POOR weather conditions took their toll on the grand prix weekend and yesterday’s strong winds meant the round-the-island race was cancelled, in favour of a shorter course. Mark Bridges, navigator for class V-24 team Bat Out of Hell who won Saturday’s race, said he was disappointed the record wasn’t up for grabs.
‘It’s one of the most adventurous courses in the calendar, so to miss out was a bit of a blow.
‘Our dashboard split in half, so our driver, Cliff Smith, had the steering wheel in his lap for half the race.
‘All in all, it was quite a race.’
The competition had its fair share of dramas, with V-24 team Lamco Design launching an official protest against their disqualification on Saturday.
Organiser Kevin Walsh explained the harbour master had ruled any boat caught overtaking in the Gouliot Passage would be automatically disqualified.
‘One of the observers saw Bat Out Of Hell ahead as the boats entered the passage.
‘But when they left, Lamco Design were ahead, so they must have overtaken illegally and were disqualified. Personally, I don’t agree with it, but we have to stick to health and safety regulations.’
Lamco Design, who would have won Saturday’s race had it not been for the disqualification, maintained the Bat Out of Hell boat slowed down so much they were unable to avoid overtaking them. But the Bat Out of Hell crew refused to comment on the matter, saying there was ‘already some bad feeling between the drivers’.
The competition was not without crashes, with Sark Pirates John Guille and Kieran Perree getting thrown out of their class F200 boat, Insouciance.
Peree suffered swelling on his face from the force of the impact with the water, but neither racer was seriously hurt.
‘We were going really fast into the Gouliot Passage and the water changed,’ said Guille.
‘Our boat hit a wave, which flipped us right out of the cockpit.
‘We managed to swim back to the boat and then we drove back to St Sampson’s as we didn’t want to risk carrying on in case either of us had concussion.’
Class three driver Val Bryant was hospitalised on Saturday, after rolling his boat, Frenzy, at high speed on a corner.
Although kept in for observation, he was not seriously injured and was allowed to leave that night.
However, he and navigator Barry Culver were unable to race yesterday, because their boat was too badly damaged.
A highlight of the weekend was the presence of ski-boat racers.
Unfortunately, the bad weather forced the event to take place further out to sea and compromised spectators’ views.
European champion Kim Lumley was still jetlagged after her long haul from the World Championships in New Zealand, which had finished only the week before.
‘This weekend was all about demonstrating the sport to people, rather than competitive racing.
‘It’s a shame the sea was so rough, as we had to limit our speed to around under 50mph instead of the usual 100mph.
‘I’ve never been to Guernsey before, but it’s an excellent venue for watersports.
Organiser Kevin Walsh said he was pleased with how the event had gone, despite criticisms from powerboat racer Marc Lamont threatening to overshadow the action.
Lamont was banned from the competition here this year, after refusing to apologise for critical comments about the organisers of the Guernsey Grand Prix.
Walsh, who could be facing court action from Lamont, said he had tried his best to resolve the matter amicably.
‘Everyone working for this event is a volunteer and his behaviour is not in the spirit of these things.
‘The sponsors, Condor Ferries, are furious and have said he is bringing the sport into disrepute.’
Article posted on 28th May, 2007 - 12.00am
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