Bridlington Race the Waves Review 14/15 June 2025
Our club participated in this headline event last year for the first time and it was enjoyed by all. This year saw nine cyclekarts make the beach at Bridlington. It was a tough decision this year to run the event as we were running Brooklands on the same weekend and we did not know if the strength of the response from our members would be strong enough for both events to put on a good show.
As it turned out, we needn’t have worried. Paul Garbutt, who leads Race the Waves, gets what Cyclekarting is and he has encouraged us to display both years. We owe him thanks for his patience while we learned about this wonderful event and for inviting us in the first place. I would estimate that there were 50,000 people on the seafront on the Saturday, slightly fewer on the Sunday.
This year was a similar format to last year but with a different and better track location for the cyclekarts. We were at the northern fence boundary on the beach right next to all the action near the start and line. Talk about front row seats! Thursday and Friday were static display days and we had a lot of interest from the general public. After 2 days of talking to people about cyclekarts at Burton Fleming and Church Green, we were more than ready to get on to the beach for the Saturday and Sunday dynamic events.
Our track started small until the tide ebbed and the sand firmed up and by the end of the day had expanded into a large area of beach. We put on display laps to entertain the crowds all day with the added bonus of being given the 200 metre drag strip to play on when all the cars and motorcyclists went for their lunch. We dragged in front of the massive crowds 4 at a time on the wide strip. An experience to remember.
The two days were hard on the cyclekarts, three broken rear wheels on the Saturday and a broken steering rack mount. As always, the team managed to get the parts and the tools together to try to fix trackside and I am pleased to report that the steering rack was fixed and a spare wheel was found to get people moving again. A great team effort. Looking through the many photographs and videos of the action, it is easy to see how hard the outer rear wheels work in the sandy conditions. We will all have a long job cleaning and desalinating our rides. Well worth the effort.
The event passed safely and all enjoyed the days, even with the inevitable one wet, brown, sandy arm each in the mornings - one wag posted the image and suggested that we were a bunch of trainee vets!
We were first off the beach on Sunday evening behind the marshals and flag girls in a vintage truck parading along the beach waving at an appreciative crowd. Tired but happy we packed up and parted with many great memories. (Traffic allowing)
Well done to all the participants for their timeliness, effort and patience. Here is hoping for a great event next year!
Best regards
Jim Rawnsley
CKGB Membership
Photography
Thanks to the following photographers who kindly let CKGB use their great pictures for our website.
Tony Laughton - Punton Films, Mark Peel, Jay Pratt, Gary Calton www.garycalton.com
