By Tamica Garnett
Greatly overshadowing day one’s confusing proceedings, day two of the Fast and Furious Regatta and Stunt Show got off with a bang and enthralled spectators all the way.
Soliciting the assistance of comedians Kirk “Chow Pow” Jardine and Lydon “Jumbie” Jones, the Regatta took on a vibrant atmosphere.
With the music blaring viewers were submitted to suspenseful boat races, captivating stunt shows and enjoyable activities that they were given the opportunity to participate in.
In a thrilling turn of events the many stunts performed by stuntman Alexandre Sampaio took second place to the exhilarating boats races.
Even though the Regatta had a repeating limited number of participants in the races, patrons were caught up in the races as the spectators supported their hopefuls.
The 225 HP races dominated the attention of the patrons with arguments ensuing among patrons defending the boats that had their confidence. Though Randy Belle and his boat Wave Runner never let up, triumphing in all their races, competition demanded that they step up their game.
Commencing his successful trend Belle gained easy wins in his first two events, the five-lap 225 HP race and 225 HP Drag race. In the first race he rode in ahead of Quick Silver driven by Clarence Belle and Jaguar, driven by Dave Scott in the second race which pushed Quick Silver to third.
The final 225 HP was the peak of the day’s excitement, as Scott made it evident that he was out to give Wave Runner a run for its money. But engine trouble forced Scott to relinquish the fight as he attended to his engine, leaving Wave Runner clear for first place position.
Nevertheless, cries from the crowd over Jaguar’s demise proved to be premature as Scott proved that the Jaguar was a fighter. The boat made a comeback to battle it out with Quick Silver for second place. Amongst cheers from the crowd Jaguar and Quick Silver were neck to neck until Jaguar out smarted Quick Silver on the final turn and slyly slid into second place.
Fourth place finisher Monty Belle, in Sir Conan, put up a feeble fight and found himself one lap behind the other three boats by the end of the race.
As the four returned in The Race of Champions, Dave Scott got the opportunity he needed to show Randy Belle that his Jaguar was competition to be feared.
Scott gained a head start and put up an assiduous fight in the four lap race with the tense crowd contemplating that Jaguar was going to leave Wave Runner in its dust. However, Belle once again proved he was the best of the best, economizing when Jaguar slacked up in the third lap Belle shot out establishing his first place position.
Meanwhile Sir Conan, who could not compete against the big engines, didn’t even bother to finish the fourth lap after Quick Silver calmly slid into its third place position.
In the Jet Ski category Bobby Rasul won the first race against Hamley Martindale, but settled for second place in the next two races when Georgetown’s Kirk Paton entered the scene.
Henry Da Silva in his boat Passa Passa won the first place ahead of Monty Belle in the 90 HP drag race, while Belle returned to claim first place in front of Da Silva in the four lap 90 HP event, Ganesh Singh retained third place in both events.
There was some conflict in the final 90 HP event when supporters questioned Belle’s victory claiming a false start. The speculation was that Belle was turning to position himself at the starting line, but instead of lining up he turned and took off.
There were angry calls from spectators for the race to “go over”, however through the officials’ decision Belle retained his victory.
