bristol powerboat race 1982

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Frode Sundsdal

What is prw.

It’s a powerboat racing website that has covered circuit racing, offshore racing and PWC since 2016. Maintained by The Race Factory based in Norway who have specialists in event planning and promotion, social media, graphic design, and photography. We are currently working on our vision and believe that we can and will make a different in powerboating. We will dedicate our time to produce accurate factual stories and to promote the sport to a wider global audience.

This year marks the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first ever Bristol Powerboat race held in the docks. The course had been likened to the Monaco Grand Prix for its tight twisting turns which produced a lot of drama and excitement during the eighteen years that the race took place there the last of which was won by the local hero Mike Zamperelli back in 1990.

The Bristol Grand Prix was the brain wave of Charley Sheppard who had a vision of powerboat racing in the disused dock. That was back in 1972, an era when race boats were very primitive in construction but that didn’t put off that brave enough to take on Bristol. Multiple World Champion Renato Molinari once looked at the course and spoke.

I see where the boats go but where do the boats come back?

When he was informed that you go up the righthand side of the course and return down the left Molinari was stunned.

There have been many winners of the Bristol Grand Prix in various classes but the name everyone remembers is Bill Seebold. The hugely likeable American won many times but was probably best remembered for taking on the V8 guys with his smaller Mercury powered unit back in 1982.

The Monohull and T850 classes were well-supported ones and provided a spectacular display of grass roots racing over the years in front of the 250000 crowd that lined the dock side year after year.

To mark the anniversary Roy Cooper from the charity Fast on Water has once again organised an event to celebrate the occasion. He has always had a passion for racing at the docks and set up the charity to preserve the history of powerboat racing ever since the demise of the Motorboat Museum in Essex some ten years ago.

The Bristol 50 event will see on and off water activities including the opening of the temporary museum in Bristol of which the former F1 driver Dene Stallard has played a big part in getting it off the ground.

Also, there will be a trip up the old racecourse with the odd surprise along the way. Who can forget the last time this trip was taken as part of the Bristol 25 event when the lap record holder of the racecourse Steve Kerton overtook us in a beautifully restored Burgess raceboat.

Jason Mantripp a current hydroplane racer in the UK and a commentator for the sport for twenty-nine years said.

You could be forgiven if you can still hear the echoes of Race Commentator Robin Hursts voice bouncing off the dockside walls. Luckily for us he will be there at the reunion and I’m sure his microphone won’t be far away.

In fact, Robin will be the Host at the Bristol 50 event and will provide a familiar voice for those who were around at the time. In the evening we will be paying a special tribute to the legendary British racer Andrew Elliot who had powerboat racing running through his veins. He was a sad loss to the sport and even though he had retired from racing he was often seen at events lending a hand and always keen to offer advice.

”  Back in 1992 when I arrived in Chalon-sur-Soane at the UIM F1 Grand Prix of France, it suddenly dawned on me that making friends with as many drivers as quickly as possible would be the key to my success plus longevity as their official photographer.

So, when I was greeted with ‘awright Chrissy boy, how are you getting on’ my tough task began to feel achievable”.

A personal tribute to my very good friend Andy Elliott who passed away peacefully this morning.

Tickets for this event being held at Bristol Docks followed by an evening Gala Dinner at The Bristol Hotel formerly known as the Unicorn Hotel are available but selling out fast. Please go to https://www.fastonwater.co.uk for more information.

Phil55UK has uploaded a lot ot great action videos from Bristol to Youtube

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The Embassy/Bristol Grand Prix

The Embassy/Bristol Grand Prix organised in United Kingdom was one of the most prestigious powerboating events for circuit classes in all over the world. It was known as powerboat racing equivalent of motor racing Monaco Grand Prix. For top powerboaters event was "must". Race was organised in Bristol City Docks from 1972-1990 and included races for many different classes in one weekend with over 200000 spectators. In 1974 the Bristol City Council presented the "City of Bristol" Trophy to be awarded each year to the World Monohull Champion.

Bristol Grand Prix 1981

From 1977, the most coveted award in powerboat racing, the solid gold The Duke of York Trophy was awarded to the overall winner of the Embassy Grand Prix. Trophy is one of the oldest in the world. List of winners of Trophy is presented below.

The Duke of York Trophy

Many famous drivers took part in these races: Renato Molinari, Guido Capellini, Billy Seebold, John Hill, Bob Spadling, Jonathan Jones, Andy Elliott etc. Many of them are known also as F1 World Champions.

Most successful drivers in Bristol were:

Bob Spalding (2 wins in ON and 2 wins in OZ)

Billy Seebold (4 wins in OZ and 2 wins in ON)

Renato Molinari (1 win in OZ, ON and OE)

John Hill (1 win in ON, 2 wins in OE)

Tony Williams (3 wins in ON, 1 win in OE, 1 win in SE)

Peter Faithfull (3 wins in SE)

Jan de Vreng (3 wins in SE, 4 wins in NF)

Adrian Morse (3 wins in NE)

Richard Dewhurst (3 wins in NF)

Michael Werner (1 win in ON, 2 wins in OE)

Paul Wilde (win in SD, NE and NF)

Read more: Fast on Water

The Duke of York Trophy winners

Bristol GP winners

ON (O-2000)

OZ (O-Unlimited)

OE (O-850/F3)

OF (O-1000)

OI (O-1500)

SE (S-850/F4)

SD (S-750, Formula 5)

NE (T-750/T2)

NF (T-850/T1)

Geograph - photograph every grid square

St5872 : power-boat racing on bristol harbour, taken 42 years ago , near to bristol , england.

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