Powerboaters awarded by the RYA
The Royal Bath hotel in Bournemouth was the venue for the RYA National Champions gala this year, a celebration of the 2008 season.
Awarding both nationally and internationally the event was hosted by the first ever female British champion in her field Shelley Jory and the RYA powerboat racing manager John Puddifoot. For the first time ever the President of the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) Dr Raffaele Chiulli was also in attendance to hand out awards.
Winners included Silverline who were awarded the offshore sponsors trophy whilst the Tony Needell Award-Offshore for outstanding service to the sport went to Annie Beakhust.
All areas of powerboat racing are acknowledged through the awards with people like Bill Owen, the national circuit T850 sprint champion, who has been in the sport for over 30 years, getting the recognition they deserve for their dedication to the sport.
TeamGeealso picked up a prize in the form of the RYA Round Britain spirit of powerboat racing award.
Another important aspect of the ceremony are the awards given out to young racers who could well form the backbone of the sport in years to come.
John Puddifoot says: “The future is looking very promising in the world of powerboat racing with the strength of UK youngsters on the circuit.
“It’s important that we continue to drive new people in to the sport and with our free licensing initiative run in 2008 we saw some 400 new people get involved in the sport.”
More information about powerboat racing is available on the RYA website
