Power of a woman

THE_Middle East's first ever Powerboat P1 Grand Prix will be held in Bahrain in October and, for the first time in the history of the event, a woman will compete in one of the toughest categories of the race.

Shelley Jory, from Southampton, UK, will be the first female to participate in the 'Evolution Class' - a daredevil section of the race with no speed limit.

Shelley will be a major draw at the event when she comes to Bahrain in October to wrap up this year's race which will begin on May 9 in Italy. Shelley is today 'one of UK's leading offshore powerboat racers' and the 'top female in her sport'.

She is also the second woman to compete in a Powerboat P1 Grand Prix race.

Launched five years ago, the Powerboat P1 Grand Prix is becoming bigger and better every year, with the 2008 race set to include 24 participants from 11 countries.

Speaking about the race Shelley said: "I am nervous but honoured!

"I am very excited to be part of Powerboat P1 2008 - it's one of my racing challenges coming true. I have made it to the top of my sport, I just have to perform well now."

And it could be a double celebration if she wins. The 37-year-old bridal shop owner may well become a bride herself. She will be racing against her partner, Trevor, a marine engineer and a P1 crew chief who she says is her 'soul mate.'

"If I beat him this year I am going to ask him to marry me!" she revealed.

Shelley has a good chance of winning. Whenever she gets the chance she revs up her speedboat and races at more than100mph.

Shelley's team Raymarine has been signed up to drive for an All-American Powerboat team, Lucas Oil.

She will race with team-owner and throttle man, Nigel Hook. They will compete in the P1 Evolution class in the Powerboat P1 World Championship Series.

The series has 14 races with more than 24 teams from 11 destinations around the world.

Preparations for the event have already begun back home. She said: "Nigel and I have been training hard in the gym and running to get our fitness levels up.

"Training in the boat, however, is a little delayed due to build delays and shipping.

"The race boat is currently being shipped as we speak to the UK from the US.

The race does not come cheap, and Shelley has also been taking time off her training to gain sponsorships.

She said: "Nigel's wife and team manager, Janet, and I work very hard trying to gain sponsorship in order for the team to remain competitive to the end of the season.

"I have been sponsored by Raymarine - an international marine electronics company - for the past five years and they have been a tremendous help to me in my racing career.

"We are three-fourths of the way to our sponsorship target at present - so still more work to be done!"

This season Shelley has a new sponsor on board with P1 called Going Lean, a fitness centre in Southampton.

"I am very lucky to be sponsored by a personal fitness trainer - James Seilo. If he wasn't in the gym every day pushing me I would not get out of bed!"

Her interest in a predominantly male sport was an accidental fall when in 1995 she was helping her boyfriend at the time, Peter Berrow, to start racing himself.

She said: "We used to watch the powerboat racing and thought it was untouchable and a millionaires' row.

"But then I became his team manager and got him started. Then I became his co-driver and began racing myself."

She bought her first racing boat in 2000 and set up her first all-girl team with navigator Darrell Elmes. In 2004, Shelley was asked to form the first all girl team in the very successful British Honda Powerboat Series.

She said: "My racing career went very fast - I was asked by other racers to co-drive for them and then got my own team."

In 2005, my all-girl team took the championships from 18 teams of men and was the first all-girl team to win the Honda Formula Four Stroke series.

She added: "I have been racing in the Honda F4SA for the past four years and I have finished on the podium every year."

In 2007, she was asked to become a 'Hondamentalist' and the face of Honda Powerboat Racing.

Aside from racing through the sea, she likes to spend days out with Trevor in their pleasure boat, a classic Cougar 33.

She said: "We enjoy cruising up and down the Solent Sea and anchoring up and watching the world go by at a slow speed."

Shelley is hoping for an exciting win, not only so she can propose but to show the boys how it's done.

"My friend Jackie Hunt, the first woman to compete in the P1 Grand Prix, did a grand job of showing the boys how to do it in the Supersport class and I hope to follow in her footsteps and win the top-class of Evolution in my first year with Nigel's help and expertise," she said.

Jim O'Toole, managing director of Powerboat P1, said: "Our reception in Bahrain has been wonderful and it has everything we are looking for in a partnership.

"We have seen a ripple impact of the Formula One in Bahrain and we feel we can do the same thing here. We position ourselves as the Grand Prix of the sea."

Supporting the P1 will be Bahrain Economic Development Board, Bahrain Maritime Association, General Organisation of Youth and Sports, Durrat Al Bahrain and Marina West.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Duaij Al Khalifa of the Bahrain Maritime Sports Association added: "We have been looking forward to hosting a top-class powerboat race in the kingdom and are delighted that Powerboat P1, the very top level of Powerboat racing has chosen to make Bahrain its home in the Middle East. We hope to build on the success of the Formula One to really establish Bahrain as the home of all types of motor sport in the region both on land and water," he said.

The Powerboat P1 Grand Prix will be held from October 23-25 at the Marina Durrat Al Bahrain, part of the Durrat Al Bahrain Development.