Seven powerboat racers celebrated national success on the waters of Stewartby Water Sports Club last weekend in the culmination of the 2025 Circuit Powerboat Association British Sprint Championship.
A now annual event at Green Lane saw a spectacle of seven different classes of power boat, led by Bedford’s own, Nigel Edwards who picked up the T850 class title in a small but fiercely competitive field.
The 2025 Championship was fiercely contested, with five drivers vying for the title, although two riders suffered unfortunate breakdowns, leaving Edwards to secure pole position; a spot he would never surrender.
Over four intense heats, Edwards maintained his lead from the start, beating competition from Mark Williams and Andy Hood who won silver and bronze respectively.
On clinching the title, Edwards said: “Mark gave me a really tough battle throughout the weekend he was right behind me waiting for any error or opportunity to pass me.
“After all the hard work over the years to finally clinch the title feels amazing, I have to thank my team, sponsors and Sue for all their support and assistance over the weekend and previous campaigns.”
The GT15 class, known for fostering young talent, saw Poppy Stewart secure the championship following a strong performance in qualifying, going on to win all four heats and secure herself the sprint crown.
Joining her on the podium was Zach Jelf, who delivered a commendable performance to secure the silver medal, alongside Riley Hudson, who clinched the bronze.
Ashley Penfold, fresh off his world bronze medal success, picked up the GT30 British Sprint Championship, also securing a clean sweep of heats to pick up his crown ahead of silver medallist, Jamie Atlee and Mason Jessup who celebrated a hard-earned bronze.
Perhaps the weekend’s best performance came from James Bowman in the OSY400 class as he recovered from technical difficulties to start from the back of the grid and surge through the field to win the first heat, before dominating to claim a clean sweep of his own.
He adds a British title to a European silver medal, with Ben Sallis delivering a commendable performance to secure the silver medal alongside Jason Mantripp, who rounded out the podium with a solid effort to claim bronze.
The Outboard Hydros British Sprint Championship was hampered by high winds, but saw Jason Hart emerge victorious from the one and only heat to claim his own British title, while Alfie Sallis secured silver with James Green rounding out the podium with bronze.
Ben Morse dominated the F4 British Sprint Championship as he too won every one of the four heats in that class to take gold, while George Elmore displayed impressive tenacity to win second place ahead of Caleb Jelf who won bronze.
The final class of the weekend showcased an electrifying battle on the water as Britain’s top powerboat racers clashed in the F2 category.
Ormskirk’s Matt Palfreyman seized pole position, outpacing Owen Jelf by over half a second, which set the stage for a thrilling series of heats.
While Palfreyman dominated the first heat, Owen Jelf from Poole had other plans. In a gripping second heat, Jelf overtook Palfreyman at the top turn buoy and maintained his lead down the back straight, ultimately clinching victory.
This momentum carried Jelf through the subsequent heats, securing him the sprint championship title.
Palfreyman, despite his formidable performance, settled for silver while Owen’s nephew, Ben Jelf, rounded off the podium with a commendable bronze.
