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The British Grand Prix

24th August to 26th August 2007

British Grand Prix - Race 1

The run up to Cowes had been fraught with problems for us. Would our replacement props (having lost our best ones racing in Germany) arrive from the States in time? Had replacing the engine sensors cured the engine management problems we had seen in testing? What was the weather going to be like? Personally I do not like flat circuit type courses so I had been looking forward to Cowes as it’s nearly always rough. Watching the weather forecasts like a hawk for over a week and trying to find one I liked was frustrating!! But it was not to be and annoyingly the conditions were flat.

Mike and I were also worried about the average speed limit. In lap racing where there are tight courses and chicanes, or when the weather is rough, the timing does not affect the racing. However, on a flat day around the island most boats are doing at least 10mph over the average speed, so we were concerned about the how this would affect the racing. Would there be two muster areas! So with all those concerns weighing heavy on our shoulders we approached Cowes with a mixture of concern and excitement.

The organisers had worked incredibly hard to win favour with the authorities and after much effort; P1 and the RYA were given permission to run the Round the Island race on the Friday. This was great, running around the island tests the navigation of crew and also the drivers where the conditions can so often change so quickly.

The start proved difficult. With a lot more Evolution boats around there is a lot of spray. I thought we’d got a good line but it then became apparent that both VoomVoom and Kiton were being squashed together with us in the middle of the sandwich!! We were close enough to Kiton to touch them and with the Metamarine boats being inclined to spin out at any moment I have to say I took evasive action and took the difficult decision to cross VoomVoom’s wash and get a better bit of water. This meant losing some speed and getting thoroughly washed down in the process. It’s difficult to make this decision as you aren’t sure if someone is following behind on the other side, and it loses you valuable speed. Fortunately, we were clear and did not hit anyone! However, VoomVoom had a fantastic start and had gained valuable seconds over us. They were really flying!

We had 6 laps to race in the Solent before moving to the island lap. Within the first lap VoomVoom was about 2-3 seconds in front and we were catching them, then losing them.  

It was clear early on that there was no point in getting into a huge battle with them as we had so many more miles to race, however we could not let them get away too far from us either or else taking them around the island would be difficult.

On lap 5, just as we really made some ground and were planning where to catch them, we then got nearly mown down by one of the Evolution boats ‘King if Shaves’ who appeared from know where and flew in front of us seriously hosing us down. This slowed us a bit and lost us some speed. I was being a bit pathetic and wanted to finish the laps before going hell for leather around the island. To break the boat or make a very bad mistake now when we still had 50 miles to go would be foolhardy.  We weren’t too worried though as we were pretty sure we would catch VoomVoom around the island but we could not lose any more speed. The foot was down hard, this was going to be much harder than I thought!

As we completed the laps we came out of the last turn and then had a straight run from the Royal Yacht Squadron to the Needles a leg of some 13.5 miles.

This leg was a little dull and so flat that the boat hardly moved. The tide was also against us so we were all struggling with the speed and we were losing about 2 mph. I could honestly have had a gin and tonic whilst I was driving and listened to the radio! I chatted to Mike who then ‘advised’ me to keep focussed but I have to say with no airborne moments to get me going it was like driving up the M3 motorway!

We rounded the Needles and then headed to St Catherine’s Point, VoomVoom just ahead. It was like a millpond. I few minutes before Mike had said that no one was near so I was very focussed on catching VoomVoom. I had to push the boat as hard as I could but ensure she didn’t get out of shape and lose speed.

VoomVoom were there ahead of us but very very slowly we were catching them. Then Mike shouted that Roscioli Hotels was behind us and catching us fast….they had some amazing speed and were going like a train! DAMN how the hell had they done that!

We caught VoomVoom halfway to St Catherine’s, it was fantastic racing with both boats really going the same speed….. and then Roscioli caught us. For a few minutes it was the three boats in a line racing hard. Each team trying their hardest to get the best possible speeds from their boats. We were urging the boat forward. I stayed focussed trying to get every spare bit of speed from the boat. She was chining from side to side but I knew I could not back off for a second.

We rounded St Catherine’s Point and sped around the turn and I really thought at least here it would liven up. A few small waves followed but nothing amazing, a little airborne moment or two but nothing too much and as far as the eye could see it was still flat! Roscioli was now ahead of us and running very well indeed. VoomVoom was now quite a way behind and just could not keep the pace going.

