Tru-Jen on Lake Rotoiti, SI.
THE STORY OF TRU-JEN &P THE MASPORT CUP
WORDS BY Merv Sowden NZPBA historian (nzspeedboathistory@gmail.com) & Tony Rutledge
No major speedboat trophy has ever been won easily and without doubt the Masport Cup would be the most difficult to win in New Zealand. The origin of the Masport Cup dates back to 1925 when Messrs Mason and Porter Ltd donated the Trophy to The New Zealand Power Boat Association as an annual trophy for the New Zealand Speed Boat Championship.
Sometimes the race would appear to be an anticlimax after the build-up of publicity before the event. However, nothing that happens on race day can give any indication of the hours, weeks, months and sometimes even years of work that have gone into the craft competing. Harry Rutledge and Bill Ruffell’s 3½ ton Allison powered unlimited hydroplane Tru-Jen, was one such craft. Susan Leigh II, later renamed Tru-Jen was built in Blenheim in the South Island of New Zealand in 1958 with the mission of winning the 1959 Masport Cup and taking it from Len Southward’s Redhead back to their club in Marlborough.
Masport Cup day in 1959 was a double disaster for Susan Leigh II and Redhead when both boats went to the bottom of Picton Harbour, watched by a crowd of 14,000 spectators. The cause of the sinking was the same for both boats – a broken propeller blade. Redhead never raced again but when Susan Leigh II was raised she was renamed Tru-Jen after the wives of the co-owners, Trudy Ruffell and Jen Rutledge.
After 10 long years of frustration and bad luck, the dogged perseverance of the
Tru-Jen crew was finally rewarded by Harry’s memorable runaway victory in the 1968 Masport Cup on the Tamaki Estuary at Flat Rock in Auckland. The critics were staggered by the ease of the win against the then fastest boats in New Zealand on a very tight course totally unsuited to a 9.1m (30 ft) unlimited hydroplane.
The main reason for Tru-Jen’s extraordinary performance that day was a new propeller made by Nadler and Biddle Ltd of Nelson, which had only been tested the day before the race.
ALLISON V -1710
Harry and Bill bought the first Susan Leigh from Don McLeod and Syd Williams of Auckland in 1956 mainly for the Allison engine and gearbox and also to get some experience in racing against Redhead. The boat was capable of about 90 mph but above that speed it was virtually uncontrollable. After racing Susan Leigh behind Redhead for a couple of seasons Bill and Harry decided that it was time for a better hull capable of using the maximum power available from the Allison V-1710.
The Allison Division of General Motors Corporation in Indianapolis built these engines. At peak production during World War II, 1000 V-1710’s were made every month. The Manufacturer most identified with the V-1710 was Lockheed who built the P38 Lightning. During the early war years the V-1710 was also put to work in the first 500 North American P-51 Mustangs. After the war there was a large surplus of V-1710’s and they could be purchased very cheaply.
The V-1710 is a supercharged liquid cooled V12 with a bore of 5 ½ inches and a stroke of 6 inches giving a capacity of 1710 cu in (28 litres).
A study of the Altitude Performance Chart for the V-1710-81 reveals a take-off rating of 1200hp at 3000rpm for a boost of 52 in hg. It is interesting to note that during the 1968 Masport Cup, Tru-Jen’s Allison reached 3800rpm at a boost pressure of 76 in hg corresponding to a power output of well over 2000hp on the chart. At these revs Tru-Jen was estimated to be travelling at over 200 km/h (125 mph) on the course. The deafening thunder of an Allison operating well beyond its war emergency rating was an experience not likely to be forgotten by spectators.
The huge power output of the Allison was matched by an equally huge consumption of 130-octane aviation fuel of the order of 13.6 litres (3 gpm). Harry and Bill were very thankful that BP sponsored their fuel and oil costs in the latter years of their racing.
The Allison was a massive engine to work on with four valves and two spark plugs per cylinder. Even the carburettor was a highly specialised instrument that required the expert attention of New Zealand’s National Airline Corporation workshops periodically. Changing the 24 spark plugs, some of them in the most inaccessible places, was a major task and checking the magneto timing required considerable expertise. Fortunately the Allison’s were usually very reliable and only required routine servicing. The engine that won the Masport Cup eventually put a rod through the crankcase- understandable in view of the punishment it had taken.
The original engine in Tru-Jen was completely ruined by saltwater when the boat sank in Picton in 1959. Another engine partly submerged during a launching mishap and had to be rewired. A third engine blew its supercharger when the impeller bearing failed and a fourth engine‘s supercharger was also destroyed by an explosion when the mixture control accidentally vibrated to the full lean position. At the end of Harry and Bill’s racing career in 1970 the supply of Allison’s was beginning to dry up.
