© Richard Johnstone-Bryden
After 10 years away from the sport and inspired by the emergence of classic motorboat clubs across Europe, the Area 31 Racing Team came out of retirement in 2006, restoring and racing classic hydroplanes from years gone by.
The first hydroplane the team restored was an old hull from the late 1960's once owned by Swedish racer Leif Norland. The hull was found in a dilapidated state (pictured below)with the original 500cc 1964 Crescent engine still attached.
Area 31 Racing Team restored both the hull and the 1964 500cc crescent engine back to their former glories and re launched the outfit back onto the water in the original team colours they competed with during the 1970's (pictured below).
A full description of the 1960's Crescent restoration can be viewed here.
Following a successful first restoration, Area 31 Racing decided to start a second project of restoring a Cabover hydroplane (pictured below), similar to what the team built during the mid 1980's that became the first 500c hydroplane to lap Oulton Broad in under 40 seconds.
The rebuild took a season to complete and was relaunched at Oulton Broad in 2008 powered by a 1973 square block 500cc Konig engine. Area 31 Racing turned back the clock winning races just like with the Cabover just like they did during the 1980's (pictured below).
A full description of the Konig powered 1980's Cabover restoration can be viewed here.
