BY day, Christopher Maamoun is like any other 13-year-old boy.

He goes to school, watches television, enjoys playing on his computer and helps out around the house.

But when it comes to the weekend, the George Tomlinson High School pupil takes on a whole new persona.

For when most other boys are playing football, thrill-seeking Christopher, of Trent Way, Kearsley, enjoys a very different and very dangerous pastime -- powerboat racing.

He is a member of award-winning junior powerboat team Rocket Racing with his cousins Paul Gammond, aged 16, and 13-year-old Nicola Gammond.

Christopher, who also enjoys canoeing, windsurfing and sailing, started racing power boats at the age of 11 after learning from his uncle, Dave Gammond, of Oldham.

The boats they race are 10 feet long and made of wood and fibreglass. Their outboard engines generate 15 horsepower and can reach speeds of up to 45mph.

Christopher says the speed of the boats is his favourite aspect of racing.

"It's an amazing feeling to be going so fast in the water. It was frightening at first, but you get used to the speed after the first few races. I get a really good buzz out of it," he said.

"My friends all support me and think it's good, but they get sick of me talking about it all the time."

Christopher has taken part in 12 races since he started racing competitively two seasons ago and says that he is used to the pressure of each racing season.

"It's nerve-racking at first, but once you get over the first few races it becomes much more enjoyable," he said.

Christopher's mother Carol, aged 42 who works for Salford Council, said: "He loves powerboat racing and lives for the water. It is expensive, but only when something goes wrong with the boat.

"It is quite dangerous but I am used to it now. It is not every day that you get someone so young involved in a sport as different as this."

The team race 10 times a year at Carr Mill Dam in St Helens. Around nine other junior teams from across the country come along to compete.

Mr Gammond, aged 44, who manages Rocket Racing, said the sport boomed in the 1970s, but its popularity waned after a series of fatal accidents.

"I started racing at the age 39 on Windermere, then my son took it up," he said.

"People come from all over the country to race in our local league.

"It is quite an unusual sport for a 13-year-old. Your reactions have got to be red hot. It is not like driving a car. It feels like travelling at 100mph on land."

"We moved to Carr Mill because the bye-laws on Windermere say you have to be aged over 16 to race.