Engines at the ready for Coniston Power Boat Records Week
Thrill seekers flock to Coniston Water to attempt to break powerboat world records
World record hopefuls are gathering on Coniston Water as the annual powerboat event returns to Cumbria.
The Water Speed Record event, which is in its 51st year, will see boats of all sizes piloted by drivers as young as nine years old tested to their limits to make history.
The 2023 event will run from Monday 30 October to Friday 3 November.
For almost a hundred years powerboat record attempts have been made across water in the region including Ullswater, Windermere and Coniston Water.
This week's youngest competitor, nine-year-old Tate Mantripp, is hoping to follow in his cousin's footsteps to win a British record in the G15 category.
This year's event has also seen innovative competitors look to become more environmentally friendly.
Ted Walsh, who has taken part in the event numerous times, will this year compete with a new electric-powered racing boat.
Speaking to ITV Border, Ted said: "What we've been working on over the last few months is converting this boat to electricity as it seems to be the modern way of doing things.
"We're very much an experiment for everybody here at Records Weekend for us in operating this sort of craft.
"It's only the second craft of its type, certainly in the UK, if not the world."
Ted was also the first to pilot the restored Bluebird craft belonging to Donald Campbell, whose legacy hangs over the event. He died attempting a world speed record in 1967.
He continued: "For the longest time I've always called Coniston the habitual home of water speed records. And it is exactly that.
"It was a great honour in 2018 to be able to pilot the rebuilt Bluebird on the Isle of Bute and that was a great experiment for the team and we learned a lot about how the engine was set up and all the rest of it, but it showed the boat for what it was worth."
Local businesses have praised the event for giving their footfall a welcomed boost as the tourist season comes to an end.
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