We hit a bit of swell at Dunnose Point (I dunnose where the waves were!). Roscioli was ahead but we were catching him very, very slowly, it was hard work and soul destroying that we just could not get the speed needed to catch him. Mike’s point to point, accurate navigation was saving us valuable distance.

We then came to Bembridge and then Roscioli did the fatal thing of missing a mark. We could not believe what we were seeing! Mike just said ‘Do NOT follow them’ and off we went, Roscioli to the left, us to the right! I was expecting them to turn and retake the mark at any moment but they didn’t. This really proved that excellent navigation can win or lose a race….and for the purists, Mike was not using GPS! This was now getting interesting and as long as we carried on as we were and made no mistakes we were in for a shout.

We came past No Mans Fort at a good speed with Buzzi Bullet a few minutes behind us who had also caught VoomVoom and behind VoomVoom were Sun Lik Beer and finally Sunseeker. Chaudron had sadly broken down in the Solent.

It’s quite eerie on this part of the course, particularly with few boats around. There are loads of buoys, markers and all sorts in this part of the Solent and it’s very very easy to get confused. I was struggling to keep the right line and Mike just shouted at me to head for the chimney on the horizon….’ah’ I said ‘Fawley oil refinery’, ‘that’s the one!’ he shouted back. Well at least I was now in familiar territory but it was nerve wracking making sure you found the right buoys. I trust Mike though so just followed those instructions, at those speeds its easy to go wrong and difficult to put it right again.

At this point we now worried about the time. We were over 5 minutes too fast, what the hell do you do when you are that far ahead and you only have a few miles to go? I cannot tell you how frustrated we were.

Mike said slow to about 75mph, then 65mph and I have to say the boat was not amused. At that speed she is awful to drive and becomes a lumbering beast and very out of shape. Still slower…55mph and the finish in sight! Now what?  What was unbearable was the others catching us, first Buzzi Bullet, then VoomVoom, then Sun Lik. All that hard racing to get ahead had meant nothing. It was faintly amusing though to look at each other and shrug in desperation!

Mike shouted that we had to stop. He would then count me down as to when we needed to cross the line. We had to allow time for the boat to get back on the plane so we hung back, then after about a minute (which was unbearable) he yelled, go go go!

The boat lurched forward and onto the plane, as we did this the others followed and suddenly nearly all the field jumped to it and lurched through the finish line! Fortunately, we got over the line first. Sun Lik beer was second, VoomVoom third and Buzzi Bullet fourth. I felt for Buzzi though as they had taken a good second before they reached the line. It was frustrating for all.

Safe to say, we knew we had won and driven a good race until the Fort which was where it ended for all of us. It didn’t feel like a win though and as a result we refused to go to a podium, it didn’t feel justified. To anyone watching it was awful and I really felt for the supporters and spectators. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and Race 2 was much better……

British Grand Prix - Race 2

Once again Sunday dawned bright and windless…more flat water racing.

Round 2 is always a sprint race, a number of laps around a short course. In the flat it really is a sprint course. Some changes were made to make sure the speed limit ‘issue’ was resolved and we now knew we were out and out racing, proper hard racing no time constraints. We went out to the muster area and I could not believe that many thousands of people and hundreds of boats that had turned out to watch, it was a true inspiration and great to see powerboat racing becoming so popular again.

On the grounds of safety P1, sensibly decided to go for two starts, Evolution first then Supersport second. There have been many near misses on the start run and after a few hair raising moments on Friday it was decided to split the start. This worked well and after a parade lap for all of the boats we were sent off and in style behind the Evolution boats.

Without the Evolution boats to mix it up, the start was fast and furious, most of the boats in the class heading towards the first turn mark at the same time pretty much level with each other. We headed towards the mark as fast as we possibly could. VoomVoom had another brilliant start, out accelerating everyone, then it was us, with Sun Lik on our outside, Buzzi Bullet on our inside and Roscioli Hotels just behind.

Now the pressure was on. We were heading towards the mark with boats all around us. I needed to go left to get a good turn into the buoy but Sun Lik was on the line. I panicked and shouted to Mike ‘what shall I do?’ he answered, ‘Go left, go left’ but Sun Lik was there. Mike was shouting ‘go left, you’re heading straight at the turn buoy, at that point heading dead straight towards the marker on a collision course at over 80 mph I decided it was time to take action and just went left hoping that I would not hit Sun Lik, I had no option. Aggressive driving paid off and we snuck in just in time.

