Watergate Bay, Cornwall 18th & 19th September 2008

Watergate Bay, Cornwall
Our final weekend’s racing of the season and the forecast was good, with a bit of surf, to provide some action.

Friday
The weather was glorious, beautiful clear skies and sunshine, but a keen wind. The surf was about 4-5 feet – it didn’t look much from the beach, but as soon as the practise races started, we could see this was not going to be easy racing.

We had a couple of good heats on Friday, despite the races being restarted several times due to other teams flipping their boats and losing pilots / co-pilots, including the pilot of the No1 boat. Unfortunately, he was pretty badly injured and was out of the racing for the entire weekend. They managed to find a replacement pilot and were able to continue racing in a bid for the Championship.

The third heat was going well, when on one of the corners, we were caught out by one of the waves and were flipped over.



We were both rescued by the safety crew and taken to the beach, but we were concerned for the boat, as we needed to get it flipped back over as quickly as possibly, which in the end it did on its own, but seemed to be drifting towards Newquay.

We were supposed to be racing in the next division one heat, which only gave us one heat in which to get the engine wiped dry and running again. Unfortunately, we did not manage this, though we got the engine running quite quickly, so we were disqualified from 2 heats and put in doubt whether we would make it to the final. Our only hope, was that a lot of other teams had been put out of racing completely by their boats flipping. We did well in the final heat and fortunately managed to get into the final and succeeded in getting 4th place after starting in 8th position.

Saturday
Again, the weather was glorious and the surf was possibly a little higher, but the sets seemed to be more organised than Friday.

After spending some considerable time last night cleaning the engine out, we were keen to get out on the practise lap, to see if it was running as good as before. Everything was going well.

We stayed upright in all our heats, although Chris did come out on one heat. We gained some good positions in the heats and the boat had been performing well. We even managed a win in one of the heats.

We were successful in getting through to the final and had a starting position of 3rd place. Unfortunately, the start was straight into a set of big waves and we fell back to 4th place, behind the top 3 teams. We managed to stay in 4th throughout the race and finished in 4th place.

We were pleased with our results for the weekend, although it would have been nice to get a medal.

Despite a few problems at the start of the season and being relegated to Division 2 for a few races, which limited our points at the start, we finished the season in 7th place, out of 35 teams who entered the Championship.

Bournemouth 30th & 31st August 2008

Bournemouth
FINALLY WE HAVE GOT A MEDAL IN DIVISION ONE!! YEAH!!!!

Saturday 30th August 2008

This weekend started off with a nice warm sunny day today and the sea was quite calm, which made for some easier racing. Bournemouth beach was heaving, as the Zapcat racing formed part of the MoreBus Air Festival.

Our friends and family were also out in force, which gave us more enthusiasm and we appreciate them all coming to watch and support us.

We were doing well in the heats, achieving some good results. We had one bad heat, where Chris fell out of the boat (he seems to be getting a liking for the water, but this time he thought he would try some water-skiing, by managing to hold onto the side of the boat!), giving us a disqualification and we thought our chances of getting in the final were ruined.

We did manage to grab the 9th place in the finals and raced hard to successfully finish the race in 6th place.

Sunday 31st August 2008
Not such a nice day, weather-wise, but the sea remained calm.

We had another good day’s racing. In a couple of heats we managed to stay ahead of Boat 1, Pegasus Vortex, last year’s champions to achieve 1st place twice. We also had good rankings in the rest of the heats and no disqualifications, which resulted in a 3rd place starting position for the final.

The top 3 boats were in position 1, 2 and 4 and off the start line, we got squeezed back into 4th place by these teams. We knew the tactics of these three teams, who normally leave their pit laps until the last lap, so we decided to take our pit lap on the first lap and try to get some clear water to make up some time. Our plan worked and we managed to gain several places throughout the race and on the final lap, we were clear to race to the chequered flag and the three leading boats still had a pit lap to do. As we were going through the turns, we were watching the first two boats coming out of the pit lap, but we just managed to turn ahead of the third boat, snatching third position. We kept the power on and took the chequered flag in third place getting us a nice bronze medal.

We are aiming for gold at the next weekend’s racing on 18th and 19th September at Watergate Bay, Cornwall.

