Laura
3ª
Historical
This boat had been purposely made to break the world water straight-away
speed record of the SLO MO SHUN (178.497 MPH).
The LAURA 3 was built during the winter 1953/54, started the testing
sessions during July & August and by October was ready to try to break
the world record.
Mario Verga from Milan, Italy was the owner of a silk factory in the
Como lake area and was a very famous and winning pilot of the top hydroplanes
classes in Europe.
He also raced in the USA in 1953.
Builder - Carletto Timossi of Lake Como, Italy.
The engines were the ALFA ROMEO used in Grand Prix cars and was running
a special methanol mixture - methanol, alcohol, acetone, benzole, aviation
fuel & ricin oil.
The boat builder, Carletto Timossi checking out his creation.
The ALFA ROMEO racing department arranged a special tubular frame to
house the cockpit panel and the 2 - ALFETTA 159, 8 cylinder, 1500 cc engines. The 2 engines were an inline configuration. Each engine was double
supercharged. One engine was in reverse of the other one with a special
transmission/gearbox between them using a 1.133 ratio, attaining, a final
power of 800 HP. The final HP to the propeller was 700 HP due to lost power
by the transmission system. The special transmission/gearbox system, rudder
and propeller sets were made by the RADICE factory (Milan, Italy)
well known for producing RECORD propellers. To arrange the right balance
and influence of the correct propeller, the back mobil tail was fixed in,
opposite.
LOA - 7 meters (23' ft)
Beam - 2.45 meters (8' ft)
Total weight - 920 kg. (2,028 lb.)
Hull weight - 300 kg. (661 lb.)
Engines / Hardware - 620 kg. (1367 lb.)
Bodywork was made by the coach works STELLA of Como (body worker of
the famous TIMOSSI boat also engined FERRARI and MASERATI).
Mario Verga piloting Laura 3 on the day to break the world record,
October 1954 at Sarnico (Lake of Iseo) in front of the RIVA factory.
During the first official attempt at the straight-away pass the
boat went airborne into a loop killing Mario Verga.
The reasons of the fatal accident are different: the front wind of that
day pushed the boat to take off, others stated after the inspections of
the crashed boat, that the right pontoon or rudder broke. Testing sessions had the hydroplane breaking the speed record (unofficially)
of 300 kilometers per hour (186.6 mph).
The Laura 3 was an incredible and beautifully built by our best
hydroplane builder, powered by the most important Italian racing engines of the period,
and owned & driven by one of the top three Italian drivers of the
period (VERGA, SELVA, CASTOLDI).
Unrepeatable and magic!
This is a scale model (1/10) of the LAURA 3, made some years ago by
a gentleman that was working at the Timossi workshop.
He also built my father's boat in 1953!
This is the first time I have ever shared my photos of the Laura
3, but I am proud to show to the USA & Canadian fans the Italian masterpiece.
© Guido Ermanno Romani
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