Good Boy Vodka And Silverline Share 2023 UKOPRA Class 1 World Championship Title – Speed on the Water
After slugging it out for five races, both the Good Boy Vodka and Silverline teams were in position to claim the 2023 United Kingdom Offshore Powerboat Racing Association Class 1 World Championship heading into today’s offshore endurance contest in Southampton. And both teams, which field canopied V-bottoms from Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats, did exactly that. Each finished the series with 1,725 points, which tied them for first place overall.
The Good Boy Vodka team will share the 2023 United Kingdom Offshore Powerboat Racing Association Class 1 World Championship title with the Silverline team. Photo courtesy Rob Lockyer.
The Goodboy Vodka team runs a 43-footer from the Bristol, R.I. company, while Silverline campaigns a 52-footer.
Reached shortly after he and teammate Scott Younger took the podium following the contest, Good Boy Vodka team-owner Rob Lockyer described today’s action as “unbelievable.”
“We battled it out with Silverline over 90 miles and swapped the lead several times on the final run into the Solent,” he said. “After some rough conditions, we broke a blade on one of our props with eight miles to go. But we managed to get over the line on one engine and secure second place for today’s race, which brought us level on the championship that we share with the silver line for the 2023 season.”
Heading into the 2023 series, Lockyer’s primary was claiming victory in Cowes-Torquay-Cowes, the penultimate—and most grueling—race of the series. But that wasn’t to be as mechanical issues dogged the Good Boy Vodka team and the Silverline team of Miles Jennings and Drew Langdon took the win. The victory was the seventh for Jennings, which made him the winningest driver in the Cowes event’s history.
Jennings and Langdon claimed victory in today’s Southampton race.
Earlier this season in the United States, Jennings—who could not be reached for comment went this story went live—shared the cockpit of the Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 XINSURANCE/Good Boy Vodka team with Alex Pratt, the founder of thriving spirit and hard seltzer brand. Though Pratt sponsored Jennings’ chief rivals in the UKOPRA series, and plans to return as a backer in 2024, he and Jennings remain close friends.
“Just as I was happy for Miles and disappointed for the Rob, after Cowes-Torquay-Cowes, I am delighted for Rob now,” said Pratt, who joined Lockyer in the cockpit for the Cowes contest. “Rob is the man. He has been nothing but a stand-up gentleman and a great friend, so I’m thrilled with his result this season.
“We’re all excited for the Good Boy Vodka offshore racing team,” he added. “And we can’t wait to come back next year.”
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