Safety a priority at Great Race, says Powerboats president

PRESIDENT of the Trinidad and Tobago Powerboat Association Chris Skinner said despite not having air coverage for the 2022 TT Great Race on Saturday, safety is a priority for the 54th edition of the event.

A total of 25 boats will make the journey from the Mucurapo Foreshore in Trinidad to Store Bay, Tobago.

Skinner was anticipating the event at the 2022 Great Race Media Launch and Meet and Greet at the TT Yacht Club, Bayshore, on Tuesday.

Skinner said, “This (is) our first meet and greet with the media since the 2019 Great Race and it is a pleasure for us all to gather for this the 54th running of the annual event.”

He said it is “nice to be free” now as the covid19 pandemic prevented the participants from meeting over the past two and a half years.

Safety is always a key component of the event, said Skinner.

“Safety is our priority and we have many volunteers out there in their boats covering the 90-odd miles – divers, medics, coast guards, GPS monitoring all the boats – to try and make this race as safe as possible. But as we know it is us racers to look out for each other along the course and that goes without saying.”

However, Skinner said there will no air safety measures in place for Saturday’s race.

“There is one piece of the safety puzzle that is missing, that’s air coverage. We have not been able to secure sponsorship for this important aspect which not only provides safety which is paramount, but it also allows us to film the boats fly over the water and then in turn produce movies which are viewed all over the world.”

In the past, helicopters have monitored the progress of the boats during the Great Race.

Members of the participating boats attended the launch.

Director of public relations and international racing Roger Bell said the boats have continued to compete during these difficult economic times.

“To the 60 and 70 mph classes over the last two years we thank you for keeping the racing going in these harsh economic covid times.”

Boats in six classes will compete in the event. It will be a staggered start with the cruiser one 50 mile per hour (mph) class speeding off at 7.15 am.

The cruiser two G Class 60 mph boats will begin at 7.25 am, followed by the F Class 70 mph boats at 7.30 am.

From 7.45 am, the E Class 80 mph boats will start their journey and from 8 am, both the B Class 120 mph and the A Class 130 mph boats begin their trek.

The A Class will feature former Great Race champions Motul Monster and Mr Solo Too.

In 2021, Monster won the A Class and Mr Solo Too finished second.