Lyndon Collins, our Production Manager, was fortunate enough to travel to Monaco to attend the UIM (Union Internationale Motornautique – the International Powerboating Union) World Championships awards ceremony, which was held on 6 March, to accept his World Championship trophy for winning the P750 (Blue Print) World Championship.

Lyndon says that his trip got off to a bad start with his plane in Johannesburg not taking off due to engine failure, which caused further delays in both Frankfurt and Nice. After having had hardly any sleep for two days, he arrived at his hotel in Monaco with only five hours to spare until the award ceremony started!

Lyndon was hosted at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel, where the event was being held. Here he was “spoilt with luxury”, the likes of which he says he’ll probably never see again in his lifetime. He said that going from 38 degrees in Johannesburg to – 12 degrees in Frankfurt was quite a shock to the system, but that he nevertheless enjoyed playing in the snow at 2 am in the morning.

Lyndon says that powerboat racing is a “very big deal” in Europe and the United Arab Emirates, and that the drivers are “treated like rock stars.” With big sponsors and a massive following, Lyndon says that drivers in these countries “get paid big money to do what they love most.”

According to Lyndon, the awards dinner was “spectacular,” with video footage being shown of every champion as he or she walked up to accept his or her trophy. H e added that meeting other powerboat racers from 22 nations around the world was “amazing.”

After his stay in Monaco, Lyndon visited Nice on the French Coast, where he managed to do some sightseeing of old Nice and get a bit of shopping done. Lyndon claims that he is much more fashion conscious now after seeing how the French dress.

MD Celia says that “we are all very proud of our world champion” and we are all look forward to him adding a little “je ne sais quoi” to his work wardrobe!