Scott Williams leans back and delivers his Dubai mindset in a single phrase:
Enjoy the weekend.
The 49-year-old Wirral racer trails Victory Team by 22 points heading into the UIM XCAT World Championship finale. Two wins combined with the Emiratis faltering represents Team GB’s only realistic path to the title. Williams acknowledges the mathematics without dwelling on them.
I would love to win a world championship again, but realistically, the numbers are not on our side. At the point when you don’t enjoy it, it’s a time to stop. I’m in here to enjoy my racing and where we finish is where we finish.
From New Brighton to XCAT
His journey to this weekend began at New Brighton powerboat club when he was eight or nine years old. His family brought him into racing as a junior, buying him a little boat to race against 18-foot Phantoms. He progressed through 16-foot Phantoms with tandem seats to the larger 18-foot models, working his way from 2-litre to 2.4 engines.
Williams moved into the Honda series with Steve Curtis, running a 28-foot Cougar for several years. When Honda pulled out around 2008-2009, he faced a decision about his racing future. XCAT provided the answer.
The boat Williams races today carries particular significance. Years ago, when he was running 2.4 two-stroke engines, Arif Al Zaffain turned up as Fazza in a Victory-built hull fitted with four-stroke Mercury Racing 400 ROS engines.
We were all laughing, thinking, what’s going on? We all left him at the start. After the second lap, he had already lapped us twice, we then realised this was going to be the future. These engines, the top-end torque was phenomenal.
That boat became the first XCAT fitted with ROS engines. Williams now races the same hull, the Team Australia boat which he purchased from Brett Luhrmann. Racing against it before ultimately buying it, a common theme in the powerboat world.
Partnership with Campbell
His partnership with Martin Campbell developed through the Honda series. The pair grew up together, and when Williams ran his two-boat Honda team, Campbell raced the smaller boat whilst Williams campaigned the larger 28-footer.
When Williams assembled Team GB for XCAT and needed a driver, Campbell provided the answer.
Not many people would get in the boat with me, and I knew Martin was there, he had the guts to get in. It took him a good season or so to get there. Totally different type of boat to learn. But he’s getting there, he’s good now.
Before teaming with Campbell, Williams raced XCAT in 2017 alongside Al Zaffain after the multi-world champion left Victory Team. They competed predominantly in China before mutually deciding to separate. Williams briefly pivoted towards the UKOPRA racing series, purchasing the Cougar RIB Argentum with twin Ilmor engines, before the opportunity arose to return to XCAT and buy a team.
Britain’s Breakthrough
The 2023 season delivered Britain’s breakthrough. Williams and Campbell won races in Fiumicino and Porto degli Argonauti before arriving at the Fujairah finale with the championship title within reach.
It was tight all the way through. We knew it was close. Everyone knows there’s a lot of luck involved, that everything stays together. It was the last race, the very last event. We had to pull off a podium to win.
They secured pole position then dominated both Fujairah races to claim the title.
It was fantastic to do it for the team. We were a very fresh team. No British team had ever come to XCAT and stood on the podium, never mind finish the season as world champions.
Defending the Title
The defence of their title proved catastrophic. Williams arrived in 2024 as defending champion expecting to contend again. The first race ended with Team GB turning over. Williams spent time in hospital, losing all his teeth whilst breaking his sternum and cheekbone. Two races later, they turned over again.
That year was horrendous. That was a write-off, but we still managed to finish fourth overall.
The physical toll represents just part of the cost. A typical rollover runs to £25,000 by the time the team replaces wiring looms, electronics, computers and sensors. The bigger crash in Fujairah the previous year cost £100,000 after destroying the engines.
Williams’ engineer Nick Barsch and the crew work through the night after rollovers, pumping the engines with fresh water before running cheap oil through them to flush out the milky substance. Only then do they install expensive oil and begin the electronics replacement.
It’s a full night shift.
2025 Season
This season brought more controlled racing. Team GB have turned over once, at the last Kuwait event, but otherwise maintained steady performances. Williams qualified on pole for the 2025 season opener in Fujairah before Victory Team established dominance across the subsequent rounds.
We haven’t had a bad year. We’ve taken it reasonably easy.
The championship mathematics demand perfection this weekend combined with circumstances beyond Team GB’s control. Victory Team hold 130 points against Williams and Campbell’s 108. Two wins would deliver 70 points to Team GB for a 178-point total. Two third-place finishes would give Victory Team 52 points and a 182-point championship total. Team GB need two victories AND Victory Team finishing fourth or worse in at least one race.
Engine Transition
Beyond this weekend, XCAT faces significant technical transition. Mercury Racing stopped producing the ROS 400 engines that power the current grid. Mid-sections are no longer manufactured, creating problems for new teams wanting to enter the championship.
Williams’ team holds six engines, providing security for their programme. Other teams struggle with parts availability. The series has agreed to allow new teams to enter on the Mercury 300R for next season whilst the championship’s future engine package undergoes development.
The new 360 APX, the same engine used in F1H2O, represents XCAT’s future once Mercury completes the mid-section redesign. Williams expects that work to finish around summer, with teams gradually transitioning to the new package similar to how the championship moved from 2.5 two-stroke engines to the ROS four-strokes.
We’ll see some teams on the 300R and other teams on the Ross. Eventually they will all come together and run the 360 APX once the mid-section is developed.
Dubai Finale
The circuit at Sunset Beach runs offshore in front of the Burj Al Arab, the same waters where Williams and Campbell celebrated their 2023 championship triumph. Practice begins Friday morning with Race 1 scheduled for 15:00 local time. Race 2 on Sunday afternoon at 14:30 will decide the 2025 world champion.
For now, his focus remains on Dubai and two final races against Victory Team. The mathematics heavily favour the Emiratis, but Williams has learned across his decades in powerboat racing that circumstances can shift quickly. His 2023 championship arrived in the final race when everything needed to break right.
Whether lightning strikes twice remains uncertain. Williams maintains perspective regardless of the outcome, his enjoyment of racing taking precedence over championship calculations. The journey from that eight-year-old junior racer at New Brighton to XCAT world champion represents achievement enough. Another title would provide the bonus rather than the necessity.
Where we finish is where we finish. I’m here to enjoy my racing.
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.
