Oldest man in the race is leading the race
Legendary powerboater Dag Pike has taken the lead of the Round Britain Powerboat Race after today’s stage to Newcastle.
Dag, aged 75, is the oldest man in the race and initially swore blind he would not be taking part.
The widely respected navigator won the last race in 1984 on board Fabio Buzzi’s boat and has a string of other powerboating firsts to his name.
He is now navigator on another Buzzi design, Blue FPT, which has been running at the front of the Round Britain fleet each leg.
Today the boat, which was entered in the race by Greeks Vassilis Pateras and Panos Tsikopoulos, edged ahead of its big rival, the Norwegian Goldfish RIB LionHead, after that boat suffered mechanical problems mid-leg.
It is also likely to put Blue FPT ahead by more than an hour in its class.
There are two legs still to run: Newcastle to Lowestoft and Lowestoft to Portsmouth.
