The most famous offshore powerboat race, the Honda Cowes Classic, takes place tomorrow with the world's fastest ocean-going mono-hulls race from Cowes to Torquay and back.

The Honda Cowes Classic promises to be a festival of speed on water and has attracted an international field of marathon pow-erboats and the fleet of British Championship racing machines.

There is an all-time record of 90 entries for the 41st running of the Honda Cowes Classic at Cowes. If all the boats were laid end-to-end, they would stretch for 2,290ft or 698 metres and be powered by an unbelievable 35,232 horsepower.

Saturday's marathon event provides an awesome rolling start as the powerboats take the starting cannon from the Royal Yacht Squadron before opening the throttles to power past The Needles to Torquay and back.

Whilst the marathon fleet test man and machinery away in the west, the British National Championship classes will race around The Solent starting at 10.45am.

On Sunday, the traditional Round the Island race will begin at 10.30am, giving spectators on the Isle of Wight a bird's eye view of some of the world's greatest powerboats.

Competitors will include the all-female crew of Shelley Jory and Darrell Elmes from Southampton, James Bond stuntgirl Sarah Donohue and Portsmouth train driver Alan Leyton.

Joining the array of celebrity racers will be a prestigious line-up of powerboat names from the past four decades of racing including twice winner of the race, Michael Mantle from Poole.

Keith Schellenberg from Argyll and Lady Aitken from Surrey, an ardent racer in the 1960s and '70s is planning to come out of retirement as is The Earl of Normanton from Somerley, Hampshire.