World Championship Lucon France

The town of Lucon really gave a tremendous welcome to all the worlds hovercrafters. The Mayor (not only a senior political figure in France but also a Deputy of the EEC) held a champagne reception for us prior to the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony had us all parade on stage before the firework and synchronised music display which cost £20,000 plus (US$ 30,000). The second night there was a pop music festival, the third a formal dinner and after the prize giving more champagne.

The course was fast and mainly water, run anti-clockwise. There was a short on/off land section which had a nasty bump which unsettled the craft so that a plough in on transition happened to many craft. For the final day of racing this land section was missed. The land section by the (false) start grid and finish line was quite twisty but not particularly technical.

Practice :- For me, the practise session was overshadowed by worries about the engine failing again. We have increased the exhaust length by half an inch and increased the stinger pipe diameter by 2mm. I was relieved when the engine survived a fast lap.

Stephen Scotney brought a new craft and engine (see picture). It looks like his old J2 but is GRP instead of a heavy wood. The engine is now a fully tuned Yamaha TZR250 - Very Quick!!

The UK race numbers were replaced with adhesive sheets with the formula and assigned number, mine was 01. I had trouble keeping them on the craft, and eventually lost both. A French marshall claimed one and kept it as a souvenir!!

Luke Sedzikowski travelled to Lucon with the East Bridgewater Team who had a spare slot on their 3 craft trailer. Simon Kearle being the EB team driver. Simon Oakley and his F25 made the UK drivers line up.

The weather was hot - upto 35degrees C (95 Fahrenheit) I was glad we had fitted a much larger radiator for the event. After junior races we (the UK gang) went back across the lake to the restuarant and beach area to stand in the water upto our chins to watch the bigger formulas race. Interesting getting a ducks eye view of hovercraft!!

In the time trial Stephen whizzed round, I ploughed in after the little land section but was able to stay in the craft and kept the power on full during the spin so not loosing the hump. I got banged about quite heavily and collected some good bruises. Luke did pretty much the same but lapped five, eight hundreds of a second slower to put me in the middle of the front row between Stephen and Luke.

Race 1 - saw Stephen lead with Luke second. As the photo right shows I had too much lift on during the race and sacrificed some speed which allowed Luke to take second place until Stephens engine failed. I was chasing Luke all the way however and whilst getting close at times I could not get into position to overtake. I was able to haul him in on the water only to loose it on the land sections. It was my most enjoyable race in my racing career so far. Christan Keller (Germany) was third, Flavien Dessandres (France) 4th.

Race 2 - Stephens father changed a piston in the engine and made some other adjustments and got the engine going very well. He stormed through from the back of the grid (here overtaking Swedens Daniel Nord). In the meantime Luke and I were battling it out for the lead. The very close battle was decided when Luke ploughed in and shipped an amount of water into the air intakes. This combined with dust in the air filters to make mud which blocked the carbs and cut engine power. After this race we cleaned out our air filter and found a lot of dried grass (from the paddock) in the air box. The racing line had been irrigated specially for the event and was in very good condition considering how hot the weather was. Despite me pushing on, Stephen got past and I posted another second place with Flavien coming third ahead of Luke. Christan had engine trouble which put him out of the points.

Race 3

Stephen stormed ahead in this race with me a comfortable 2nd. We had the only two craft with variable splitter plates which made driving on the water much easier as there was a strong breeze up and down the water straight. Downwind I had the lift on high and was able to drop it into the wind. Luke was not too far behind and if I had made a mistake he would have benefitted. Flavien didn't finish this race which cost him fourth in the championship, but helped Daniel Nord to 4th. Simon Kearle of the East Bridgewater Team came 5th to continue building on his total for the weekend.  

The last lap of the race I had to ease off as the engine was overheating. When I got back to the paddock the engine was boiling merrily after the radiater top hose burst. It seemed that I finished the race with virtually no coolant left!!. Owen Ellis of the Australian team kindly gave my mum a hose which was a drop on fit and enabled me to race again. Why the engine didn't seize with such over heating is a mystery. Whilst we were repairing the hose we found that the coil mounting was fractured. This was bad news as our spare coil is suspected of cutting out when hot. Ray Folland of the British team again very kindly lent a coil for the last race. Last but not least the British Team Kemps provided the coolant to refill the radiator. They deserve a medal for keeping a straight face when asked for antifreeze in 35 degree C weather!!!

Race 4

I was more nervous before this race than ever before as it suddenly occurred to me I had a chance of winning the World Championship or at least gaining a minor podium place which is what we as a family were hoping for before setting out for France.

Lukes power valve was slow to cut in and allowed Stephen and I to storm ahead down the drag to the first transition. Being on Pole I had the inside line and was able to hold it tight whilst Stephen slid a little wide and enabled me to hold the lead and defend it against heavy pressure from Stephen for a lap and a half, finally loosing it at the 180 degree corner at the bottom of the lake where the cross wind gave me problems throughout the event.

On the final lap I ploughed in - again at the bottom buoy and was hit my Simon Oakleys F25 which is a sturdy craft! I damaged the duct and was very very lucky not to break blades. There is a huge scuff mark half way around the duct where the blades hit. The plough in also ripped the hull at a point already weak from hitting Simons craft up the rump a few races back which we taped up rather than repair as we were so busy repairing blown pistons! Somewhat rattled I managed to get to the finish still ahead of Luke.

Luck was with me during the weekend - the engine went well - even when there were problems I was able to finish so that I won the World Championship even though I never won a race. Stephen was clearly faster and the racer in me is glad I won the series but as a friend I am sad that Stephen did not win as on speed and experience he deserved to.

The prize giving was amazing, with a proper podium on a stage and ceremony. The trophies and medals were presented by the French Government Minister for Sport. We also got flowers and kisses that were given by the beauty queen Miss Lucon (very fit!!!).  I was also given an O'Brien life jacket (and more kisses!!!) from the Mayors daughter. The national anthem was played whilst the flags were run up. Real stuff. More champagne afterwards!

During supper that evening Mikki Scanavino (the new F1 World Champion) grabbed hold of me and I was bundled into the restaurant on his shoulders and given a choice of straw to suck on from the F1 trophy which was full of champagne punch whilst the Anjou club members clapped and cheered everyone on, as hovercrafters got drawn into the very noisy party on the basis of nationality, in the case of Mr Lyne his birthday! or any reason at all! The Junior racers kept the tradition of chucking the winner in the pond!! I was held spreadeagled face down over the side of the restaurants wooden jetty 6 or 8 feet above the water and released!

Results

World Champion Edward Hurn GB Eagle Yamaha 250TZR 72 points

2nd Luke Sedzikowski GB Python Kawasaki KL1S 66 points

3rd Stephen Scotney GB Self Yamaha 250TZR 60 points

4th Simon Kearle GB East Bridgewater Team Eagle Yamaha 250TZR 44 points

5th Flavien Dessandres FR 42 points

6th Simon Oakley GB Osprey Kohler 25 41 points

7th Daniel Nord SWE 40 points

8th Christan Keller D 39 points

9th Tanguy Baubion FR 22 points

10th Armand Richard FR 7 points