Crash Course by Derek Fee (pdf to ebook reader .txt) 📕

ten years ago. Everybody wants to race but nobody wants to put the effort into researching the relationship between speed and stability. That’s the way we approached it. Thanks to the money Tom has ploughed into this project we’ve been able to design a boat which incorporates the speed of a catamaran and the stability of a deep-V. You’ll see what I mean in a few minutes.” He strode past the fabrication sheds and into an open area which contained a slipway. “When our boats are finished, we test them fully in the challenging waters of Falmouth Bay. Now, let’s go and look at our toy.” David climbed back up the hill which led down to the slipway and directed them to the door of the fabrication shed.

Kane noticed that a series of relatively new locks had been added to the old shed but it was amateur night as far as security was concerned. Any self-respecting crook could open the locks in a matter of seconds.

David slid the door open and held it wide enough to allow the other two to pass.

As Kane squeezed through the gap, he thought that perhaps the old boy had been reading too much Le Carré. The interior of the shed was brilliantly lit by a series of floodlights mounted on the walls. In the centre of the field of the lights stood a huge sleek black powerboat.

“That’s Kernow,” David said proudly.

“Good God!” The words were out of Kane’s mouth before he could stop them. “She’s beautiful.” Sitting on a series of trestles which ran the length of the shed was the most awe-inspiring sight he had ever seen. The twin hulls of the huge fifty-foot powerboat were directly above his head and the sleek body of the craft was tapered towards the stern where the engine canopies were open, revealing twin gleaming engine blocks and the associated pipework for two superbly engineered motors. Kane had never seen anything quite so beautiful in all his life. He had driven Ferraris and Maseratis but they were nothing compared to Penhalion’s boat.

“Quite,” David said, delighted at the effect his boat was having on Kane. “A thing of rare beauty, Mr Kane. Impressed, are we?”

“We certainly are,” Kane said moving along the side of the boat. The fibreglass body gleamed under its coat of black paint. It looked like a panther about to strike. He could well imagine the peckers of the super-rich stiffening at the thought of getting behind the wheel of such a boat. It was the perfect penile extension.

“Four point five tons of first-class engineering. Capable of one hundred and forty knots on an uneven surface. One million pounds has gone into the design and construction of that beauty.” David ran his hand along the hull.

“She’s beautiful.” Bell clapped David on the shoulder. “Congratulations.”

David smiled at Bell and bowed his head slightly in recognition of the compliment.

“Not bad,” Kane added. Not bad my arse. It was bloody incredible and he would get the opportunity to drive the damn thing. For the first time since he’d sat in the conference room at Europol, Kane felt his pulse quicken. This would be the ultimate thrill. The adrenaline rose in him simply by looking at the boat and the buzz became a hum in his body.

“Not bad! Not bad!” David’s Cornish temper flared. “That shows the level of your ignorance. You may not realise it but you are looking at one of the finest boats ever constructed.” He rapped his knuckles against the exterior. “The hull is made from a unique mixture of fibreglass and Kevlar. It has been designed to withstand any battering that man or the elements can give it. The drives were designed and constructed specially in the Bell Engineering Works in Leeds.” David’s pride in the boat was beginning to dissipate his anger. “If this beauty races the way we know it can, then both Tom and I will be entering the powerboat business in a big way. Nothing succeeds like success in the boat business. And how Kernow succeeds is ultimately up to you. I don’t suppose that my boat has much in common with your stock cars.”

They reached the stern where two boiler-suited mechanics worked under the open canopies.

“Lads,” David called.

The two mechanics lifted their heads from the engine housing.

“Let me introduce you to our technical team,” he said. “That rather large chap on the left is Reg Williams, our chief mechanic. Reg, this is the gentleman that Tom wishes to become our driver, Mark Kane.” The mechanic had a physique which would rival that of Pavarotti.

“Welcome on board, Mark,” Reg said in a magnificent Welsh brogue.

“Good to meet you, Reg.”

“Bill Thompson is Reg’s second-in-command,” David said continuing the introductions.

Thompson gave Kane a cursory nod before disappearing beneath the engine canopy. “We have a third mechanic who joined us recently, John Watson. He’s away but will be joining us later today.”

Watson nodded his thin pale face in Kane’s direction before disappearing beneath the engine canopy once more.

“Now we’re all acquainted.” David stroked the sleek hull. “She’ll be ready for the water soon. In two days, we’ll be mounting the drives and the engines and she’ll be getting wet. Then we’ll see what she’s really capable of.”

“One hundred and forty an hour doesn’t seem like all that,” Kane said. He could see the colour rising in David’s face. I’ll be able to apply to RADA after this gig, he thought.

“Not all that!” David spluttered. “You are insufferable.”

“I’ve been over a hundred and fifty an hour plenty of times in a car,” Kane said dismissively. “The principal has got to be the same. You switch on the engine and point the bow in the desired direction.”

“The principle is the same, is it now, matey?” David laughed. “The sooner we get you into the driver’s seat the sooner we can test this pet theory of yours.”

David took Bell by the arm and led him towards the door of the shed. “I’ll only say this once