Edition 63 for the most famous powerboat race in the world

The Cowes-Torquay-Cowes powerboat race is the most famous race in the world. And exciting details of this year’s event have just been released.

The 2024 CTC race will be held on Saturday, August 24 and will form part of the Cowes Powerboat Festival organised by the newly formed partnership between the British Powerboat Racing Club and Powerboat P1.

This will be the 63rd running of the event and it has also attracted a new sponsor. Experience Kissimmee, the world-famous tourism destination in Central Florida will sponsor the race in addition to the UIM Class 1 World Offshore Championship.

The fleet will leave the start line at the Squadron Line, Egypt Point, in the Solent at 9.30am racing to Torquay. The teams will stop for approximately 90 minutes in Torquay, before racing back to Cowes – a total race distance of 210 miles with the boats reaching speeds in excess of 100mph.

Haldon Pier, Torquay will provide excellent viewing for spectators as the competitors race into Torbay. The boats will then be moored up in the wet pits alongside Haldon Pier. This will be the first time since 2017 that the fleet has stopped in Torquay - recent races have been non-stop events.

And there will also be a local Devon based team competing for honours too. Exeter-based businessmen Drew Langdon and Miles Jennings have won the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race for the last five years in their boat, “Silverline”. Their boat is an American produced Outerlimits hull powered by two Mercury engines developing 1,800hp.

Both men have been racing powerboats all over the world for many years with considerable success. They will again start the 2024 race as favourites for the win.

They will be expecting a strong challenge from the Anglo-American crew in “Good Boy Vodka” – British racers Robert Lockyer and Scott Younger with American Alex Pratt – another Outerlimits hull powered by 2 Mercury engines, however, developing much more power than “Silverline” – 2,200hp.

The GBV Team will be looking to make up for an early retirement from the 2023 race.

The Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race has a fascinating history. It was devised by former Battle of Britain fighter pilot Sir Max Aitken, 2nd Baron Beaverbrook, and John Coote.

Sir Max Aitken was the owner of the Daily Express publishing group, which he inherited from his father. During the 1940s and 50s, the Daily Express had the largest circulation of any newspaper in the world.

The race was originally intended to improve the design of cruiser class boats to make them faster, and also improve safety at sea.

The seeds of the idea for the race had been sown when Sir Max attended, and later competed in, the Miami Nassau Powerboat Race in the late 1950’s. Owning a home at Cowes, and a holiday cottage at Brixham, the start point and destination for the race was established.

The inaugural Cowes-Torquay race was held in August 1961 and was known as the Daily Express Offshore Powerboat Race. Although there were 62 entries, only 27 boats left the Cowes start line, and the race was completed in very poor conditions. The first competitors to cross the Torquay finishing line were Tommy Sopwith and Geoff Fanner in “Thunderbolt” winning the prestigious Beaverbrook Trophy.

The 159 miles took 7 hours and 17 minutes to complete at an average speed of 25mph. Tommy Sopwith, whose father was the famous aviator Sir Thomas Sopwith, was also a racing driver, achieving much success with Jaguar.

For the 1962 race, such was the interest created by the inaugural race, the first of its kind in Europe since the 1930s, that entries were received from all over Europe, particularly Italy, and America.

The race was established as the ultimate test of man, woman and machine against the unpredictable natural elements of the sea and weather conditions.

As the race and its regulations developed, it was decided, in 1968, to add a return leg to Cowes to the race distance, and so the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race was established.

Over the years, the design of the boats and their engines have been developed to find more speed and increased reliability. The Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race win is the one that all boat designers/manufacturers and racers want on their CV.

Sir Max Aitken passed away in 1985. His wife, Lady Violet Aitken, also a successful powerboat racer herself and often referred to as the “First Lady of Offshore”, passed away in 2021. The Aitken family are still very much involved in the famous race.

Sir Max’s daughter, Laura Levi, who first competed in the CTC in 1970 aged 16, is the Club Secretary of the British Powerboat Racing Club. Her brother, Maxwell Aitken, is Vice President. Laura’s daughter, Lucci, also races and has won the CTC Young Driver Award three times.