Britain’s top Powerboat racers head to Stewartby over the 5th & 6th August for the 2017 Powerboat GP RYA British Sprint championships. 50 of Britain’s top Powerboat racers head to the stand-alone event that will see six Powerboat GP RYA British Champions crowned as the racers go head to head in a battle of epic proportions.
As the 2017 Powerboat GP RYA British Championships have progressed the competition has got closer at every round providing fast and frantic action that has been exhilarating to watch. The 2017 Stewartby Sprints means what has already happened this season doesn’t count anymore, as a stand alone championship the slate is wiped clean for this competition. Each class will battle out for pole position and then over 3 heats and by the end of the weekend 6 individuals will be crowned the RYA Powerboat GP British Sprint Champion.
The GT15 Sprint championship battle is set to be a sizzler. The 2017 season has seen some fantastic battles from the junior racers throughout the season and the crown could be anyone’s for the taking. George Elmore will battle hard with Ethan Goodfellow and Aidan Fleet for the championship crown and the pressure will be on as one false move from any one of the youngsters could cost them their claim to their inaugural British RYA Championship title.
Thomas Mantripp is looking to claim his 4th Sprint title but his first in the GT30 class once more the whole fleet of racers with a bit of Lady Luck on their side could claim the title with very little separating the racers from each other. Mantripp and Jonathan Brewer will undoubtedly go head to head into battle for the GT30 Sprint title but with Jack Pickles, Tiegen Goodfellow and Elliot Fleet all putting in strong championship performances spectators will be on the edge of their seats throughout the three heats to see who reigns victorious.
The OSY400 hydroplane championship looks set to provide a Sprint to the finish line as the championship campaign gets closer at every round. Jason Mantripp will be looking to secure his first British Sprint championship and in doing so stop rival Jamie Marr securing consecutive Sprint titles. But following strong performances in recent events Wayne Moyse will be looking to claim his first top spot of the 2017 season.
Bill Owen has been unstoppable in the T850 monohull championship so far this season but will face tough competition in the form of Nigel Edwards and Steve Cash both looking for their first Sprint championship titles. Jason Brewer will have hoped to have put recent engine gremlins behind him and race home to gold and glory in front of the other challengers.
Ben Morse will be a strong contender and probable favourite to take the 2017 F4 British Sprint championship title, but looking to stop the championship hopeful will be Rob Veares who has been pushing Ben throughout the season and will be looking to get the jump on the British championship leader to secure himself the F4 crown. Looking to return to former winning ways is Mike Pillow who has made a comeback this year and is slowly making his way through the pack but there will also be a strong challenge from Ben Jelf who walked away with the recent Chasewater Grand Prix title.
Fighting for double points and glory over the weekend will be the mighty F2 catamarans who will not only fight for the F2 Sprint crown but will also be fighting for vital British championship points as the weekend counts towards their championship campaign. Colin Jelf has looked flawless in his F2 campaign throughout the 2017 season so far. But with a World class fleet of British F2 racers competing the championship crown will be strongly contested. Paul Balfour will be looking to add another title to his plethora of accolades whilst young gun Matthew Palfreyman has his eyes set firmly on the gold spot. With former British champion Steve Hoult and Mark Williams also taking to the water aiming for the top spot this battle is going to be one of epic proportions and little will separate the fleet.
Luke Jones, Powerboat GP promoter can’t wait for the 2017 Sprint championship battle to get underway “As the season has progressed the racing’s so getting even closer, there’s very little separating the racers throughout the whole championships, but this weekend what’s already happened this season doesn’t count. All that stands now between the racers and a British Sprint Championship title is 3 heats of racing. One wrong move or even the smallest mistake can lose you the crown.”
He continued “Even the best racers can have an off day and as always in Powerboat racing another racer is right in your wake waiting in case you do. Those that have had slow or bad starts to the season now have the chance to prove themselves and claim their crown. It lends itself to a sensational on water battle and by the end of the weekend we’ll have six newly crowned British Sprint Champions.”
The on water action will get underway from 10.30 on both Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th August starting with qualifying and then with each class competing over three heats to find the 2017 Powerboat GP British RYA Sprint Champions.
Photo: PowerboatGP/Bryan Scott
