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Powerboat racing at Oulton Broad is 100 years old this year, and today's meeting for various prestige trophies including the Battle of Britain trophy is the finale to another successful season of racing. Various classes of boats race in the meeting from juniors with 15hp engines to the larger Catamarans with engines of 2000cc. The races for the different classes are handicapped to allow for closer racing with some of the faster boats conceding more than a lap to the slower ones but if the handicapper gets it right the boats should all finish closely together. |
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Preparing the boats in the pits for practise. |
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Leaving the pits in clouds of smoke and spray. |
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Unlike other forms of motorsport the pit crews in powerboat racing have to be prepared to get wet. No.13! obviously the driver of this boat isn't suppositious. |
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Hydroplane No19, winner of the 1st heat. |
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Three cats racing side-by-side, notice how little of the hull is actually touching the water. |
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Two Monohulls racing closely together. |
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Almost lost in its own spray this Hydroplane turns at the buoy. |
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Two catamarans racing down to the turn buoy. |
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Catamaran No.45 turning at the wherry buoy. |
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The junior boats only have 15hp engines but there racing is every bit as competitive as the bigger boats. |
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In the second catamaran heat an accident resulted in 3 boats having to dash back to the slipway as they were holed and in danger of sinking, this boat was the most badly damaged and only just made it. |
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Surveying the damage. |
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