Yachting: Champions show class

THE CLASS 1 world powerboat champions, Bjorn Gjelsten of Norway and Britain's Steve Curtis in Spirit of Norway, were back to their best form yesterday with a start-to-finish victory on Gjelsten's home water at the Scandinavian Grand Prix in Oslo, and in front 100,000 people, about 3,000 of whom watched the race from the imposing SS Norway cruise liner.

Khalfan Harib and Mohamed Al Ghaith in Victory 4 provided the drama, spinning and turning turtle at over 100mph. The Dubai racers (pictured left awaiting rescue) emerged unscathed from the escape hatch on the underside of the boat, which was only reprieved from retirement this week to replace the catamaran they wrote off in a crash at last weekend's Norwegian Grand Prix. The next round of the championship is in Istanbul on 29 August.