Ricky Raynor is in a race against the clock to have his late son’s powerboat ready to go on display during the latter’s memorial race in Dockyard tomorrow.

As of yesterday, repairs to the boat in which his son Rickai “Pugi” Raynor lost his life while competing in this summer were nearing completion.

“I had a lot to rebuild and have been working a lot of hours trying to get the boat ready for this Sunday,” Raynor told The Royal Gazette.

“But I’ll definitely be taking the boat up to Dockyard. They have a big mural of Pugi they want to put the boat in front of, so we’re definitely going to head Dockyard.

“It would be good for the sport and good for Pugi as that’s what he would want, but in my head I felt like racing — especially on his birthday.”

Raynor’s hopes of competing in the race being held the same day his son would have celebrated his 29th birthday were dashed due to a lack of parts and propeller issues.

“Parts didn’t come and the propeller didn’t work out. But most of the boats are coming out to race, and that’s what my son would want.”

After vowing to continue racing in his son’s honour, Raynor was put to task restoring the latter’s damaged boat.

“Looking from the outside, the boat looked good. But inside some of the bulkheads had been broken off,” he said.

“The boat is very tiny on the inside, so everything you do takes longer than it normally would on another boat. Everything I fix I have to crawl up underneath it and get in all these tight crazy spaces, so it’s not an easy boat to work on.”

Rickai Raynor, who also competed in harness racing and motocross, tragically lost his life in a fatal crash during Bermuda Power Boat Association’s Hamilton Harbour Race series on June 28.

The father of two and brother of Minister of Public Works and Environment Jaché Adams succumbed to injuries he sustained when his boat crashed into a yacht moored near White’s Island. Co-pilot Shannon Caisey suffered a head wound in the incident.

Racing gets under way tomorrow at 10am with junior drivers competing in the GT15 class followed by the main event featuring some of the island’s top drivers in the various larger class boats at 1pm.

Part proceeds from the memorial race will go in support of the late Rickai Raynor’s children.