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Powerboat Racing Icons

by | Sep 4, 2020 | Blog, David C. Branch, Powerboat Racing

Powerboat Racing Icons David C Branch
Most people that go out on a boat do not participate in powerboat racing. The sport was popularized in the late 19th century and even for a short period of time was classified as an Olympic sport in 1908. Powerboat racing further soared in popularity in the 1960 and the 1970’s due to the fact that boating technologies advanced exponentially. Unfortunately, many of the names and statistics of racers aren’t really spoken about, there are quite a few big names in the game.
Offshore powerboat racing is a pretty strenuous and exhaustive aspect of the sport and considered a huge challenge. The Cowes-Torquay competition is one of the hardest and legendary Sir Max Aitken popularized this 200-mile race in 1961. He is one of the all time top powerboat racers because he won the Harmsworth Trophy.

Fabio Buzzi is also a racer to consider when researching some of the best powerboat racers. He is an Italian racer drove his White Iveco to compete in the marathon Round Britian Powerboat Race in 1984 and did fairly well. Buzzi is still one of the most popular racers to ever live.

Another one of the greatest powerboat racers to ever live is Steve Curtis. Not only did he drive his infamous Cougar Maine but he is the winner of eight Class One powerboat racing champions. Curtis was the winner of the prestigious 2016 Cowes Torquay Cowes race and he drove a 30 year old aluminum boat that to many would be hard to navigate.

There are quite a few powerful and strong women that have made names for themselves in the sport but no one is as prolific as Lady Violet Aitken. Known as the “first lady of fast” Aitken is connected to the sport on a deeper level. Her husband is the founder of the Cowes-Torquay race and has won several Ladies Trophies. Aitken has passed the torch onto her daughter, Laura and granddaughter, Laura who are also racers in the sport. Speed boats can be kind of difficult to navigate if you do not know what you are doing. That is not the case for record breaking champion Peter Dredge who propelled his boat to first place at 94.5 mph in the Cowes-Torquay race.