Drew Langdon and Miles Jennings held off their Italian rival, Maurizio Schepici to narrowly win the 2022 Round the Island – Powered by Shamrock Quay race, the opening round of this year’s UKOPRA World Offshore Championship.
The pairing who were driving a Mercury powered Outerlimits hull averaged 102.87 mph (165.56 Kmph), with Schepici and British co-driver Richard Bendy just .05 mph slower.
When Langdon spoke to PRW he said
Actually, the Italians are faster than us and it was extremely challenging work to maintain that small margin but great racing. The engines were only just re-installed at my facility earlier this week having been back with Bruce Baker at Express Engines in Florida for a top half rebuild. We also ran the boat with ballast to make the class weight which has made it less responsive.
Schepici was pleased with the podium finish
That was a great race, however they are two incredibly good pilots with much more experience than me. I had a new pilot on the boat so it might take a few races to get confidence, plus we made some small mistakes that costs us a few seconds, but I think Silverline would have won anyway. I’m happy with a second place, I’m happy in the UK the organisation is excellent, all the people they are affectionate every time I come to the UK, a lot of people make themselves available for us and I thank them from the heart.
Third overall were Gary Aldington and Tom Gardner in their FB Design Vintage Torque some six minutes behind the leaders. With the boat having undergone lots of work over the winter, the team were well rewarded with a visit to the podium.
Dennis Clemson and Cameron Shields won the 3C battle with just three minutes covering the entire class by the time they crossed the finish line
The entries of Team 25 Dragon and Uno Embassy were both side-lined prior to the start with engine issues they were unable to resolve.
The only retirement from the race were unfortunately Unipart Lambs when one of their Chevrolet engines over heated.
Rose Lores said
It was all going so well till the water pump failed.
When Jake Swann and Ben Kendall came across the stranded Unipart Lambs, they turned back to check the crew were all ok. Although having raced as a junior, it was Swann and Kendall’s first UKOPRA offshore race and were unsure whether they should have done that. When they asked back in race control whether that was the correct procedure, the race officials complemented them on their actions. For this thoughtful act they were awarded the Spirt of the Race trophy.
This was the first race run under the new power to weight rule so perhaps it’s not going to be the last time we see such a close finish this season. Langdon and Jennings will now take their points lead to Poole, just along the south coast of England, where the second round of the UKOPRA Championship will be held in June.
Images supplied by Malc Attrill Photography
