Waves of success for powerboating pair

With her foot flat on the throttle, Charlotte Gilbert's parents watch with bated breath as her boat whips across the waves at 50mph.

At 14 years old, Charlotte from Staffordshire, is the youngest person in the world to race in a GT30 class powerboat.

Despite living on the banks of Gailey Reservoir, the Cardinal Griffin Catholic High School pupil has to travel 74 miles to St Helens, near Liverpool, for her training.

The youngster became interested in powerboats four years ago when her brother Alex started racing. It wasn't long before Charlotte wanted to compete against her big brother, who is now a double national champion and world speed record holder.

Charlotte says: "I was watching my brother for about a year and then thought I would give it a go because it looks so exciting. I like the adrenalin rush I get from it and I really enjoy being out on the water."

Charlotte says junior competitors can have a 250cc engine, which allows them to go at 40mph, while in the next class – the GT30 – they can have a 550cc engine which can hit 50mph.

"I'm quite competitive and like taking part in the different competitions," she said.

"Everyone else in my class is older than me, but that feels quite normal now. My friends from school like going to watch and I'm definitely going to keep it as a hobby and go on to the bigger and faster boats."

At the end of May, Charlotte took part in the British Championships at Oulton Broads where she came second in heat one and third in heat three, despite throttle problems.

Following hot on Charlotte's heels is nine-year-old Tiegen Goodfellow from Burntwood who also takes part in national and international powerboat races.

The Holly Grove Primary pupil, said: "Both my grandads, Robert and John, were into racing and my dad also used to be into powerboats.

"That was all before I was born though, but I loved hearing their racing stories while I was growing up and enjoyed going along to some of the events – it made me think about having a go."

Tiegen says that hurtling along at 40mph in a powerboat is an exciting, but sometimes scary sport to be involved in. "Recently I hit another boat and I did feel scared – but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," she said.

"Another nerve-wracking time is at the beginning, as we all set off really fast at the same time, although I always finish the races with a big smile on my face."

The girls regularly compete at Kingsbury Water Park near Tamworth, Oulton Broads in Suffolk and Coniston in the Lake District.

Both of them are racing at Kingsbury this weekend, and next weekend Charlotte will be going to Stewartby, near Bedford, to race in the World Championships. Her father Mark, 41, said: "With Charlotte we left her to it and now you can't get her out of the boat. We don't push them with the sport – if you do you only make their lives miserable."

Mark added: "Being in the Midlands we are landlocked but there are still plenty of place to practice. Charlotte is a thrill-seeker and very competitive but she has also made a lot of friends through racing. She mainly practices in St Helens because she can only use licenced waters as otherwise the driver and the boat are not insured."

Tiegen's father Andy says he now builds boats for his daughter.

Andy, 40, says: "I've always been into boats and then I worked for a friend who used to build them and I've now been doing it for the last three years.

"The average cost is £6,000 but when I make a boat for Tiegen I just have to pay for materials and so it saves us a lot of money.

"I've engineered Tiegan's boat to make it really strong to protect her. All you can do, as a parent, is stand at the side of the water hoping that your daughter will make the right decisions – you want to protect them, but they enjoy it so much you don't to stop them either."