Rb issue 22 web (2)

raceboat Issue 22 - APRIL/MAY 2017

P1 MUMBAI

international.com

F1

SAM and DAISY COLEMAN 2016 WORLD CHAMPIONS

2017 2016 KEYWEST PREVIEW WORLD SUPERBOAT UK OCRDA/MARATHON

ABP AQUABIKE FORMULA 1 - On Grid WORLDS INtheCHINA UIM-ABP AQUABIKES

2016 FINALS

XCAT-F4-OZ SUPERBOAT

3 RACE WORLD CLASS 1

ABU DHABI POWERBOAT FESTIVAL

P750 TUNDERCATS

SOUTH AFRICA WORLDS

THUNDERCATS

UK CHAMPIONSHIPS P750 TUNDERCATS IN GIBRALTAR

SOUTH AFRICA WORLDS

NATIONS CUP CHINA

POWELL LATE TIM raceboatinternational E TH TO TE U IB TR A YESTERYEAR -

1

Wherever your competition takes you...

Trust the internationally accredited ISO9001 company to get you there safely.

From Formula, Offshore, to Hydroplanes, Peters & May Racing provides unique logistics to the racing world.

With over 25 years experience and a global network of offices, Peters & May Racing offers complete turnkey solutions that mean you get to focus on what you do best – Racing.

Our world leading services include: • Global Boat Transport

• Race Event Logistics

• Time Critical Shipments • VAT & Customs Documentation

Contact Neil McKeown

- Powerboat racing logistics expert Telephone

+44 (0) 2380 480 512 Email

neilm@petersandmay.com Visit your nearest office at

www.petersandmay.com Our global offices include: u

UK

(Head Office)

u u

USA Germany

u u

Spain France

u u

Asia Italy

Racing logistics, expertly delivered...

A division of Peters & May 2 raceboatinternational

the World’s ONLY international publication dedicated to powerboat racing, providing coverage and results of the major meetings around the world.

Available by subscription, or it can be downloaded from raceboatinternational.com EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES PO Box No. 4871 Poole, Dorset BH15 1HX Tel: +44 (0) 1202 625048 Mobile: +44 (0) 7946 230630 Email: david@raceboatinternational.com EDITOR David Sewell WEBSITE www.raceboatinternational.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Carolynne Sewell CONTRIBUTORS Nigel Quilter Steve Michael Paul Bennett Roy Mantle Paul Snewin PHOTOGRAPHY Tim Tapping Simon Palfrader Vittorio Obertone Arek Rejs Graham Stevens Mike Powell Dave Ormiston Paul Kemiel Bryon Scott Heinrich Sauer SUBSCRIPTIONS (4 issues) £30 per annum (U.K.) £40 per annum (Europe) £45 per annum (ROW) Post cheque made payable to: Raceboat International or pay by Paypal on-line www.raceboatinternational.com FRONT COVER PHOTO MUMBAI P1 GP WINNER - SAM AND DAISY COLEMAN PRINTED BY - Headley Brothers While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in the compilation of this publication, the Publishers cannot be held liable for errors and omissions. c Copyright - David Sewell All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior consent in writing to the publisher.

NOTE from the

Editor

Thank goodness January, February and March are out of the way as they are the most boring months of the year as far as powerboat racing is concerned. With the exception of the inaugural Mumbai event for Powerboat P1, very little else happened. It seems the racing season starts later and later each year and certainly much of the action doesn’t really get going until June.

It seems XCat racing will be back next as Class III 6 Litre and with an Australian promoter taking the series forward again this year. The boats and engines won’t need to be modified in any way and it just needs the 14 international crews, who are naturally quite cautious after the last series was unexpectedly curtailed, to resume the support and enthusiasm which has contributed to its popularity and success in the past.

