Drew Langdon and Miles Jennings held off their Italian rival, Maurizio Schepici, to narrowly win the 2022 Round the Island powerboat race.
The opening round of this year’s UKOPRA World Offshore Championship saw 25 teams start and finish in the Solent last weekend.
In a close-fought race, in which only 4 seconds separated the big 2, crews completed the course in under 35 minutes at a staggering 102mph average speed. This was true for both the British and Italian teams, with the Italian boat ‘Tommy One’ driven for the first time by Isle of Wight property developer, Richard Bendy.
Class 3 with the biggest fleet of boats was dominated by D28 Renegade who also finished the race in under an hour.
There was local interest in Class 3C as Adam Leal and George Hobart competed in their very first Offshore Powerboat Race and crossed the line in 12th overall with a very respectable 55mph average speed. Adam and George managed to cross the line virtually on fumes as they run out of petrol to cross the line off Gurnard.
The next round will be held in 6 weeks as teams race around Poole Bay. Then, later on, the August Bank Holiday weekend will see powerboats return to the Solent for the annual Cowes Classic.
I wonder how many gallons they do to the mile the price off petrol doesn’t seem to be a problem for some
Just like F1, rich owners, rich teams, money’s no object