The Honda Formula 4-Stroke the World’s largest offshore powerboat race series made its way into Douglas Bay today as the fleet of almost 40 powerboats began to line the promenade in preparation for this weekends’ Grand Prix Final.

A press call which was held at the Claremont Hotel this morning attracted journalists from varied media who were eager to find out more about the exciting event which will unfold this Saturday and Sunday.

Local competitors Vortigern were the centre of attention as they showed off a newly renovated Cougar 225hp to on-lookers when they took the boat out into Douglas Bay.

This was its first test run since repairs were made to rectify the damage left from their dramatic crash in Liverpool last month.

Both crew members Stephen and Michael Baggs didn’t have dampened spirits, considering the dunking the received in the Mersey, which is surprising considering that Vortigerns repair bill sits at a hefty £20,000.

“We are looking forward to racing in front of our home crowd, we have all sorts of people following us from friends and family, people down the pub and even the lady at the library” said Stephen Baggs.

Stephen and Michael were first introduced to Honda Formula 4-Stroke racing back in 2004 when they came to watch the powerboat show as spectators. Since then they decided to represent the Isle of Man by buying their own Cougar 225hp boat aptly named after an early Manx King – Vortigern.

“This will be our third year racing in the series and we have enjoyed every minute of it, even the crashes.

This is what racing is all about and the island has a great reputation for it, we just do it slightly differently at 70mph on the
water.

It is going to be a great weekend and we expect everyone to turn out to support us” said Michael.

The Honda series brings even more celebrity glitz and glamour to the island this weekend with the presence of one of children’s television favorites Blue Peter.

The crew will be racing in their very own Blue Peter powerboat race this Saturday from 1:30pm as part of filming for their 50th anniversary programme due to go on air this October.

Presenters Andy Akinwolere, Helen Skelton and Joel Defries will be joining forces with teams Locamotion, Premier Cru and Ebel as they go head to head in a race with the ultimate prize being a one on one race with none other than F4SA Director and 8 times Class 1 World powerboat Champion Steve Curtis MBE.

Racing kicks off this weekend from 11:30am on Saturday with the start of the 150hp race, followed by the 225hp race at 12:30pm.

Sundays racing begins at 11:30am for the 150hp final round of the season, followed by the 225hp final round at 12:45pm.

The overall prize giving of the 2008 season will take place on Douglas Promenade at 4:30pm when the Champions of this year’s Honda Formula 4-Stroke Powerboat Race will be announced.

The new Formula 4-Stroke website has all the action at www.f4sa.com