A local businessman and powerboat racer is planning to bring the sport to Looe later this year in a bid to increase interest in it and give a boost to local tourism.
Alastair Pearn is a member of the well-known Looe family boatyard business with eight years experience as a marine engineer. For the past four years he has run his own marine engineering company, AP Marine Engineering.
This is his first season of racing his boat, C20, but already he and navigator Chris Reeves, also from Looe, have reached second place in the British National Championships, their best performance so far being at Ilfacombe in July when they gained a first and third place.
The boat, C20, is 21ft in length and is powered by a 200hp Mercury V6 engine. Alastair and Chris race with another Cornish team – consisting of Ian Sterling from St Austell and his navigator Alex Watson from Plymouth in C11 – and between them this year they have won five races.
The two teams from Cornwall will be representing Great Britain in the World Class 3C Championships in Guernsey between September 1 and 8.
Alastair is keen to promote tourism in Looe and is planning a national racing event based in the town, hopefully over the May Bank Holiday next year featuring four different classes of boat – OCR (Offshore Circuit Racing); Class 3C; Class V24; and RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats).
He is also hoping to arrange for some of his racing colleagues to gather in the harbour to demonstrate their boats and skills this autumn – details have yet to be finalised.
Alastair hopes local people will welcome the opportunities powerboating could bring.
Meanwhile, he is looking for additional sponsorship to help keep Cornwall among the winners for next season – log on to http://www.apmarineracing.co.uk">www.apmarineracing.co.uk for more information.