The Powerboat Racing crash could damage the sport’s future in Lowestoft says locals
On Thursday evening 51 year old Brett Duncan passed away after colliding with a stationary houseboat
People in Lowestoft say the future of powerboat racing in the town could be under threat after a crash in the Offshore Powerboat Racing Championships.
Emergency services were called on Thursday evening, just after 7.10 pm after a power boat collided with a stationary houseboat near the Oulton Broad Water Sports Centre. The driver, 51-year-old Brett Duncan, died at the scene. No one else was injured.
The sport is a long-standing summer tradition in Lowestoft, with many residents watching the races every Thursday. But some now fear the latest crash could cast a shadow over the event and its place in the town's calendar.
Micah Trevor-Massey told us: “I think everyone will find it devastating news, because in the summer especially, it’s every Thursday that the boats are on. It brings people down, it brings tourists… so yeah, I would say people are going to be impacted by it.”
Wendy Shakespeare said incidents like this aren’t new, and admitted it raises questions about safety: “It’s happened before, twice before I think. If that was a member of my family and they wanted to do it, I personally wouldn’t want them to. You can’t tell somebody, can you? If they want to do it, they’ll do it.”
She added, “It’s hair-raising when you watch them. It makes a hell of a noise, and they do the glide (the power boats), they literally glide on the top.
"You hear that 9-year-olds do it. I think that’s mad.”
But not everyone believes the crash will deter visitors.
Nigel Bailey told us: “I think there will be people that won’t turn up, and there’ll be people that didn’t turn up that will turn up. So I don’t think it’ll have any effect whatsoever. No one likes to see an accident, but it happens, you know.”