Robert Cardwell says he is looking forward to a productive 2022 season after being returned as the Bermuda Power Boat Association’s commodore.

Members voted in favour of having the Bermuda Police Chief Inspector continue in the top post for a fourth term during the association’s Annual General Meeting held at the Blue Waters Anglers Club on Tuesday night.

“The Bermuda Power Boat Association looks forward to a productive 2022 race season, which will commence in April,“ Cardwell told The Royal Gazette.

”We are hoping to not have the distractions brought on by Covid and the associated regulations that we have seen through the 2020 and 2021 race seasons.

“Our senior powerboat racing professionals are gearing up to put on quite a show. We are hoping to have more boats signing in for the senior race categories.”

The global Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the BPBA’s 2020 season being cancelled while the start of last season was delayed from April to June.

On a more positive note, the previous campaign saw the return of a jet ski league from an 11 year absence.

“We expect more jet skis to sign up to race through 2022,” Cardwell added.

As well as the relaunch of its jet ski league, the BPBA relaunched its junior programme which proved to be extremely popular among race fans.

“The 2021 junior season was a hit for our followers and we are looking to increase this through 2022,” Cardwell said.

The association’s junior programme features participants from ages 10 to 15, who compete in the European-designed GT-15.

The 13-foot monohull is a strict one-design powered by a stock 30-horsepower engine.

The boats are built by the owners themselves from a mould provided by the BPBA, while teams have been prohibited from modifying their engines to further ensure a level playing field.

“We have brought another junior boat on line,” Cardwell said. “We have gone from four junior boats to five.”

The BPBA also introduced a cash prize incentive for the top three adult teams in each race for the first time last season.

Meanwhile, David Selley was returned as the BPBA’s deputy commodore, Janae Nesbitt as secretary and Andrew Cottingham as rear commodore during the association’s recent AGM.

Richard Davidge was also returned as treasurer and Henry Talbot, Mark Selley and Shaki Easton as flag officers, while Dakari White retained his position on the executive as the head of the jet ski league.

Jordan Fletcher, Geoffrey Willoughby and Jahlae Raynor were among newly elected members of the BPBA’s executive committee.

Fletcher and Willoughby have come onboard as additional flag officers and Raynor as deputy jet ski coordinator.

Executives David Selley and sibling Mark Selley and Fletcher enjoyed success during last year’s Rubis Around the Island Power Boat Race.

Mark Selley and co-pilot Fletcher were the first to circumnavigated the island in their Batboat V23 in 41 min 49 sec, slashing more than two minutes off the B class record of 43:52 they set during the previous race in 2019.

David Selley and co-pilot Matthew Smith were the second boat to finish and clinched the A class title in a record time of 49 min 16 sec, shaving more than a minute off the previous record of 50:19 they set two years ago in their 19-foot Phantom.