The British Powerboat Festival 2010

THE HARMSWORTH TROPHY

To be competed for at The British Powerboat Festival 2010

Harmsworth Trophy comes out of retirement - Ray Bulman

Premier award to be presented at the Cowes Marathon World Cup in August.

The British Powerboat Racing Club (BPRC) is delighted to announce that The British International Harmsworth Trophy will be competed for at The British Powerboat Festival 2010 being held at Cowes from August 25th.

The 2010 winner of the Harmsworth Trophy will have competed in the UIM BPRC Marathon World Cup completing the Cowes 100 & Cowes Torquay Cowes courses with the fastest average speeds.

The Trophy was commissioned by Sir Alfred Harmsworth and first presented in 1903. It has a rich history of competitors and winners.

The Earl of Normanton, Chairman of the Trustees of The Harmsworth Trophy, said from his home Somerley, in Hampshire: "I would like to quote a London newspaper in 1904."

'Had any shipbuilder been asked, say five years ago, to build a 40' (12.1m) launch capable of running at 20 knots and upwards he would have declared the problem an impossible one. Yet this has already been accomplished and makers are looking to even better results with improved body design and methods of construction.'

The Earl of Normanton continued, "This probably delighted Sir Alfred Harmsworth because it was for this very reason he commissioned and donated this famous trophy to the sport. There is no doubt that over the last 100 years or so of racing, the British International Harmsworth Trophy has achieved its goal with the development of the Motor Torpedo Boat used in the war being designed as a direct result of racing for this prize."

"The 2010 UIM Marathon Boats will be racing monohulls, capable of speeds in excess of 100mph in rough water conditions. Today, the fastest speed ever achieved on water is an astonishing 317mph by Australian Ken Warby. We've come a long way on water since the first race in 1903."