A nine-year-old boy from the Lowestoft area has become the youngest ever person to break a powerboat speed record.
Tate Mantripp, a pupil at Carlton Colville Primary School, was racing at Coniston Records Week, an international event held annually on Coniston Water in the Lake District.
The event honours the memory of Donald Campbell who broke eight world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s.
Tate was competing in the GT15 class and set a speed record of 39.16mph, breaking the record of 38.13mph he had achieved earlier in the week.
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His mother, Nikki Mantripp, 36, said: “Going nearly 40mph on water would feel like going 80mph in a car so it’s quite nerve-racking watching your nine-year-old son go out alone on such a vast stretch of water.”
She added that Tate was thought to be the youngest competitor to set a speed record in the 51 years of Records Week.
Ms Mantripp, who works at Kingsley Healthcare in Lowestoft, also said that her son wanted to get on the water since the day he could talk.
"He has been counting down the years ever since, and to end his debut season with a British speed record is just fantastic. We are incredibly proud of him.”
As well as receiving a K7 Silver Star, honouring the memory of Campbell’s iconic Bluebird K7 boat, Tate was awarded The English Lakes Hotel Trophy as the week’s youngster record breaker.
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Tate was competing alongside fellow members of Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club, 12-year-old Poppy Stewart and 30-year-old Ashley Penfold.
Poppy was also competing in the GT15 class and broke Tate’s first record with a speed of 38.84mph before Tate re-took it at the end of the week.
Mr Penfold was competing in the GT30 class and ended the week setting a new record of 53mph.
Tate was sponsored by Kingsley Home Care, JME Ltd, BFS Enterprise (Fabrications) Limited and MCH Landscaping.
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