As pressure mounts on competitors preparing for the Round Britain Powerboat Race with eleven days to its Portsmouth start, the Fairey Spearfish of Jonathan Napier and his crew of 747 captains has received further support from companies both south and north of the Scottish border.

Marine insurance specialist, Haven Knox-Johnston, part of the Amlin Group, has signed on with cover for the Spearfish on its 1400 mile circuit of Britain. General Manager, John Macaulay, has nearly 30 years in the pleasure craft insurance industry and heads up a vastly experienced team, providing a full service including quotations, documentation, mid-term adjustments, claims and accounts packages. He comments: “We are very pleased to be able to support Team 747 in their participation and we wish Jonathan and his team good luck.”

Prestige Motor Company has been specialising in the sale of Mercedes-Benz cars from its Oxfordshire base for 35 years. A family-run business, it is headed by John Williams who divides his time between sourcing and preparing what he considers to be the best cars in the world and getting afloat in his own Fairey boat. A member of the Fairey Owners Club and total enthusiast, John says that “as he cannot race himself, supporting Team 747 is the next best option.”

Portsmouth based Marine Electronics Installations is well established as a supplier of navigation and communication equipment to the marine industry and its better known ElectronicsOnboard is a busy on-line shop covering marine and leisure products. MEI’s Jim Staig has provided Team 747 with a Simrad CX34 chart plotter to ease their way around the coasts of Britain.

When the race reaches its sixth port of call at Port Edgar Marina in South Queensferry, Edinburgh, Team 747 are sure of a warm welcome as they are partly sponsored by Bosuns Locker chandlery which has been based there since 1980. The east coast service centre for Yamaha, Suzuki and Evinrude outboards and a premier Zodiac RIB centre, Bosuns’ Russell Aitken is a keen supporter of boating in Scotland and is looking forward to welcoming ‘his’ team to his territory.

Meanwhile, the team at Swordsman Marine in Hamble continue to put the finishing touches to the Team 747 Spearfish. Richard Gough comments: “It is great to see other prestigious companies joining us to back Jonathan in his quest for honours in what will be a really tough test of crew, boat and equipment.”