PSP Southampton Boat Show - Youth champions crowned

by Susie NationGrainger on 16 Sep 2013 At the PSP Southampton Boat Show, Southern powerboaters William Hancock (12) and Harrison Faull (14) made light work of torrid conditions yesterday (15 September 2013) to be crowned 2013 Honda RYA Youth RIB Champions.

Competing throughout the day in front of a packed crowd, 28 young powerboating finalists from across the country showed great skill and speed at the throttle of the two Honda powered Ribcraft 4.8m RIBs, tackling the difficult championship course in blustery winds and at times heavy rain.

In the 8-12 age group William Hancock (Royal Lymington Yacht Club) blasted his way to championship glory with a winning time of 01:02:28, just seconds ahead of nearest challenger Kamila Czartolomna (South Staffordshire SC).

It was a hat trick for Harrison Faull (Royal Motor Yacht Club) who defended his 2012 title and completed the course in an unbeatable time of 00:59:80 in the 13-16 age group, beating previous double champion Steven Curtis (Northern Exposure Rescue).

Both boys skilfully manoeuvred around the tricky and testing course, which included a slalom run, a 360O reverse around a buoy and a stop exercise.

William wins a fantastic Honwave T40 RIB with a Honda BF20 engine for Royal Lymington YC whilst Harrison wins a Ribcraft 4.8m RIB with a Honda BF60 engine for the Royal Motor YC.

Presenting the prizes were Steve Morris, Head of Power Equipment at Honda, Charlie Chan from Ribcraft and RYA CEO, Sarah Treseder.

A delighted William commented: 'It feels great to be a champion today; I’m very pleased with the result. I’ve been training quite a lot at our club but I didn’t expect to win, I was hoping to get into the top three maybe so I’m really pleased. My club have been really supportive so I think they will be really happy when they find out I’ve won the RIB!'

Harrison agreed: 'It feels great to win! There’s no feeling like it. The conditions have been pretty bad throughout the day and have got worse, but it’s been a really good effort by everyone. The RIB that I’ve won will make a real difference to my club because they will use it for their sailing training and for powerboat courses. Hopefully this will reduce accidents and increase people’s confidence'.

William and Harrison were due to take on representatives from 2012 champions Parkstone Yacht Club in a head to head showdown for the Honda RYA Youth RIB Champion of Clubs trophy. Unfortunately due to the bad weather conditions this has been postponed until a later date.

'Today has been very challenging for the competitors and unfortunately the weather has been so appalling that we’ve not been able to run the head to head' explains RYA Powerboat Project Manager and event Director, Andrew Norton.

'However, competitors have been absolutely fantastic in these adverse conditions and it just shows how much they’ve been practicing'.

Steve Morris Head of Power Equipment at Honda added: 'It’s the 12th year we’ve been involved in the championship and every year we see even more competitors at the regional finals and the standard just keeps going up. The guys and girls are so competitive and they’re now competing at a new level. It’s fantastic and Honda is very proud to be involved'.

The Honda RYA Youth Rib Championship, sponsored by Honda and Ribcraft, is a National Championship in which eight to sixteen year old RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) drivers can demonstrate their boat handling skills in a race against the clock in the hope of winning a 4.8m Ribcraft or Honwave T40 for their club.

For more information about the Honda RYA Youth RIB Championship, details on how to get involved and a list of regional finals scores visit the Honda Youth Rib Website