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2013 is going to be the year of the ‘Cat’ - reference not to a Chinese calendar, nor to a cartoon spin off, but to a four metre inflatable catamaran racing boat that has swept the globe.
Its lightweight tunnel hull and 50hp Tohatsu outboard propels pilot and co-pilot to speeds of up to 65mph and 20ft in the air. No wonder the world’s adrenaline junkies are turning to this cheap and competitive sport for their highs.
The UK is no exception and is part of the nucleus of this global sport. Six rounds make up the British RYA National Championship series with the opening rounds held in Gibraltar, Eastern Beach in April.
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Bust, I am sorry to say... but not for long!
Originally the Venture Cup was a massive endurance race, re-creating history from 1972, which was planned to run this June and most of my powerboat fraternity were attempting to prepare for this huge event.
First we were racing from Cowes to Monte Carlo; then it changed to London to Monte Carlo - approximately 2400nm. This all sounded amazing!
But then I think, to be honest, we all got a bit carried away. In the current financial climate where acquiring sponsorship as a sportsman was already proving difficult, a feat of this sort was a lot for anyone to take on and commit to.
Needless to say, when it came to it, not many of us handed over the justifiably large entry fee that was required, and the event folded. Most of us thought that was the end of it, yet another powerboat event had been lost to the recession.
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1350
(1 vote, average 1.00 out of 5)
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 I met recently with Fiona Pascoe, director of ThunderCat Racing and she told me of a mission statement that’s spreading within the ThunderCat community.
“We don’t talk about someone’s disability; it’s all about their ability,” she says. “Over the past six years, Vee Ganjavian and I have promoted inclusivity.
“People do think I’m slightly obsessed with the words ‘diverse and inclusive’ within powerboat racing - that may be true - but isn’t life about showing that you care? Showing the love and building a community that encompasses all; we don’t say that you can not race, rather we show you the ways you can - be it as a competitor on water or assisting on land. Sports is a wonderful platform for this as everyone has something in common, whether rich or poor, young or old, short, tall... what matters is that we are inclusive!”
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1278
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
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 ThunderCat racing is hot news this month as the announcement comes that the UK has won the bid to stage the 2013 UIM P750 ThunderCat Racing World Championships.
The event will be hosted at Pentewan Sands and Watergate Bay, Cornwall on 4-13 October 2013.
Winners of the 2012 RYA ThunderCat Racing (Stock Class) National Championship, Southampton-based Team ‘Ahmad Tea’ (Mike Littler and Joe Farley) have already signed up to compete for the ultimate title, to be the best in the world.
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 Like most motorsports, powerboat racing continues to be a male-dominated sport, but there are more and more women getting involved in the sport as it continues to attract new people.
In Jet Ski racing Anya Colley continues to dominate in both in British and European competition. Anya has just returned from Austria where she clinched the 2012 IJSBA Ladies Ski European title, and with the season nowhere near over she looks likely to add more titles to her already impressive racing career that has already seen her win seven world titles - often as the only female in the fleet.
Anya prepares to head to the IJSBA World Finals in Lake Havasu, Arizona in October, and goes in search of her eighth world title, which would then give her the same number of world titles as Steve Curtis.
This year she has also turned her hand to the Powerboat P1 AquaX series where she’s given the boys a run for their money. Despite the rough conditions at Hull, she was up there with the front runners proving that even in the extreme this young lady could cut it.
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