BRITISH champions in the lower spec Zapcat category, moving up to powerboat racing’s equivalent of formula one racing brought an unexpected complication to Dave and Ashleigh Finlayson’s team dynamics.
Previously reliant on a experience and intuitive understanding of what they required of one another life should have been made easier by the technology available on the ‘Spirit of Inverclyde’ P1 Panther, but this is a father and daughter partnership… “That’s the first time we’ve raced a boat that has comms, so she was telling me what lines to take, but obviously I had the steering wheel, so I was deciding what lines I was actually going to take,” Dave explained.
“So we went from discussing to tactics, to having a full-blown argument and then silence.”
He laughed as he explained it and, in the cold light of day, Ashleigh can see the funny side too, while offering additional insight into how the competitive relationship works.
“Let’s just say we had a bit of a disagreement over which lines to take and he told me he was the driver, he had the steering wheel and said ‘I’ll decide where we’re going,’ which I definitely had a reply for, but I think that’s where the father daughter thing comes in because you’re not scared to say anything you want to say,” she said.
“If you’re just two friends in a boat together you maybe don’t call each other out quite as much as we do and I think that’s part of how we’ve got to where we have, because we’re very open and very willing to call it out.”
It pretty much has to be that way in a sport in which, as has happened, Ashleigh has been flung from the boat when a manoeuvre has gone wrong, while on one occasion they even found themselves giving an unexpected lift to their rivals when their boat landed on top of them.
“It was double-deckered which is not how boats are meant to be and he was on the under-side of it,” said Ashleigh. “I pushed it off further on to him. I didn’t mean to, I was trying to push it off him, but it didn’t work out quite like that and I trapped him underneath it.
“That one wasn’t bad because we were both in the boat. There have been a few others that have been almost my fault, because it’s my job to keep the front of the boat down and when it doesn’t it flips up, so there’s been a few times when that happened, but because I’ve been out of the boat I don’t get the blame so much.”
Naturally her mother is not slow to remind Dave of his responsibilities, but as Ashleigh noted: “I think he still gets told to take it easy and be nice, but he knows I’ll still be there going: ‘Come on, push it harder.’”
This weekend’s Scottish Grand Prix of the Sea in Greenock is, however, their first opportunity to properly challenge their rivals after their introduction to this class of racing in Denmark last month.
“We came good in Denmark,” said Dave.
“For our first race in the P1 Panther it was a it was a great event for us, because we were classed as the rookies so had to start on the outside of the grid which was quite frustrating when we qualified quicker. But we got a good result. We were equal fifth (of 11 boats) overall, but because the boat that was equal with us had a quicker qualifying time they’ve got fifth position, we got sixth.”
In front of a home crowd which will attract tens of thousands to the shore side in Greenock, they aim to move up through the gears in a boat that is capable of getting to 80 mph.
“We’re going to push hard because we always do. Hopefully there won’t be any mechanical issues and the gloves are off,” Dave promised.
• The 2017 P1 Scottish Grand Prix of the Sea takes place at Greenock Esplanade today and tomorrow and is free to attend. Visit www.p1superstock.co.uk for more info
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