West Australian Skiff called Chimera

[Reklaw]

There was a 155 Falcon powered skiff called called Chimera in the Fremantle Motor Museum some time ago. That Museum was sold, some of the exhibits went to the York Motor Museum, others were sold off.
Just wondering if anyone knows what happened to this skiff? Here's a couple of pics.

[hudstub]

Hi, my name is Ray and I have just re joined the CAWPBA after a gap of a couple of years.
Chimera has been under the care of the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle for many years. When the Motor Museum was housed in a Fremantle Port Authority Shed next to the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle Harbour, the Maritime Museum loaned Chimera to the Motor Museum for display. When the Motor Museum was closed down several years ago,Chimera was returned to the Maritime Museum and is now back in storage in their storage shed in Fremantle Harbour. It is still in very good nick and sits on a trailer next to the Hydroplane Kapow. I saw both boats a month or two back when I acquired a Jones 15'6" hydroplane called Titan from the WA Maritime Museum, after reaching agreement with the original owner of Titan. Titan was originally named Miss Craven but it's name was changed due to cigarette advertising being frowned upon in the early 70's.
I apologise for straying from the content of the original post.
Cheers, Ray.

[bootlegger]

Got any pics of all the boats?

[hudstub]

Hello Bootlegger,
I was unable to take any photos of Chimera, Kapow and Titan in the storage shed at the WA Maritime Museum Fremantle.
Below are a couple of photos of Miss Craven and Cindy in 1968. I have also attached a photo of Titan (formerly Miss Craven) after I towed it home from the Museum storage a month ago. Miss Craven and Cindy were owned and raced by W.A. father and son, Harold and Gary Gascoigne in the 60's and up to mid 70's. I acquired the boats over the last 6 years from Gary Gascoigne.
Hopefully I have not created any problems in uploading these photos.

Cindy 1968 - Harold & Garry Gascoigne.jpg (53.85 KiB) Viewed 7713 times

Jan 1968 Miss Craven 78 9 mph with almost std 144ci Falcon Engine (later renamed Mysteree then titan) Cindy 62 mph at Crawley for Speed trials (2).jpg (50.17 KiB) Viewed 7715 times

Titan.jpg (59.32 KiB) Viewed 7711 times

Ray

[Reklaw]

Hi Ray,
Thanks for clearing up that question about Chimera for me. It was 2005 when I saw her in the motor Museum, she looked pretty good then. So I was wondering what happened to her when the Museum closed. I went out to York during one of my trips to the West. They said that they had some of the cars that were at Fremantle, but not Chimera, they thought it might have been sold off to a private buyer. Anyway, glad to see that she has survived.
Titan looks the goods. What engine is in her?
Bob

[fatpigeon]

Hi Ray

Good to see you are on board and see your.boats. Dave (bootlegger) might also be able to help you with some photos of your ford 1300/1600 engine setup from one of his skiffs.

Stuart

[hudstub]

Thanks Stuart, Bob,
Titan did not come with a motor. It was driven by a Ford Cosworth BDD motor at the end of its racing career. During its career it started off with a Peugeot 4 cylinder engine, various size Falcon 6 cylinder engines, Lotus Twin Cam and finally the BDD engine. I think I will install a Falcon engine as part of the restoration.
Cindy raced with mainly Peugeot engines and finished racing with a modified Ford 1500 crossflow. Cindy came with what I think was the Peugeot 404 engine that was used for a short time. I am currently trying to get this engine put together and running.
I have attached two scanned documents on the boats details. These were part of the display when both boats were displayed at the WA Maritime Museum.

Titan's 1974 record attempt.jpg (42.56 KiB) Viewed 7624 times

Cindy History.jpg (49.12 KiB) Viewed 7624 times

Ray

[Reklaw]

Thanks Ray and thanks for the articles. The Peugeot was a good little motor in it's day. Unscrew the side plate on the head, put in some port dividers, and you had an instant crossflow motor. My brother ran a Peugeot in a little skiff, here's how it looked.
Bob

[loco1]

I raced against Titan in the 1975 100 cubic inch Australian Titles in Perth when it was powered by the Cosworth in my Formula Ford Hydro Loco. Titan was fast down the straights and easily passed me but could not corner and just bogged down in the turns. I was in front on the last corner when I ran out of fuel.