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Records Week 2004 (10th - 15th October)
Lake Windermere
Records Week is a week long event organised each year at the end of the season for the drivers of all shapes and sizes of boats (Circuit, Offshore, Pleasure craft, etc) to find how fast their boats are to try and break the National and World records for the class they race. This was the last year it will be held on Lake Windermere due to the introduction of a 10mph speed limit. Records Week is very weather dependant for us because for the smaller craft such as Wayne's F:125 to achieve the maximum speed possible the water needs to be perfectly flat - ideally like a mirror.
This year we were planning on having to entries (Barry and Wayne) at Records Week but at the Sprint meeting earlier in the year Barry's engine broke a connecting-rod and 'put the bits through the side' destroying the engine. This was at the time fastest engine we had got at the time and there was not enough time to prepare another for Records Week. This meant the only entry we had was Wayne with his F:125.
The first time Wayne got out (Tuesday morning) he had some technical problems with the engine on the down run, but on the return run his speed was an impressive 74.889mph. This gave him an average of 56.96mph - rather disappointing considering his return speed.
On Thursday morning with the technical problems fixed and after a few runs Wayne increased is best two-way average to 73.35mph, more like the speed expected from the small capacity craft. On Friday morning Wayne again managed to increase his speed to 73.48mph, and established the UIM World F:125 and RYA National 0:125 speed record at 73.48mph.
National Championship Round-Up
Round 1 - Oulton Broad Suffolk (30th - 31st May)
Round 2 - Barrow in-Furness Cumbria (12th - 13th June)
Round 3 - Kingsbury Water Park Warwickshire (21st - 22nd August)
Round 4 - Stewartby Lake Bedfordshire (11th - 12th September)
The National Outboard Championship is where all of the Outboard Hydroplanes (O:125, O:250, O:350, O:500, F:500 and O:700) classes race against each other in one race. The races are conducted on a handicap basis because of the different sizes and therefore speed of the different classes. The O:125 do 6 laps, the O:250 and O:350 do 7 laps and the O:500, F:500 and O:700 do 8 laps. This handicap is the same no matter what the circuit, so different circuits are suited to curtain classes. At each race meeting there are four heats with the best three going through to the final result.
At the first round Barry managed a 3rd place overall. This was not a bad performance considering he did not finish Heat 1 because he submarined his craft on one of the turns. Wayne did not have such a good result finishing 5th. He had a few teething problems but this was to be expected because this was his first National event in his first year of racing, also the Oulton Broad circuit is a very demanding course especially for such a small engine craft. The event was won by last years joint National Champion Paul Hart.
The second round was held in Barrow Docks. Round 2 saw some close racing between the winner of Round 1 Paul Hart and Barry. The overall result went down to the wire. It was decided by the result of the fourth and final heat. But who beat who? They was some confusion over the slanted finish line. The win eventually went to Paul Hart, leaving Barry in second place. Unfortunately the weekend was not so good for Wayne. He was plagued by electrical problems all weekend (faulty ignition stator) and did not finish all of the heats despite some very good starts (Thanks to the 'borrowed' pit crew). He finished the weekend 5th.
Round 3 was held at Kingsbury Water Park just outside of Birmingham. It was Barry's turn to have the bad luck this time. With his best engine being destroyed earlier in the year at the Sprint meeting we had to quickly prepare another engine. This though was not as good as the previous one and lacked power. However it got worse when the engine seized in Heat 1 and this ended his racing for the weekend. Wayne however put in a good performance to finish second overall despite some close racing from his rivals. The overall win went again to the very competitive Paul Hart.
The final round of the series held at Stewartby Lake Bedfordshire had to be called off because of high winds and very rough water.
The National Championship went to Paul Hart with Wayne a very credible second and Barry tying with Mike Smith for third. There were a total of twelve competitors in the series.
Round 3 European F:125 (13th - 15th August)
Bitterfeld Germany
This was Wayne's first international racing event as this is first season racing
Wayne put in a good performance and qualified 3rd out of 10 entries, behind Austrian Oliver Lucas (reigning OSY 400 World Champion) and ahead of Italian Giuseppe Rossi (GRM Engine).
With the best three race results going forward for the final result Wayne And Oliver Lucas were tied equal on points (both drivers having two firsts and a second place each). The final result was decided (as stated in rule book) on the fastest race time. Lucas's first race was the fastest of the weekend so the win went to Oliver Lucas.
1st - Oliver Lucas (AUT) - 1100 points
2nd - Wayne Turner (GBR) - 1100 points
3rd - Giuseppe Rossi (ITA) - 750 points
This was a very good result for Wayne as this is only is first season racing, and hopefully is a sign of things to come.
Sprint Championship (7th - 8th August)
Stewartby Lake Bedfordshire
The Sprint Championship is a one off race event where the individual classes (e.g. O:125 and O:350) that make up the normal Outboard Hydroplane field race only against the other drivers within their class, and not the total field of drivers. At the Sprint Championship you get a Sprint Champion for each individual class and not an overall Champion like the National Championship.
Team Turner had mixed success at this event with Barry destroying his engine. A connecting-rod broke and was forced through the side of the engine destroying the engine. This happed during heat one after qualifying fastest in class.
Wayne had a much better weekend by putting in a faultless performance by qualifying first in class and going on to take the O:125 Sprint Championship.
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