A classic AUTOSPORT Christmas track test

My phone chirrups - it's a text from AUTOSPORT Towers. It reads: 'Do you like water?' Hmmm, this sounds suspiciously familiar to the similarly cryptic 'do you like sand?' message that led to me driving a Volkswagen Touareg Cross Country Rally Raid car for a track test last year. That was fun. But water? The last boat I'd been offered to drive was the Stranraer-Larne ferry in 1983 when I was 13. My mum didn't quite share my enthusiasm at the prospect of having a go. This time, I type 'tell me more' by way of a somewhat non-committal reply.

A week later and I'm in Southampton's ocean marina, gazing at a UIM Powerboat P1 Supersport World Championship contender bobbing up and down on the water. And guess what? I'm in the driving seat next. I don't know whether to be scared or excited - I think I'm a bit of both - even more so for one very good reason: I don't swim very well.