Smith retains world powerboating title

Smith retains world powerboating title

Having won races one and two over the preceding five days, he was well clear of his closest rival, Thomas Wrenkler, on Karnag, but knew that if Karnag finished first, and he was four places behind, he would lose his title.So, with navigator David Simpkins, his intention in the final race was very simple.

He would ‘conserve the machinery’, knowing that as long as he looked after his boat, he didn’t have to finish in the first three to win the championship.Over the shorter, 60-mile course, he tracked the catamaran, Karnag, which finished third in the race, which was good enough for Wrenkler to finish runner-up overall, but not good enough to deny Smith and Simpkins a second world title.’This was a tactical race for us,’ said Smith afterwards.

‘We didn’t go out to win and just sat with him all the way.

We’d done all the hard work in the first two races.’Our preparations had been good and these were true offshore conditions.

We started in a fjord where no more than ten boats could go through side by side.

We let them go and then, at sea, overtook them one by one.’Smith also paid tribute to his navigator, Simpkins, who had guided the boat at speeds in excess of 80 mph around the course.’We’ve really gelled as a team,’ he said, adding that the conditions had helped both of them in their quest for the world title.Competing against 22 other boats, many of them catamarans with a top speed of up to 100 mph – far faster than his own monohull – he enjoyed the waves which were up to a metre and a half in height, because they slowed the ‘cats’ down and allowed him to drive Commodore C-54 to its own potential.After celebrating his win on Saturday, Smith is now making his way back to Jersey, via the UK, and is expected back in the Island later this week.

– Advertisement –
– Advertisement –