THE GEARBOX
The gearbox in Tru-Jen came from the first Susan Leigh and Mr Bates of Morrinsville built it in 1947 at a cost of £740.00. It had three beautifully machined herringbone gears, 5” wide giving a step up ratio of 3 to 1. The centre gear was an idler gear that gave sufficient distance from the engine crankshaft to the propeller shaft to enable the shaft to run beneath the engine with the gearbox mounted in front of the engine.
One of the major problems with the gearbox was to find bearings capable of withstanding the high loads combined with the very high rpm of the output shaft – up to 11,400 rpm. With over 2000 hp being transmitted through the gears the gearbox not surprisingly become quite hot through the race.
Another problem with the gearbox was that it weighed ½ ton. Harry spent a whole day and night turning excess metal from the gears and eventually removed about 1 cwt.
THE BUILDING OF SUSAN LEIGH II
Ted Jones of USA who at the time was one of the world’s leading designers of unlimited hydroplanes designed the hull. It was similar to Hawaii Kia III the current world record holder for propeller driven craft, which had achieved 314;33 km/h (195.32 mph). The main difference between them was the cockpit and engine layout.
Harry and Bill opted for the cab over configuration with the cockpit in the front of the engine. This allowed the driver greater visibility and a smoother ride. Furthermore the driver was not deafened or cooked by the engine. There was also considerably less danger in the event of fire, explosion or propeller shaft failure.
When Tru-Jen was built the cab-over configuration was quite new to thunder boats. Thriftway Too was the first cab-over in 1957 and Tru-Jen was the second in 1958. Tru-Jen was also the first true 3-point thunder boat to be built outside of the USA.
The hull was 9.1m (30ft) long and 3.65m (12ft) wide at its widest point tapering to 1.09m (3ft 6in) at the stern. The sponsons are the self-draining type (wet sponson) and are bolted to the main hull with 50 bolts per side.
The cockpit was built to accommodate the driver and two passengers, one on either side of the driver. On the rear of Tru-Jen is a WWII P51 Mustang tail fin and was offset slightly to help counteract the torque that the Allison developed. The tail fin gave the boat an aircraft-like silhouette.
The Ted Jones plans for the hull were obtained from R S (Jack) Nicholson of the Royal New Zealand Air Force based in Ohakea.
He raced a small hydroplane and was very keen to see a true unlimited hydroplane built in New Zealand. On the plan there was no information on how to set up the boat for engine position, balance point, rudder or propeller. These problems all had to be solved by Harry and Bill.
Construction of the bare hull was started early in 1958 by Harry.
The first job was to laminate the two 9m long by 35cm (14-inch) deep engine bearers from imported Oregon using 9 litres of “Norstick” epoxy glue in the process.
A further 32 litres of glue were used during the hull construction. The highest quality plywood was used and the tunnel bottom and sponsons were double skinned. Altogether 20,000 galvanized sprigs and 1000 woodscrews were used in the timberwork.
Some extra strength was built into the hull for safety reasons. At about this time several thunder boats in the USA had bad accidents where hulls completely disintegrated and Harry did not want their boat to do the same. Because of the extra hull strength and the weight of the gearbox Tru-Jen was heavier than most of her contemporaries. The Unlimited hydros in the USA also developed considerably more horsepower than Tru-Jen and used the latest state-of –the-art propeller designs. Tru-Jen was therefore not expected to perform in the 180-190 mph bracket but it was hoped that speeds of 100-110 mph would be easily attainable on the course regardless of water conditions.
INITIAL TRIALS OF SUSAN LEIGH II
After more than a year of hard work Susan Leigh II was ready for her first trial runs 3 weeks before the Griffith and Masport Cup races to be held in Picton on Easter weekend of 1959.
It was decided as there were no cranes available to lift Tru-Jen into the water as they did in the USA it would be easier to transport Susan Leigh II on a flat trailer and to back her into the water as they did with the smaller boats. Every time Susan Leigh II was transported she needed a special over width permit from the Transport Department.
Jen Rutledge and Trudy Ruffell launched her in the old lagoon at Picton close to where the Cook Straight Ferry Terminal now is and christened her Susan Leigh II with the traditional bottle of champagne on the bow.
After being towed under the bridge into the open water, her engine was started and she cruised down to the harbour at low speed. During her first run, which took 20 minutes her speed increased progressively to about 145 km/h (90 mph) with no problems.
