Martin J.Napier takes a look at what we can expect from the World Cup Marathon races of Cowes 2010.

It was in 1961 that The Honourable (Later Sir) Max Aitken Bt, DSO, DFC, son of the founder of the Daily Express newspaper and World War II fighter ace, started the series of races which heralded untold developments in the field of fast boats travelling over open seas. Sir Max had seen an early running of the Miami-Nassau Race in 1960 and determined that his own version of such an event, sponsored by The Daily Express, would be run off the south coast of England - and so the famous Cowes-Torquay-Cowes Race was born.

Sir Max wanted boats with cabin cruising accommodation, as opposed to the American open race boats, so from 1961 until 1966, only boats with cabins could enter. In 1967, however, the gates were flung wide, and while the awards for cabin boats were retained, the front-running contenders were likely to be ‘Open’ boats (or OP as they were classed).

When the Aitken family sold the newspaper in the late 1970s, the future of the race looked bleak, until a racer, Tim Powell, stepped forward, found finance, and continued to run the race for another 20 years - longer than the race’s original founders. It retained its glittering profile and prestige, becoming the race that every long-distance offshore racer in the world wanted to win. Known by many as ‘The Big One’, it became an event of such renowned style and charisma (not to mention physical brutality) that in racing circles, the August Bank Holiday became synonymous with a pilgrimage to the English south coast.

The 50th anniversary event This year, the British Powerboat Racing Club Event Director, John Moore, an ex-Class 3/b racer in the 80s and 90s, and now a firm devotee of endurance racing, has been given the task of organising the historic 50th anniversary races. He has experience of working alongside veteran organiser Tim Powell, as well as the daughter of Sir Max Aitken himself, the Honourable Laura Levi, so his respect for the race’s heritage is not in doubt.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first race, the event has been granted the status of World Cup Event by the UIM (the World Governing body), making this the equivalent of a World Championship. To that end, the activities will comprise three races.

On Friday 27 August, the Cowes 100 Race will start at Cowes and run to Portland and back, to form the first of the two-leg World Cup. On Sunday 29 August, there will be two races - the 50th Anniversary Cowes-Torquay-Cowes Race of about 170 gruelling nautical miles and, for smaller race boats, a shorter Cowes-Poole-Cowes Race of 65Nm. You can get further details of these events on the official website: www.cowes2010.co.uk.