Vastly experienced hydroplane racer Nigel Edwards who in addition to his own racing is keen to see the sport move forward, so he took on the role of main Junior Training Officer a few years ago and has trained more than ten juniors in the last two years, most of whom are now successful, or soon to be, national competitors.

Edwards own racing career started back in 1989 in a Crescent Stock 500 Hydroplane. A year later he moved to the OSY400 class where he competed at national level and at two World Championships in Sweden. He then raced SS45 Hydroplanes and took the national speed record on Lake Windermere at 75.13mph which still stands today. He moved into 0350 Hydroplanes in 1995 and had tremendous success in the class both in the UK and internationally, his most impressive years being 2007 when, competing against twenty seven other racers, he took the bronze medal in the four round UIM European Championship series. In 2002 he set the national speed record on Lake Windermere at 104.16mph and that year he also secured bronze in the World Championships in Italy. He still holds the accolade of highest placed British racer in a laydown hydroplane World Championship. His love of the class has seen him travel far and wide across both Europe and America, unfortunately though, a lack of engine reliability has meant he no longer sees himself competitive at the top international level and he has been forced to concentrate solely on home championships in the last four years. 

Despite his ongoing passion for hydroplanes and his full support of the class at national level, during the 2012 season he competed in the GT30 National Championship, where he found the class much harder to race than the hydro “they make it look easy, but they are a nightmare to control” said Edwards.

In 2013 he was offered the chance to run nationally in the Monohull T850 class with the kind loan of boat and engine from “Friends in the North” at the LPRC club. It was a steep learning curve but one which Nigel took on with enthusiasm and he had some tight battles with fellow racer Jason Brewer throughout the season, taking fifth place overall in the National Championship and fourth in the Sprint Championship. 

This year has seen him continue in T850 with a different boat and engine, also kindly loaned from friends within the sport, and he took third place at the Lowestoft national followed by consistent fourth places at Lancashire, Kingsbury and Chasewater. He now has his sights firmly set on the Sprint title at home club Stewartby this weekend.

Nigel thoroughly enjoys racing in this “back to grass roots” class, but finds it as challenging as the hydroplane for different reasons. “Having raced hydroplanes for twenty five years I know how to best handle them on the water but the mono is completely different” he said. “A year after taking up the class it still throws some difficulties at me which I am keen to overcome as I aim for the front of the pack. It’s also hard going physically, sitting in the mono might look easier than laying down but I’m used to racing on flat calm waters and not being thrown around every inch of the circuit which I do in that mono.”

When not in a boat himself, he is an active member of Stewartby Powerboat Committee and is very much involved with pre-race and on the day organisation and preparation. He is also the Chief Scrutineer within the club and also gets involved with decision making at a higher level as he sits on the Circuit Racing Committee as the Stewartby delegate. As if that’s not enough, he can also be seen supporting his twelve year old niece, Tiegen Goodfellow, in the GT15 class at various races.