UK: A season review

Tags: powerboat, racing, boat, race, review, season, uk, SuperStock, p1

Peters & May Jersey Grand Prix of the Sea
Amid tremendous excitement, the 2011 P1 SuperStock Championship got underway in Jersey’s beautiful St Aubin’s bay on 11/12 June where the brand new P1 Panther 250 boat made its eagerly awaited competitive debut.

John Wilson and Neil Scarborough, the 2010 P1 150 Champions, enjoyed a perfect debut in the class by winning both races at the Peters & May Jersey Grand Prix of the Sea. Although dominating the opening encounter, the Premier Cru duo inherited the race two victory when Edox (Rupert Pugh and Anthony Crossley) retired with five laps to go.

Typhoo pairing Andy Wilby and Jonny Allbut finished runner-up in the first ever P1 Panther 250 race ahead of the Edox vessel but in race two, powerboat racing newcomers Simon Bayles and Philippa Baker – Team 88 – stunned the competition regulars by scorching to second place ahead of Typhoo.

In the P1 150 class, Team Purple got its season underway with the double win as husband and wife partnership Stuart and Sara Cureton won both races ahead of Eclipse (Rose Lores and Tom Hunter) and Team Fox (Martin Colligan and Liam McDermott) in each instance.

Plymouth Grand Prix of the Sea
Resplendent with a fresh livery in deference to new sponsor Pertemps, Wilson and Scarborough arrived in Plymouth Sound as the P1 Panther 250 championship leaders but the duo had to settle for a brace of third places as Edox dominated the weekend (16/17 July).

The second event of the P1 SuperStock Championship marked the first in the UK to ever feature the head-to-head ‘Match Racing’ format as a type of qualification – Rough Cut Racing (Ian Brusby and Dan Whapples) emerged quickest in P1 250 with a superb performance which was matched by the Macdonald Mermaid boat of husband and wife pairing David and Kirsty Toozs-Hobson in P1 150.

During the races, Pugh and Crossley starred in the Edox boat to take a sensational double in P1 250 and, with it, the maximum haul of points to well and truly kick-start their title bid. Rough Cut Racing was second in race one with Peters & May finishing runner-up in race two.

Making their first appearance of the season in Plymouth, the Toozs-Hobsons backed-up their Match Racing prowess to win the P1 150 class in the first of the main races ahead of Team Purple. Stuart and Sara Cureton hit back in race two though to take their third win of the year ahead of Eclipse.

Hull Grand Prix of the Sea
Experienced crew Daniel Cramphorn and Kim Collins took over the Peters & May boat for the third event of the season, the Hull Grand Prix of the Sea on 30/31 July, and made a tremendous start to the weekend with Cramphorn steering their P1 Panther 250 to victory.

With big crowds flocking to Hull Marina to watch the stars of P1 SuperStock in action during the early evening, the visit to the North East proved a major success. Peters & May took the opening spoils after grabbing the lead from Pertemps on lap five with Edox rounding out the podium in third.

For race two, which took place in much choppier conditions than the first, points leaders Pertemps hit back with a fine win with Rough Cut Racing taking a very popular second place – on home territory for local pilot Ian Brusby – ahead of Peters & May with Collins taking over driving duties.

Team Purple continued its incredible ‘purple patch’ by winning the P1 150 class in both outings to notch-up victories four and five of the championship. Eclipse (featuring John Donnelly as navigator) finished second in race one ahead of Macdonald Mermaid while Team Fox secured a brace of thirds.

Cowes-Poole-Cowes Race: Isle of Wight
P1 SuperStock arrived in Cowes on 27/28 August for by far the most prestigious and demanding event of the season, the Cowes-Poole-Cowes endurance race – the first true offshore encounter of the 2011 championship.

Forming part of the incredibly popular British Powerboat Festival, the race was very much one of attrition as the choppy waters of the Solent made for incredibly difficult conditions. Proof of that was a decision by officials to curtail the race at mid-distance.

Darren Hook and David Harwood won on their first outing in the Peters & May P1 Panther 250 after early leader Pertemps hit troubles with a broken throttle. The story of the weekend though was the podium return of local favourite Shelley Jory-Leigh, second position for Helvetia Wealth marking her first visit to the rostrum since a career threatening injury in 2010. Team 88 starred again in third.

In P1 150 there were no surprises as Team Purple won ahead of the Eclipse boat of Rose Lores and her young rookie navigator Lucci Levi – the 17-year-old granddaughter of powerboat racing royalty Sir Max Aitken and Lady Violet Aitken, and daughter of the Honourable Laura Levi (nee Aitken).

Liverpool Grand Prix of the Sea
Heading into the final event of the ‘Race to Liverpool’ season, crew-mates Wilson and Scarborough looked in a great position to seal the inaugural P1 Panther 250 title with relative ease but a dramatic weekend meant the Pertemps duo clinched the championship by just four points.

Peters & May, piloted again by Cowes-Poole-Cowes winners Hook and Harwood, took its second successive victory with the win in Albert Dock...although only after dominant leading boat Edox unfortunately overturned while in a commanding position. Helvetia Wealth finished second and Team 88 third and although sensor problems befell Pertemps, they had enough in hand.

Bayles and Baker capped off a sensational maiden season of powerboat racing third in the points thanks to another podium in Liverpool, Team 88 finishing just two points adrift of championship runners-up Peters & May.

With a substantial P1 150 points lead ahead of Liverpool, Team Purple chose to take things conservatively and fifth place was enough to give Stuart and Sara Cureton a richly deserved title. Team Fox took its first win of the year but finished third in the standings, three points shy of Eclipse.