WORLD records tumbled as the great and the good of powerboat racing descended on Coniston for one of the most special events in the sport's history.

Speed fanatics took to the water for 45th annual Coniston Powerboat Records Week, and it lived up to its billing, with 13 fastest times set on the first day alone.

The oldest racer involved, 76-year-old Brian Block, set a new national and world record of 71.34mph in his HR850 Catamaran Boat, but not before Alan Pickard set a world best time of his own, travelling at 87.06mph in his Runabout Superstock 1200 class.

Windermere's Peter Hart was the first run of the week and he duly broke the national record, clocking 109.44mph on his Outboard Immersed Prop Mono boat.

Alison Whalley, Chairman of Coniston Powerboat Records Week, said: "Coniston is the spiritual home of record breaking. The quality is excellent and we have a wide range of entrants. Some people will be waiting to see if their record gets broken and if it does they'll come down and try and beat it.

"It's an event where everyone comes together and the comradery you get is really special."

One of the unique things about Records Week is the characters it attracts.

The Gazette caught-up with the Vector Martini Racing Team, which includes a man who holds the record for being the man to survive the highest speed motorbike crash ever recorded - Jason McVicar, who came off his bike at 258mph.

The international team, which includes Canadian engineer Rex Jardine, are hoping to travel at 256mph to set a new Marathon A Class world record.

Driver Peter Dredge said: "Of course we want to smash the record but if we break it that's good enough. We believe we can do it."

The Vector Martini Team finished Day Two just 5mph short of achieving their target.

Reflecting the family friendly nature of the event, Thomas Mantripp, 14, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Brian Block, 76, who was a record breaker on the first day.

Thomas agonisingly missed out on setting a new record in the GT15 Class by 0.03 seconds, but he will try again until the final day of the event, which is running from Monday, November 2, to Friday, November 6.

His grandfather said: "It's a great family event it just shows there's no age limit - you can go on as long as you can stand up and drive."

The legendary Jim Noone set a new National Record in the FR1000 class at 111.44 mph, which is just 1.02mph short of beating the current World Record.