Formula Future World & Continental Championships 2010 

This summer, over the weekend of the 14 & 15 August, young powerboat racers from some 10 nations will converge on Lancashire Powerboat Racing Club in Carr Mill, St Helens for The UIM Formula Future World & Continental Championships.

This international event, being held in the UK for the first time, will see racers aged 8 to 18 compete in a series of time trials, against the clock, demonstrating their ability in boat handling and manoeuvring skills. The competition promises to be extremely close with the top teams frequently separated by less than a 1/100ths of a second, leaving no room for errors on the course.    

The competition designed on raising awareness and developing skills in junior power boaters will see teams represented from, Malaysia, Czech Republic, Great Britain and Entries expected from Italy, Russia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Estonia, Slovakia, and Portugal.  

Classes are split into 5 categories depending upon age:

Classes 1 -3 compete in tiller steered Ribs of a maximum of 3.6m with a maximum engine power of 8hp (2 stroke).

Classes 4-5 compete in a RIB, powered by an outboard engine with a minimum power of 10hp and a maximum power of 15hp.  For these classes the boat will have a steering wheel, and jockey seat for the driver with the speed lever on the starboard/right side and a kill-switch.  

Each competitor must complete the competitions two disciplines; Manoeuvring and Parallel Slalom. 

The Manoeuvring section consists of:

·      Knot tying Every driver must show his skill in tying the following knots:

• - Reef knot
• - Bowline 
• - Half-hitch 
• - Clove-hitch

A maximum time limit of 60 seconds is given for tying each knot, after which the knot will is considered as improperly done. After each attempt the driver must raise his arm to indicate the knot as done.

·      Manoeuvring around the racecourse

The course the competitor takes is determined by the class they are in.  Drivers are given 2 attempts, running consecutively, to  manoeuvre around the course.  Both attempts are performed on the same course, with the same boat and engine.

Drivers in classes 4 and 5 as well as manoeuvring the Race Course also perform a man-over-board exercise. In which the boat must approach the mark with its left side during this manoeuvre and must be completely stopped (for example by using reverse gear).

Backwards motion of the boat is not allowed.

After the boat has come to a complete stop the driver raises a lifebuoy (or similar) over his head with both hands and puts it down on the designated mark without throwing it or dropping it down and then continues the course.  

The Parallel slalom section sees two drivers from the same class starting at the same time, each running on a separate racecourse around a slalom course.  

Each driver has two attempts on the course, changing boat and course for the second attempt.

Times from both attempts are counted up, adding penalty seconds (if any) and the driver is awarded U.I.M. points for their ranking.

The four drivers having the highest score in each class then participate in the semi-final and final.

The semi-final results are determined as mentioned above and the pair setting for the finals is as follows:

- Drivers with 1st and 2nd highest scores in the semi-finals compete for the 1st and 2nd place

- Drivers with 3rd and 4th highest scores in the semi-finals compete for the 3rd and 4th place.  

At the end of the weekend European and World Champions will be crowned for the following categories  for each class, Manoeuvring, Parallel Slalom, Individual and Combined  where the points from the two disciplines will be added together to decide the champion. There will also be a Team Championship where the best 3 results from Manoeuvring and Parallel Slalom are added together to declare one nation overall Champions.  

The competition starts at 09:00hrs  on Saturday 14 August, after the opening ceremony, finishing on Sunday 15 with the Prize Giving presentation taking place at 19:30hrs.  

Spectators are welcome to watch all the action.  Entry is free so come along and support Team GBR.