Devil’s Isle Racing stamped their authority on the Rubis Around the Island Powerboat Race yesterday.

The team clinched S class and A class honours and capped a memorable day by leading the entire fleet across the finish line at Ferry Reach.

The choppy conditions on the South Shore favoured the larger class boats, which Henry Talbot and co-pilot Andrew Cottingham capitalised on in their catamaran to successfully defend their S class title and claim overall line honours in 42min 41sec.

“It was a good race and it feels great to win, especially on a day like today which was very rough on South Shore,” an elated Talbot told The Royal Gazette. “North Shore was calm but as soon as you got around by Pompano Beach it got bumpy the farther you went down until you got around by Oil Docks.”

The S class were the last to start the race from Ferry Reach, with Talbot and Cottingham catching up with the remaining classes up ahead near Hogfish Beacon.

From there they gradually worked their way to the front, taking the lead of the entire fleet for good after passing an A-class entry off Hungry Bay.

“The race went according to script,” Talbot added. “We knew it was going to be calm on the North Shore and South Shore was going to be bumpy. So we tried to make as much time as we can on the North Shore and be safe on South Shore and bring the boat home.”

“We had a few moments on South Shore, but it’s all part of racing. Not every day is a good day or every part of the track is good, it just comes with racing.”

Cottingham was equally as delighted to come away with class and overall line honours.

“We guys have put in a lot of time a lot of money and thanks to all our sponsors,” he said. “We got here because of them and me and Henry did what we had to do to take the win.

“We came out here with the purpose of doing that and that’s what we did. We stayed focused on that objective only.

“This is a race of endurance and not all about the top speed. It’s about picking your right line, judging the weather and riding the waves right. We did what we had to do and came out on top.”

There was even more cause for Devil’s Isle Racing to celebrate after Shane Madeiros and Erin Butterfield claimed A class honours in 1hr 5min 14sec.

“I am absolutely excited and big thanks to Errin Butterfield,” Madeiros said. “This is actually his boat and I just want to thank him for blessing me with the opportunity to drive him.

“The whole Devil’s Isle Racing team did a lot. We took a win in A class, S class and overall today, and you can’t ask for much more than that.”

Co-pilot Butterfield added: “It was definitely a team effort and I want to congratulate each and every member of the team who played part in this success.”

C class honours went to Chad Sutherland and co-pilot Lee Wilson, who crossed the line second overall in 52:43.

“This is my best finish in this race and in this boat,” Sutherland said. “It’s a good achievement and I have been waiting a awhile to have a good outcome and it finally came.”

Mark Selley and co-pilot Jordan Fletcher captured D class honours and were third overall in 49:38.

The pair completed the race despite encountering mechanical and injury setbacks.

“The motor was in and out of power and we also had an electrical issue and couldn’t time the waves properly,” Selley said. “We were landing on the crest of the wave and my co-pilot [Fletcher] struck a nerve in his back.

“Our communications broke and he’s screaming and slapping my back. I said Fletcher if we can get through this we can still limp home and do all right; and he said ‘all right, just go’.”

The B class title went to Quincé Dowling and Tai Bean who went around in 53min 27sec.

Cleveland Maybury won the jet-ski race in 30min 48sec, with Dakari White taking second in 30:59 and Jayson Simons third in 39:50.

“This win means the world to me,” Maybury said.

“The conditions were rough and that ski tried to leave me a lot of times.”

Santiago Rowe and Ryan McLean had two wins each in the junior races, with E’mari Ingemann, and Tristan Hocking one apiece.

“All in all it was a good day of racing,” Robert Cardwell, the Bermuda Power Boat Association commodore, said. “We are very pleased with how it all went.”