Also on the horizon we hope is plans for the World Class 1 Championship to get back on track. With the recent partnership between the UIM and the Chinese company Bund Holdings, we can only hope that negotiations will include future investment in Class 1. The admiral effort Abu Dhabi made in putting on a three race world championship for Class 1 during their festival last year only attracted five boats, but there are ten or twelve teams out there who could be enticed back to compete for the Word title. Rumour has it a one off event could be staged in Italy next September. Personally, I think the multi-race championship has run its course, so purely on the grounds of economy, a three heat series at one venue is probably the best route to take. From 1977 until 1991 that’s what the Class 1 world championship looked like, until the late Mauro Ravenna took over the reigns in 1992 and introduced the Grand Prix format with races around the world and a healthy fleet that topped 30 in number at the pinnacle of its success. However, by 2014 costs had escalated and teams started dropping out. H2o promoter Nicolo di San Germano has an enviable track record as a promoter, but even he realised when he took on the series in 2015 that the logistics of putting on a Class1 Grand Prix these days is far more complex than Formua 1 and is hugely expensive. However, it does raise the question where will the teams race the rest of the year? Its a lot of money to be tied up in a team that can only race once a year. There is Superboat racing in the US and Australia, but there is currently no events in Europe that will accommodate Class 1 racing. Of course that could all change if promoters are able to see the potential of a fleet of impressive Class 1 and V boats competing with other classes either separately or together - and with a bit of tinkering with the rules I expect!

After their breakaway from the RYA, OCRDA is now in complete control of its own destiny and they have already proven that they are very good at organising events. The 2017 OCRDA entry list is heart warming and hopefully these teams will stay with OCRDA for their full five race series and beyond.

Finally, we have included model boat racing in this issue. The sport attracts thousands of enthusiasts but it appears the model boat magazines rarely provide coverage for the teams competing. Hopefully we can change that.

Dave

David Sewell Editor

28

47 12

50

contents www.raceboatinternational.com

42 14

54

6

NEWS BRIEFING Who’s WHO and what’s WHAT

12

UIM GALA 150 World Champions awarded trophies at the 2017 annual awards dinner in Monaco

14

TRIBUTE TO TIM POWELL Yesteryear looks at Ray Bulman’s article published in 2017 on the late Tim Powell

18

ON THE GRID 2017 The 8 teams gearing up for the new F1 World Championship season

21

OCRDA PREVIEW A new season, a new beginning for Circuit Racing in the UK

22

UK MARATHON PREVIEW Looking forward to:- the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes and the Falmouth Powerboat Festival presents the Falmouth-Scilly Isles race

24

28

UIM-ABP AQUABIKES New season preview of the 2017 Circuit World Championship

32

42

CHIAPPE RETAINS THE F1 TITLE The final two rounds of the 2016 World Championship in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah

44

47

XCAT WORLD SERIES FINAL After a mid season break the XCats returned to race in Abu Dhabi to complete the 2016 Championship

50

P750 THUNDERCAT The UIM P750 World Championship in South Africa

54

MINI POWERBOAT RACING An introduction to the Offshore Model Racing Association

57

AUSTRALIAN SUPERBOATS 2016 Superboat Championship Final in Hervey Bay, Queensland

60

TAKING THE PIC

ABU DHABI POWERBOAT FESTIVAL A three race 2016 Class 1 World Championship together with XCats racing and the penulti mate round of World Formula 1

2016 F4 FINALE Jeremy Brisset wins the Sharjah GP and Rashed Al Qamzi wins the 2016 title

P1 IN MUMBAI The NEXA P1 Powerboat Indian Grand Prix of the Seas

raceboatinternational 5

MEET THE V-16 A new high-performance marine engine from a new company Sixteen Power

The last few years have seen high performance marine engines punching out more power, particularly outboards.

However, with Mercury introducing their competition 1350hp V8, we ask how much more can be screwed from a V8 without making it unreliable?

A new American company based in Detroit think they have the answer. Sixteen Power unveiled their V16 at the 2017 Miami Boat Show, and according to the company’s Tom Robinson the V16, which has been in development since 2013, will be offered with a power output from 1200hp to 1600hp. So, how does the V16 differ from the tried and tested V8? A V8 producing 1600hp is a race engine using special fuel and there is no chance of a warranty as eventually it’s going to explode. A V8 punching out that kind of horsepower equates to 200hp per cylinder.

Tom Robinson says, “Take that same horsepower number and divide it by 16 cylinders. Your’re looking at 100hp per cylinder and you just eliminated all the stress that blows up an engine. We were looking to support a new engine platform that can support those power levels.”

Sixteen Power’s all aluminium close cooled engine is

based on a block that the company designed in house. But they also designed the tooling, developed a casting programme and cast the block. They did not have to produce all the ‘good parts’ as they had the pick of components from General Motors and their marine after-market as GM had spent millions of pounds in research and design. All Sixteen Power had to do was build a block, crank and a cam.

