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Cowes Powerboat Festival 2006



Power Boats
Sailing gave way to power at Cowes over the August Bank Holiday weekend when the Powerboat P1 British Grand Prix of the Sea roared into life.

The fast and the furious

Premier Cru soars across the waves
From Friday 25th until Sunday 27th August some of the fastest and most spectacular powerboats in Europe could be seen racing off of Cowes and with even more action both on and off the water, the 2006 event was said to have been even bigger and better than its predecessor. An international line up of up to 100 race crafts and a crowd of over 65,000 were believed to have graced the Cowes shoreline during this three day dramatic water sports experience.

Fast, furious and spectacular scenes captivated onlookers as teams took to the waves in a bid to contest the British Grand Prix of the Sea. The full race programme included competitive support class action including racing from Class 3-2L, Honda F4SA 150, Honda F4SA 225 and Thundercats.


Entertainment swept both sides of the shoreline

Crowds line the Parade at GurnardCowes illustrated the success of its reputation as the home of the world famous yachting regatta when it hosted an array of live entertainment mirroring that on display during Cowes Week just a month previously. The P1 Village will included a P1 Exhibition area, Live Music, top DJs, interactive games, San Miguel BBQ, Guinness Bars, Simulators, Reverse Bungee, Scalextric-style Raceway and lots more.

As one of the fastest growing motor-sports in Europe, echoing the great history of races such as Le Mans, Sebring, the Targa Floria or the Mile Millia, Powerboat P1 is a fresh dynamic lifestyle sport where talented racers demonstrate daring and great skill as they take on the might of the open seas in a series of closely-fought endurance races.


Taking the word achievement to the extreme

Last Year's Winner OSGThe Championship weekend at Cowes got off to a positive start when ex-prison guard and extreme sports fanatic, Dean Dunbar became the first ever visually impaired person to successfully circumnavigate the Isle of Wight. The Thundercat boat trip around the island was completed in an astonishing time of 1 hour, 25 minutes and 54 seconds.

Televised to over 100million homes worldwide, an enthralling mix of great seamanship, competitive action and overtaking manoeuvres resulted in class victories for two of the championship’s outstanding Italian crews in Cowes this August bank holiday weekend. In the main Evolution class, last year's winner OSG won on Saturday, but were later disqualified and Italian outfit Fainplast - whose crew won their first race of the season, eventually won the race.


A home victory for Britain

The P1 VillageThe event was topped off in spectacular and dramatic fashion as the Powerboat P1 British Grand Prix ended in glory for the British, Solent based team of husband and wife combination, Mike Shelton and Jackie Hunt who won their respective race in the Super Sport class in their boat ARPRO. This result has strengthened their second place in the overall world championship standings with just one race to go to try and beat the current leaders Ocean Dragon.

For further information about the results of the races please visit the official P1 Powerboat website.

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