The OCRDA Aqua Adrenaline Tour roared into Teignmouth for the first time in 15 years for Round 4 of the Championship.

The conditions were probably the most challenging the fleet of 20 boats has faced so far this season. The organisers were presented with an early problem when Race 1 had to be red flagged – a Race Mark could not cope with the conditions!

Nick Newsam and Michelle Murray, made the most of the conditions though, managing a best finish of second in Race 2. They finished second overall in F2 which moved them up to second in the Championship.

Kingsbridge-based racers Jeremy Gibson and Malachy Browne in Smokey and the Bandit 2 produced a clean sweep of victories to draw level with Chris Brown Racing in third place in the Championship.

The team to beat in F1 this season has been North Devon-based Chris Brown/Peter Snell in Chris Brown Racing, who have returned to racing after a two-year sabbatical. Their season did not start well when they failed to start Race 1 in Torquay, but they have won every race since, with the exception of Race 2 in Caernarfon where they finished second.

If there was a “Consistency Award”, then the highly experienced pairing of Exeter-based Craig Temple-Murray/Paul Scott in ABM Precast Solutions would undoubtedly win. They picked up three second place conditions. They went in to the Teignmouth weekend with a very narrow Championship lead over Chris Brown.

In F2, 2022 defending OCRDA and National Champions, Andy Childs/Mark Hayward – Fatboy Twin - did not race as Andy was unavailable. However, Mark, from Exmouth, took over as navigator from Bradley Dopson in the F1 boat 66 Racing alongside Malc Dopson.

Unfortunately, on Saturday the boat was holed and had to retire. It was a better end to the weekend for Mark – with “The Captain”, Andy, back, this formidable pairing finished second in Race 3 and won the final race on Sunday, finishing third overall, and maintaining their lead in the F2 Championship. Mark commented: “I’ve got a few bruises, but very happy”.

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