The 854 cubic inch motor is offered in naturally aspirated (1200hp) and duel supercharged (1600hp) versions. The naturally aspirated model will run on 91 octane fuel and 93 octane is an option for the 1600hp version.

The new V16 is 14 inches longer than a standard V8 and is considerably narrower at 32 inches as opposed to the V8’s 38 inches.

The V16 employs four custom designed and built cylinder heads and working with another contractor, the company developed a special crankshaft for the new engine.

“Torsitional vibration kills crankshafts.” said Robinson, “Our crank is our own design and much beefier than a standard LS crank.”

There is much interest in the new V16 unit, and it appears people are implying it’s the natural progression from the V8. But let’s see how it will measure to the old Lamborghini V12, developed from a tractor engine. In its formative years in a marine environment, the V12 was surprisingly reliable. You only have to look at Della Valle’s CUV’s that clinched countless race wins and championships and a hat-trick of Cowes Torquay Cowes victories.

COST-EFFECTIVE POWER The demands of top-level powerboat racing drivers is primarily for strong, reliable parts, and a boat’s steering system requires nothing less.

DC Electronics has been providing electronic solutions to the motorsport industry for over twenty years, and their unique Ultra electric power assisted steering system has become a popular choice for many teams in F1H20 and F2 over the last few years. This, as well as other products in their EPAS range, ensure that DCE can help with most applications. Hull manufacturers and teams have been drawn to the system by its durability, ease of installation and power, as well as being incredibly user-friendly and adaptable due to its capacity for fully-programmable steering map settings.

DCE’s Managing Director, David Cunliffe, explains, “our system uses a proven motor/gearbox that an OEM manufacturer has spent a great deal of time to perfect. Rather than reinventing the wheel, we modify this component to make it a universal fit. The clever part is where we couple the unit with our own controller and software. This allows you to control the motor exactly as you wish, by tuning the parameters within our free software.”

If you have need for a professional, cost-effective electric power steering solution, take a look at the website which highlights the breadth of services that DCE can offer, ranging from wiring harnesses to ECUs and more: www.dcelectronics.co.uk/Products/ 6 raceboatinternational

HUNTON POWERBOATS NOW

HUNTON YACHTS LTD Steve Kerton revisited Bristol Docks last year for a nostalgic weekend reunion

NO TO RACING IN BRISTOL DOCKS

Bristol Council has deemed racing in Bristol docks is too dangerous despite the efforts of potential promoters to resurrect the sport at this famous venue.

If only this hierarchy would say, sorry we can’t afford it instead of using the dangerous label. Almost every year, a racer loses his life during the TT races on the Isle of Man but no-one would dream of cancelling this famous event ‘because ‘it’s too dangerous’ A top councillor has warned against bringing back powerboat racing to Bristol’s docks because he believes it is just too dangerous. Peter Abraham says he remembers when powerboat racing took place in the docks for nearly two decades from 1972 until 1990. During that time, there were seven deaths because the powerboats were reaching speeds of more than 100mph on a tight course which was surrounded by high concrete dock walls. Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees referred to the prospect of a return of the sport in his speech which set out his four-year vision for the city.

Mr Abraham said: “The racing created a great deal of excitement and it was marvellous for the spectators but it was very, very dangerous.”

Crowds turned up in their thousands every year to watch the powerboat racing because it was such a spectacle. The fastest average speed was set

by Steve Kerton, a racer from Peterborough at 100.06mph. The course was so dangerous that the racers nicknamed it the ‘widowmaker’ because the stiff breezes could whip up waves that could flip the powerboats against the docks walls.

Mr Abraham said: It is not just the drivers who are risk - I also worry about the spectators. If one of those boats smashes into a dock wall and goes over the top, I cannot imagine what a tragedy there could be.

Even the corners - and they were very tight - would be taken at 90mph.

Safety precautions were taken in those days but after French ace Francois Salabert died when his boat hit a dock wall in 1990, it turned out to be the last race in the docks.

The following year, sponsorship failed to materialise. The council blamed the recession, but in 1992 the £130,000 needed to run the event was still not forth coming.

