Power Boat Racing introduced to Lanka

Thushan JAYASURIYA

Power boat Racing is the latest sport which was introduced to Sri Lanka .Its a tremendous boost for water sports lovers in Sri Lanka and would help to attract more tourists to the country . As an initial step a display boat ride will be held at Cinnamon Lakeside.

It was Prasanna Ranaweera, who took great pains to bring the sport to Sri Lanka. A Director of a Baggage Service by trade, he managed to involve in this sport, as many foreign passengers carry Powerboats to their favourite holiday destinations.

He was much encouraged towards the sport as he found out there is a world class Formula F1 for power boating which attracts many participants from all over the world .

But Sri Lanka was not eligible for the F1 Championship as Sri Lanka was not on the members list of the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), the world governing body for power boating, with its headquarters in Monaco.

After making an effort , Prasanna brought the membership for Sri Lanka as the 54th nation in the world.After several inspections ,the officials from Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) decided to award the membership for Sri Lanka as the island possessed the necessary criterias.

Then , Lanka Power Boat Association was formed as a result of gaining the membership of world governing body. With the implementing of this Association, they will hope to manufacture power boats and the local boat builders will be benefited as the demand will go up. The world governing body has found out Sri Lanka as the best location in Asia and the Bolgoda Lake has been picked as the best location. There is an increasing trend for this game in Abu Dhabi, Doha Qatar and China .

There will be a display run on October 28 at Cinnamon Lakeside parallel to the opening of the the UIM's newest branch in Sri Lanka.The powerboat racing events will be held on Bolgoda lake.

"This is a huge event . We want to bring the Nations Cup next year and which is a global event. Sri Lanka is surrounded by water and we have so many lakes. The sport is similar to jet skiing. The main requirement is a surrounding with water and no need of searching for racing tracks. Places like Arugam Bay is definitely suitable for sport due the beauty and tourist attraction" added Ranaweera.

"The launch of Power Boating Association will be open to all. People can come and field the boats and take photographs of the boats. And people can talk to the professionals regarding their doubts on power boating. We are hoping to have at least one or two Formula one Races in Sri Lanka." said Ranaweera.

The members of the Sri Lanka Powerboat Association are Prasanna Ranaweera (President).Upul de Zoysa (General secretary). Chandrishan Perera (Media Director ) Ruani Wickremasekera (Chief Event Coordinator).More information regarding power boating could be obtained by Contacting Prasanna Ranaweera on 0777590555.