British Competition hots up in Cardiff 

The 19th & 20th August saw Offshore and Circuit Powerboat Racers contend for vital championship points in Cardiff Bay.

Offshore

In the UKFFORC fleet 14 teams descended on Cardiff for the 5th Round in the National Championship.

In the S250 class Tobias Adlam did battle with Tommy Pocknell, Ben Jelf and Max Coleman. Adlam took his third win of the season and is looking like an unstoppable force in the 2011 RYA Championship. Meanwhile youngster Max Coleman achieved his first ever podium finish taking bronze behind Tommy Pocknell. 

Meanwhile in the F400 Class the competition really intensified with the female members of the circuit really putting pressure on the boys. Max Ludwell and Michael Wills took the win for the weekend to make the championship campaign even tighter at the top.

In the E900 Class  Ben Pocknell and Tom Newman made their debut to battle with Sam Whittle and Andrew Streating. Whittle and Streating suffered mechanical problems in the second heat causing them to lose valuable points, Pocknell and Newman took advantage of this misfortune to take the weekends win.

The E1500 class saw Arron Joyce drafted in to navigate for Mick Pritchard after regular navigator Craig Davis broke his leg in a freak accident during a Zapcat race. The duo put pressure on current championship leaders Jake Swann and Ben Kendall and took their first ever 1st place finish in the class and secured their first podium taking second overall.

Circuit

5 classes competed in the Circuit Championship over the weekend from the Green Engined GT30 monohull to the mighty catamarans reaching speeds in excess of 90mph.

In the GT30 class World bronze medallist Ben Morse who’s family originate from Wales reigned dominate in the class holding 2011 British Sprint Champion Nick Walsh and Pro-Rig Marine team mate Kevin Hill at bay taking 3 out of 3 heat wins to secure the win of the weekend with the other two taking second and third respectively.

In the monohull T850 class Mike Pillow scored his first podium win in 25 years after Championship leader Mark Williams was forced to settle for second after failing to finish in the first heat due to mechanical problems. Newcomer Matthew Procter completed the podium line up.

The S850 championship saw 2011 F4 World Champion Scott Curtis continuing his winning streak to take the hat trick of heat wins to obtain the weekend win and see him claim the lead in the championship campaign. Youngster Matt Palfreyman took second with Southampton’s Stuart King taking third.

Malcolm Goodman reclaimed his lead in the NS2000 championship as he won all three heats of the weekend with Ian Andrews’ return to British racing seeing him take second with Ian Wright securing the third place podium spot.

The SL250s roared into life capturing the attention of the spectators that lined the shores. Powertech Marine’s Keith Whittle held off Powerboat Racing Manager John Puddifoot to take the win for the weekend in some fast and furious action.

Senior Powerboat Racing Administrator Nikki Drummond commented on the success of the weekend “Cardiff Bay’s a fantastic venue for Powerboat Racing it provides the Racers with some taxing but sheltered conditions and allows the spectators the perfect view of the action with the shops and bars in the bay creating a perfect amphitheatre.”

“Thanks go to all the local authorities that assisted in helping make the event a huge success and we hope to be back even bigger in the near future.”