Once regarded as one of Britain’s top high performance boat-builders, Hunton Powerboats went into liquidation in November 2016. Since then key assets of Hunton Powerboats have been acquired

by Hunton Yachts.

Jeff Hunton founded the company many years ago in a factory on the outskirts of Salisbury. Their cruisers were an instant hit both as high performance pleasure boats and for offshore powerboat racing. The company was a success story and their boats were eye-catchers. However, in recent times Hunton have struggled and liquidation was the only solution. The moulds, the Hunton name and the intellectual property rights to the existing range of boats has been acquired for an undisclosed sum, and the new company now plans to launch a new range of yachts, including the new model XRS 55, by outsourcing the manufacturing process to a third party boat builder. The company is holding talks with a number of different yards in the UK and overseas, but no decisions have yet had been made.

Hunton Yachts Ltd will now look to launch a new range of luxury performance boats based on heavily refreshed versions of the existing models and an all-new 55ft craft built on a modified Jeff Hunton hull with twin 1,200hp engines and a top speed of more than 50 knots.

Garmin sponsored a Hunton for the 2008 Round Britain Race

FAREWELL TO A LOVELY LADY - LIZ RING Anyone involved in Class III powerboat racing and Ski Racing in the 80s/90s will remember Liz who many would say was the driving force behind Ring Powerboats. She was the woman behind the success of husband Mike in the running of their boat building business and the name Ring Powerboats became a leading name in racing and leisure circles during that era. Whilst Mike was busy designing and building the successful and popular range of monohulls Liz was the person in the office, which she liked to keep in immaculate order, who customers liked to deal with.

Mike and Liz married in East Sussex in 1963 and later moved to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight then to Worthing in 1980 while Ring Powercraft was based in nearby Littlehampton. I used to visit Mike at his factory and always popped in to see Liz as she ran the administration and accounts.

Her passing has left a huge hole in Mike and daughter Melissa’s life, however, in her memory a trophy, the ‘Liz Ring Memorial Cup’, is to be presented to the overall OCRDA champion in honour of this ‘lovely lady’ raceboatinternational 7

MARITOMO MAKES AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND CROSSING LOOK EASY After 138 hours at sea and a fuel burn of 7488 litres of diesel, Maritimo skipper Russell Fleming said his recent crossing from Hope Island on Queensland’s Gold Coast to Opua in New Zealand in an M64 cruising motoryacht was a good test of the vessel’s capabilities.

Russell and his crew set off from the Gold Coast with 8000 litres of fuel on board and they averaged 8.9 knots for the 1100 nautical mile trip.

Having done in excess of 35 such journeys across ‘The Ditch’ he is no stranger to the conditions and the possible perils that await boaties making the Trans Tasman trip.

“When we left the Gold Coast we cruised into four days of absolutely flat conditions with only five knots of northerly wind and about a one metre sea swell,” he said.

“However, as we approached the Three King Islands off Cape Regina a significant storm blew in with winds reaching 55 to 60 knots and this produced short violent seas. The area is renowned for its shipwrecks, one being the Elingamite which was a schooner of about 2500 tons, so it is a place to be avoided if possible.”

Russell said he charted that course because they had been headed by current for most of the journey and he wanted to seek out a west/east current to pick up the average speed.

“I was mindful of our fuel reserves and when we were able to pick up that current our boat speed went up to 13.5 knots while we

maintained the same 1000 rpm,” he said.

“The M64 is a beautiful passage maker and the vessel handled all the sea conditions thrown up in an exemplary manner. Not once did she look like broaching, even with water on the forward deck.”

Having been a delivery skipper for Maritimo for more than 10 years Russell has had his share of adventures while at sea. He said the recent journey saw the Maritimo team cruising past an enormous pod of whales about 200 nautical miles off the Australian coastline.

“We saw lots of flying fish each day although we didn’t sight another vessel until we arrived at The Three Kings. There were no mobile phones, no Facebook and no internet for days and I have to say life was looking pretty good. Then beep beep, connectivity and all hell broke loose with every man to his device and so ended all meaningful discussions.”

They arrived in New Zealand with about 500 litres of fuel in reserve. The new M64 cruising motoryacht is one of the latest in the Maritimo range and exemplifies the sea worthiness and fuel efficiency that are part of the Maritimo vessels’ DNA.

