Peters & May crew Darren Hook (Wadhurst) and David Harwood (Wimbledon) won their second P1 SuperStock race in a row in Liverpool today to close in on championship leader Pertemps crewed by John Wilson (Coleshill, Birmingham) and Neil Scarborough (Monks Risborough). The title fight now goes all the way to the final race of the season on the Mersey tomorrow as Pertemps suffered engine sensor problems and limped home out of the points the first time this season.

The win came in dramatic fashion though, after race leader Edox overturned and partially sunk. Driver Rupert Pugh (Matlock Bath) and Will Nurse were thrown clear and quickly picked up by safety marshals on jet skis but the race was brought to a premature end with 11 of the 15 scheduled laps completed.

Fifth place in today’s P1 SuperStock race in Liverpool was enough to earn husband a wife team Stuart and Sara Cureton (Lindford, Hants) the 2011 P1 150 Class title.

The Team Purple crew have won six races this season but in choppy conditions on the Mersey River, they decided to race conservatively and the tactic paid off handsomely.

“It’s a brilliant feeling to have won the P1 150 title with one race to go and we are both absolutely delighted”, said Stuart, who also celebrated his 41st birthday today. “For the first time this season we decided to go steady and watch what the others were doing and once we saw Team Fox had a clear lead we just made sure we did enough.”

Cardiff round 5: The weekend of 20-21st August saw the UKFFORC fleet, safety team and ‘new for 2011’ launch vehicle travel to Cardiff Bay in Wales.

After paying our tolls to get into Wales we joined the circuit boats for round 5 of the National Championship for what proved to be a weekend of firsts. 

Saturday started damp and breezy but the shelter of the barrage ensured racing for all classes went ahead.  Sunday the weather bucked its ideas up for a sunny, but breezy day 2.

In the E1500 class E08 Mick Pritchard and his substitute co-driver Arron Joyce took their first ever 1st place after an exciting battle with E10 after leading the pack in a 2 races.

Bank holiday Sunday (28 August) saw around 40 powerboat teams descend upon Cowes, Isle of Wight for the British Powerboat festival 2011. Seventeen teams took part in the gruelling 164nm race from Cowes to Torquay and back, that would test not only the boats capabilities but also the strength and stamina of the crews.
 
The other 18 teams took part in the shorter but just as testing Cowes Poole Cowes Race, including the P1 SuperStock fleet that would really have their racing skills put to the test in taxing conditions.
 
Cowes Torquay Cowes
It was the impressive team Cinzano that took the top honours in the Cowes Torquay Cowes Race after being the first boat to reach the half way mark at Torquay.

Darren Hook (Wadhurst, East Sussex) and David John Harwood (London) took the P1 250 Panther honours in the P1 SuperStock Championship’s Cowes-Poole-Cowes offshore endurance this morning – the new Peters & May crew benefitting after points leading Pertemps hit troubles.

Several boats in P1 250 Panther and the P1 150 class encountered problems in the rough conditions, leading event organisers to make the decision to curtail the planned two laps of the course after the opening tour. Hook and Harwood though came through unscathed.

This Bank Holiday weekend, (27-29 August) 40 powerboat teams will head to Cowes, Isle of Wight, for the infamous Cowes Torquay Cowes Powerboat Race.

The historic race has been running for over 50 years now, with the 2010 race creating some of the most taxing conditions for the racers to date.

In fact less than half of the 30 boats that started the race managed to complete the full course.

The 170nm race not only tests the teams racing capabilities but their navigation skills, endurance and sheer determination.

Zapcat Racing returned to Whitmore Bay for the third year in a row thanks to the Vale of Glamorgan Council and assistance of everyone in Barry Island who helped to make this very popular venue and event happen once again.

For the Friday press day we were joined by Courtenay Hamilton (Miss Wales 2010) along with team Speedy Hire stand in pilot Justin Whithorn and co-pilot Kelly Allen with very flat and sunny conditions great for the gathered photographers who saw Courtenay co-pilot and pilot a Zapcat for the very first time.

“That was awesome, so amazing!” was heard quite a few times!

It was championship title number three for the powerboat racing youngster Ben Jelf from Maidstone when he was crowned 2011 RYA British JT250 Sprint Champion.

The 11 year old from the Stewartby Powerboat Racing Club, Bedford did battle against seven other junior racers in the bid to clinch the title at Stewartby Watersports Club over the weekend of 6-7 August.

The young competitors competed for the title of British Sprint Champion over 3 rounds of racing in conditions that were less than favourable.

Matt Palfreyman and Team Atlantic were back in action last weekend (29-30 July 2011) for rounds seven and eight of the F4-s Championship in Kiev, Ukraine.
 
Heading into the weekend Palfreyman sat third in the championship behind fierce rivals Bimba Sjoholm of Sweden and championship leader Saleh Al Shamlan of Qatar who held a 23 point on the British youngster.
 
Following on from his top form in Russia Palfreyman continued to impress throughout the weekend. In the first free practice session he clocked a speed of 58.24mph taking the fastest lap time of 1:01.81 which would remain the best lap in the competition for the whole weekend.

Round three of the 2011 P1 SuperStock Championship, the Hull Grand Prix of the Sea, came to an exciting conclusion in Hull Marina this evening (Sunday, 31 July) with an emphatic victory in the P1 250 Panther class for the championship leading Pertemps crew.

The second Enduro race of the weekend provided plenty for the crowds of local supporters to cheer with Pertemps driver John Wilson (Coleshill, Birmingham) born and bred just a few miles from Hull in the nearby town of Beverley. Along with trusty navigator Neil Scarborough (Monks Risborough), they also secured second place in Saturday evening’s race so their points lead has increased to 15.