We went around that turn buoy on rails, it felt amazing.  Sun Lik took it wide and slowed as a result and Buzzi Bullet and Roscioli had to slow and go wide to avoid the mark. It was real close racing. With most of the field in our wash but still in with a clear shout, we now had VoomVoom to catch. But we also knew that any speed loss would mean Sun Lik, Roscioli and Buzzi Bullet would be on us.

However, no way was I going to watch VoomVoom’s back for 45 minutes!  We were all over them but just could not get past. We were marginally faster but they quite rightly were blocking us. From one side to the other we jumped all over him but he was not giving up his line. I cannot say how much of a soaking we got!!

We tried to sneak nearest to the buoy on mark x but he sensibly blocked us. Here was his wash a heavy curtain of water over us, no visibility at all. I was just hoping I was going in the right direction! We almost hit next yellow marker we were so close and then the next part of the course was to be our making or breaking.

A gate of 4 buoys keeping us way from the channel meant we were restricted in how we turned. We could not go too wide as we would hit the buoys and worse, run into the harbour wall! If I got this turn right however I could clearly make up ground and at least get level with VoomVoom.

We came up to the turn, it was tight and I could not back off for a second. Entering that turn at 80mph plus was going against all my instincts. Would the boat do it? Would it lurch over to one side losing us speed or worse? I took the chance, it was the only way.

We took the line, committed to it and it paid off and we shot out of the corner, the boat handling stunningly well. Now we had the speed on VoomVoom, not entirely level with him but putting a lot of pressure on him.

We had already planned the next turn, let him have the inside line and take a slightly wider turn at the bottom of the course allowing us to ‘slingshot’ out at speed. It meant swapping to his left to do it and crossing his wash but it set us up for the turn to come.

We crossed his wash without even a moments hesitation, I swear the boat wanted to win as much as us! Came up to the turn, and just did not throttle off at all, full speed turn the wheel and off we went. She was on rails and just cornered beautifully, I could feel the props grip and giving me amazing acceleration and we just got out of the turn a nose in front of VoomVoom. He tried hard to block us and I glanced across to see the nose of his boat inches from us. The boat rose up over a wash and positively flew past him ‘I shouted Yee haaa!’ and that was it, we were right in front! This was absolutely incredible racing!

The boat was running so well and Mike and I were working brilliantly together, every turn was planned, and it was fantastic to run so close to some of the markers that you could touch them. I was tempted to run the boat alongside them and brush up against them but thought that was a little too stupid!

The issue now was to keep up our speed and to widen the gap further. When you’re ahead it looks easy but its not. You see the boats across the circuit and you know you make one mistake they will be with you.

On the third lap we were running well again but hit a wash and I thought we were going to tip the boat over. She hit one sideways, went skyward on her side and landed on her side. I had to hit the throttle hard to pull her out of it and screamed at the boat to get it together. That was a bit heart stopping and the common sense in me was telling me to not try so hard and take it steady….yeh right!

This is where Mike is great, he saw the speed drop off slightly as I settled a little in what I call ‘comfort mode’ and within seconds was telling me to keep the speed up, the others were catching us. This had a rocket like effect on me and off we went! We were now widening the gap on the teams and some positions had swapped leaving Sun Lik in second having a stunning battle with Roscioli in third. Sun Lik had a last found last years form and were really flying.

After about 5 laps we then hit another problem. The Evolution boats were lapping us. This is usually Ok but some of the American boats are now incredibly quick and as we raced along I could hear the whine of the boats. Mike turned frantically around and we could see them coming up behind us, OuterLimits and King of Shaves flying along.

What do you do? I just kept out of their way as much as possible and as they passed us we moved over. Seeing them go flying past was something special I have to say.

However, you then get their wash which try as much as you can, unbalances the boat and gives you bad water. Again, we lost about 1 mph which was too much. I tried everything to keep the speed up and we managed to get back to speed quickly.

Then Wettpunkt, OSG and Searex all shot past and created more wash, always on a corner which made cornering much harder work. The waves push against the side of the boat going against the direction you want the hull. I will have arms like a body builder soon!

Being in front is always a balancing act, you need to stay in front and keep the gap between you and next boat as wide as possible, however, if you try too hard then you could really make a mistake and lose the whole race.

We were now half way into the race and things were going well. We were well on the pace and clocking in some good times. The sea was lumping up a little with wash from a lot of the boats and the ferries really effecting the water. Not enough to call it rough but enough to cause the conditions to be sloppy and tricky to drive in. The trouble with the Solent is that the waves come from all angles and you have to drive by feel. Its more driving by instinct and feel than what you think you see.

