THE Fortitudo Property Poole Bay 100 race – the opening round of the World Offshore Championship and the British Offshore Racing Series – takes place on Sunday (noon).

There will be two competitive classes with marathon entrants competing in the World Offshore series, while class three teams will battle in the British Offshore counting round.

The top two seeds in the marathon class A category are the 38’ Outerlimits Silverline boat, crewed by Exeter-based duo Andrew Langdon and Miles Jennings, and the 46’ Fortitudo Cougar being raced by Poole businessman Richard Carr and multiple UIM class one world champion Steve Curtis.

The Chevrolet-engined 35’ Dry Martini Cigarette, crewed by Poole’s Christian Toll and Mike Bontoft, will battle the Ilmor-engined Warpath, raced by Glenn Chidzoy and Ole Finholt, in class B.

Dorian Griffith and Shelley Jory-Leigh team up in the Yanmar-engined Blastoff to take on the Mercury 4-Stroke-powered 32’ Sunus Ocean Racing of Paul Craven and Tom Montgomery-Swan in class C.

Exeter pair David Foa and Charles Swales will race a Mercury-engined Pascoe Rib in Class E and the diesel-engined Fugitive of Rose Lores and Francis Whitley heads into class G battle.

Ten boats have entered the British class three offshore race in class A and B. Southampton’s Lee Ornsby and co-driver Ross McGreggor top the field in Licence to Thrill, their Mercury-engined Phantom 19.

Competition is likely to be fierce with former UIM 3A world champion Jack Bobin (Motorvated Racing) and Shaki Easton and M’kai Hodsoll under the Bermuda Motivation name and Dave Sheldon and Chris Bailey, who enter a similar Phantom 19G under the co-sponsoring Multispark Race Products banner.

Other entries in class alpha bravo include Bracknell’s Malcolm Dopson (White Fusion), Portsmouth’s Richard Comben (Ace of Spades), Southampton’s Max Walker (Race R Division), Sandy’s David Boakes (Bad Habit) and Guernsey duo Mark Terry and Suzanne Cosgrave in the Evinrude-engined Dirty Deeds.

Southend’s Kerry Bobin teams up with Bermuda’s Errin Butterfield to round off the category in a Mercury-powered Twister catamaran.

This is the first time that competitors from Bermuda will have competed in offshore racing in the United Kingdom.

Butterfield and Easton won Bermuda’s 2017 Rubis Around the Island Race in a Mercury-powered Phantom 19G and had considerable success with the hull last season.

Three boats will take part in class X. Lymington’s Robert Lister heads the entry with Nick Crouch in Jupiter and faces competition from Fareham’s Graham Reeder (Ananab Racing) and Newmarket’s Mark Childs in the Mercury-engined Cougar, Fat Boy.

The Frankfurt duo of Ulrich Grobe and Antonija Jovanovic top class N in a Volvo-powered Mannerfelt, while Sunbury’s Thomas Pelham (The Beaver Returns) and Slough’s Peedell (DB Marine) round off the entry.

The marathon race will run for 121.40 nautical miles over a start lap of 58.80nm, one shorter lap of 28.40nm and three laps of 11.40nm and will start close to the Outfall Buoy at Bournemouth Pier.

The shorter class three race for British offshore points will run for 71.4nm over a start lap of 12.3nm and three shorter laps of 8.30nm and 11.40nm and gets under way to the west of Bournemouth Pier.