THE first thing that Ashleigh Finlayson noticed when she entered the world of powerboat racing that while there was plenty of women behind the scenes, there were no female racers.
The male dominance of the sport may have been enough to scare some women off but for Finlayson, a self-confessed proud feminist, it put absolutely no dent at all in her ambitions.
Her refusal to be intimidated by the lack of female company has already paid dividends, with Finlayson becoming the first-ever female national champion in the Zapcat category before moving up a level to compete in the prestigious P1 SuperStock Championship earlier this year.
And one of the many things Finlayson loves about powerboat racing is that all the other racers care about is her skill level, they couldn’t care less about her gender.
“I just couldn’t understand it when I first got into the sport and there were no female racers,” she said. “It’s an interesting dynamic at races, especially because I’m still quite young – there’s a lot of marines who race, they’ll be over six foot, big huge guys and the older ones kind of took me under their wing and looked after me a bit.
“But then as soon as we got out on the water, they’d be the first ones cutting us up and trying to overtake but that’s so great because they’re not treating me any differently from anyone else and that’s exactly what I want.
“What’s so good about the races is that everyone is there to race – it doesn’t matter who you are or what your background is, if you can prove yourself as a valid racer then you’ll get respect.”
The 23 year-old from Musselburgh has another unique aspect to her racing profile in that her racing partner is none other than her father, Dave. Finlayson is navigator while her dad is the driver and she admits that she loves the family partnership, with their understanding of each other bringing an extra dynamic to the partnership.
It was through her father that Finlayson’s interest in powerboating developed; he was a water-skier before branching into powerboating and some of Finlayson’s earliest memories are of being on the water.
While she had a go at sailing, she admits that it didn’t quite have that excitement that both she and her father craved.
“Dad and I aren’t the keenest of sailors – unless it’s blowing a hoolie, we just aren’t interested because it’s just too slow for us,” she admits.
So, the pair ended up in a Zapcat boat – described by Finlayson as a small catamaran – and they have never looked back, racing in the ThunderCat Powerboat Championships before moving into P1 SuperStock this year.
“My dad found out that there was a Zapcat race down south and that was us hooked,” she said. “When you’re in the boat, you’ve got the adrenalin going although for me, it’s not so much the speed, although it is very fast, it’s how close the boats are together. I could reach out and touched the other driver’s hand. We’re talking inches apart at 65mph – it’s choppy and the boats are going everywhere so it’s pretty crazy but that’s when it comes down to skill. So it’s in those situations that I get my adrenalin rushes.”
One of Finlayson’s highlights of 2017 was the opportunity to race in front of a home crowd when the P1 SuperStock Championship came to Greenock earlier this summer following it’s debut staging last year.
It was, she admits, a real personal thrill to race in such a prestigious race in home waters but the most significant aspect of having a P1 SuperStock event in Scotland was the opportunity to grow the profile of the sport in this country.
“I really hope the profile is growing and my dad and I really hope the sport is getting a bigger Scotland,” she said. “P1 has been great in taking races around the country and that’s about letting as many people as possible see the sport.
“It’s also about trying to lose the image that the sport currently has – there’s the stereotype that you need to have mega-money to be involved but most people in powerboat racing are just normal people who just choose this as their hobby.”
Finlayson is currently training to become a powerboat racing official but she admits that the pull of racing is too strong to give up just yet.
Alongside her father, she intends to make another appearance in the P1 SuperStock Championship next year and her belief is that her growing bank of experience will only help her performances improve.
“I’m definitely still going to race, I’m not ready to give that up just yet. Being involved in powerboating has defined so much of my life – the opportunities that arise through this sport are just fantastic and so it’s just an amazing thing to be a part of.”
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