Now in her fourth year of competing in the Formula 4 Stroke Offshore Powerboat race series, Rose Lores has her eyes firmly set on getting her hands on some silverware.

After three difficult seasons, Rose re-launched her bid for the top at her 50th birthday party in April 2009, at the same time unveiling her new-look boat, now sporting a new orange livery and a new name Eclipse, for her sponsors, Berkshire-based relationship marketing company, Eclipse Marketing. She also introduced her new navigator for the season, Sara Cureton, whose husband races another boat in the series, giving the girls an extra edge to their competitive spirit.

Rose’s passion for powerboat racing began in 2006. She started out as a total novice, having won a place on the Honda Happiness team sponsored by Honda (UK), for whom she worked at the time. Prior to that she’d never driven a boat of any kind and had a fear of going underwater! As a long term petrol-head who had drooled over powerboats in her teens but never believed she’d ever get the chance to drive one, this was an opportunity not to be missed.

After a session of NLP (neuro linguistic programming) to cure her fear of water and a crash course in powerboat racing with Neil Holmes, holder of seven world championship titles, she set out to prove to the boys that she had what it took.

Unbelievably, she found herself leading in her third ever race. With calm navigator, Jason Cropper, beside her, she kept her cool, stuck to what she’d learned with Neil and stayed out front all the way to the chequered flag. This was followed by two more wins in a row. After that, there was no looking back – despite going for a swim in the Mersey, when she navigated for another team and was thrown out of the boat on a tight turn!

Before the 2007 season opened, Rose had moved house to release some cash and bought the boat from Honda, renaming it Locamotion and creating an all-girl team with experienced sailor, Sharyn Brown, in the navigator’s seat. Sadly, things didn’t go so well that year; nor the next, with various problems plaguing the boat. In 2007 it was the steering and the hull. In 2008 there were engine problems.

The 2009 season began more promisingly, with Team Eclipse getting off to a great start in Pwhelli, North Wales and holding onto their 5th place through three further races at Plymouth. Their last outing was in Lowestoft in July, when a bit of a mishap in very rough conditions saw them thrown about the boat, after it went nose to the sky and hooked violently on landing.

Sara was very badly bruised and suffered damage to the ligaments of her knees, while Rose sported two black eyes and badly bruised arms for a few weeks. While the girls were nursing their bruises, the boat also needed some attention back at the boat yard, where a large area of missing gelcoat on the underneath of the hull had to be replaced.

The Cowes leg of the series will soon be upon us and the team are busy preparing for what will be a very different sort of race for the Formula 4 Stroke competitors. Their races normally consist of a number of laps round a course of seven or eight buoys, all of which can be clearly seen from the previous one. To do well in these races, it’s essential to get a good start. Then it’s all about good cornering and tactics, to make sure anyone close behind stays behind.

The Cowes race will actually be the Cowes-Poole leg of the famous Cowes-Torquay race; a single circuit of about 40 miles, which will be all about good navigation and stamina. Having dropped back to joint 6th after the Lowestoft incident, the girls are determined to get back up the rankings, so you can be sure lots of planning and training is going on in preparation for the event.

After that, there is only one more event to go, in Douglas on the Isle of Man. It’s a long trip to get there, towing the boat all the way up to Heysham for the slow crossing on the freight ferry, but once there, says Rose, it is one of her favourite venues.

‘It can get pretty rough, but most times I’ve raced there, the sun has shone and we’ve had some great racing. The circuit normally runs around the small island in the bay with a little castle-like refuge on it. The view the spectators have from the promenade is brilliant.

‘We haven’t made the podium yet this year but we’re determined we will – both Cowes and Douglas would be good places to be collecting a bit of silverware!’ www.girlracer.co.uk