Round 9 & 10 - Littlehampton, West Sussex

Saturday 16th August 2008


We had an earlier start this weekend, to fit all the racing in before the tide turned and the sea disappeared. The day started off sunny, but a brisk wind made the sea a bit choppy and not as warm as the other weekends have been.



We had a good day’s racing. We got very good positions in the heats, including two 1st places and had a grid position of third for the final.

The tide was well on its way out by the time the finals took place and the course had to be moved before the race could begin. The marker buoys closest to the beach were in quite shallow water.

The final race was a bit of a struggle, as we were holding our position in third place going into the third lap, with the other teams closely following behind, we still had a pit lap to do and didn’t think we would come out in third. Unfortunately, a freak wave caught us and flipped the boat over, tossing us into the sea. I was floating around in the sea waiting for the rescue crews to come and pick us up and turn the boat back over, when Chris shouted to me that the sea was shallow enough to stand up in. So we righted the boat and were towed back to shore and spent the next hour or so clearing the water from the engine. Finally, she cranked over and roared back to life. We were disappointed not to have finished the final, but ready to try again on Sunday.

Sunday 17th August 2008
The day started brighter and warmer than yesterday, but the wind was stronger and the water was choppier.

It was a hard day racing and this was Chris’ first real experience of choppy conditions. We were coming in the top four places in the heats, until the last race when going round a buoy, Chris lost his grip and took another swim in the sea. Unfortunately, this meant we just missed out on a place in the final.

We are extremely pleased with the way the boat is performing and thrilled that we are able to keep up with the top three boats, which includes the champions from 2007. Unfortunately, we seem to have difficulties in keeping hold of everything into the final races.

We will be ready to race again at Bournemouth on 30th and 31st August 2008 and will be pushing even harder for those elusive medals.

Round 7 & 8 - Cromer, Norfolk

Our most successful weekend’s racing yet!!
The weather was glorious, mainly hot and sunny and nice calm seas. We were relieved, as we were anticipating the North Sea to be hard work. It was just like a resort on the English Riviera this weekend!

Saturday
Co-pilot, Chris has returned from his holiday in the Sun and is ready and raring to go again. We had some good clean heats but just missed out getting into the final, so had to settle for 9th place.

Sunday
More good racing. It was becoming much more competitive, due to seas being calm, the course which was set up with a chicane made for some close racing.

We were coming in second and third places in the heats, thanks to some advice given by one of the officials on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, early in the afternoon thick sea mist rolled in and we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces, so racing was suspended, while the officials had a discussion on how we would continue. After some time, racing continued, despite the mist still lying low and some of the racing was a bit dicy. We earned a starting position of 4th in the final on Sunday and just missed out on a podium finish, but we were extremely happy with 4th place.

The league tables were completed yesterday and to our delight we came joint 6th overall for the entire weekend.

After a few weeks of practising in the boat, where we were not happy with how the engine was running, we finally think that the problems have been sorted out and are looking forward to the next weekend’s racing at Littlehampton.

Round 5 & 6 - Bournemouth

The weekend was tough. Despite clear skies, it was very blustery and the sea was very choppy – not ideal conditions for Zapcat racing.

We managed some good clean heats, and maintained our position in Division 1, but did not get into the finals, so we had to be satisfied with just adding some points and keeping our place, just above mid-point in the league tables.

We were fortunate to have a weekend without any incidents, but Ian still got his battering, due to rough sea conditions. His mind has now been made up that he will not get in a Zapcat again.

Many Thanks to Ian, for hanging in there for the entire weekend.

Announcement - Ian Selwood is back

The co-pilot for the next race on 28th and 29th June at Bournemouth, will be Ian Selwood, who was my team-mate last year. Is he ready for the battering that awaits?!

Due to other commitments this year, Ian decided to take a break from Zapcat racing, but as Chris will be in sunnier climes, Ian has agreed to Co-pilot for Justin for this weekend, thankful that it is not at Watergate Bay again, where he was battered and bruised at the end of last year (see www.zapcat.net for pictures).

Hopefully Ian has been keeping in shape, as Justin is expecting 100% effort. Justin has promised not to get upset for any reason, this will be a challenge!!!

