The P1 Scottish Grand Prix of the Sea was an annual two day marine motorsport event held in Greenock in Scotland. [1] The event hosted around 30,000 spectators and was free to attend. Spectators gathered on the Greenock Esplanade to view the boat races and in 2016 the event was also made available on a number of international television networks including Sky Sports in the UK. The Esplanade hosted a number of exhibition and trade stands, and featured food and drink stands from high end Glasgow and Edinburgh food producers. [2] There are races for a number of classes of offshore powerboat and jet ski. The event is considered the premier marine motorsport event in the UK.
The event brought roughly £2.3m into the Greenock economy each year and was hosted by Inverclyde Council and Riverside Inverclyde. [3] The event has sponsorship from a number of local and international firms, including the UK's largest ferry network operator. The event is additionally supported by the Royal Navy's HM Naval Base Clyde, who also help out with security and policing. [4] The event had served as an opportunity for the Scottish and wider UK marine leisure industry to showcase their products and network, serving as an unofficial boat show. The event drew a number of high-profile attendees, including the First Minister of Scotland. [5]
Despite success and Inverclyde council putting budget aside to host again in 2018 the event organisers P1 SuperStock decided not to carry on with the event, and to instead direct their resources towards the USA championship and developing the sport in Asia. [6]
Offshore powerboat racing is a type of racing by ocean-going powerboats, typically point-to-point racing.
Inverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which currently exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area – located in the west central Lowlands. It borders the North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire council areas, and is otherwise surrounded by the Firth of Clyde.
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles. The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula, which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. Within the Firth of Clyde is another major island – the Isle of Bute. Given its strategic location at the entrance to the middle and upper Clyde, Bute played a vital naval military role during World War II.
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.
Port Glasgow is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 states that the population has declined to 15,414. It is located immediately to the east of Greenock and was previously a burgh in the county of Renfrewshire.
Inverclyde is a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced Greenock and Inverclyde and the Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm areas from West Renfrewshire for the 2005 general election.
Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, 7+1⁄2 miles southeast of Greenock and around 15 miles (24 km) west of the city of Glasgow. The village has a population of around 4,000 and is part of a wider civil parish which covers a large rural hinterland of 15,000 hectares containing within it the smaller settlement of Quarrier's Village, originally established as a 19th-century residential orphans' home.
Wemyss Bay railway station serves the village of Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde, Scotland. The station is a terminus on the Inverclyde Line, about 26 miles (42 km) west of Glasgow Central. The station incorporates the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry terminal connecting mainland Scotland to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail.
Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It contains the local government council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, as well as parts of Glasgow and is occasionally named Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish the county from the modern council area.
The Tail of the Bank is the name given to the anchorage in the upper Firth of Clyde immediately North of Greenock, between Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute. This area of the Firth gets its name from the deep water immediately to the west of the sandbank which marks the entrance to the navigable channel up the Estuary of the River Clyde.
Inverclyde Council is one of the 32 local authorities of Scotland. Created in 1995, its administrative centre is based in Greenock and its territory covers the area of Inverclyde in the west of Scotland, taking over from the local government district of the same name and area which existed under the larger Strathclyde region, which was established in 1975. Prior to that, the territory was part of the historic county of Renfrewshire.
Ferguson Marine Ltd. is a shipbuilding company, with a yard located in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the last remaining shipbuilder on the lower Clyde, and is currently the only builder of merchant ships on the river - the company's mainstay has long been Roll-on/roll-off ferries, primarily for Caledonian MacBrayne, the largest of which will operate between Ardrossan and Isle of Arran. Ferguson's also built three of the world's first roll-on/roll-off Hybrid powered car ferries MV Catriona, MV Hallaig and MV Lochinvar. As of February 2021, work is in progress on MV Glen Sannox, which is Ferguson's largest product ever built, and its sister ship currently known as Hull 802.
Stuart McMillan is a Scottish politician serving as Convener of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Greenock and Inverclyde since 2016, having previously represented the West of Scotland region from 2007 to 2016.
Victory Team is a government-owned offshore powerboat racing team and builder from the United Arab Emirates. It is one of Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum's several business interests and is considered to be one of the most successful teams in the sport. It currently competes in the Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship, Aquabike World Championship (powerboating), Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, doing so since its inaugural season in 1992.
Opatija Circuit, also known as Preluk Circuit and the Kvarner Circuit, was a motorsport street circuit in Opatija, Croatia. The circuit used the city streets of the seaside resort situated on the Kvarner Gulf between 1931 and 1977. It was known as the "Monaco" of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuit because of its dramatic views of the Adriatic Sea.
Fort Matilda is a suburb at the far western edge of Greenock, Scotland. Its name comes from a coastal battery built on Whiteforeland Point 1814–1819 to defend the River Clyde.
The UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship is an international motorboat racing competition for powerboats organized by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM). It is the premier class of offshore powerboat racing in the world.
P1 SuperStock is a powerboat racing series with a United States, and formerly a United Kingdom, championship.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to motorsport across the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Across the world and to varying degrees, events and competitions have been cancelled or postponed.
The St. Pete Powerboat Grand Prix is an American annual racing event held in Saint Petersburg, Florida with professional-class racing powerboats. It is held on the downtown waterfront adjacent to the St. Petersburg Municipal Pier. The event is organized by the Powerboat P1 organization in conjunction with the City of Saint Petersburg, Florida. The event is held on Labor Day weekend in the United States. The first race was held in 2021. Visit St. Pete/Clearwater is the presenting sponsor of the event. The event hosts racing teams from he American Power Boat Association (APBA) Offshore Championship Series and P1 AquaX Series. The event is televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network and also on Bally Sports Regional Networks.