June 10, 2019 - 1713 views
Colwyn Bay burst into life over the weekend with a spectacular world wide event with roots in the slightly sunnier climes of Florida in the USA.
The P1 Aqua X Championships visited North Wales for the very first time bringing scores of spectators down to Porth Eirias to see the country’s leading jet ski professionals battle it out in a series of adrenalin pumped races.
Despite very challenging conditions on Saturday, the event went to plan with the exception of two smaller races which were carried forward to Sunday’s programme.
Dave Evans a local jet ski enthusiast from Abergele said it was a very well run event which not only catered for the national jet ski scene but also for local people too.
He said “I know of visitors from as far away as Chester and Manchester who have been looking forward to this event for weeks and organisers have ensured that everything including the presentations and the racing had a bit of American showbiz and glitz about it".
The event was hosted by Colwyn Bay Jet Ski Club and Colwyn Bay Watersports and featured a number of first time competitors from the local scene.
Phil Pope from Derbyshire showed why he is a multiple UK champion with a clean sweep of victories in the Pro Enduro class. Welsh amateur riders James Roberts and Nigel Williams impressed in the 300 class, with James recording his first overall win the AquaX championships.
Councillor Louise Emery, Conwy County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member, said: “We’re thrilled to have been part of the P1 AquaX UK series. To see the fast-growing and exciting championship in Colwyn Bay highlighted that Conwy County is the right environment to stage great events.”
Supporting the race weekend were Colwyn Bay Watersports, a community interest company founded in 2012 to realise the potential of the superb new facilities at Porth Eirias, and the local Jet Ski Club. Two of its members – Lucy Barrow and Derek Turner competed in the Sprint class.
Lisa Barsby, Global Head of P1 AquaX and herself a former world champion jet skier, commented: “This was our first visit to North Wales and Porth Eirias is a great venue for our UK series. We have enjoyed working with the local community and hope to be back next year.”
P1’s extensive 2019 race calendar, which sees the international marine motorsport promoter staging more than 20 events on three continents through to November will see some of Britain’s leading jet ski riders competing twice in Wales with Porthcawl staging the UK season finale.
P1 Aqua X is a very popular event in the United States and has expanded right across the globe. Results from the weekend's racing can be found here.
