Opération Typhoon

Un peu d'histoire

Notre ami Pierre s'est vu offrir pour ses 30 ans (c'est vrai qu'il n'est plus tout jeune) une superbe maquette d'une vedette rapide tout en bois : le Typhoon. Avant de se lancer dans sa construction, il lui fallait trouver quelques documents pour que la reconstitution soit parfaite. Sacré Pierre, il est comme ça lui ! Malheureusement, ce genre de choses ne traîne pas sur les étagères de la FNAC, alors le Pierre s'est dit << qu'à cela ne tienne, soyons moderne et tournons-nous vers internet ! >> (parce qu'en privé, Pierre se nounoie). Mais comme le bougre a oublié de mettre un modem sur sa liste de mariage (Pierre s'est marié avec Isabelle en juillet 1999), il soutraite et fait bosser les copains. Il n'a pas tout-à-fait tort parce que ces recherches s'avèrent être tout sauf faciles. Voici les quelques indices déjà récoltés :

Model-dockyard & Seacraftclassics

The Dumas model is a replica of the Typhoon built by Mark Mason, owner of the New England Boat & Motor Co. in Laconia NH. Mark's version is an 85% replica of the original Typhoon that was destroyed many years ago. The original size (40') would have required a rather large aircraft engine to obtain the proper performance. The cost to run such a beast would be prohibitive. However, with the design scaled down to 34' she would perform beautifully with a large automotive based engine that was more affordable to run. The new Typhoon's primary construction is of mahogany plank on frame construction. The frames are fabricated from ¾in mahogany plywood. The bottom is quadruple planked with mahogany and fiberglassed for abrasion resistance. The topsides are tripled planked with mahogany and red cedar The sweet lines of the hull are accentuated by the mahogany planks wrapping around the curvature of the hull. The Typhoon is accented further by the use of chrome plated fittings that were all custom made at the company's shop. The Typhoon is powered by a General Motors 572 cu. in. V8 engine, and can reach a maximum speed of 60 mph, cruising speed around the lakes is about 35 mph. At 15 gph, her three gas tanks, total capacity of 110 gallons, are surely needed for the racing speedboat. The three cockpits, capable up seating up to eight adults, are accentuated with genuine leather upholstery. Unlike the original 1929 version, the modem Typhoon carries the latest in electronic equipment.


http://www.model-dockyard.com/dumas/typhoon.htm


http://www.seacraftclassics.com/shipmodels/powerboats/typhoon.html
 

The RGR's Wooden Runabout Page


Dumas kit of Mark Mason's reproduction of Edsel Ford's 1929 sweepstakes winner of the same name. But built to 2/3 actual size. TYPHOON was the sister of TEASER, the boat that beat the Twentieth Century Limited ( at the time the fastest train in world ) from New York City to Albany in the spring of 1925. Teaser still exists, but the original Typhoon was lost to a fire in the late sixties. Model measures 42 1/2 inches and is built to 1/10 scale. Great kit !! DUMAS # 1239 .  This is not a good model to start unless you've built a few others before. Takes a lot of time and patience to plank all those compound curves and get it right. Took me two and a half hours just to plank the bottom. !!  There is one area that I'm really not happy with and that's the windshield. I had to fudge a little and the next one will be done my way and not the way the directions tell you to do it. The result is worth it though and I can't wait to build one for someone else. Model will be powered by an Astro Cobalt 05 direct drive and I changed the prop angle to avoid cavitation and allow for a larger prop. Uses two 7.2 volt battery packs.
 


The real boat is so outrageous that it inspires dreams and desires from everyone who sees it or even dares to dream of such things. Here are some photo's of the model, you be the judge. Then read the following paragraph and see if it all doesn't fit together.



"Suddenly he began to sob. When I asked him what was the matter he began talking about the summer of '28 and a strawberry blonde and the smell of honeydew mellons and the lake in the moonlight and the perfume of her body and the leather of the upholstery and the roar of the engine and the slap of the water at high speed and the hope and the promise and the passion of it all and ... Sweet baby Jesus, we've lost our youth and we'll never get it back ! " -Fred Brooks ( from Wooden Boat Magazine, article by Peter H. Spectre) May-June 1993.
 

Autre indice : une petite annonce parue dans Professional BoatBuilder magazine :

NEW ENGLAND BOAT & MOTOR is looking for a competent and directed builder to loft, set up, cold-mold construct, or restore mahogany launches and historic Gold Cup speedboats. These 1920s thoroughbreds often have 12-cylinder aircraft engines (Rolls Royce, Packard, Curtiss, Hispano-Suizas, etc.). Our work includes "Baby Bootlegger," "Miss Columbia," "Typhoon," "Miss Severn," and "White Rose" (Bill Garden 30-foot Express). Our four-man shop is located at Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, with hundreds of miles of shoreline, crystal-clear water, and 274 islands. There is a ski area 10 minutes from our shop, great public schools, no sales tax, and no state income tax. Job can pay over $30,000. Contact Mark Mason, 800-828-8933. E-mail [nebm@tiac.net].