On her second run she was estimated to have reached about 170 km/h (105 mph). After one more run she was taken out of the water and Harry and Bill were two very satisfied men. Their hours of work had been rewarded by near perfect behaviour and performance with no major problems apart from the boat being slightly light in the stern. Hopes were running high for a good performance against Redhead.
The shingle was added for balance was then removed and blocks of lead to the same weight were bolted in place. At this stage everything seemed perfect and it looked as if Susan Leigh II had every chance of beating Redhead.
1959 GRIFFITH CUP
The 1959 Griffith Cup was contested at Picton on Easter weekend between Susan Leigh II and Redhead. In typical sporting fashion Len Southward had agreed to race at Picton rather than Wellington. There was widespread publicity leading up to the event and hopes ran high that the brand new local boat would dethrone Redhead which had remained unbeaten from 1948 to 1958.
As well as the big boat from Marlborough, Redhead was also up against the much smaller but very fast hydroplane Mystic Miss driven by Frank Gatland of Auckland, which was entered in the Masport Cup to be held on the same day. The Ferrari V-12 powered hydro at that time held the Australasian water speed record of 116.8 mph.
All races in New Zealand at the time were ran in a clockwise direction and 14,000 people were crammed in Picton that day to see the battle of the two giants and the very fast and beautifully prepared Mystic Miss.
The first big race on the programme was the Griffith Cup and before the start Harry and Len had a gentleman’s agreement to stay together for the first few laps before beginning the race in earnest.
When the pole boat flag was dropped Susan Leigh II and Redhead growled around the course side by side for 2 laps at about 140 km/h (85 mph) with both Allison’s cruising comfortably at well under 3000rpm. At the end of the second lap Harry and Len unleashed full power and with her roostertail up Susan Leigh II edged past Redhead.
Just before the inner harbour turn there was a sickening crunch from Susan Leigh II and she glided to a stop as Redhead went past. In dismay the Marlborough supporters watched Harry and Bill’s pride and joy sink in 10m of water. Redhead cruised the remaining laps to retain the Griffith Cup.
Later in the day, during running of the Masport Cup, Redhead disappeared dramatically in a cloud of spray after an exciting duel with Mystic Miss. An inspection after both boats had been salvaged from the bottom of the sea showed that both boats had broken propeller blades. The resulting out of balance force of the remaining blade rotating at 9000rpm was sufficient to break the strut and twist the propeller shaft into an S bend.
The bottom of Susan Leigh II was so strong that only a small hole about 30cm long was punched through. The 76mm diameter main shaft in the gearbox was twisted 20 deg when the Allison stalled.
Redhead never raced again and is now on display at Southwards Museum. On the other hand Harry and Bill were just beginning and they had the heartbreaking and expensive task of rebuilding their labour of love for the next Masport Cup.
In the hope that a change of name would bring them better luck, Susan Leigh II was renamed Tru-Jen after Trudy Ruffell and Jen Rutledge, the wives of the co-owners. When they got the boat back to the workshop Harry and Bill began to realise just how much work was ahead of them. Harry had a work accident that slowed the work on Tru-Jen. The Allison engine and all wiring and instrumentation were ruined by the salt water and would need replacement. The gearbox would have to be completely rebuilt with a new main shaft. The propeller shaft and struts required replacement and the hull damage needed repairing. Finally, a new and stronger propeller would have to be made.
1960 MASPORT CUP
In this race Tru-Jen, Mystic Miss and an Australian boat, Jag were the main contenders. Bill drove a good race considering it was his first, but Tru-Jen did not reach anything like full revs due to a gearbox bearing failure during the race. Mystic Miss won with Jag 2nd and Tru-Jen not too far behind in 3rd.
After this race Harry and Bill decided to move the engine and gearbox back 35cm and remove the 91 kgs (200lbs) of lead in the stern. With Harry incapacitated work dragged on slowly but early in 1961 the boat was ready for another trial run to see if it was good enough to go North for the 1961 Masport Cup. During a high speed test run the fuel mixture control accidentally cut to lean resulting in an explosion that blew the entire back off the motor.
Motors were getting scarce by now and it was some time before one could be found. Another year went by before the new motor was in and Tru-Jen was ready for more trials at Picton.
By this time the launching ramp had disappeared due to the development of the Picton Ferry Terminal. An attempt to launch Tru-Jen on the temporary ramp resulted in one wheel of the trailer sinking and Tru-Jen partly filling with water and all instrument and electrical gear were once again ruined.
