56th Great Race dedicated to first winner, Lennox Tang Yuk

The TT Powerboat Association (TTPBA) will dedicate the 56th staging of the TT Great Race to the legacy of its first-ever winner, Lennox Tang Yuk, who died of cancer last month.

The 2024 Great Race will be held on August 17, with staggered start times for the different boat classes. The 50 mile per hour (mph) Cruiser class will speed things off at 7.15 am, followed by the 60 mph G class and the Spec class at 7.25 am. The high-profile 130 mph A class will commence at 8 am.

At the Great Race launch at Luna Bar, West Mall, on July 18, TTPBA president Jonathan Tardieu said the organisation felt duty-bound to pay homage to Tang Yuk, who won the inaugural title with his Cam-Ena vessel in 1969, before adding another crown in 1979 with the 28-foot cutlass Blackmax.

Tardieu hailed Tang Yuk as one of the pioneers of the sport.

"Mr Tang Yuk always had a passion for the ocean, and even after he stopped racing, continued to contribute to the TTPBA in whatever way he could," Tardieu said. "Many of our racers would recognise him and his boat, as he was the finish boat for the Great Race for many years."

Last year, the legendary Mr Solo was the fastest boat to Tobago, completing the 90-mile course from the Mucurapo Foreshore to Store Bay, Tobago in one hour and 14 minutes. Once again showing supremacy in the 130 mph A class, it was recorded as the 19th win in the competition for the Mr Solo crew, which included driver Hayden Charles, navigator Joseph Charles, crew chief Ken Charles and throttleman Darin Marshall.

There were also wins for Kraken in the Spec class, as well as Limitless (60 mph G class), Extreme Measures (70 mph F class), Heatwave (80 mph E class) and Tyrant (95 mph D class).

Tardieu said this year's Great Race will be "bigger and better" than last year's.

"With every year that passes, we continue to break our existing record of hosting the longest-running offshore powerboat race in the world," the TTPBA president said. "In the current climate of our twin-island state, it's one of the good things we can continue to hold on to – a silver lining, if you will, and one that we cannot take for granted."

With the support of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association and its corporate sponsors Carib and the National Lotteries Control Board, Tardieu promised spectators a full weekend of events.

He said the TTPBA is also hopeful of getting financial assistance for the 2024 edition from the Ministry of Sport and Community Development.

"This sport already has the attention of so many from around the world. However, we continue to need assistance in so many ways to help reach the goal of making the Great Race the greatest powerboat race in the world," Tardieu said.

"We still have a long way to go and much more work to do to get there. One year at a time." (With reporting by Jelani Beckles).