By Warren Whitmore – Community and Sports Reporter.
Photos Hamble Powerboat Charters
6th May 2025
in MotorsportSport
Double Trouble clinched top position in the opening race of the UKOPRA Offshore Powerboat Championships around the Isle of Wight, with an impressive average speed of 99.35mph.
This is a remarkable achievement from the Falmouth-based team, who dedicated countless hours over the past 8 months to rebuild their Fountain hull to compete in Cowes after serious damage in their last race back in September 2024.
Powerboats and racers traveled from as far as America and Sweden, enjoying nearly calm conditions from the start, which continued throughout the 51.8 nm course.
The runner-up position was claimed by the Southampton-based team Laa Laa, which featured former Formula 2 Grand Prix racing driver Dean Stoneman, achieving an impressive speed of 93.91 mph in his distinctive yellow Fountain monohull.
Dean and his team also dedicated themselves tirelessly to ensure the boat was ready for the race, despite not having any time for practice before the initial event.
Taking the Class 1L title was a new Welsh team, Christian Parsons-Young and James Norvill, who competed for the first time in their newly purchased Cowes-based Dragon powerboat ‘Piston’ Broke’, securing third place overall at 75.82 mph.
The Swedish Class 1 team Sture Gold with brothers Ola and Peter Ostland on board, arrived from their long journey to the Isle of Wight via Spain early last Monday and sadly within 10 minutes of the race a water intake clogged up one engine and so the team endured the rest of the race virtually on one engine. The same determination was for Class 3E entry Team 25 Life Racing when they were leading their class and broke down off Ventnor, they continued on at top speed of 15 mph, 60 mph slower than they were showing earlier in the race. They completed the course in 1 hour and 51 minutes.
Last year’s race champion, Rob Lockyer, teamed up with American Tim Linden and Isle of Wight-based Adrian de Ferranti to claim the Class 2 title aboard Team 25 – Sunseeker.
In the highly competitive Class 3, which features three distinct categories, Marcus Dodd showcased the impressive Silver Parsonage Catamaran Oblivion, while closely trailing him was the West Country / Wales team Renegade running the ever impressive Cougar monohull. Local pub owner Peter Hall and Terry Parsons achieved yet another solid performance with their classic Hunton hull Mango Crazy, securing a commendable 3rd place and earning valuable points for the 5-race series.
The fleet is set to move to Poole Bay on Saturday, June 14th, where they will navigate an offshore course around Poole Bay and the Needles.
All the times and race calendar can be found at the official race website.
www.ukopra.co.uk
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