Plymouth, Saturday evening
Midsummer day turned into midsummer madness for some of the 47 starters on Day One of the 2008 Round Britain Powerboat Race, as near gale force winds swept in from the west and the fleet fought their way to Plymouth.
First boat home overall and in Class RB2, in a sparkling time of 2 hours 34 minutes to average 50.34 knots (57.93mph), was the 42ft. Buzzi design of Drew Langdon, Miles Jennings and Jan Falkowski, which made best use of its speed to beat the approaching weather front.
Langdon was ecstatic: “We found some really good patches of water but then we would get hit by some equally unfriendly lumps so it was very much a case of picking our way through. Everything ran really well today.”
John Christensen, CMD’s resident engineer with the Silverline Original Style team and riding in the boat today commented: “The engines ran without missing a beat and gave us the confidence to push on but it was pretty taxing at times.”
The three CMD powered runners in Historic Class had mixed fortunes. Mike Barlow in Ocean Pirate struck an underwater obstruction at the start and having been lifted out in Port Solent, drove his damaged prop to St.Neots, Huntingdonshire for repairs and was planning to leave Portsmouth again later on Saturday night to rejoin the fleet for Leg Two from Plymouth to Milford Haven.
The 40 year old Gee with its crew of John Guille, Mark Clayton, Chris Clayton, Richard Hoskins, Nathan Ward and sponsor, Fiona Pankhurst from Raymarine, made good running to win the Historic Class. In a time of 4 hours 17 minutes and an average speed of 30.25 knots (34.81mph).
Owner, Chris Clayton, looked a little windswept but was happy with his boat’s performance: “It was very rough in places and the boat took a couple of really big bangs so we will lift her out and check her running surfaces and sterngear before Sunday’s leg. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be!”
Team 747 had a different take on proceedings, as Jonathan Napier explained: “Our navigator, Mark Jealous, slipped awkwardly and injured his ribs on the run out past the Needles and he was in some pain so eventually, we had to be put him ashore in Weymouth for medical attention, so his race is over. We didn’t have a totally trouble-free day but the engines ran well and it was just circumstances and the that conspired against us”
Even with this setback, Team 747 was making good progress until water in the fuel system slowed them further but they finished second in class astern of Gee and are ready for another day’s racing and some closer combat in a class which has now been reduced to four boats.
Race Director, Mike Lloyd and his team has the task of getting the racing fleet from Plymouth to Milford Haven on Day Two, a 180 nautical mile haul around Lands End and across the Bristol Channel on what will be another day of very unseasonal weather but the CMD teams and their QSB 5.9 turbo diesels are ready for the second leg of this 1,400 mile marathon.
