Powerboats will circuit the Isle of Wight in the 1st round of the 2022 UKOPRA Championship on Sunday (1st May).
30 boats are expected to take on the challenge in a race won last year by Drew Langdon and Miles Jennings at an incredible average speed of 95.15 mph.
The boats will be based at Shamrock Quay Marina in Southampton, where they will undergo technical inspection on the Saturday before Sunday’s race, which starts at 11:30.
Recommended viewing areas include Yarmouth, Hurst Castle, The Needles, St Catherine’s Point, and Egypt Point, as they return to the finish line in an anti-clockwise circuit.
The larger powered Class 1 boats will be expecting to see speeds more than 100 mph if the weather is fair. Included in this category is ‘Tommy One’ from Italy, who will compete against UK’s top race teams. If conditions are rough, they will battle through the waves at half that speed.
There will be 2 teams from the Island competing in Class 3: the historic 1963 Bertram Hull Thunderstreak will be racing under the Royal Yacht Squadron flag with Hugo Peel at the helm. East Cowes based team ADL Scaffold – under the ownership of Adam Leal – will be making their debut in Offshore Powerboat Racing in a 21ft Phantom.
Free viewing of the boats at Shamrock Quay is open to the public from midday on Saturday 30th April.
How long does the full circuit take?
I heard from a class 1 team talking about 45 mins and speeds of 115 mph down the solent!
I wish that there had been more information available about this.
I would really love to see these boats in action.
Is this being shown on TV channels please?