Kilkeel Lifeboat Station crew members enjoyed their day at the Red Bull Soapbox Race at Stormont Estate on Sunday past, but despite recording one of the fastest times, they did not take the win.
An estimated 25,000 people attended the event to watch the downhill race, which saw 40 fearless teams go head-to-head in a gravity-powered dash for glory, piloting their homemade soapbox machines down a purpose-built course in the shadow of one of Belfast’s most historic landmarks.
Kilkeel RNLI earned 34 points for creativity for the design of their soapbox — a replica of their Shannon-class lifeboat, Bobby Cameron 13-57.
As part of their run, three lifeboat crew members acted out a dramatic rescue scene in which they saved a “stricken” Chris McConnell. After “reviving” him, they placed him into the soapbox and sent him racing down the course.
The Red Bull judges awarded the performance a perfect score of 50 points.
The team got off to a strong start and successfully cleared four obstacles, but things soon took a turn.
William Charleton explained: “Sunday was good fun. Unfortunately, we crashed out after an impressive start.
“We had one of the fastest soapboxes there, going through the speed trap at 40km/h, and the Giant’s Causeway ramp sealed our fate as the soapbox rolled, unfortunately.
“Chris dusted himself down and finished the race. It was a very well run event and we as a crew would like to thank all the folk from Mourne who came to support us.”
Chris completed the course in a time of 1:37.29, finishing with a handbrake turn.
The local lifeboat station crew spent the past month building the soapbox go-kart, which was a scaled-down replica of the Shannon-class lifeboat Bobby Cameron 13-57.
The soapbox shared the same name as its life-size counterpart, although the Kilkeel crew jokingly renamed it “13-57½” for comedic effect.
