Zapcat Championship blasts off in Boscombe

by Emma Slater on 23 Apr 2013 In the first round of 2013 RYA Championship campaign, racers will descend on Boscombe Beach in Bournemouth for the Zapcat National Championship 2013 which will take place during the weekend.

Around 18 of the feisty little catamarans will battle it out over two days in 16 heats of racing for the title of Boscombe Zapcat Grand Prix winners.

The championship will once more be battled out in two different classes, the ZCR50 and ZCR50x, where crews are categorised by their combined weight. Cews weighing under 26.5stone compete for the ZCR50 title, with crews 26.5 stone and over competing for the ZCR50x title. The class weight separation was introduced two years ago to introduce a more level playing field for heavy crews and has been well received throughout the championship.

Boscombe Beach is a new Championship venue for Zapcat Racing. As one of the South Coast’s hidden gems, with it’s sandy beach and beautiful grade 2 listed pier, the venue is perfect for Zapcat Racing. Racing will be up close to the beach and the views from the pier will offer prime viewing allowing spectators to see all the action as it unfolds in front of them.

The 2013 season sees the return of all three reigning 2012 RYA Zapcat Championship teams to the Championship. ZCR50 champions father and son duo Steve and Bobby Pidsley from Weymouth in Zapcat #44, ‘Who the Hell’, will be looking forward to flat water conditions to get the optimum speed on the course to enable them to get their title defence of to a strong start.

Meanwhile Richie Lake and Andy Farmer from Cornwall in Zapcat #37 Royal Marines Commando ‘State of Mind’ will be hoping that the wind will kick up a bit of swell to make the conditions more taxing as they go head to head with the other ZCR50 crews in the bid to retain their championship title.

Local racers brothers Paul Holt and Mark Holt (both from Poole) will also be hoping for a bit of swell as the 2012 Zapcat Kings of Surf launch an attack on their Royal Marine team Mates Commando State of Mind for the 2013 title.

Speaking of the upcoming event Paul commented: 'All of the Royal Marine Powerboat Racing Team are itching to get back out on the water. We’ll be fielding five teams again in the championship, but whilst we’re a team we all want the 2013 title so we’ll all be battling hard.

'We’re all really looking forward to racing at Boscombe and it will be a home event for us so our supporters will be able to see all the action and cheer us on. Hopefully there will be a bit of swell to make the racing interesting but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens on the day.'

Racing will begin at 12 noon on both days with practice starting at 11. Teams will complete over 16 heats each day to secure their place in their divisions final.