Powerboat Racing Bore

With Carol having to work today until 3pm, I decided to go and have an adventure on my own this afternoon and I fancied going to watch the powerboat racing that was taking place here in the Bay for the whole weekend. Well what can I say about the sport of powerboat racing in the UK? This was my first ever time watching it live and I won’t be rushing over to Torquay tomorrow to watch anymore and I would be surprised if I ever made the effort to go and watch it ever again.

You all know I can’t go that long without talking to someone and I found a nice man who used to be a powerboat racer and he told me the reasons this sport is dieing on its feet. It seems the very powers that be that run the whole sport are the ones who are killing it. Firstly charging silly money for licences that has priced so many out of the sport and then there are all the constant rule changes that have done nothing to help in anyway and in fact has played a big part in the very people the sport needs(the racers) dropping out of it.

I do not know the name of the two classes of boats racing today, I know the smaller ones were 2ltr and the six bigger ones were referred to as the V24’s. The nice man told me those six V24’s were all that were left in the UK and it was not that long ago there were 40+ such boats. To try and make it an event today another group of boat racers were invited to the meeting, their boats are known as thundercats and look like fancy rubber dinghy’s with a big motor on the back.

I don’t know the reason I decided to do something I have not done for many years and that was to use public transport to get to Torquay, I knew Carol always try’s to catch the FIRST bus rather than Stagecoach as she says it’s so much cheaper.

So I checked the timetable on the internet and walked down to the bus stop by the zoo and considering the bus comes from Plymouth, it was almost bang on time and to make me smile even more it was only £4.10p for a return ticket.

I phoned Carol as it happens around 4,30 pm and the first thing she asked me was where I was, so I told her and she then asked if I had walked to Torquay as my car keys were still hanging on the hook. “Look love I got bloody knackered just walking to the bus stop, so know I caught a bus” I replied.

It was rather windy around Torquay harbour and every now and then I was treated to a nice shower of rain, still I was looking forward to the racing and I was not going to let a drop of rain ruin my afternoon. As it turns out it was the racing that did that for me, well that’s if you can go as far too actually call it racing.

I don’t know where the guy on the mike was hiding but boy was he so boring but to be fair to him it’s the fault of the way the races happen that would make it hard for even the very best commentator to try and make the racing seem exciting. Silly man forgot to turn the mike off a few times when he was having one of those private chats one has, I learned more about his life this afternoon that my own.

I was unable to find out anywhere today just what time the racing started and when I got to the harbour a race had just started, I soon learned this was the first race and for whatever reason was nearly one hour late starting and as there were only three races in total I felt pleased I would not miss any off the racing, that soon changed as I looked out to sea to watch the race in progress.

The real problem with this sport is the size of the course they choose to race on, you get to see the boats start the race and then instead racing on a nice course in the middle of the Bay so you could see the whole race, they must go to France and back.

I joke as they really head off over toward Goodrington and then Brixham and you lose sight of then as they then must head over to Teignmouth before they come back into sight again coming toward you past Hope’s Nose. Don’t blink at this point or you will miss any race action there is before they go out of a sight again for a good twenty five minutes or so.

Race one over and race two about to start and this time it’s those thundercats, I looked at how many there were and thought to myself well at least I should now see some race action, WRONG. The race was announced as the Thundercats endurance race, was that endurance for the racers? Or the poor bloody spectators standing in the rain.

We now have boats that probably only go a quarter of the speed of the powerboats doing seven laps of the same course that enabled them to by duty frees as they raced. Even the race commenter gave up describing the race action. The problem was these boys had brought their own race control boat with them and as we neared the end of four laps the commentator said it was believed the race was going to be brought to an end.

WRONG again as he soon was informing us the race control boat was letting them go around again and again and again until all seven laps had been completed. The only action I saw was when one made a dash for the harbour with the driver shouting for help. Reading his lips and working out his hand movements I think his boat went a bit too high in the air and threw his crew mate up very high and he then came crashing back down again. It was clear he was in a lot of pain and in the end that did manage to get a neck brace on him and get him on a spinal board just as the ambulance crew arrived to take him to Torbay hospital.

It was at this point I was close to going home, but the powerboat racers had been sat in their boats for nearly an hour and a half waiting for their race and I felt it a bit rude not to watch their race, after all there was hardly anyone else still there to watch them. It came over the PA the boat parade through the town planned for 6pm was now cancelled, just as well really as they would have only been able to sent the empty trailers around the town as the boats would have still been lost in France.

To be fair I did enjoy the last race a bit more, this time the big six V24’s did six laps of the big course and the 15 or so smaller two litres boats did twelve laps on a much smaller course where you were able just about to still see then at their furthest point .

Time to leave and walk to the bus stop to catch my FIRST bus back to Paignton, I sat on the back seat and got out my HTC Desire to check the forum and was so pleased to see so many good posts written during the afternoon, so thanks guys you put the simile back on my face I had when I left home at lunchtime but somehow lost during the afternoon.



Those thundercats




The bigger boys


















Whats going on here then?




Is there a doctor in the house?















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