Flying Across

the Water

Burntwood may have seemed like a crazy

place to be doing capsize training, but there

was method in our madness as it is only a

stone’s throw from where I would be test

driving the powerboat.

HE 200-acre Chasewater Reservoir

was created in 1797 to help feed

Birmingham’s 160-mile-long canal

network. In those days the canals were an

integral part of Britain’s transport system and

industrial hinterland, and keeping them

topped up was vital. By the twentieth century

the growth of the railway network along with

the speed and convenience of road transport

meant that the canals took a back seat, and

Chasewater began to be developed for leisure

use. In 1958 it became home to the South

Staffordshire Hydroplane and Speedboat Club,

and regular race meetings were held there. It

quickly grew in popularity for racing, with

major international events being staged on the

reservoir, including 24-hour races that turned

Chasewater into the Le Mans of the powerboat

world! Unfortunately, falling water levels

caused by seepage through the dams that

were built more than 200 years ago to create

Chasewater led to it becoming too shallow

for the powerboats, and other water sports

came to dominate the reservoir – until we

came along.

T

In 2012 a two-year programme of major

remedial work on the dams was completed

and the water started to rise back to its old

level. They are hopeful that powerboat racing

will return to Chasewater, but in the meantime

our hydroplaning team gathered there to

172  HYDROPLANING MOTORBiKe

meet Jonathan Jones, four times Formula

One Powerboat World Champion, and inspect

his powerboat racer. Jonathan had raced at

Chasewater many times during his career, and

although he is now retired from racing he is still

very much involved in the sport. Jonathan set

up Dragon Powerboats in 2005, designing and

building these fantastic machines along with

engineer David Morgan.

With its spaceship styling, the Dragon F1 boat

looked pretty fast, but how fast was it really?

Jonathan was the man with the answers. ‘It

will do over 160 mph,’ he said, ‘and 0–60 mph

in 2 seconds.’ That’s fast. I could hardly believe

it. I ride racing motorbikes that would be doing

well if they could post speed and acceleration

figures like that. I said something to Jonathan

about the boat being as quick as a Formula

One car and he just smiled. ‘I raced a Formula

One car a few years ago,’ he said. ‘We were in

London’s Docklands at the City Airport. We

had the car on the runway and I was on the

water. There were traffic lights set up to start

us and we had a quarter-mile drag race. It was

close – a photo finish – but I beat the car.’

I knew that Jonathan wasn’t having me on,

but it was still difficult to imagine travelling

at speeds like that on water – then he started

talking about how they achieved them and it all

started to make sense. The boat has a 2.5-litre

Mercury outboard motor that is specially tuned

to produce 400 horsepower – that’s more

power than a modern Porsche Carrera sports

car, and in a vehicle that, at no more than 500

kilograms with the driver on board, is only one

third of the Porsche’s weight.

Yet, while a Porsche runs on fat tyres to give

it maximum grip on the road, the Dragon has

what looks like a remarkably small propeller to

push it through the water. Jonathan explained