HYDRO FOR PLEASURE The first production hydroplane to be built for the luxury leisure market if the Alpha-Centauri Hydroplanes have been with us for years, but virtually all have been built for racing and setting speed records including the most well known of all hydroplanes, Donald Campbell’s Bluebird that cost him his life on Lake Coniston while topping 300mph.

A south coast company has now produced a luxuty recreational hydroplane the Alpha Centuri which, with its remote opening jet fighter style canopy, is sure to capture the imagination of the market it is designed for, the Super-Boat tender, because of its modernistic appearance. Even more appealing is its speed, the craft is powered by a 650hp big block Chevrolet V8 which 8 raceboatinternational

produces around 60knots. That is possibly the fastest yacht tender available. Seating four in comfort in the fully enclosed cabin, the Alpha Centuri also has the latest sound system.

As with anything new and radical it takes time for it to be tried and tested. When the Bladerunner was first introduced it took time for buyers to warm to its radical trimaran concept, but today Bladerunner is a market leader along with the likes of Porsche and Aston Martin. For now, those looking for something original and exciting, will find the Alpha Centuri fits the bill, and we understand the builder is painting the prototype in Ferrari red.

SPECS

Length: 8.3m Beam: 3.0m Power: 550-2000 hp Engine: 9.5L V8 Jetdrive: Scott 8.5” Navigation: Raymarine Audio: Rockford Fosgate

THE ALPHA-CENTAURI

SANCTUARY COVE ULTIMATE SHOWCASE

Leading Australian luxury motoryacht manufacturer, Maritimo, has officially launched a new waterfront facility at The Marine Village Sanctuary Cove in Queensland where it will showcase approximately $10 million in bespoke, luxury vessels at any given time.

Maritimo Sanctuary Cove will become the company’s main sales and marketing hub on the Gold Coast giving prospective purchasers an opportunity to experience all aspects of the brand and its range of models.

The centre, costing several hundred thousand dollars, includes berthing for up to 10 vessels and features a complete working replica of the galley from a Maritimo M70 cruising motoryacht. The fit out of the facility showcases the various different high quality timbers that are used to finish off the company’s range of vessels with work stations manufactured in a variety of timbers by Maritimo’s craftsmen.

“The new centre at Sanctuary Cove will used in conjunction with brand partners such as Miele to host celebrity chef cooking demonstrations and interactive master classes for our customers.” said International Sales and Marketing Manager, Greg Haines.

“Other events involving brand partners such as Maserati and various selected high-end brands will be held at the centre to broaden awareness and knowledge of the Maritimo range of vessels. The Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show is a major event on the world boat show calendar and attracts people from around the globe so our new facility will position us front and centre at that important event .

ABOUT MARITIMO

Gold Coast Mayor Cr Tom Tate and Mayoress Mrs Ruth Tate (left) cutting the ribbon to official open the new Maritimo centre with Bill and Lesley Barry-Cotter.

Maritimo produces bespoke motoryachts from 32 feet up to 70 feet in length and directly employs more than 150 craftsmen and sub-contractors at its Gold Coast Marine Precinct manufacturing centre. In addition there are hundreds of external contractors who provide goods and services to the company.

The 133 square metre facility overlooking the main marina at the Marine Village Sanctuary Cove will incorporate Maritimo dealership, BMS, which has relocated from Runaway Bay. Dealer principal Ormonde Britton says the extra berth space gives BMS the ability to display more of the models in Maritimo’s expanding fleet in addition to pre-owned vessels.

Maritimo is Australia’s world-renowned builder of bespoke luxury motor yachts built by the finest craftsman with a wide range of impressive motor yachts including the M-Series Flybridge, the S-Series Sedan Cruisers, and the new E-Series Sports Cabriolets. Dedicated to creating distinctive high quality motor yachts the combination of their race honed performance pedigree with Australia’s easy living approach offers each owner timeless elegance and unparalleled abilities in the water.

2017 LONDON BOAT SHOW Strong sales and an improved layout helped to create a positive atmosphere at this year’s London Boat Show, despite a slight dip in attendance.

Organisers British Marine Boat Shows announced that a total of 90,328 people visited the ten-day event, which is roughly 2% down on last year and there was a one day rail strike during that time.

A major attraction at the 62nd London Boat Show was the debut of the Sunseeker 131 Yacht; the largest boat ever launched in London, and the Poole-based yard is claiming sales worth £40m during the ten-day event.

