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!!!
Tuesday 17 June 2008
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.
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