World Powerboat Championship returns to the Bay

The 2024 World Inflatable Powerboat Championship returns to Gqeberha for the first time since 2009 with teams from Namibia, New Zealand, Germany, Italy and South Africa taking part. The action starts at North End Lake on Sunday 24th where the Eastern Province Powerboat Club plays host to the flat-water circuit racing portion of the World Championship. After 2 days of circuit racing on the lake the action will then move to Kings Beach for the surf racing leg and then ends next Saturday with a long-haul endurance race where the competitors will do 120 kilometres on a course that will be set up off the beachfront. The event that has attracted 34 entries caters for 3 different classes being the modified class, pro-stock (blue print) class and standard class. Nelson Mandela Bay has proven to be a popular venue amongst all involved as it is ideally suited to hosting this event as it boasts fantastic accommodation, long beaches, mild weather and water conditions as well as a sheltered fresh water lake all within a short distance of an international airport.

Cleared for landing. Dreyer & JD van Niekerk get in some last minute practice for the World Championship
Photo by Heinrich Sauer

The first of the teams to arrive and start setting up at the North End Lake was the Rusgenot Transport Team comprising of SA Modified champion Marc Gleed and co-pilot Jaco van Deventer and stock class favourites Dylan Bamberger & Carla Engelbrecht. When questioned about the extra pressure of going into this event as the reigning SA Champion Gleed had the following to say. “I don’t race on past laurels or accolades, Jaco and I take each heat as a new challenge with a clean slate, so we don’t let any unnecessary pressure get to us. Being up against the best racers in the world is an exciting challenge and we look forward to giving our very best”.  Scholars Dylan Bamberger and co-pilot Carla Engelbrecht will still be riding on the crest of the wave that saw them as the youngest competitors to even win the standard class in the gruelling Trans Agulhas race from Plettenberg to Cape Town at the end of December. Carla who also became the first lady to ever win the Trans Agulhas at just 15 years of age paired up with Bamberger less than two weeks from the start of the Agulhas race after Bamberger’s regular co-pilot was unfortunately injured while training for the event.

Motor racing superstar Reghard Roets with his wife Dagmar as his co-pilot should be a force to be reckoned with in their very quick Atlas Copco backed Mako built boat that should be ideally suited to the ocean conditions that the bay has to offer.  The Mako brand will be well represented across all of the classes with no less than eight teams using the Mako hull as their weapon of choice. Built in Cape Town by Mark Louw they have returned to the sport after a lengthy layoff and will no doubt be in the hunt for the overall constructors title. Robbie Louw son of legendary Springbok rugby flanker will team up with Nico Merwe le Roux in their Cooline Logistics backed Mako hull as they make their world championships debut. Rob Louw was one of the pioneers that revolutionised inflatable powerboat racing in the early 90’s with the design of the Robbie Duck where he changed the trend from round nosed boats to the pencil-duck design where the craft runs on separate pontoons in a catamaran configuration.

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