Powerboats:Smith’s World record bid

Powerboats:Smith’s World record bid

For against every conceivable class of boat, ranging from F2 catamarans to hydroplanes, he is aiming to set a new world record by averaging over 59.94 mph for the three-hours he will be racing.That speed is the current record in a race against the clock, where your average speed over the distance travelled during the three hour period is counted.Smith also believes he has an advantage, for normally any powerboat that attempts the record has to make allowances for at least one stop to refuel the boat.

However, Smith has calculated that as Commodore Ferries has a fuel capacity of 235 litres, and that it will take 228 litres to run at racing speed for three hours, he can go the whole distance without having to stop.No stranger to Windemere, where he held the two-hour endurance record for many years in his Forgecraft boat, which was broken last year, Smith knows that skill alone – plus a fully-fuelled boat – might not be enough to set a new record.’Remember that we are racing in October,’ he said, ‘when wind speed and lake conditions will have a bearing which is entirely beyond our control.’He added that if he and navigator Dave Simpkins do set a new record, it could live in the record books forever.’New speed restrictions are scheduled to come into force on Lake Windemere this winter,’ he said, ‘so it could well be the last time that these historic records are attempted.

‘So it would be nice if we could be in a record book, forever.’

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