This is a new course to Hovercraft Racing - Most of our race venues are at country parks or stately homes - not normally in the middle of residential areas. This course (and Gang Warily) are the exceptions. Penton Lake is in the middle of the commuter belt for west London, Windsor etc. It seemed strange to drive through high density housing and business parks with modern office blocks (Lotus Software UK headquarters and so on) to get to a race track.

The track was mainly water, and roughly kidney shaped. From the dummy grid a steep two stage drop on to the water followed by a long down wind straight (I guess half a mile plus) with a slight dog leg to the right. Halfway, an eddy of wind, that was there most of the weekend, caused some grief. At the end of the straight a single buoy to round to come back up the lake. Another buoy then to be negotiated on our left that made this stretch of water a gentle S bend, as we had to come back towards the entry point onto the lake to line up for the transition off the water. The transition went straight into a long left hander that led back onto the water. The key to a fast lap time was getting the turn at the end of the lake right.

The weather on Saturday morning was great. The rest of the weekend cold and wet as it always is when I go camping.

The Saturday morning was very busy as our Mirage had not yet been registered so we required a full inspection of the craft and a flotation test before being signed off as race ready. Being a team, Ken Rigley (the other half of Team Eagle) and I took turns in practice. I don't know whether it was Ken or I that recorded the lap time that put us on the second row of the grid. Both of us were feeling our way around the (new) course and getting some practise on the long water stretches, so racing flat out for grid position wasn't a priority. The practice sessions aren't that long for team entries where a change of driver is required. I was elected to race first.

Ken and I have debated at length as to the best way to start from the grid, whether to put on thrust and leave lift off or vice versa. Despite seeing a craft blown over backwards on the grid at a race start at Stanford Hall some years ago  (grids for F1 have been spread out more since that incident) I elected to go for maximum lift and hold off thrust until the green light. I got an excellent start and was in third on the drop to water.

Ahead of me was Richard Eaton's sister Mirage which has a much smaller thrust engine and I knew from testing with this craft at Tattershall the previous weekend I would be able to overtake. For the moment I was content to stay behind and get more confidence with the craft on the water. I do think our craft will be better with a bit more lift. In addition to being a bit tricky in the strong down wind water section the craft grounded quite heavily on the slopes leading onto the lake. This matter will be dealt with by Gang Warily.

I was getting used to the difference between an integrated and lift engined craft, and I was getting a faster, smoother line around the top buoy. By now I had passed Richard and was beginning to settle down for a chase after Robin Brickles in the Team Meteor craft. However...........

Both the land section and paddock were very dusty before the rain. The fourth photo, if you look closely, shows a lot of dust and debris being kicked up. Where does all the debris go? Yup, sucked into the thrust duct and into the radiator which promptly became blocked and the inevitable consequence of a seized engine occurred. Fortunately I had done enough of the race to qualify as a finisher and get some points.

This allowed Robin (Meteor number 1) to cruise home in the race and Team Meteor with Jonathan Spedding sharing the racing to a comfortable win for the weekend.

The other highlights of the weekend was seeing Luke being promoted to F1 after only one race in novices. I look forward to racing against him again. The other Gem was the final Juniors race of the weekend which got the worst of the very windy conditions. The antics of all of the craft had to be seen to be believed.

I got a good start and was clear of the second row of the grid by the time we dropped onto the water. As can be seen from this photo John Sedzikowski in number 27 is getting the full benefit of my thrust and got pushed very wide.

I was content to tuck in behind Richard Eaton (Mirage number 4) while I got more practice with the craft on down wind water.

During the race I was able to settle down and begin to chase Robin. Getting the power on and taking a tighter turn through the land section caused some horrible crunching noises on the transition, plainly heard by the commentator, (whose van I am passing), who remarked on them as the craft grounded each lap.

Dust and debris eventually blocked the radiator and finished our racing.

Robin Brickles (Team Meteor number 1) negotiating the only land turn on his way to a comfortable win.