The Bermuda Power Boat Association has broken its silence over a potential collision alleged to have occurred in the Rubis Around the Island Powerboat Race on Sunday.

Defending S class champions Henry Talbot and Andrew Cottingham claimed they were forced into evasive action to avoid colliding with a pleasure boat while leading their division and the overall fleet near the finish at Ferry Reach.

“It could have been a tourist as it was a 13-foot Boston Whaler,” Cottingham told The Royal Gazette. “Just past the Oil Docks they sped up into our course and we had to take a quick sharp turn to avoid them.

“It’s the same thing every year, not enough volunteers to keep the course clear, and even then people are ignorant and feel they know best.

“It’s unfortunate, but there were a handful of incidents throughout the course that could have ended in injury or loss of life.”

The BPBA immediately launched an investigation into the matter and has reviewed video footage which does not show any pleasure craft posing a potential threat to competitors in the general vicinity mentioned.

“The committee did everything that they could to place crash boats at the proper locations,” Jane Nesbitt, the BPBA commodore said.

“We did have two crash boats at Fort St Catherine and another at Oil Docks.

“Apart from that, all I can say is we’re grateful there were not any serious injuries or any injuries at all coming from the day and the result of the possible boat being on the racecourse.”

Even though the video, which The Royal Gazette has seen, only shows Talbot and Cottingham and eventual S class winners and first overall finishers David Selley and Steven Bridges in the area around the Oil Docks, Cottingham is sticking to his guns.

“It was somewhere around there 100 per cent,” he said“ I spoke with Janae [Nesbitt], too. I have looked at all video footage but none shows the exact area.”

The alleged incident all but ended the title hopes of Talbot and co-pilot Cottingham.

“It caused one engine to lose water pressure, and the safety feature of the engine kicked in and limits the power down to less than half,” Cottingham added.

“As a result we had to limp in the last half-mile of the course, which resulted in getting passed by S8 [David Selley and Steven Bridges] coming into the pylons.”

Nesbitt said the matter is still being dealt with internally.

“We have investigated it internally and we’ll deal with it within the association,” she added.

The latest reported near close call comes in the wake of two previous incidents this season which saw the safety of competitors put at risk after pleasure crafts strayed on to the racecourse.

Competitors were forced to to avoid colliding into a craft that had ventured on to the racecourse during the BPBA’s season opener at Ferry Reach in May.

Just a month later, heavy marine traffic on the racecourse posed a major threat to racers during the opening event of the Wedco National Championships in Dockyard.