FINAL ACTION AT COWES POWERBOAT FESTIVAL

As the powerboat festival revs to a close in Cowes, the IW BEACON ONLINE’S ALAN AND SUZANNE WHITEWOOD report on the action:

Co-ordinated by eight times Class 1 Powerboat World Champion, Steve Curtis MBE, the 2007 series is being contested at five venues. Cowes has been the penultimate round. Due to the decline in Class 1 racing in Britain, Steve himself has only raced at Cowes twice over the years.
This weekend, with the P1 fleet taking a rest day on Saturday, it was the supporting classes who provided some magical maritime moments and it was the Honda Formula 4 Stroke that gave the most thrills.
In the 150HP category all 19 starters went the distance, with the top three placings being: Lings Racing, followed by Salcombe Racing and Cider Daze.

All 18 boats made the chequered flag in the 225 HP Class. In form Negotiator took the honours, ahead of Team Raymarine and ITV4 Fearless.

A break from racing on the water saw spectators looking skywards, to marvel at the aerial moves performed by the Blades Aerobatic Display Team (PICTURED), who are uniquely, also registered as a commercial airline. They are flown by four ex-Red Arrows pilots and reach speeds of up to 400MPH. They are as close as 10 feet apart at times. On Sunday they gave a second performance.

Meanwhile, on the water on Sunday, there was a second batch of races in the Honda Formula 4 Stroke Championship and some close inshore racing.

In the 150HP Class, Lings Racing and Salcombe Racing repeated Saturday’s 1-2 result, with Team Ebel the other crew on the podium.
Now, with one round remaining, Salcombe leads Lings 129-128 in the overall classification.

In the 225HP Category the 1-2-3 placings were a mirror image of Saturday’s result. Overall, Negotiator has 137 points, Team Raymarine has 105.

At the end of September, Liverpool will host the final two races in each Honda Class.

Cowes' weekend of racing came to a climax with round 8 of the P1 Powerboat Series (British Grand Prix of the Sea). For safety reasons, the two fleets had separate starts but raced around the same 5 mile course at the same time.

In the Evolution Class, Outerlimits repeated Friday’s victory. King of Shaves powered to second place, with OSG in third. With 2 rounds left, King of Shaves holds an advantage over Wettpunkt, which was fourth on Sunday.

In the Supersport category the only female pilot, Jackie Hunt, drove Extremeboat to its second win of the weekend. Sun Lik Beer was again runner-up with title contender Roscioli Hotels Roma in third. Extremeboat and Roscioli are now neck and neck in the title standings.