Maidstone’s Ben Jelf yesterday travelled to Lowestoft & Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club to compete in the 2025 Club Powerboat Championship opening round.
With the opportunity to put his Formula 1 DAC Powerboat through its paces ahead of the opening round in Indonesia in August, Ben and team jumped at the chance for some vital testing and race time.
A club steeped in history; Lowestoft & Oulton Broad Motor Boat Clubs outright lap record was set in 1984 by Tom Percival in his Formula 1 Hull with a 3.5ltr Engine. A testament to the achievement and speed set in 1984 years ago Percival’s 27.78 seconds lap record has remained untouched for over four decades, although a few have come close.
2023 saw Jelf take his Formula 1 outfit to Oulton Broad for a few test sessions where it became apparent that he was within grabbing distance of the record when he set a lap time of 27.94seconds.
With the rare opportunity for the boat to return to the UK with the delayed start to the F1H2O World Championship. The F1 Atlantic Team Driver and team grabbed the opportunity to perform maintenance and upgrades on the boat over the last couple of weeks.
With work completed and the looming schedule of shipping the boat to the opening round of the championship in Lake Toba, Indonesia in August. The team made the decision to put the Boat and Ben through their paces at the Club event last night and over the Bank Holiday Weekend.
Jelf was happy to get back in the driving seat and as crowds gathered to see the F1H2O driver in action, apprehensions were high. As he skimmed round the course the air was filled with the roar of his 2.5Ltr Mercury Engine and spectators held their breath to see if he could match Tom Percival’s 40-year-old record.
Ben soon got to grips with his boat and it was soon apparent that the 24-year-old was not missing a beat despite not having driven his boat in six months. As the lap times started to fall by lap eight, he was a fraction of a second off the Outright Lap record. Lap ten and he was gaining speed and had matched his own lap record from two years ago and there was still more to come.
Two laps later and the boat was handling perfectly and as Commentator Jason Mantripp read out the latest lap time a cheer went up in Nicholas Everitt Park as spectators and race fans alike heard the magic 27.46 seconds and after 40 years the record was broken.
Jelf headed out for heat two for the sports boat class and once more quickly got down to business and once more the times began to fall. Lap six of the fifteen lap race saw Jelf put in a sensational lap that would set the benchmark for future powerboat racers to strive to achieve as he set a new Lowestoft & Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club Outright Record at 27.14seconds.
On setting the new record an emotional Jelf had this to say
“Tom Percival was a fantastic powerboat racer; he is one of the legends of the sport I have grown up hearing stories of over the years. His record was a phenomenal achievement over 40 years ago and is testament to his skill and calibre of Powerboat Racer. Technology moves on and records exist to be broken. Tom’s Engine was 3.5ltr whereas mine is only 2.5ltr our boats are quite different and conditions and racing nowadays is a completely different ball game.”
He continued
“I have the utmost respect for Tom and his record. The fact that nobody has been able to beat it in 40 years says it all. I am over the moon to have been able to achieve the record, and I can tell you it was not easy at all. Lots of my laps were coming in near but I had to push myself to get it. It is a great feeling knowing you are the fastest person to have raced at such a historic racing venue and club, and it was great to reward my family, team, sponsors and all our supporters with the record. I would like to thank the LOBMBC Club, their officials, volunteers, my fellow racers and everyone that came down tonight to watch and support me.”
Ben will be back in action over the Bank Holiday Weekend with more racing scheduled for Sunday and Monday at Oulton Broad and who knows if conditions are perfect and allow, he could take the record below 27 seconds.