The Tru-Jen crew was used to setbacks by now but on the brighter side Harry had now recovered from his work accident, and he decided to drive Tru-Jen again. On the next trial run at Picton in late 1964 yet another gearbox bearing failed and it was back to the workshop again only three weeks before the Pelorus Jack Cup.
1965-1967 PELORUS
JACK CUP
In January 1965 the Marlborough Power Boat Club decided to attract the top North Island boats to race against Tru-Jen by
offering big prize money for the Pelorus Jack Cup. The year before, the 1964 Pelorus Jack Cup had been won by Harry’s brother Jack with his midget 12ft hydroplane Excuse Me Too that was powered by a 1000cc V4 engine built by Jack from two 1947 500cc
Triumph Speed Twin motorcycle engines. At that time Tru-Jen and Excuse Me Too were the largest and smallest inboard hydroplanes in New Zealand.
The 1965 race was again to be held at Lake Rotoiti and this posed some problems for Harry and Bill. Between Blenheim and the lake were six bridges all too narrow for Tru-Jen’s 3.65m beam. In their inimitable style Harry and Bill overcame this by running one wheel of the trailer on thick planks and so tipping the boat enough to enable one sponson to clear the side of the bridge. It took them 2 days to make the 75-mile trip.
Their efforts were well worthwhile. After an exciting duel with Jock Appleton’s Elray, Tru-Jen won when Elray broke a rudder shaft with a half a lap to go.
Tru-Jen got away to a slow start but closed the gap during the race forcing Jock Appleton to keep up a hair-raising pace on the rough water that had the spectators on their toes. In those days Jock used to strap himself into his hydro so he would not been thrown out. This was Tru-Jen’s first victory and it had taken 6 years to achieve. Autobeat driven by George Butler was second with Slipray II third.
In 1966 Tru-Jen won again easily and the following morning Harry became the first South Islander to earn a 100mph Gold Badge.
Two months after the 1966 Pelorus Jack Cup Harry and Bill had more speed trials on Picton Harbour but a super charger impeller bearing failed. No more motors were available and they were left with a new but lower powered Allison donated by Dr Buckner of Picton.
This motor was tried out 1 week before the 1967 race. The carburettor was given trouble and it was rushed to N.A.C. in Christchurch for testing and repair. It got lost en-route and eventually turned up just 24 hours before the race. The new motor ran perfectly and Harry drove to another easy victory with Gold Mist 2nd and Manta 3rd. The next morning Bill did 178 km/h (110.7 mph) on the measured kilometre to earn his 100 mph Gold Badge.
1967 RECORD RUN
Tru-Jen was by now performing so well that Harry and Bill decided to attempt the New Zealand water speed record, which was
currently held by Mystic Miss at 200.55 km/h (124.62 mph).
In their first attempt a water hose inside the boat burst and Harry averaged 191.5 km/h (119 mph) with the boat half full of water. Finally on the 18th of March 1967, Bill Ruffell took Tru-Jen through the measured kilometre for a record breaking average of 203.96 km/h (126.74 mph). The run out of the harbour was quite slow because of the limited run up. On the return run Bill took Tru-Jen out of sight down Queen Charlotte Sound before turning around for the run back in.
On the return run Bill kept his foot hard down and Tru-Jen wound up to an estimated 225 km/h (140 mph), so fast that a low flying Cessna with a photographer on board on board could not keep up. The roostertail from Tru-Jen was 30m high and a ¼ mile long and individual propeller blade marks can easily be seen in the photo.
The propeller used on the record run was made by Nadler and Biddle of Nelson and had more pitch and less blade area than the prop used for racing.
1968-1970 MASPORT CUPS
With the New Zealand water speed record behind them Harry and Bill decided that they should enter the 1968 Masport Cup, which was to held in Auckland. Tru-Jen was taken to Rotoiti for the 1968 Pelorus Jack Cup. By this time all races in New Zealand had been changed to run in an anti-clockwise direction. In a practice run the propeller was badly bent and Harry and Bill were left with an old and inferior one, which they knew, would be useless against their fast opponents. And so it proved, Tru-Jen came in 3rd, well behind the winner Elray III.
In the meantime Tony Shuttleworth of Nadler and Biddle was doing some frantic work in Nelson to make a new propeller in time for the Masport Cup race. Tru-Jen was taken straight to Nelson after the Pelorus Jack Cup and shipped to Auckland. Harry left early for Auckland to take charge of the boat. Bill collected the new propeller and started off by car but was taken seriously ill on the journey and was rushed to hospital. In hearing of their plight, Len Southward came to the rescue, picked up the propeller and some other gear and got it to Auckland in time for Harry to have a practice run the day before the big race. The new prop was the best ever and gave the 3500 kg boat a new lease of life. Harry was quite confident that he could take the Masport Cup back to Marlborough.
