Chasing Dreams: The Percival Hodges Story

Jaimie Tennant was 19 years old and standing in the pits at Liège when Tom Percival died. Now, four decades later, he has written an account of that terrible day and the partnership that preceded it. Chasing Dreams: The Percival Hodges Story is a first-hand memoir chronicling the collaboration between driver Tom Percival and boat designer Chris Hodges.

Tennant was a member of Lowestoft & Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club and had travelled from East Anglia to Belgium for the seventh round of the 1984 Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship. He watched from the pits as Fabio Bocca’s boat disintegrated at 120mph and Tom Percival hit the wreckage.

The Percival Hodges team dominated Formula 1 powerboat racing during an era when four drivers died in four months during 1984.

The Legacy

After Tom Percival’s death at Liège, Belgium, on 20 August 1984, Chris Hodges channelled his grief into action. Six months before Tom’s death, Hodges had developed the idea of a carbon fibre safety cell to protect drivers in accidents. The sport had always been designed to throw drivers clear in accidents, but with boats reaching 140mph, hitting the water whilst half in and half out of the cockpit was fatal.

Hodges knew it would be better to strap drivers into a safety cell, much like a Formula One car. He decided to develop the cell as a legacy for Tom, wanting the sport to continue.

Cees van der Velden had developed a similar idea. The former World Champion and Benson & Hedges team manager shared notes with Hodges. Over the next few months, Chris worked night and day to develop his safety cell. His partner, Ros Nott, was the editor of Powerboat & Waterskiing magazine and used her connections to help raise money to fund development. She raised over £40,000 from sponsors, engine manufacturers, and personal donations.

Chris consulted the Lotus Formula One team in Hethel for advice on working with carbon fibre. The safety cells in F1 cars had been introduced a few years previously and were now mandatory.

By mid-January 1985, the cell was ready for testing. They were going to strap a crash test dummy into the cell, suspend it from a helicopter, and drop it at 120mph into a reservoir to see what damage occurred. The tests took place at Draycote Water near Coventry.

Jaimie Tennant was there. He had taken a day off work to witness the testing. Gilly Percival was there, along with Cees van der Velden, a handful of journalists, and a few bigwigs from the sport. It was the first time Tennant had seen Gilly since the accident.

The Percival Hodges Safety Cell withstood drops at speeds exceeding 115mph whilst a competing aluminium design suffered structural failure at just 65mph. The cell remained intact throughout testing, proving the concept worked.

Chris Hodges offered full construction details free to all leading racing boat builders. Initially optional, the UIM mandated safety cells for all boats after they saved several drivers in major crashes. Hodges never built another circuit racing boat after Tom’s death. Instead, he used the remaining partnership funds to construct the prototype survival capsule as a final act for the sport.

The Book

Tennant’s memoir provides an eyewitness account of the Belgian Grand Prix at Liège on 19 August 1984. He describes watching Tom Percival in fourth place when Bocca’s boat suddenly disintegrated. Percival, following close behind, hit the wreckage. His boat veered right at full speed and mounted the grass bank.

The red flares went up. Rescue teams arrived. Tom’s boat was not in the water. He had broken his neck on impact and was declared brain-dead at the hospital. He was kept on life support for a split-second before being switched off on Monday morning.

Bob Spalding was the last person to board the ferry back to Zeebrugge. He broke the news that Tom had died.

The book traces the Percival Hodges partnership through 18 chapters covering race locations across Europe and America, from the 1984 tragedy at Liège through to 1986 and beyond. Photographs are from the Percival Hodges archive, taken by Yannis Argyropoulos (Pro-One) and Gordon Mcleod (Fotocall), with additional images from Katie Percival and Tennant’s private collection.

The book is dedicated in loving memory of Rosalind Nott, Bob Spalding, and Simon Armes.

John Moore

John Moore’s involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.