1953 Timossi-Ferrari Arno XI
Engine : Ferrari 375 compressor 12V 60o
Total displacement - 4493.21 cc
Maximum Power - 500+ bhp / 6000 rpm
- Achille Castoldi’s famed Ferrari V-12 Timossi 800 kg class racing hydroplane
- Reset the world speed record in its class on 15 October 1953, at 241.708 km/h
The ‘three-point’ hydroplane, devised in America during the late 1930s by Adolph and Arno Apel of New Jersey’s Ventnor Boat Works, truly revolutionised speedboat design. Elegantly simple, the Apel design divided the ‘step’ portion of the hull into two pontoon-like surfaces, or sponsons, with each on opposite sides of the boat. The boat’s propeller acted as the ‘third point’ in the equation. The tunnel between the sponsons trapped air to generate aerodynamic lift, with only the sponsons and propeller in direct contact with the water whilst the boat was at speed.