Club Racing – Then and Now
Your understanding of Club Racing
will depend on your age and when
you attended your first circuit
racing event.
The important question is, ‘why is
Club Racing so important to the
sport?’ At first glance it seems to
be a straightforward question with
a straightforward answer.
Let’s take a little wander down
memory lane. It’s the late 1960s
and you decide to head off to your
nearest powerboat circuit as you’ve
been told by a friend you go waterskiing with that it’s an exciting
sport to watch and everyone is very
friendly.
You pack a picnic and load the
family into the car and wend your
way through the English
countryside, finally arriving at your
destination. A young lad on the
gate takes your money (probably
around a shilling) and gives you a
roughly copied programme. He
tells you that you can park
anywhere so you find a nice spot at
the waters edge, spread out a
blanket, put out the folding chairs
and make yourself at home ready
to watch the events unfold. There’s
a wide selection of craft taking
part. Some you recognise, some
look like one offs and there’s even
one like your ski boat. There’s
some very close racing and quite a
lot of nudging and bumping
between the racers but ѡ