As highlighted in a previous Sportsboat article with more and more affordable routes into powerboat racing there has never been a better time to start in this exhilarating sport. But where do you race, do you need a licence, what does it cost and more importantly what is it like in a powerboat at 80mph? 

To get a better feel for this area of the sport I booked a day on Reefer Racing’s Offshore powerboat racing course. Reefer Racing are involved in various aspects of offshore powerboat racing from corporate entertainment, race boat preparation and training courses. The course I booked on to is endorsed by the legendry British powerboat racing world champion, Steve Curtis,  and addresses issues such as how to get into the sport, the various classes that you can race in, how to get a racing licence, and the safety aspects of racing in addition to the really fun bit – blasting up and down the Solent at 80mph in control of a beast of a powerboat!

The day started not too early at the rather grand setting of The Royal Southampton Yacht Club overlooking Ocean Village marina. There were four of us on the course all with very different levels of experience and all there for different reasons. Tony had traded up for the day from his 21ft cuddy based on the tidal Thames and was keen to get really stuck in to the high speed work, Andy had not been powerboating for about 15 years and had been bought the day as a birthday present by his wife, he did though have the most interesting background as a former Royal Marine Coxswain (you know the ones – they blast around Poole Harbour in dories and RIBs pretending the speed limit doesn’t matter to them – yes you’re right I’m jealous!) finally Alastair had also received the day as a gift although he was already an avid powerboater with a ski boat based in the Midlands.

Starting racing 

If you think that you want to race your best bet is to contact your local Powerboat Racing club.  The clubs are the hub of the sport taking responsibility for obtaining licences for their members, organising races, having boats assessed etc. They welcome potential new members and can always arrange for you to have a try in a boat to get a feel for what its like. They are a goldmine of useful information and will undoubtedly be able to talk to you about the various classes and boats that you could start off in. Recent entries by Fletcher with their 15ft racer and Honda with the Honda one design four stroke series have made the sport far more accessible than it once was.  

To obtain a licence you will need to join a club who will provide a form, you will need a medical, either at your first race or before you will need to take a short exam covering safety and racing rules, your application is then submitted by your club with the requisite cheque to the RYA. You will then be issued with a provisional licence. During your first four races you will be watched very carefully to see whether you race responsibly, if you do you will then be a full licence holder and a true Offshore Powerboat Racer – good luck!

Our host, Ben Mazur  - Reefer Racing’s Operations Director – kicked off with an introduction to the sport discussing the various classes, how to find a club, the RYA’s involvement in the sport, we then ran through the safety requirements – the kit, the procedures etc. We then watched a short video of how not to do it.  Class 1 & 2 Offshore powerboats flipped, porpoised, sunk and disintegrated before our eyes as Ben achieved what was probably his hidden objective – instilling a sense of fatality into us all before the afternoon’s fun started. Lunch was preceded by the RYA’s mandatory exam for anyone wishing to obtain a licence – the results of which were sent to the RYA to marry up with our subsequent applications for racing licences. 

Lunch out of the way and we all marched with renewed vigour down the pontoon to our chariot for the afternoon. Poker Run is a 32ft Velocity with twin Volvo V8 petrols generating a total of 870hp!. The twin exhausts have two settings – loud and unbelievably outrageously loud! To say we were the centre of attention as we motored past the restaurants on the edge of Ocean Village was an understatement. 

Out into Southampton Water Ben opened up the throttles and we took off down towards Cowes, the sound of the exhausts was exhilarating as we jumped washes at full throttle landing perfectly each time. Ben took us through how to manage the settings of the trim tabs, the engine trim and the throttles to achieve the best setup for the boat. Then, the moment we’d all been waiting for – our turns. One by one we climbed into the bolstered stand-up seats (if that makes sense) and took the steering wheel. As we proved to Ben that we wouldn’t kill him then so we took over each of the boats controls.  At 70 – 80mph managing the throttles, trimming the tabs and the engine whilst reading the waves was no easy task but was great fun. It was easy to see how difficult it must be to do all this in a competitive situation when its rough and you’re doing something like 100 - 160mph so we all had renewed respect for the likes of Steve Curtis. Too soon the afternoon came to a close and we pottered back into Ocean Village the proud owners of the biggest grins in Southampton. Drinks and certificates in the bar with a swapping of names and future promises to meet up capped a fine day.