days so was thrown from the boat. Result was a broken leg and pelvis and 4 weeks in hospital. Wife was less than impressed especially as our first child was on the way (Sam). Worst of all the boat was broken again. (That speed record I was after has never since been broken, it was set by Alistair Grey in a boat called John West using the same T2 X back in 1975)

Over the winter of 85 I fixed the boat and rebuilt the motor. The idea was to get it right then sell it. That’s what I told her in doors. Well after many hours all was fixed. The hull was redesigned this time as a pickle fork to move the air jam further back. First time we ran it I was impressed at the difference the shift in air flow had made. The boat ran flatter and turned into corners better than before as well as popped faster coming out of turns.

The very first time raced was in the NZ Championships at Lake Karapiro at New Year 1987. As a late entry I had to start on the outside in position 10. From the drop of the flag I was gone. Nothing could match this boat that day in the 100 open Cu inch Championship. The 2 heats were won easierly, even the wife was impressed. But promises had been made so the boat was sold. End of story? Not quite.

Within a year I had another tunnel with an Evinrude Super Strangler on it this time, my first OMC. It was a heap when I got it (cheap). After a bit of time it was a runner and even quite Quick. This I ran for 2 seasons and won many club races in it. I liked it because it was totally reliable and owed me very little. One day a friend Peter Edmonds offered me ‘too much’ money for the boat so I sold it.

With those $ I stepped up to the big time and brought my first overseas design tunnel. It was a English designed Hodges built in NZ by Paul Lucibella in an unused upstairs bar at a Wanganui hotel off some drawings brought back from England on a roll of wall paper. This was a magnificent boat, so radical in design because it was only as big as a formula 3. We fitted the V4 Evinrude as I did not yet have enough $ for a V6 and went hunting. Nothing in the 100 Cu Inch class could catch this. The handling was awesome and with a 1 to 1 gearbox was racing a 100mph. Again as this motor was so reliable we had a remarkable season.

Then it was time to go into the big time, I traded the Evinrude on a 2nd hand T 3 2 liter V6 3 carby Merc. What a heap of Sh– this turned out to be. Melted pistons, blown gearboxes. You name it this motor did it. I almost retired in disgust. Instead I took a season off as the kids were young. In that time I managed to sell off the T 3 at a huge loss and found a used ex England (some one reckoned it was ex Roger Jenkins) Johnson RS. It seemed in good condition but we still stripped it to be sure. All looked good so lets go racing, it was slow, would rev past 6800 my V4 was as fast. After a lot of messing round we found the main jets to be 74’s when on green gas the book said use 70’s. We fitted 70’s and it was like a turbo had been fitted. Goooo? Did it what. It flew, we had a great boat now with a fantastic Motor. Over 3 seasons I won 5 championships and many feature races in that boat including Driver of the year.

So I ordered my first ever NEW Tunnel. This was a Hodges design built in NZ by Bryan Orham in his back shed on his farm in South Auckland. It cost $7,000 finished. Right from the start it fair flew. This I raced for 4 years initially with the Johnson then with a 2.0 F1 EFI Mercury. As well as safety cells were coming into play so we had the boat fitted with a cell and it was even better. We had changed back to Merc as parts supply (pistons etc) had dried up for the OMC. Otherwise I would still be running the OMC. Those old cross flow V6 Evinrude CCC and Johnson RS were fantastically reliable and fast. We had a few tricks in ours and by the end. Our motors were running well in the 8’s in fact never ever did a Carby Mercury ever beat my OMC in the NZ F1 class. This boat I wrote off at Picton one day when a sponson ripped off in a corner. I knew I had gone in too fast after a bad start off the dock. The wreck I sold the next day and had another boat by the end of the month. This time my first ever Burgess.

I thought the Hodges was great and they were but the Burgess boats were fantastic. So far over the last 15 years I have had 5 of them and won many races safely. Of those 5 every time I have changed it’s because I have wrecked the old one. Nothing lasts forever and if you are going to race hard then things break.

The last 20 years of racing F1 boats has been fun and we have done well, better than most. My biggest enjoyment now at 57 apart from still racing is watching my son Sam race his Burgess (my old one) in the NZ F2. In fact this year in his 2nd full F2 season he won the NZ title. It took me 6 years to get my first NZ title but I’ve had 15 or so since.

To sum up;

Here in NZ to keep F1 alive and even up the racing as well as keep the costs down a few years ago we adopted Rev Limiters. All motors used must be Rev limited to 8650 for 2.5 motors and 9200 for 2.0 Liter engines. This works in that the racing is closer. And expensive motor rebuilds are further apart. We run an F1 series each race season spread over 5 meetings with 3 races each. Total 15 races. With these rules just about every one runs the F1 series on 1 motor. Previously there were motors blown everywhere.

My advise, keep the racing close, keep the cost down and the sport can grow. Enjoy your sport through good comradeship. Be friends on and off the track and wear sun tan lotion.

I imagine throughout the world apart from the World Series, like NZ this is your sport not your profession.
Enjoyment is competing and sure winning is the most important thing.

Nothing matches going fast in a good boat on Water. I have raced crashed and smashed most mostly everything on wheels at some time or rather. But nothing matches going fast in a good boat on water especially if it’s rough.

My passion and sport is Closed Circuit Circle Power Boat racing, what is yours?

I trust this detail is of interest, if ever you are in NZ look us up.

Yours in the sport,
Steven Hughes
HRT Racing