POWERBOATS look set to come racing back to West Bay.

The team behind the Offshore Circuit Racing Drivers Association (OCRDA) Powerboat Race, which has become an exciting fixture in West Bay's events calendar, say they are 'quietly confident' that the event will be able to go ahead this year.

Plans are in place to hold the event over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, running from Saturday, May 29 to Monday, May 31.

The date has not been officially confirmed as of yet and is subject to change based on government restrictions at the time.

A spokesman for OCRDA said: "We are hoping to be able to put on the event over the bank holiday weekend at the end of May. This would of course be subject to whatever restrictions might be in place at the time and the requirements of the government, the local authorities and the harbour.

"The race will be held with a lot of the same restrictions in place as last year. Our priority is to keep participants safe.

"Based on the government's roadmap 'step three' should be in place by the end of May. If it is there is no reason why we wouldn’t be able to put the event on."

The event was last held in October.

Organisers made the decision not to advertise the race, with some residents expressing concerns in the lead up that the event was being held during the pandemic with fears of crowds of people being attracted.

OCRDA worked closely with Dorset Council, Dorset’s multi-agency Safety Advisory Group (SAG) and harbour authorities, and strict restrictions were in place on the day.

Covid marshals were on hand to ensure people were practising social distancing, signage was up along the promenade to remind people of the regulations at the time and residents were encouraged to stay at home and watch the event via a Facebook stream.

The OCRDA spokesman added: "Based on the current expectations for guidelines at the end of May we’ll have less restrictions in place than we had last year. Bearing in mind we pulled it off last year - with no complaints from the council - we're quietly confident.

"No one should be worried about it being a big social event. We can’t afford to go into the event with a blasé attitude and upset the local authorities and not be allowed back again. We like West Bay, we want to keep coming back.

"Last year was great, people were sensible and really co-operative and it all ran really smoothly."

They added: "We’re very excited about the prospect of putting the event on but we will have wait and see - we are not the masters of our own destinies in this situation."