Plymouth based Princess Yachts launched their brand new 75 Yacht to an appreciative audiance, and also reported strong interest in their other models.

New attractions for 2017 included the Mediterranean Bay – a 500m2 indoor pool that hosted product demonstrations, and onwater training sessions for more than 1,000 visitors.

Special guests at the show included TV presenters Adrian Chiles and Floella Benjamin, in addition to scheduled appearances from Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville and Made in Chelsea star Lucy Watson who officially opened the show.

The organisers have also confirmed that the London Show will return to the Excel Centre for 2018, with the event set to run from January 6-15.

MTI V57 AT MIAMI SHOW Randy Scism’s MTI enterprise is renowned for its race winning catamarans, and one of their models clinched the first World Class 1 championship for Abu Dhabi in 2015.

Scism rose to fame as General Manager of Dubai’s Victory Team and during his years at Victory he clinched ten race wins and a UIM World Class 1 title in 1999. Although catamarans have been their mainstay, MTI also produce Vee hulls for the pleasure market and they have a 57 footer centre console V57 that made its debut at the 2017 Miami Boat Show in February. The V57 is fitted with four Mercury 400R outboards totalling almost 2500hp, but Scism has not revealed the top speed of this ‘rocket’ although the top end of 70mph is a good guess.

Randy Scism’s MTI ‘Wake Effects’ was unbeatable during the 2016 SBI season raceboatinternational 9

OCRDA BREAKAWAY

It was an historic day for UK Offshore Circuit Racing when on March 24th 2017 OCRDA (Offshore Circuit Racing Drivers Association) decided to breakaway from the RYA. At their Annual General Meeting (AGM) OCRDA members were asked to vote whether they wanted to race under the RYA jurisdiction or independently, and members voted overwhelmingly to race independently. Three years ago race numbers had decreased with only a handful of teams turning up to meetings. It was imperitive that something had to be done or UK offshore circuit racing would disappear altogether.

The problems were clear to see with personality clashes, unnecessary restrictions being imposed on race organisers, and disagreements on many issues particularly concerning the cost of an RYA racing licence for Club Class racing. Since the RYA removed Offshore Circuit Racing (OCR) as a nationally recognised class two years ago, there has been contention that the teams still had to pay for an RYA licence at the same cost as those competing in the RYA National Championships, and the majority of OCRDA teams did not wish to compete in RYA events anyway. To date only the

CARBON ZERO FUTURE

UIM Aquabike and Nations Cup events achieve carbon neutral status and the first ever Class 1 boat sets the standard for the future of green powerboat racing.

In September last year the UIM-ABP Aquabike and UIM H2O Nations Cup Grand Prix of Shanghai were the first carbon neutral events across both the sporting categories to take place in the People’s Republic of China.

Throughout the negotiations and planning stages to bring the two international events to Shanghai, ensuring the carbon neutral status of both was a high priority for BUND Holding Group’s Chairman, Mr Chongjie Xin. “Investing in high quality carbon reduction projects and making events carbon neutral is our commitment to ensure that we respect and achieve our corporate social responsibilities.”

Their carbon neutral strategy is very much in line with the strong direction on environmental responsibilities taken and implemented by Dr. Raffaele Chiulli, President of the UIM and its close working relationship with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

Zabo Racing has announced that it has become the first ever team in the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship to be awarded ‘Carbon Zero’ status. “Zabo Racing is setting the standard for all teams and organizations to be environmentally responsible.” said Ugur Işık Zabo’s Turkish driver.

In line with his own environmental aspirations and working towards Carbon Free Championships, Formula 1 promoter, Nicolò di San Germano, praised the Norwegian team. “I applaud the actions of Uğur and Zabo Racing,” he said. “We have been an active supporter of the Water Manifesto since 1998 and looking at ways to reduce our environmental impact is a priority in all my Championships. H2O Racing is currently working with the Norwegian company, CO2focus AS, to achieve this.”

CO2focus AS is an independent consulting company providing solutions to make organizations more sustainable, including carbon footprint analysis and environmental risk assessment.

