British powerboat racer Scott Curtis from Norwich has claimed his third win in the 2011 F4 World Championship campaign, taking a win on home waters at the British round of the championship held at Stewartby Watersports Club in Bedford (18-19 June).

Ten of the world’s top competitors battled it out for the all-important points in the campaign, with seven British competitors being joined by entries from France, Portugal and Hungary.

As the competition got underway Hungarian Richard Bodrogvolgyi flipped on the way to the first turn buoy crashing him out of the 3rd Round of the World Championship and seeing him relegating from 2nd in the championship overall down to 4th. 

Eleven year old Ben Jelf from Maidstone, Kent was this weekend crowned 2011 World GT15 Powerboat Racing Champion, making him one of Britain’s youngest powerboat World Champions ever.

The youngster who turned eleven just days before becoming World Champion battled it out over the weekend (18 - 19 June) at Stewartby Watersports Club in Bedford for the World Championship title.

Ben who has been racing powerboats for just two years, last year clinched two British titles in the JT250 and JT250 Sprint Championships and in addition to competing in these two British championships again in 2011 also entered the 2011 GT15 World Championship, a class that is not yet raced here in the UK.

Gosport residents and one of the longest serving Zapcat teams, Russell & Sandra Sidney said before the weekend, "We may be slightly biased but with easy boat launching and beach access as well as perfect viewing for spectators and the very variable conditions even in summer, Stokes Bay is a great venue; from flat calm seas giving quick and close up racing to a heavy chop producing a very hard and physical challenge, often with very unpredictable results."

They were spot on except they omitted the driving rain on Sunday contrasting the sunshine of Saturday. 

Round 3 of the Zapcat National Championships kicked off with calm and sunny conditions, with a couple more Rookie teams joining the competition as well as three mixed (male & female) teams for 16 heats and two finals.

Powerboat racer Malcolm Goodman this weekend secured his second win in the F2 British Championship at Oulton Broad, in Suffolk. The win sees him maintain his lead in the British Championship after winning the first round on home water in Lancashire over the May Day Bank Holiday.

Goodman (29) from Prescot in Merseyside, has been racing powerboats for over two decades. He began his racing career in Junior powerboats and has secured several Club and National Championships as well as setting numerous World & National Speed Records.

2009 saw him compete in the Powerboat Racing Worlds top level as a racer for team Qatar in the F1 powerboat racing championship the equivalent of Formula 1 car racing.

UK power-boaters will be pleased to hear that Shelley Jory-Leigh will be returning to racing with P1 SuperStock – the British racer has traded 9-5 working and shopping for the adrenalin rush of racing as she steps off the land and back onto the water.

It was less than 12 months ago that the shocking images of Shelley’s crash circulated on the internet. Speculation and rumours were rife, the crash was serious and it would have certainly ended the careers of many of the toughest racers in the game. However, the lure of racing and life at speed on the water has proved a big hole to fill within Shelley’s life.

The Qatar Team has done it again, finishing 1-2 for the second straight race of the 2011 UIM F1 H2O World Championship campaign with American Jay Price holding off his younger Italian teammate Alex Carella and winning by 6.49 seconds at the 13th Annual Grand Prix of Portugal on the Arade River in front of tens of thousands of fans in Portimao.

The second event of the season was an historic start with Norwegian driver Marit Stromoy holding her own with first Team Abu Dhabi driver Ahmed Al Hameli first jumping the start and then sliding over and then making contact with Marit but continuing on before finally crashing out on lap nine falling into a hole and barrel rolling to a stop. Ahmed would later receive a red card from the officials and now will miss the next event in Kazan in Russia in July.

P1 SuperStock Championship promoters have unveiled a 2011 race calendar featuring five new Grand Prix of the Sea events as they seek to revolutionise UK powerboat racing with an all-new affordable boat and front-running one-make class.

For the first time the P1 SuperStock series  goes North, with races on the Humber in sight of the iconic suspension bridge and a finale in the stunning setting of Albert Dock in Liverpool.

“Now that we  have a  much more accessible sport thanks to the introduction of the P1 Panther SuperStock craft, we can take the championship to new waters and reach a wider audience for powerboat racing”, commented P1  Chief Operating Officer Robert Wicks.

How do you sum up the challenge of Fistral with it's big surf, huge swells, strong winds, physical punishment, skills and bravery of Zapcat competitors and safety team as well as the thrills and spills which hold the spectators in awe?

Well you can ask the very surprised winner of the Grand Prix Craig Davis, Pilot of Bluesheets I and current two times defending National and Surf Champion "AWESOME RACING!"

Craig went on to say "With the new rules changes and Angry Hornet beating us yesterday in our class, the GP title was wide open, Rob and I loved the difficulty of the conditions and to find out we had won on a count back was great!"

Zabo Racing has upped the stakes in its bid to challenge for race wins and title honours this season, swooping in to buy the ex-Fazza boat from Dubai’s Victory Team.

Following several weeks of negotiations, Jan Zaborowski, team boss of the Norwegian outfit, sealed the deal after the season-opener in Abu Dhabi. 

“We got the boat under a fantastic deal from Victory, and it would have been crazy not to take up such an offer,” he said, adding. “The offer was based on the fact that Victory see Zabo Racing as being one of thee most enthusiastic teams in Class 1, and are impressed by the effort that we put in on such a small and tight financial budget, and felt that it justified helping us to ensure Class 1 remains highly competitive.”

With only a few days to go before the first event of the season at Fistral Beach, Newquay, we have added some very exciting new sponsors as well as a superb evening attraction, the inaugural Rattler Rock Night.

Delays from earlier in the year as well as the gloomy economic conditions had left the organisers and the venue very little time to secure the sponsorship needed ensuring the safe running and promotion of the Zapcat Racing event but the recent weather has been of huge benefit.

“This is the first time I can really recall a sustained period of unseasonal sunny weather together with several bank holidays combining to have a very positive effect on the town and local businesses”  said Nick Webb, Events Manager for the International Surf Centre.