Cowes Powerboat Festival
Sailing gave way to power at Cowes over the August Bank Holiday weekend when
the Powerboat P1 British Grand Prix of the Sea roared into life.
The fast and the furious
From Friday 25th until Sunday 27th August some of the fastest and most spectacular
powerboats in Europe could be seen racing off of Cowes and with even more
action both on and off the water, the 2006 event was said to have been even
bigger and better than its predecessor. An international line up of up to
100 race crafts and a crowd of over 65,000 were believed to have graced
the Cowes shoreline during this three day dramatic water sports experience.
Fast, furious and spectacular scenes captivated onlookers as teams took
to the waves in a bid to contest the British Grand Prix of the Sea. The
full race programme included competitive support class action including
racing from Class 3-2L, Honda F4SA 150, Honda F4SA 225 and Thundercats.
Entertainment swept both sides of the shoreline
 Cowes
illustrated the success of its reputation as the home of the world famous
yachting regatta when it hosted an array of live entertainment mirroring
that on display during Cowes Week just a month previously. The P1 Village
will included a P1 Exhibition area, Live Music, top DJs, interactive games,
San Miguel BBQ, Guinness Bars, Simulators, Reverse Bungee, Scalextric-style
Raceway and lots more.
As one of the fastest growing motor-sports in Europe, echoing the great
history of races such as Le Mans, Sebring, the Targa Floria or the Mile
Millia, Powerboat P1 is a fresh dynamic lifestyle sport where talented
racers demonstrate daring and great skill as they take on the might of
the open seas in a series of closely-fought endurance races.
Taking the word achievement to the extreme
 The
Championship weekend at Cowes got off to a positive start when ex-prison
guard and extreme sports fanatic, Dean Dunbar became the first ever visually
impaired person to successfully circumnavigate the Isle of Wight. The
Thundercat boat trip around the island was completed in an astonishing
time of 1 hour, 25 minutes and 54 seconds.
Televised to over 100million homes worldwide, an enthralling mix of great
seamanship, competitive action and overtaking manoeuvres resulted in class
victories for two of the championship’s outstanding Italian crews
in Cowes this August bank holiday weekend. In the main Evolution class,
last year's winner OSG won on Saturday, but were later disqualified and
Italian outfit Fainplast - whose crew won their first race of the season,
eventually won the race.
A home victory for Britain
 The
event was topped off in spectacular and dramatic fashion as the Powerboat
P1 British Grand Prix ended in glory for the British, Solent based team
of husband and wife combination, Mike Shelton and Jackie Hunt who won
their respective race in the Super Sport class in their boat ARPRO. This
result has strengthened their second place in the overall world championship
standings with just one race to go to try and beat the current leaders
Ocean Dragon.
For further information about the results of the races please visit
the official
P1 Powerboat website.
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