Cornwall amateur race boat team raising £40k after serious crash

Racing boat team raising funds after serious crash An amateur boat racing team run by a group of mechanics from Cornwall has begun an online fundraising campaign to fix its vessel after it was damaged in a race collision.

Eastwood Racing's Double Trouble was in second place in the UK offshore racing series but withdrew after suffering serious damage when it collided with another boat in September.

Members of the group who look after the £150,000 vessel said they were competing against "a good share of millionaires but we're definitely not in that category" and were a grassroots team.

The team boss says he was "uncomfortable" launching an appeal for £40,000 as "there's definitely more worthy charities", but added they were all volunteers.

Gary Aldington runs Eastwood from his car garage in Penryn and races the boat as throttle operator.

The vessel needs £40,000 worth of repairs on top of an annual £60,000 of operating costs and volunteers a total of 50 hours a week.

The work will see a 6m (20ft) section of the hull removed and rebuilt.

Double Trouble runs on two nine-litre supercharged V8 engines, with about 900 horsepower each, and can run at 130mph (210km/h) in seas with wind conditions of up to force 5.

At those speeds in rough conditions, Mr Aldington said the crew "definitely... get battered; it's a rough sport, but it's really good fun".

He said: "We had a sharp turn, we came around the mark and another competitor who cut across the inside and didn't make the turn and came into us.

"Initially I thought we were going to sink because the water was coming in, so it was all about trying to save things and get the boat back onto dry land.

"We were hoping we would come to an agreement with the other competitor but we couldn't get enough from him, so we're dealing with it on our own."

The boat has been stripped of the engines, all of its electrics, wiring and fittings and is due to be sent off elsewhere to have the hull repaired.

It was hoped the boat would be repaired and put back together to resume racing in the new year, the team said.