As a young bright eyed teenager, I was hooked on powerboat racing and could be described as a tragic! On Sundays when there was racing at Albert Park Lake, I would catch the train to Middle Park railway station to race across the park land to the lake for a day of inboard powerboat racing. Armed with nothing more than a very basic camera and a single roll of black and white film, I managed to sneak into the pits and snap a few photos of the boats of the day. Quite a bunch were David Gill built race boats.
Scrubcat IV was driven by the very popular and colourful driver, Jack Long. Powered by a six cylinder flat head Dodge engine, Jack was a very successful competitor in the 266 side valve class. (1969 pic)
Miss Chif II was another David Gill built skiff racing in the 266 side valve class. Driven by Wally Cooper, this pristine racer was powered by a Ford engine with four down draught carbies. (1973 pic)
B Pee – one of the new breed of rear mount runabouts, owner Ken Harris operated the BP service station on Bell Street Preston and raced as a member of the MRSBC. Powered by a Chev Corvette with Duggan fuel injection, B Pee was a strong competitor in the 300 cu in class. (1973 pic)
Bob Carter
SCRUBCAT, Miss-Chiff II and B Pee – photo’s by Bob Carter
SCRUBCAT photo by Bob Carter Miss-Chif II Hull built by David Gill GILFLITE photo by Bob Carter 
BPee Hull built by David Gill GILFLITE photo by Bob Carter
Bob Carter has enjoyed a lifelong passion for powerboat racing and power boating.
His earliest recollection of boat racing is that of a very young lad at Edwards Park Lake and Exford Weir at Melton. As a teenager he was a regular and enthusiastic spectator at Albert Park Lake.
Bob went on the become a contributor to PowerBoat magazine, then he was bestowed the title of the magazine’s Performance Boat Editor.
In the world of powerboat racing he has raced, been a photo journalist, publicist and promoter of power boat racing. It’s a sport which has taken him all over Australia and internationally to Asia, the USA and New Zealand.
Now in his mid-60’s, Bob is still active within powerboat racing circles, covering the sport as photo journalist and contributing competition articles to Club Marine magazine.