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Brothers reunite to race in the Poole Bay 100

John Moore on 26th August 2020

This weekend will see powerboat racing brothers Glynn and Lee Norvall return to action together for the first time in three years.

The pairing from Christchurch in Dorset will be racing a P1 Panther 28ft mono-hull boat in the Poole Bay 100, which is part of the UKOPRA World and National Offshore Championship.

Glynn and Lee have followed in the footsteps of their father Doug, who built and raced the very first catamaran in offshore racing more than 50 years ago, acquiring considerable experience from racing in different boats in very different conditions.

They are very familiar with the Panther race boat, having competed together in the one-design P1 SuperStock UK championships and the P1 SuperStock World Championship in Mumbai in 2017.

Martin Raby, the safety officer for the two-day event based at Poole Quay Haven, is delighted to see powerboats back on the water and explains:

The coronavirus has decimated the global sporting calendar this year in the most unexpected and devastating fashion, and this weekend health and safety will be of paramount importance.

The event will be hosted by the Offshore Powerboat Club of Great Britain and forms part of the UKOPRA 2020 offshore championship, and a range of stringent safety measures has been drawn up to ensure that racing can take place.

Driver Glynn Norvall can’t wait to wait to have Lee joining him again in the Panther cockpit:

We have had the boat ready to race for some time and are just happy to be back on the start line with a 30-mile race on Saturday and then 70 miles the following day.

Last year I came third in the Cowes Poole Cowes race, which has sadly been cancelled this year, and with Lee navigating we finished third in the P1 SuperStock World Championship in India three years ago.

UKOPRA have done a superb job in making this happen safely and it will great to be back on home waters here in Dorset this weekend with sponsorship from local building firm K7 Construction.

In line with government guidance, a specific spectator environment will not be created and access to the marina will only be available to crews and registered officials.

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