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On Tuesday this week, Jon and I (colleagues at Netbasic) got up early and headed over to Banana Wharf in Southampton for the launch of Splash.co.uk's Ultimate Powerboat Day.
Breakfast
At 8.30 we were greeted by a sea of Splash jackets and were prepped for the morning's events on water with some tea and scrumptious bacon rolls. Adrian and Neil Holmes gave an amusing safety briefing as well as an introduction to the days powerboat activities, before splitting us up into our groups for the day. There were five groups in all, each with between four and six members, and everyone one of them was rearing to go and amazed at the fabulous weather that had also turned up for the occasion.
Sunseeker
First up for us, and very welcome too, was a luxurious hour aboard the Sunseeker Portofino 53. We lay about on the hospitality boat watching the other activities take place all around us. The crew were as friendly as could be and it was a real opportunity to chill out in the sea air, enjoy some beats and an ice cold coke all in the glorious sunshine.
Phantom Evolution
It's quite a feat to organise such a fleet in the waters around Southampton, but the transfer ribs were prompt and efficient and safely ported each group from activity to activity. The next one for Jon and I (and my favourite of the day) was race training with Neil on his own-designed Phantom Evolution - a super 80mph+ rib powerboat! I'd obviously dozed off a bit aboard the Sunseeker and really wasn't expecting to get to pilot this thing, but oh my god was it fun! I've never been much of a boat person, but this thing is like a car - it brought back memories of my Rally School experience, as well as flinging the hovercrafts around at Henley Hillbillies - the seats are comfy plush and make you feel safe and relaxed from the start, then there's a steering wheel and a throttle pedal. Of course, there's no standard gear stick and there is an additional control to alter the trim of the engine (how much it sits in the water), so it's not all car-like, but it was enough for me. If it hadn't been for Neil tapping on the speed gauge, I'm pretty sure I would've got pretty close to that 80mph mark. But when I was brave enough to glimpse the dial, I was pretty sure I cracked 60.
Each one of us got to pilot the boat for a few laps and to finish the two craft involved went side by side in a close-quarters dash around the course - a fantastic rush.
Hunton RS43
Another rib transfer later and straight onto the Aston Martin of the water world - The Hunton RS43 - you might have seen it been blown to pieces in the film Sahara. That really is a beast of luxury, and would you believe it, we all got turns to take the helm!
Lunch
Thank god we got fed as well. I was absolutely starving by the time we were dropped off back at the marina, but nothing was going to stop me enjoying the trip back to dry land - what a way to spend a day - amid an armada of the best powerboats you can find! The buffet was delicious and gave me a chance to refuel in readiness for the afternoon's adventure.
Honda BF150 Powerboats
After lunch I jumped straight into the driving seat of the Honda racing series powerboat and gently maneuvered us through the marina and out to sea. I can't wait to see the pictures of all the boats side-by-side - that took some real coordination to pull off. It's pretty tricky making sure you're not rear-ended by a Hunton and a Sunseeker!
As soon as we passed 'that buoy' all the other powerboats let loose and disappeared off to their allocated pools of wet, as we headed over to ours. A three point course, marked out by a couple of towers and another couple of buoys. I didn't find the Hondas as rewarding as the Evolutions, but that's just because I like to be in control of the power, and in these babies, I think a lack of experience could have done quite a lot of damage, so we left the throttle to the professional and gripped on to the wheel - we were flying all over the place, both in and out of the water. The boat really skips across the wake, and during my timed laps, there seemed to be an awful lot of wake, so I only managed a 1m 56 - but I was in the boat for the winning lap - Adam from In2Events roped together an awesome 1m 52 and won himself a lovely RC powerboat in the prize giving.
Thundercat P750
Well last but by no means least, we took turns to hold on for dear life as the driver zipped about all over the water like there was nothing there underneath us. I thought that of all the events on the water that day, this was the most likely one to result in a change of clothes. But Splash had got it really well organised and each one of us was able to squeeze into a dry suit - and to my surprise, it really worked. On seeing me afterwards, no one would have known that I'd just been zipping about 2 ft above the open sea at a mind boggling 50mph! The P750s are tiny, and these ones had very appropriate 'Splash.co.uk' branding - even on the bottom of the boats! The driver and I did some quite spectacular 'wheelies' round and round, showing off in front of the others in the group. I'm looking forward to getting a photo of that!!
And that was it, the end of an awesome day - and quite fitting that there was a sizable crowd gathering as the fleet headed back in to shore. The three queens could all be seen in Southampton on Tuesday for the first and last time in history. So as one story ends, another one has a smashing beginning!
