Quincé Dowling and Tai Bean basked in glory as they proudly paraded the coveted chequered flag in front of hundreds of spectators gathered at Ferry Reach yesterday.

The pair pulled off a stunning double in the prestigious Rubis Around the Island Powerboat Race in trying conditions that were certainly not for the faint of heart.

They claimed C Class honours and more significantly led the entire fleet across the finish for the first time — a much sought after yet highly elusive feat that caught them by surprise.

“I told Tai to look behind around St David’s and he didn’t see anybody, so I said we might be in front but wasn’t sure,” Dowling, the driver, told The Royal Gazette.

“When we came across the finish line, they [race officials] said we were No 1, and I am happy with that.

“First time feels good. Had class honours before, but not overall.

“It is definitely extra special because everybody wants that. Everybody wants to win overall.”

Echoing his colleague’s sentiments, co-pilot Bean added: ”We didn’t really know we were in front until we actually got here.

“Right until the end we found out we were in front because we thought A26 [Shane Madeiros and Errin Butterfield] were in front of us.

“It was a rush. We have had class honours before, but this our first overall.

“It is great and is what we have been working for, so I am happy.”

The pair’s journey was anything but smooth, as they encountered setbacks along the way that could have ended their day early.

First their manifold boat was flooded with water while attempting to fill a ballast tank and then they nosedived just after passing Pompano Beach in pursuit of the boats ahead of them.

“When I went to fill the ballast tank, all of the water dumped into the boat, so I couldn’t fill up the ballast tank,” Bean explained.

“Since we didn’t have any water in the tank, when we came around South Shore we hit the first wave and nosedived right in.

“Water was all in the boat and Quincy looked down and noticed the hose had came off the ballast tank, so I took a hose and shoved it in the overflow and filled the tank that way as best I could and we carried on the race.”

Dowling doubted that he and his colleague would be able to overcome their ordeal.

“I didn’t think we were going to make it,” he said. “But we endured and came through.

“This boat can handle the rough weather and my copilot kept me calm down South Shore.

“He kept me tame because I wanted to put my foot down. But he was like, ‘Time it, make sure everything is right so we don’t break anything. Let’s just finish’.”

Dowling and Bean took the lead near Elbow Beach and held off S class winners Henry Talbot and Andrew Cottingham, whom they pipped at the line by mere seconds.

“Unfortunately, we were just a little off the pace to get the [overall] win, but we came in close second, so we are happy,” copilot Cottingham said.

“We came first in the S Class, so on a whole we did well and are happy with the result.”

Talbot and Cottingham closed the gap on overall leaders Dowling and Bean in their catamaran in the latter stages of the race but were unable to pass them.

“As we were coming around by Oil Docks, I could see Quincy heading to come in and when we came in Ferry Reach they were heading across the finish,” driver Talbot said. “The gap that they had was about 30-40 seconds, so it was close.”

It also proved to be a special occasion for driver Brandon DeSilva and co-pilot Blake Burgess, who retained their BV class title.

“It feels great to be back in one piece; myself, my copilot and the boat,” DeSilva said.

“It was definitely a fun race and I have to thank Blake because he was really on everything.”

The pair also endured a few hairy moments in their Phantom boat during the race.

“We almost put it underwater a few times, but Brandon had the trim set right,“ Burgess said.

“It was really rough but we held it together, which was the big thing. You wouldn’t take your Whaler down there at 20mph, so imagine doing it in a 19ft boat at 50mph.

“We are going to feel it tomorrow, but a 24-year-old boat went around again!”

Claiming the vacant D Class title were driver Bobby DaCosta and copilot David Willoughby in their manifold boat.

“This is my fifth time winning class honours and it still feels as good as the first one,” DaCosta said.

Defending their A Class title were the team of Madeiros and Butterfield, who were also relieved to withstand the trying conditions in their Phantom boat.

“It was not A Class weather today. Conditions told the truth today,” Madeiros said.

“Thank you very much to Errin Butterfield and always Devil’s Isle Racing. Without those guys, we would not be doing anything.”

Butterfield added: “It was rough on South Shore and first of all I am happy that the whole fleet got back; that’s the main thing.”

Philip Raposo and Rico Smith were the sole entry in the B class.

Rapaso was driving for the first time while copilot Smith was making his race debut.

Two of the 16-boat field were forced to retire while another pulled out just before the start.

Junior race honours went to Trystan Hocking, with Ryan McLean and Adi Ible taking second and third.

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