POWERBOAT EVENT 2009

On 29th August, the Honda F4SA will return to Cowes, alongside the British Powerboat Racing Club for the fourth leg of their 2009 Championship. 20 Honda powerboats will race in the Cowes – Poole – Cowes Classic, on this the 10th Anniversary of the Honda backed series.

Honda’s fleet will be joining the Offshore Drivers Association plus ten Sports boats and 20 larger class contenders for this year’s prestigious Cowes Classic Race to Torquay and back on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend. There could be the largest line-up for almost three decades.

This will be an opportunity for the F4SA race crews to experience non-multi lap racing. While the larger classes head directly to a Torquay turning mark, the smaller boats, including the Honda fleet, will set course for Poole Bay. Here the Honda fleet will cover one circuit of the bay with the Offshore Drivers Association boats before returning to Cowes. It will result in Hondas having a 40-mile contest with the rest racing 70.

At 10am, Red Funnel's Red Jet 4, will lead the field mustered off the Royal Yacht Squadron to the start line at South Bank Buoy in the western Solent. Minute by minute progress of the race down the course to Torquay and back will be relayed to Cowes Green by a continuous commentary given by power boating experts and officials. On the boats’ return at around 11am, the leaders of the Honda fleet will re-enter the western Solent and speed toward the finishing line. The chequered flag will still be several miles away but there have been many occasions in its history when the race has been won or lost in sight of the finish.

All twenty Honda F4SA powerboats are expected to take part which will include both the 150hp and the 225hp class. All boats will be located in the official wet pit area in the North Basin of the Cowes Yacht Haven prior to departure.

Joining in the excitement of the main race to Torquay and back is Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first sailor to circumnavigate the globe single-handed and non-stop on his yacht Suhaili back in 1969. He has announced that he is teaming up with the world’s top female powerboat champion, Shelley Jory, to take on the longest and toughest one-day endurance powerboat race in the world.

Racing as Team Scorpion with Shelley as the Driver, Sir Robin, Chairman of Clipper Ventures plc and now aged 70, has never before experienced powerboat racing but jumped at the idea of being Shelley’s navigator when she first suggested it to him. Shelley is currently competing in the Powerboat P1 World Championships in the first all-female team to race at this level.

Shelley tracked down Patrick Byrne who owns Scorpion RIBs, and who better than the most famous navigator in the world, Shelley’s co-presenter on BBC Radio Solent’s Friday evening programme, H20, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
Team Scorpion is entering Motor Cruiser Class G (Number R14) in a 10 metre Scorpion Sting RIB, known for its excellent fuel economy, comfortable ride and ability to maintain a racing speed of around 50mph. Last year this same model of RIB successfully completed the Round Britain Powerboat Race as Team Scorpion-Dubois.
Head to Cowes Green for a ringside view of the race. The excitement is expected to attract large crowds of visitors to The Parade and seafront where one of the greatest spectacles can be enjoyed free of charge.