We have been busy, too busy to post anything on here and its only going to get worse as we try to get it ready for the World champs in August!

New shiny duct, Feb '10

Here is a pic of the new duct with carbon guru Guillaume. Its 940mm duct which is slightly larger than the 920mm one used on the yellow craft as the fan arrangement will be slightly different.

It the first attempt at an all carbon-epoxy moulded part and has come out well. Thanks again to Wizz at MCMC for his tips and hints- they also do very reasonable polyester resins and glass cheaper than CFS and Glasplies. Without any kind of stiffening ring its already really stiff and is made using a mixture of unidirectional, biax and triax carbons, with some woven kevlar and diolen.

We also made the structural flow straightener vanes, these are foam cored with carbon skins and came out pretty well- its difficult to see from the picture how they add into the overall structure but should come clear soon.

Some of the first straightener vanes

We have managed to find some high quality epoxy resin thanks to MCMC in Bristol and also aerospace grade CF thanks to the University. Over the next few months we will be building and assembling all of the composite parts and also all of the remaining parts for transmissions and engines.

For 2010 we are building a prototype of an integrated GPS speedo and engine management/datalogger- including EGT and tacho- thanks to Husstech.

I wanted to get there ready for practice straight away as this was a new course.  The extra time put in was worth it as i managed to get plenty of practice on the new course, the craft lapped up the long lakes and was set up well for the first race.

Pete and Matt Gill let me have a few laps in their F1 number 20 which was something else! Id never experienced acceleration like that before on motorbikes or any other vehicle!

In race 1 started in 3rd on the grid and managed to get away into the lead straight away which was how it stayed all race! Even though i had pulled away from the rest of the field who were battling amongst themselves i still kept on full pace to keep as i had Jamie in the Storm RS in the back of my mind, who had taken away a few 1st places on the last corner before! It didn’t happen this time though!

For the second race i was on pole with Jamie next to me, this was going to be a tight battle, i knew he still had the edge but his engine oiled up on the line and he was left way behind in the field. So i managed to get away in 1st again and turned down the pace for most of this race- no point flipping the craft on the water exit jumps! I came through to win this race as well which was slightly boring not actually racing anyone, but still not complaining with a win! A few times i felt an intermittent bogging and fading problem that felt like it could have been worn bearings which was not good, i thought i might have fixed it so carried on in the open race.

I also went out in the open race at the end of the day which was great fun and i managed to get Dave Polfrey in his fast F2, although he was having problems on the water, just where my craft was loving it.

On the Sunday morning i went to start the engine which did first pull as usual, then stopped dead instantly and felt like it had seized. We checked over the engine and freed it up so it span as normal again. There was no visible problem in the engine so we suspected either dying main engine or transmission bearings. I tried to start it again for the first race in red mist mode but it seized permanently this time. The problem was the transmission block bearing which i planned to check on the Christmas overhaul (bottom of this page) but never did so they had been on the craft the whole time it has run. This meant i couldn’t compete in the Sunday races- so i took out Fran’s spare craft in the last race and had some fun, cheers Fran!

Overall i came 4th for the weekend giving me 3rd Place overall in the UK F3 championship! All in all a great season, cant wait for next years world champs!

The first race was jump started by me then red flagged twice when people were flipping on the water section; this means you have to go back to the pits and go out after the next race. So it was a while until the first race began in earnest but i got away in first position straight away and began to build a small lead over the pack. I knew that Jamie was gaining on me in his 100hp Storm craft so i made sure i looked behind! He caught up by about the 4th lap and was right on my tail for the rest of the race. Every corner i had to check where he was and go very tight. For the last few laps he was right behind me and we were even side by side a few times where i got the first water entrance wrong! On the final corner i went wide and he nipped through to take the win in the best race i have ever been in. I didn’t realise it was the last lap (didnt see the last lap board because i was so busy looking behind to see where he was) and i had gone wide to get a better overtaking line for a back marker just past the finish line… wont be making that mistake again

I missed the one Sunday race due to ‘ unforseen circumstances’… so came 4th overall, but this still bumped me upto 3rd overall in the championship.

I had fun in a few open races with some carnage on the lake and very close racing.

For the last race i gave the blades a tiny bit more pitch and i managed to win the race coming from 2nd on the grid to Rick. A great meeting!

5 racing craft flew around a small circuit to show the crowd what it was all about, generating a lot of interest! Thanks to Nikki Turnbull for the pic and thanks to QinetiQ for supporting the display.

It was borderline whether or not i would be racing at this event due to my elbow so i was sitting on the grid of the first race planning to sit at the back of the pack and go slowly. The arm had felt fine in practice, although i was finding the course very tough- i couldnt get the rhythm on the bumpy land sections and i was on the edge at a lot of the corners. But as the lights went i got a good start and was in the thick of it! In 6th for a few laps and gradually moved into 4th place. I exchanged knocks with Phil Hall and got into 3rd, and eventually 2nd after coming off well going through traffic.

The next two races were also great fun with plenty of jostling for positions and in some places due to luck and some craft advantage i managed to end up 2nd in both races. It was looking like craft with a shaft driven lift fan (shafties) had the advantage here as they can take long sweeping corners faster. The Venom craft which have 1 fan for lift and thrust are lighter but didnt seem to have the edge here.

In the last race i got a great start straight into 1st place and for the first few laps i had a chance to widen the gap, as Dave, who had convincingly won the previous three races struggled to get past Jess in her Pink Venom. As soon as i relaxed slightly i saw him coming up behind me, by about lap 5 he was right in my thrust air behind me, i had to deal with backmarkers and anticipate his next move. We went down the water section side by side for the last two laps but i just managed to keep in front and finally i saw the final lap flag! I just concentrated on keeping my line and nearly lost it at the last hairpin where there was a yellow flag. Finally i could actually do a victory lap!

Looking forward to Southampton at the end of August, will it be the Venoms or the shafties who come out on top at this tight, twisty course?

Thanks to Rebecca at Hovercraftvideo.co.uk, Roger at RLRdigital.co.uk and Chris Barr for the pics!