We were driving hard with no let up at all, it was all to play for but any mistake could cost us dear. We tried to keep the corners smooth, not stress the boat too much (we were watching the management system like a hawk!) and Mike was making sure we kept out of the way of the faster Evolution boats and kept an eye on the pursuing Supersport boats. It’s so much about teamwork. Whilst the teams were by now nearly half a lap away, probably unwittingly they were still driving us hard. The gap had stopped widening and I was now starting to get mentally tired. Spotting the buoys gets harder the more tired you get and you start to lose concentration.

With four laps to go we had another encounter with the Evolution boys of King of Shaves and OuterLimits. They came up to mark xx, again we knew they were there and OuterLimits went by leading up to the turn but where was King of Shaves…we could hear him but not see him. I shouted to Mike ‘where is he?’, Mike yelled back ‘I don’t know just don’t turn off the line’. At those speeds if you turn the wrong direction with a boat at that speed inches from your stern you could have a serious accident. I focussed hard on keeping the boat in shape (hooking out in front of a 100mph boat is not a good survival technique) and resisted the urge to turn around and try to find him.

Suddenly he shot by leaving an ungainly wash behind him for us to encounter. With over half way to go I could not lose speed so we bumpily flew through the muck and got back on track but that was a bit heart stopping!

Another lap, a few good turns, a few bad ones (I put them down to experience!). Mike was looking all around him for the other boats and making sure we weren’t being caught. 3 laps to go,…would the engines be OK? Would I make a stupid turn and spin out? All those things cross your mind, the closer you get to the finish the further away it feels, every second, every wave, every misfire, you notice it. The concentration on both of us was immense. Two laps to go, no more Evolution boats to get in our way, it was all to play for now, we just had to finish.

Sun Lik and Roscioli were having a fantastic battle behind us and I knew that they were still going at it full tilt, that meant that I could not relax, I had to keep up the speed, it would just be awful to have them catch up now after all this effort.

One lap to go…now I was starting to relax, I had seen that the others were a way behind, we had only got two more miles to go. I asked Mike if I could back off into the last turn (the one that was most difficult) I was ‘advised’ that no this was not an option and to keep my foot well and truly down. We now had 200 metres, 150 metres, 100 metres and we were there the chequered flag waving victoriously. We had won!!!

I cannot say how much that meant to us. The boat had gone so well, it never ceases to amaze me that the harder I drive that boat the better it responds. It felt like an F1 racing car and the cornering on the large part had been phenomenal.

Coming back in was just one of the most memorable moments of our racing career, boats were everywhere and everyone wanted to congratulate us, I have never seen so many people waving and shouting! There was hardly an inch of spare water! I have to thank everyone who came and watched and supported us, it meant a huge amount to have that support and we felt incredibly proud to bring a home win to the UK. It will go down as one of our best races ever.

Steve Causley and his team at Race and Marine had done an incredible job overcoming the gremlins that have cursed us this year. He and his team have worked incredibly hard to get things sorted and it’s paid off. Mick our lorry driver has got to know the M5 to and from Taunton intimately!

In terms of results, Sun Lik had a truly fantastic race finding last years form again in fine style. Their tactical racing ensured that Roscioli got a third place. VoomVoom sadly could not hold onto their previous form and fell back gaining a fourth with Buzzi Bullet a disappointing fifth.

We are now leading the championships once again and it’s all to play for in Belgium when it should be rough. I think I am changing my mind now though….it was quite good fun circuit racing in the Solent

For the Saturday endurance race, we ran the start lap covering a distance of 4.03nm followed by 6 laps of the full lap (shown opposite) each of which was 4.13nm followed by a lap around the Island of 50.55nm for a total course length of 79.36nm

For the Sunday sprint race, we covered the start lap followed by 11 laps of the full lap for a total race length of 49.46nm.

All the marks on the course were either laid yellow or red pillar buoys. The Muster area (marked "M" on the charts) was between marks 9 and 10(far right on the chart)

The numbers in the black boxes show the bearing (direction) we have to race in.

The numbers in the brown circles show the direction we have to turn to at each laid mark, in terms of numbers on a clock face. So, the number 3 in the brown circle at the top right of the picture at Mark 7 means that we had to turn right to 3 o’clock.

The red arrows show the direction of the course which was clockwise for each of the laps.

The chequered box represents the lap line in front of the Egypt point in Cowes.