Round 3 & 4 Watergate Bay, Cornwall - King of the Surf Round 1

The last two weeks we have been a bit concerned about the engine. Following the last race at Gosport, we decided to invest in a new gearbox, as the metal on the old one broke during the final at Gosport. We had it welded several times, so we thought it would be worthwhile getting a new one, which would hopefully last the rest of the season. Justin took a road trip to Southampton and Gosport to collect a new gearbox from Zapcat and was told it was all ready to go. We fitted the gearbox to the engine and decided to take it out for a test run at Burnham-On-Sea. All was not well...after a few minutes the the engine started smoking, so we shut off the engine and waited for a tow back to shore. After taking the gearbox apart and checking it over, we could not see anything obviously wrong. We gave up and came home as we did not want to risk damaging the engine any further.

We stripped the engine apart when we got home and could not work out why it had overheated, so the following morning we phoned Zapcat / Tohatsu, and it suddenly clicked that there was possibly an 'o' ring missing. After a few phone calls to Zapcat, they arranged for a courier to come and collect the engine and get it checked over by Tohatsu. Justin then had to drive back down to Gosport on Wednesday before the race on Saturday to collect the engine and get it all reassembled ready for racing on Saturday. It was not known how the performance would be affected, so we just had to wait and see!!

Saturday 14th June 2008

The day started a bit overcast and the surf was at about 2 to 3 feet high. During the first 3 heats, Chris had a few problems with the beach starts - he needs some springs in his boots! We were last off the start line, but managed to make up some ground during the first heat and got into the lead, only for Chris to take an early dip and try to swim to the finish line!! This was a bit worrying, if he couldn't hold on, as this may have messed up our chances of getting into the final.

The day got better by the hour. The sun came out and the racing improved. We achieved two 2nd places and two 3rds, giving us a good starting position in the final. We were cheated out of the gold medal, by our so-called pals, the Huntzpill Boys, just by the unfortunate sequence of the waves, but we were happy with a silver.

Sunday 15th June 2008

Another hot and sunny day, but the swell was bigger, making a more spectacular sight for the spectators.

We did well, again, during the heats and started in fourth position off the start line in the final. Chris had mastered the beach starts, with the aid of an extra rope to pull himself in. We were doing well in the final, until Justin decided to throw it all away by mounting a big yellow marker buoy. All was not lost, as we were one of only 4 boats left in the final, so we clocked up some good points, yet to be published by Zapcat, for the weekend.

Round 1 - 17th / 18th May 2008 Stokes Bay, Gosport

Day One - Saturday
All preparations were done on Friday afternoon when we arrived at the dry pits, so Saturday morning was quite a relaxed affair. Passed scrutineering without any problems, Chris listened in great detail at the Drivers' briefing as this was his first race. Having raced in last year's Championships the organisation was familiar to Justin and it all seemed to go a lot smoother.

Following the Drivers' briefing, we collected our race card for the day and found ourselves in Division 1 (with the pro's). This would prove to be a new experience for Justin.

The day was going well. At one point we were in 2nd place, behind last year's Championship winners and only dropped 1 place on our pit lap to come in 3rd. We also achieved another 3rd place and two lower placings. Unfortunately, Justin's driving led us on a tight course and we clipped one of the marker buoys on the course, for which we were disqualified, as we were spotted by one of the Race Marshalls. This meant we were dropped from the final and moved down to Division 2 for Sunday's racing.

Day Two - Sunday
On Sunday, we were out in front for all of the 5 heats, getting first place each time, giving us a pole position for the final. Unfortunately, the Skeg (the lower part of the gearbox which holds the Prop guard) broke and we just managed to limp round the course to gain a few points. We were robbed of a gold medal, which would have also returned us to Division 1 for the next round.

The next round will be on 14th June at Watergate Bay, Cornwall.

Final preparations for our first race

The first race of the 2008 National Zapcat Championships takes place on 17th and 18th May 2008 at Stokes Bay, Gosport.

The final preparations are being made to the boat, including new signwriting.

We have been out on the water a few times at Burnham-on-Sea, for the new Co-pilot Chris to get used to the handling of the boat. This weekend will be the first race situation for Chris, but there will be no holding back, as our aim this year is to get a lot more medals.

The engine has been given plenty of T.L.C and we are feeling positive about the season. The boat is definitely performing far better than last year.