[UPDATED] Energiza 1st into Store Bay

ENERGIZA won the 95 miles per hour (mph) category and were the first boat to Tobago, at the TT Pow­er Boat As­so­ci­a­tion’s (TTP­BA) 51st In­ter­na­tion­al Great Race, from Williams Bay in Ch­aguara­mas to Store Bay Beach facility, Tobago, yesterday. They were followed by Mr Solo Too.

For Mr Solo’s crew this is the team’s 18th title in the 130 mph class. Ken Charles, boat owner and driver told Newsday debris was a major challenge for the team this year. He said on Wednesday during a trial run the boat was damaged by debris, but repairs were done in time for the competition. Debris, again, became their greatest challenge which kept them back at the end of the race. Despite the issues, he described this year’s race as one of the greatest for the team. “We had a lovely race even though coming into Tobago during the last circuit we lost our proper lock but we were not surprised, because of issues with debris on Wednesday.

“The boat performed fantastically. Our team did a fantastic job. We started at 8 am, other classes started before us. We finished the race and we are happy.”Energiza’s driver Sheldon Edghill was delighted and surprised by the team’s achievement. He told Newsday, “It’s an amazing feeling; the fact that we won the 95 mph class is a great honour for us but added on to that we were the first boat to come into Tobago. We are not all excited about the record time, we are just happy we made it to Tobago.” The team has been competing in the event for the last nine years and sees this year’s performance as one of their best.

“To win the class is amazing, but to also come in first and set the first record is just putting the icing on the cake. “It was a very rough course, but after some time it started to calm down and that was when we decided we were going to push. (We) eventually found out we were pushing harder than everybody else, so our main concern was not to break the boat so we push as hard as we could. We have won the 50 mph, we have won the 70 mph and this is the first time we have won the 95 miles per hour.” Extreme Measures’ throttleman Johnathan Tardieu said his team limped to the finish line on one engine.

He described their victory in the 70 mph as a blessing. “We lost an entire gear care so we finished with one engine, we were almost on the verge of turning back to Trinidad to go home and wrap it up. We decided we will work with one engine and wish for the best.” He said, “The amount of troubles we got, right now we are just glad we got to Tobago and finish. We didn’t expect to set any record in our category.” He said despite the challenges the team is satisfied with their performance because “getting to Tobago is a big accomplishment in itself.” The team has been racing since 2006 and has marked this year’s accomplishment as its best performance over the years. Tardieu said “time will tell if we will beat our own record” adding that the goal for next year’s event is to finish the race “in one piece.” He said the only change the team will be making is installing a faster engine to compete next year. Trident walked away with the trophy in the 60 mph class. They were followed by Jesus is Coming who came in fourth overall and first in the 50 mph category.

RESULTS

130 mph category

Mr Solo Too

95 mph category

Energiza

80 mph

Heatwave

Hero V

70 mph

Extreme Measures

60 mph

Trident

Infusion Hero IV

Timeless

50 mph cruiser class

Jesus is Coming

Super Tuff

Ketch This

Ravers

This story was originally published with the title "Energiza first to Tobago in Great Race" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

ENERGIZA won the 95 miles per hour (mph) class and was the first boat to Tobago at the 51^st edition of the TT Great Race, this morning.

Over 20 teams started the event which took boats from Williams Bay in Chaguaramas to the finish line at Store Bay, Tobago.

Mr Solo Too was the winner of the 130 mph category and finished second overall.