Since forming Coleman Racing in 2016 they have been crowned World and twice UK Champions but their 4th and possibly biggest triumph to date has come with conquering the P1 USA Championship.

Having had to miss out on opportunities to race stateside in 2018, their patience was rewarded when the opportunity to join the hugely successful Miss GEICO Racing team arose earlier in the year.

The 2019 title will taste all the more sweeter following the hiatus and continues their record of winning a championship in each year of competition together.

The dynamic duo have had their sights firmly set on crossing the Atlantic to contest the P1 USA Championship since defending their UK title back in 2017, and their lucky break came when they were asked to race for the most renowned Offshore race team in the world; 13 times World Champions Miss GEICO Racing in their P1 Superstock 28R Panther.

A new boat design to what the Coleman’s are used to, with the 28R being a closed cockpit boat.

With very limited testing time they secured top step of the podium with victories in 4 out of 5 races at St. Pete, a 3rd overall in Sarasota then onto win the last round in Fort Myers to be crowned P1 USA National champions.

Daisy said:

It’s been an honour to represent GEICO at this level.

The Miss GEICO racing team have been hugely supportive and a massive thanks goes out to them, our sponsors at GEICO and of course our friends, family and supporters whom without this wouldn’t have been possible.

Sam continued:

Racing in the USA has totally exceeded our expectations!

The events have been incredible experiences, the way the cities and people come out in force to support the racing is mind blowing, 70,000 people on Ft Myers beach, with a spectator fleet of 1000 boats lining the course too!

It really shows the appetite for the racing and we’re excited to be able to put on a show.

There’s been 70 race boats at each event, including the spectacular 170 mph Class One catamarans, the racing is going from strength to strength and the crazy boat parades & block parties just sum up the buzz around the events.

It was a tough year!

We didn’t have the luxury of getting to know the boat inside out with weeks of testing, for the St Pete Beach race we only received our boat on the Friday and had 30 mins run time to get acquainted!

We’ve had to fly by the seat of our pants, but we have learned so much from everyone at Miss GEICO Racing, their professionalism and experience is unrivalled and we’re thrilled to bring home some silverware for the team.

The desire to race is stronger than ever, we’ve still so much to learn and we’re not done yet…I don’t know what 2020 will bring but we hope we can continue our journey with the GEICO family.

To keep up with their progress head to colemanracing.co.uk, and if anyone is interested in getting into Powerboat racing don’t hesitate to drop the team a line too.

The team are always looking to forge new partnerships and would welcome any interested parties to get in touch via social media or by e-mailing info@colemanracing.co.uk

The post Coleman Racing – 2019 P1 Superstock USA Champions appeared first on Powerboat Racing World.

The residents and visitors of St Pete Beach were treated to some thrilling action this weekend, when the P1 Superstock and AquaX shows rolled into town. The racing took place on Florida’s Gulf coast, in front of the spectacular Don CeSar Beach resort and even somehow managed to avoid Florida’s seasonal afternoon rainstorms!

It was not all smooth sailing as their Friday preparation was disrupted by the distraction of a grenade being discovered in the hedgerow adjacent to the team’s pit area, with the road quickly and calmly cordoned off by the local Sheriff it was soon identified as a dummy grenade and attention returned to the action on the water and Daisy commented on the incident;

There was no sense of panic anywhere, the Sheriff and the local services were extremely professional and worked quickly to move everyone away from the area while the incident could be dealt with, I’m not even sure anyone noticed!

Our GEICO boat was safely out of the way at the boat ramp so we were fine!

Despite having only limited testing in their brand new P1 Panther 28R, the pair got off to the perfect start winning from Pole position in race 1.

With the starting positions a reverse of each race finish the 2nd race was a tense affair, after stalking Porta Products for 4 laps and unable to find a way around they forced an error into the turn 4 right hander enabling the Colemans to draw alongside on the run into turn marks 5, 6 and 7.

Having to carry an extremely tight line through the corner they very nearly hooked the boat but a good save enabled them to take the lead and a narrow victory.

Sunday’s racing brought more drama as the Visit St. Pete/Clearwater boat led from pole for the majority of race 3, unable to find a pass once again the duo made a move on the inside of turn 1 when the Visit St. Pete/Clearwater boat hooked across their bow, narrowly avoiding an accident the Colemans in the GEICO boat went on to take the win and Visit St. Pete/Clearwater recovered well from the spin to take 2nd place.

The 3rd race win meant they would be in the outside lane once again for race 4’s start, with the conditions blowing up a little the team were unable to move forward and came home in 3rd place with Porta Products, driven by fellow Brits Andy Foster and Charles Morris, taking the win.

In the 5th and final race of the weekend the pair were back on pole position after accumulating the most points in races 1-4 and lead from start to finish to take the weekend’s overall by 11 points ahead of Porta Products in 2nd with Visit St Pete/Clearwater rounding out the podium.

Daisy summed up the weekend:

It was a crazy few days for the team getting the GEICO boat ready for this event, to come away with the overall win by far exceeded our expectations and is testament to the team’s hard work.