10 raceboatinternational

Cowes-Torquay-Cowes, Falmouth and the one event in Guernsey are on the RYA National Offshore calendar. The Falmouth event is organised by the newly affiliated International Powerboat Racing Club (IPRC), and is primarily aimed at the Marathon classes although it is hoped to also run OCR there as well and possibly the second (final) round of the National Championship.

Members of those offshore clubs held meetings with the RYA in the hope of a compromise but it appears the RYA were unwilling to make any changes.

As OCRDA was the only club racing under Club Class rules, few of their members were worried about racing for international points, they were more concerned about having a fun weekend’s racing at an affordable price.

OCRDA can offer that and it seems almost all their members who voted at the AGM agreed, so the 2017 season kicks off with a club organising events as an independent association.

UIM PARTNERSHIP DEAL The UIM announced a major new partnership agreement with China’s BUND Holding Group.

Bund Holding Group President Xin Chongjie and UIM President Raffaele Chiulli at the UIM Awards Giving Gala The partnership, agreed between UIM President Raffaele Chiulli and BUND Holding Group President Xin Chongjie, began with the group’s sponsorship of this year’s annual UIM Awards Giving Gala.

“On behalf of the UIM, I am honoured and delighted to enter in to this new partnership agreement with BUND Holding Group,” said President Chiulli.

“The group has been a key supporter of powerboat activities, most notably the Aquabike Class Pro World Championship and the Nations Cup World Series Grand Prix of Shanghai. That successful support has helped boost powerboat racing in one of the world’s most dynamic markets meaning an ongoing partnership between the UIM and BUND Holding can only be of benefit to the sport both on and off the water.”

BUND Holding Group is a major operating group with interests in a diverse range of products and services ranging from financial services and real estate to industrial investment and sports event operations. In 2016, the group established itself as a local organiser of UIM Aquabike and Nations Cup events in China, occasions that were acclaimed as the two sports’ first carbon neutral events to be staged in the country.

“Following the success of the two events in China, I am pleased to enter into this exciting new partnership with our colleagues at the UIM,” said Chongjie.

“Powerboat racing is a unique and dynamic sport which offers us great opportunities and a strong platform to develop our social and public involvement - I look forward to growing our partnership in the years to come.”

RACING IN BRIEF

SAN GERMANO INTRODUCES HIS ELECTRIC POWERBOAT TEAM It’s been the worse kept secret that f1h2o supremo Nicolo di San Germano has been developing an electric outboard motor that he hoped would power his Nations Cup fleet.

At the 2017 UIM Awards ceremony Nicolo convened a press conference when his ‘Electric powerboat’ project was made public and the team behind the project.

With the ‘global environment’ being very much a high profile topic of conversation in the world, there is a growing interest in the use of electronic propulsion in all forms of transport. Whether it is for racing or in the commercial market, electric power is considered to be the way forward. In the marine market small electric low hp outboards have been around for years, ideal for little fishing dinghies and yacht tender inflatables, but San Germano is looking at high performers in the 100hp plus category.

Since Nicolo first sowed the seeds of a powerful electric outboard with Italian specialist engineering company Terra ModenaMechatronic, Chinese conglomerate Bund Holding Group, who have recently entered into a partnership agreement with the UIM, have joined the project investing in what they refer to as EIPAS, Electric Integrated Propulsion System.

At the press conference, it was announced that the project is to develop and produce the China Bund EIPS which will be the engine of choice for the 2018 UIM H2O Nations Cup World Series. The engine is the result of two years of research and development at Terra Moden Mechantronic’sfacility at Reggio Emilia in north east Italy.

The project was developed on four key criteria:- the installation of the power unit into the existing Nations Cup catamarans; maintaining the same balance of the existing 2 stroke engine; keepinging the existing stern drive and transmission system, and the new power unts to be designed in modular pack for ‘plug in and play’ and other applications. Managing Director of Terra Modena Mechatronic Dario Calzavara said , “Designing a compact battery pack due to the limited space in the existing hull has been a difficult task. However, it was solved with a specific design and careful assembly of each Li-Pol cell. More than that, the battery pack and the mounted system can easily be removed from the hull, thanks to the Terra Modena system named ‘Clip Clap battery release, patented for Terra Modena’s SG1 car in 2015.

