BBC Spotlight piece on the event prior to the 2023 final round at Brixham

Thank you Sarah Donohue for organising everything !

Footage courtesy of BBC Spotlight

Feature on ITV Westcountry with a Live report from Brixham for the Final Round of the 2023 Aqua Adrenaline Tour

Footage Courtesy of ITV Westcountry

Click the Audio link below to listen to a BBC interview from Caroline Cook - featuring Malachy Browne

Moment Devon powerboat duo cheat death in 70mph crash

A Powerboat champion racing duo from Devon

will be back out at sea competing this weekend after being involved in an extremely rare' high-speed flip at more than 70mph. Vastly experienced rough water specialists Malachy Browne, of Exmouth, and Jeremy Gibson, of Salcombe, were competing in North Wales in the Offshore Circuit Racing Drivers Association (OCRDA) Aqua Adrenaline Tour in Caernarfon around eight weeks ago when they suddenly found themselves in particularly challenging conditions.

Malachy, a gas engineer and volunteer harbour master in Exmouth, said: "It was the first race of the day and 65mph had been forecast. On the first straight, 200 metres after the start flag we were hitting speeds of more than 70mph with oncoming winds. It caused the nose of the boat to lift up and spin around in the air and flip over.

"It's very, very rare in a monohull [a single-hulled boat similar to a ski boat]. They don't tend to flip so it's very unusual to do an acrobat in the air like

we did.

"We were both ejected from the boat safely and were assessed by medics. The boat was recovered and brought back to shore and our mechanics managed to get it ready to race again the next day.

"I was fine but Jeremey erred on the side of caution and got checked out in hospital and decided not to race the next day. I took the reigns in the driving seat and got another guy to navigate with me and we won."

Currently, Malachy, the navigator, and Jeremy, the driver, are UIM OCR Formula 1 World Champions.

Adrenalin junkie Malachy, who has been racing for 15 years and has been British Champion in three different classes of powerboat racing, says he is not daunted by being thrown out of a boat at high speed and that the recent incident in Wales has not made him fear racing again.

The 41-year-old said: "I come from a jet skier background and thundercat racing so I am used to doing back flips, being upside down in the water and landing in the water at high speed so it's not new to me.

"I'm always in the water or doing something fun like riding a motorbike or another vehicle."

This weekend, Malachy and Jeremy will be competing in the final round of the Aqua Adrenaline Tour which is being held in Brixham from October 6 to 8. The popular offshore powerboat racing series travels to venues all over the UK with seven race weekends – each weekend comprising of four races.In Brixham, a fleet of 17 boats and 15 jet ski racers will begin their final battle on Saturday at 12.30pm close to Brixham Breakwater with race control being close by.

The exciting-to-watch circuit racing boats compete in three classes based on engine capacity with the class denoted by the colour of the boats bow; Formula 1 – yellow, Formula 2 – pink, and Formula 3 – red. The boats reach speeds of up to 75mph.

A fleet of 15 jet skis will compete in three classes in four races on a slightly shorter course than that used by the boats. For spectators, there will be  excellent viewing along the breakwater.

Each race, both boats and jet skis, will run for a duration of 25 minutes plus one lap. Malachy and Jeremy will be among three teams fighting for the F1 championship win with only a few points between them. The F2 & F3 championships will also be decided this weekend.

Malachy said: "The aim for us is to win this weekend. The sea conditions are predicted to be quite flat; we would normally prefer rougher conditions. It will be very close who wins."

The event is being by the UK’s Offshore Circuit Racing Drivers Association (OCRDA).

Drone Footage below filmed by Greg Butler at Challenge Britain

Read full article at :

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/moment-devon-powerboat-duo-cheat-8810419

A published report on the final race weekend of the 2023 season at Brixham in ProRider Magazine

A report on the final race weekend of the 2023 season at Brixham in this week's Torbay Weekly by the wonderful Nigel Cole

A report on the Torquay Round in Torbay Weekly by Nigel Cole

Aqua Adrenaline Torquay Promo 22