Tonka and Stacey Simpson survived a near catastrophe to pull off a stunning upset in yesterday’s Around the Island Power Boat Race.But a mishap early in the race threatened to bring the Simpsons’ afternoon to a grinding halt.“We hit a ferry boat’s wave in Hamilton Harbour that sent us up in the air,” said pilot Tonka, who was visibly shaken up by the ordeal. “We did an 180 and almost lost it.“It was nasty and all we could do was hold on and wish for the best and once we got out of it we just kept going.”Co-pilot Stacey added: “I was a little nervous but I have trust in my brother because I know he knows what he’s doing.”The Simpsons successfully defended their FB class title after snatching the lead for good from early pacesetters Chad Sutherland and Luke Parker near Pompano Beach and never looking back.“It felt great to win my first Around the Island Race and it was nice racing with my brother who did a fantastic job,” Tonka said. “This is my third race so the first two years I have had a lot of practice to get myself to where I am now.“Our strategy was to stay close to the shore and do our best and hope for the best and in the end everything worked out fine. The conditions were fabulous till we got to Pompano Beach corner and Elbow Beach where it was choppy for us small boats.”The victorious pilot admitted his win surpassed expectations.“I was looking to be in the top five because I know the D boats are running pretty fast,” he said. “But in racing it’s anybody’s race.”Co-pilot Stacey echoed his brother’s sentiments.“I didn’t expect this,” he said. “But it was nice to win.”The D Class boat piloted by the team of Mackie Wilson and Graham Sutherland (43:27) was the second across the line followed by another D Class boat piloted by 18-year race veteran Bobby DeCosta and Chris Wells (43:40) in third.That DeCosta and Wells made it to the finish was nothing shy of miraculous after they collided with the pylons at the entrance to Ferry Reach, speeding along at 60 miles per hour.“I was hoping to give the boat back to my sponsor unscratched,” DeCosta joked moments after flirting with disaster. “We emptied the ballast tank in the front by the Oil Docks which makes the boat really light.“We went to make the turn and the back end started to slide out and when it caught, the pylon was right there and there was nothing we could do so we hit it and almost ended up on the rocks.”Also setting a new class record was the team of Anthony and Andy Stoneham who clocked the day’s fastest time of 33 minutes and 35 seconds on the way to seizing S class honours.The S class boats started more than 20 minutes after the A class boats which were first out of Ferry Reach.A class honours went to Tony and Jody Carreiro (1:08.20), Mark Selley and Jordon Every won the B class (52.11), Quincy Dowling and Eric DeSilva won the SD class (51:42), Shayne Furbert and Ryan Rebello captured the E class (47.46), Wilson and Sutherland won the D class while Henry Talbot and Howard Ascento won the C class.There was no official time provided for the team of Talbot and Ascento at press time last night.A total of 18 boats started yesterday’s race but only 14 made it to the finish.Among those forced to retire were Phillip Correia and Jason Lopes (PX25 class), Andrew Osbourne and David Selley (FB class), Shaun Butterfield and Jermal Woolridge (D class) and Steven Eversley and Brandon Franks (D class).