Internationally renowned Cowes-Torquay powerboat race relegated to Western Solent
This year’s Cowes-Torquay-Cowes offshore powerboat race on August 27 will not be reverting to its traditional start line off the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes.
The Royal Yachting Association has refused to support the request on grounds of safety, despite a previous indication that the race would be coming back to the Isle of Wight town.
Satisfied with last year’s organisation of the race, the Cowes harbourmaster had earlier given his permission for the British Powerboat Racing Club (BPRC) to start and finish the race off Cowes.
The only stipulation was that the starting chute must be reintroduced with a minimum of 20 safety boats (ten each side) warning off non-involved pleasure boats when racing boats were passing through.
The racing course, risk factor and a layout pinpointing the location of all safety boats along the chute were submitted to the powerboat department of the RYA only to be turned down.
One of the reasons for the rejection was that the actual names and crew experience of positioned safety boats had not been shown on the course layout.
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