The starters for the 1968 Masport Cup included six boats that all had been officially timed at over 161 km/h (100 mph). They were Tru-Jen, Air New Zealand (ex Elray), Elray III, Autobeat, Slipray II and Gold Mist. Also entered was another South Island Boat Miss Print III an impressive flat bottom craft, which had been timed at just less than 160 km/h.
From the pole boat start Miss Print III showed tremendous acceleration from the inside lane and rounded the top buoy first closely followed by Harry in Tru-Jen who had started in the outside lane. Harry put his foot down hard coming out of the first turn and flew past Miss Print III on the one mile straight. At the end of the first lap Tru-Jen had already opened up a lead of 400 metres. This was by far the best performance seen by Tru-Jen and even Harry was surprised at how quickly he had taken control of the race. In previous races Tru-Jen had always appeared to be glued to the water but that day she was completely airborne on occasions. She looked and sounded like a true Gold Cup hydroplane with the characteristic long low roostertail and the thunderous bellow from the Allison being pushed to its limited.
The spectators were treated to one of the most exciting displays of high-powered speedboat racing ever seen in New Zealand. The bank was a natural grandstand and every time Tru-Jen thundered past only 30 yards out, the ground vibrated. Although Tru-Jen won easily and cruised the last few laps of the 7-lap race there was an exciting duel for 2nd and 3rd place between Miss Print III, Air New Zealand and Elray III. Miss Print III managed to hold on to 2nd for a couple of laps until Elray III then Air New Zealand finally got past. Autobeat was the only boat not to finish. The following day Tru-Jen had another easy win in the Moult Gold Cup with Air New Zealand 2nd and Elray III 3rd.
After this outstanding performance the critics of Tru-Jen were finally silenced and when Harry returned to Blenheim with the Masport Cup he was given a Mayoral Reception.
The 1969 Masport Cup was held at Picton and Tru-Jen once again burned off the opposition soon after the start. Air New Zealand put in a brief challenge after Harry had eased off but she retired soon after leaving Bill Paterson’s spectacular Allison powered flat
bottom Aquanaut to fill 2nd and Bill Stokes in VooDoo IV coming in 3rd.
At this stage Harry and Bill decided to retire from racing having achieved most of their ambitions with Tru-Jen. At the age of 66 Harry found climbing around on hands and knees while working on Tru-Jen quite hard. Tru-Jen did one or two more races with Tim Rutledge as the driver and after a couple of false sales, Bob Alexandra from Hamilton bought it.
AFTER RACING
Bob had never put Tru-Jen back on the water and it languished for many years in a temporary shed. The roof was several old large farm water tanks cut in half and made in such a way that covered Tru-Jen completely. Tru-Jen was dry, but the deck needed replacement as the ply used did not look like marine ply and had passed its use-by date. A group of us that had been competing at a radio control scale hydroplane regatta at Hamilton had arrived at Bob’s farm.
While we were there an Australian turned up with the intention of buying some of the old race cars (That’s where Bob’s value was).
Bob returned to us after pointing the Australian to the sheds and asked if we were interested in buying Tru-Jen as everything has to go. We said we would get back to him. About two weeks later he rang me and said if we were not interested in buying Tru-Jen he would burn the boat.
I rang around a few guys that were there and scraped together enough money to buy her and save Tru-Jen from a fiery grave.
Tru-Jen stayed in my basement for about ten years, but nothing was done to her as we had no money. Our main goal was to save her from being destroyed and to keep her out of the weather.
With a young family and a new business, I asked the others that were involved to see what they wanted to do. No one had any money. It was best to move Tru-Jen on to someone that had the finance to restore her.
About 1997, I had a phone call from the Australian who had a friend interested in restoring Tru-Jen. As I could not find anyone interested in NZ, I offered him the boat for free as long as he kept me updated on the progress of the rebuild. A month later he organised a team of boat movers to come and take Tru-Jen away. Tru-Jen had removable sponsons and everything fitted into a 40ft container. It went to Sydney and I believe the Australian business was hit hard by the recession at that time and his business was sold on with Tru-Jen. I was very disappointed that Tru-Jen was not restored but at least we did our bit to save her. The people that bought the business sold Tru-Jen I believe to a member of the NSW Speedboat Club. If anyone knows where it is now I would love to hear from them.
Merv Sowden | nzspeedboathistory@gmail.com
