KILKEEL RNLI are going downhill! Or at least they are going downhill in this Sunday’s Red Bull Soapbox Belfast race at Stormont Estate.
The Kilkeel lifeboat station’s crew spent the past month building the soapbox go-kart, which is a scaled-down replica of the Shannon class vessel ‘Bobby Cameron 13-57’. The soapbox shares the same name as its life-size counterpart, but the Kilkeel crew made it 13-57 ½ for comedy purposes.
The event is a downhill race that involves 40 fearless teams going head-to-head in a gravity-powered dash for glory, piloting their own homemade soapbox machines down a purpose-built course in the shadow of one of Belfast’s most historic landmarks.
The Kilkeel RNLI team applied to take part in the event back in February and were accepted last month. The boat is made from a steel chassis, has go-kart wheels, and an aluminium frame covered in Correx board, which was donated by local Kilkeel business Get Print. Some of the materials were donated, and the rest were purchased by the crew.
The soapbox race takes place at the Stormont Estate on Sunday. Gates open at 1pm, and the races begin at 2pm.