We had no idea how we’d stack up when we lined up Saturday, the racing was intense!

It’s a new boat and we only had an hour’s seat time Friday so we’re absolutely delighted to be up here on the top step!

The post Explosive start for Coleman’s GEICO debut appeared first on Powerboat Racing World.

Over the next five months the Anglo-Welsh pairing will criss-cross the Atlantic to race at five venues in Florida in the one-design SuperStock series, which this season will feature the new canopied P1 Panther race boat.

Andy from Yeovil and Charles from Cardiff first teamed up in 2016 and the next year they raced a full season in the UK championship, finishing on the podium in the first Grand Prix and then ending the season with a clean sweep of victories in Wales to clinch second place in the championship.

With international promoter Powerboat P1 putting the UK SuperStock series on hold last year, Andy and Charles took the decision to get a taste of racing in the USA championship when they were offered the chance to compete in St. Pete Beach on Florida’s west coast. They enjoyed the experience, finishing runners-up in the Grand Prix, and were scheduled to return to Florida to race in the final round of the season in Sarasota when Andy suffered injuries in a race incident in England. He was all set to retire from powerboat racing until Charles persuaded him to return to the water last November to attempt to break the world speed record for the P1 SuperStock 250 class. At the famous Powerboat Records Week on Coniston Water in the heart of the English Lake District, it all came right for the duo on one of their final runs on the one-kilometre straight course for them to break the world record.

The two Brits will find a very different P1 Panther race boat waiting for them when they arrive in Central Florida this week as the result of a major upgrade and testing programme over the winter months. Following the P1 fleet being fitted with new carbon hulls a year ago and the announcement last June that the boats were to repower with the new Mercury Racing 4.6L V-8 four-stroke 300R outboard, P1 unveiled plans to revolutionise the SuperStock championship and attract a new set of racers by converting the Panther to a canopy race boat.

Andy and Charles have been closely following the progress of the upgrade programme and are excited about racing at famous venues around the Florida coast in the new Panther: “We know the 2019 boat looks sleek and stylish, but maintains the character of the original deck design, and we’re told that it’s going to be fast and nimble. The structural strength and integral stiffness of the carbon should make the boat more responsive and pull out of the turns with more control and acceleration. Add to all that lots of Florida sunshine and it’s going to be a season to remember.”

On arrival at Orlando International Airport, the British crew will make the short journey to Kissimmee, St. Cloud to begin testing on the southern shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga. “We’re aware that St. Cloud has a long history of powerboat racing and it will be a great place to start the season on lake conditions before moving on to more challenging offshore racing in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico” explains Andy.

The post Foster and Morris to race in the US P1 SuperStock Championship again appeared first on Powerboat Racing World.

With the P1 series in the UK taking a hiatus last year, they turned their hands to another form of powerboat racing in the single seater Powerboat GP Series with the highly successful Jelf Racing team.

Sam finished 4th in the British F4 Championship despite limited time in the boat.

Having thoroughly enjoying his first season of F4 circuit racing, he admits he’s looking forward to being back in the boat with his sister Daisy:

The team dynamic of offshore racing will always appeal to me, as does the P1 Superstock format.

The limited variables mean there’s no excuses, same boats, same propellers, we just have to do the best job as a team to be successful.

This year the P1 Panther boats will look very different.

The new Panther 28R is a canopied boat, constructed wholly of carbon fibre using the latest methods by Wilson Custom Composites in Florida. Powered by Mercury Racing’s impressive new 4.6L V8 four-stoke 300R outboard, the combination of a lighter boat and cutting edge engine technology will mean they will now be racing at speeds of over 80 mph.

Sam and Daisy will be donning new colours in an exciting new partnership as they join the highly successful Miss GEICO Race Team.

The pair will be running the 3rd craft in the Miss GEICO Team alongside their famous Superboat and Jetski crews.

Since its inception in 2005 Miss GEICO has won 11 World Titles, has over 100 individual race wins and holds numerous world speed records.

In addition to competing for its 12th World Title, Miss GEICO participates in 20 National Boat Shows, 3 National Air Shows competing against the GEICO Skytypers, 5 Nationally televised P1 Powerboat Races and 10 AquaX jet ski races.

Miss GEICO also engages in numerous charitable events assisting United We Race, Inc. with their own charity that distributes 100% of the proceeds to United States Veterans.

Given that Daisy was only introduced to the sport in 2012 after being injured in Afghanistan, leading to her medical discharge it seems a fitting match for the Welsh pairing:

With the GEICO race team we’re thrilled to be working with some of the most successful people in offshore racing, we love a challenge and we enjoy learning new skills, so we’re in a great place and looking forward to getting to work in the new boat.

The Colemans make their USA racing debut in May. The five round P1 Championship will take place around Florida starting in Kissimmee, St. Cloud, on 11th May, Cocoa Beach 18/19th May, St. Pete Beach 15/16th June, Sarasota 6/7th July and culminating in Clearwater 28/29th September.

The post Coleman Racing Sets Sights Stateside for P1 USA Campaign appeared first on Powerboat Racing World.