1946 - Lot 9

1946 VENTNOR Class 135 (A) Type : Racer 3 points Length : 4,62 m Width : 2,12 m Weight: approx. 350 kg Number of seats : 1 Engine : Ford-Offenhauser Type : 8 cylinders in V Displacement : 2.3 l. Power : approx. 75 hp. The boats, as well as the trailers, have no papers. The 135 C.I. racing class was created in 1931 by the American Power Boat Association to support the sporting activity affected by the financial crisis of 1929. Thanks to the presence of production car engines of this displacement on the market, this category was successful for more than two decades because it was possible to equip a racer at affordable costs while obtaining good performances thanks to preparers. This is the case of the Ford V8 "Flathead" for which the Offenhauser firm, renowned for its numerous victories at the Indianapolis 500 Miles, offers a kit that makes the Ford "small block" very competitive in its category. The Ventnor yard was founded in 1902 in Atlantic City, New Jersey by Adolf E. Apel. His research quickly placed him at the forefront of progress in the design of hulls to improve their speed potential. In 1936, the Apels, father and son, filed a patent that would revolutionize the sport of motorboating for nearly half a century: the three-point hydroplane hull. Soon its productions started to dominate the competition in all racing categories, starting with small and medium displacements like the 135 and 225 C.I. class. The A 88 racer was built in 1946 by Ventnor on Rich Hallet's plans for Colonel Holmes of the US Army Special Services. Holmes was then based in Paris, in charge, among other things, of monitoring the recovery of the V2 components. He had his boat sent to Europe, and later based in Belgium, participated in various events when the sport of motorboating was struggling to get off the ground after the war due to numerous shortages (materials, fuel, etc.). The American officer sold the A88 to the Belgian citizen Philippe Enthoven in 1953, who took part in many races. He even won the West German championship in 1954 on Lake Constance, after which he attempted the world hour record in the 135 category on Lake Wothersee in Austria, then held by the champion Christoph Von Mayenburg at 118 km/h. Enthoven obtained excellent times during the preparatory trials at more than 128 km/h but broke his propeller shaft during the official attempt. From 1955 to 1988, the boat remained wisely sheltered on its trailer at the bottom of a Packard garage in Antwerp, entirely original as it came out of Ventnor in 1946. Only the Belgian flag has been added by her second owner. The Ford-Offenhauser V8 is equipped with two Zenith Stromberg carburetors and a Scintilla Vertex magneto. The A88 was purchased by the Italian collector Baravalle at a Christie's sale in London in 1991. He then entrusted it to the Circolo Nautico Italiano for a restoration preserving as much as possible all its authenticity. Awarded at the ASDEC meeting at Villa d'Este a year later. It then entered the Van Praet collection at the end of the 1990s and has been carefully preserved ever since.