Powerboat racing returns to Thames

The crafts can travel at speeds of up to 75mph

Powerboat racing has returned to London for the first time since the 1980s with competitions along the Thames on Saturday and Sunday.

Some 18 crafts crossed the finishing line in Saturday's 40-mile Grand Prix event from the Tower of London to Southend in Essex.

The crafts, all Honda Formula 4-Stroke models, make up the largest powerboat fleet in the world.

The two-day event forms part of the 2002 Championships for that model.

The race passed many of London's landmarks

Families and friends of the competitors lined the banks of the Thames to watch the flotilla speed past.

It included 20 130bhp boats, plus a fleet of four 225bhp crafts.

The faster boats can travel at speeds of up to 75 mph.

Iain McLean from Fife and Peter Moore from Poole in Dorset won the 130bhp series race in boat H-4.

Entrants in Saturday's race included British American Racing Formula One test driver Ryo Fukada.

Greenwich start

Fukuda said before the 40-mile race: "I'm looking forward to racing past famous London landmarks such as the Millennium Dome and the Thames Barrier."

The boats are to return to St Katharine's Dock in East London on Saturday night.

Sunday's leg of the Grand Prix will begin at Greenwich, and also end in Southend-on-Sea.

Olympic Gold medal rower James Cracknell will be at the controls of one boat.

Cracknell, who won gold in Sydney in 2000, said: "I'm looking forward to racing down the Thames with an engine to propel me."

The next stage of the 2002 Championships will be on 29 June in Scotland, followed by further races in Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight.