Prestigious Guernsey Gold Cup is back up for grabs
THE Guernsey Gold Cup is back up for grabs as the 2019 UKOPRA Offshore championship hits the Little Russel tomorrow.
Twenty-eight boats come to the start line and seven of those will be competing in the Offshore 1 class, which will be racing over a 119.58 nautical mile course.
As well as important championship points being at stake, landing the Gold Cup will be an added bonus for someone, as Hollie Woodhouse, who has worked tirelessly to put the event on, explained.
‘The idea of the Guernsey Gold Cup was conceived during a chance conversation between Edward Fattorini and Richard Ridout.
‘Guernsey had been awarded the UIM Class One World Championship for 1988 and they thought that we should have a prestigious trophy made to mark the event—something to rival the famous Harmsworth Trophy for powerboats which was first presented in 1903,’ she added.
‘Relations of Edward owned the firm of silver and gold medal specialists, Thomas Fattorini & Sons Ltd, in the heart of the Birmingham jewellery quarter.
‘This firm had designed and made the current FA Cup, first presented to Bradford City in 1911, the previous cup had been stolen.
‘Thomas Fattorini, a great-grandson of the founder of the business, came over to discuss the design and a few months later the Gold Cup was delivered.’
The Guernsey round comprises just one race, unlike the big UIM Class One World Championship weeks which were staged for many years by Ridout’s team.
And although UKOPRA has been been sanctioning Offshore Powerboat races in Britain for just two seasons, there is already a healthy number of boats competing in five classes.
Italy’s Maurizio Schepici leads the 2019 Offshore 1 Championship after his win at the Poole Bay 100 race.
He will be racing with the experienced Giampaolo Montavoci from Venice, who started racing in 1983.
They will be up against the Cigarette hulls of Dry Martini, Wild Eleven and Bubbledeck, 2 FB Design RIBs, Pippa and Birretta Due and the Outerlimits of Drew Langdon and Miles Jennings.
The best supported sub-division in Class 3 is the predominantly Mercury 115hp-powered A/B category with nine entries.
Local drivers fill the top spots in the class and currently Gareth Keast leads with Frank Le Tissier just behind him.
The race is due to start at 9.45am tomorrow with a decorated boat parade through St Peter Port on Sunday starting at 1.30.