Left to right: Xin Chongjie (President of Bund Holding Group), Dario Calzavara (MD of Terra Modena Mechatronic, Nicolo di San Germano (H2o Promotor)

SKAGERAK CANCELLED

The famous Skagerak Marathon race that ran from Denmark to Norway has been cancelled according to reports on social media. The reason was given as lack of entrants, but as the race was not due to start for several weeks, it seems the organisers may have been a bit presumptuous as in the UK entries quite often appear two days befor the race.

RANDY SCISM SPEAKS OUT One of America’s most successful boatbuilder/racer Randy Scism said, “After all the years I’ve been racing I have never come across a more stupid rule than the one that cost Abu Dhabi their second would Class 1 title. Engineers lifted the rocker box cover to inspect the rockers and replaced it without carrying out any work. Post race deemed that illegal and Abu Dhabi were penalised for ‘their cripoint.me’ resulting in Victory winning gold by onel

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

In a male dominated sport, four ladies play a major part in making Formula 1 run smoothly, they are the ‘radio ladies’. While the drivers grab the limelight, it is the radio operators who can win or lose races. Francesco Cantando has benefitted from the skills of Marina Gioco.

Swede Jonas Andersson employs the services of Swedish Jane Persson who nearly had kittens when her boss performed a spectacular backward flip in Sharjah. Poland is represented by Nikolrta Kuziuska, the glamouours side of Team Marszalek. Last but not least is new driver Peter Morin of CITC China who relies on the daughter of three times world champion Philippe Chiappe. Fanny Chiappe is not only a competitant radio girl, she also races Formula 4.

AUSSIES TAKE ON XCAT The Offshore Powerboat Teams Association (OPTA), founded in November 2016 by Australian Brett Luhrmann, agreed last weekend in Monaco to join forces with the UIM to organise and promote the XCAT Series (Offshore Class 3S) after the previous promoter, Dubai based World Professional Powerboating Association (WPPA), failed to renew their mandate.

The X Cats have proved to be very popular during their brief lifetime, but it was clear something had gone amiss when the championship was curtailed mid season. Suddenly any requests for news of X Cats were met with a stony silence.

A joint platform has been formed, comprising of OPTA President Luhrmann, UIM Secretary General Thomas Kurth and the UIM Head of President Office Riccardo La Cognata. The two entities have started dialogue which has taken the UIM and Teams to the creation of a common platform, which will eventually assume the organisation and promotion of a series of international Class 3 races for the 2017 season and beyond.

The first step in the process will be the announcement of an international 2017 racing calendar.

raceboatinternational 11

GALA UIM AWARDS GIVING

IN MONACO

The world’s governing body for powerboat racing, the UIM staged their annual awards dinner during March in the tiny principality of Monaco and in the presence of HSH The Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Marit Stromoy, F1 sweetheart driver and Norway’s celebrated singer

On display at the Gala - a Nations Cup catamaran to promote Nicolo di San Germano’s Electric Powerboat project which he hopes will be ready to race in 2018

This year the event, which was broadcast live on UIM TV and the Olympic Channel, was sponsored by the Shanghai-based Bund Holding, who have recently entered into a partnership with the UIM, and are investing in the EIPAS, Electric Integrated Propulsion System project which will be the engine of choice for the 2018 UIM H2O Nations Cup World Series.

UIM President Dr Chiulli said, “This year’s edition bears witness to our new partner China’s Bund Holding Group who enjoyed a successful 2016 having organised the UIM Aquabike and Nations Cup Events in China and whose plans for the future are built on ground-breaking technical innovation with an immense potential to ‘green’ our sport.”

More than 450 guests from sport, commerce, the boating industry and media gathered as over 150 World Champions were awarded trophies at the Gala Dinner from 2016 worldwide events in Offshore, Circuit, Pleasure Navigation and Aquabike. I must confess, when Joanne the UIM’s secretary sent me images from the presentation evening I hadn’t a clue where to start as there were only a handful of faces I recognised. The long arm of the UIM stretches far and wide meaning many of the recipients hailed from Eastern Bloc nations and many have bearly reached their teens.

12 raceboatinternational

JACK BOBIN AND BARRY CULVER from UK won 3A Offshore in Norway

EMMA-NELLIE ORTENDAHL from Sweden is presented with her third World Title in APB/UIM Aquabike Ladies Ski

GUIDO’S FIRST UIM HALL OF FAME AWARD The Americans are very keen on ‘Hall of Famers’ and f1h2o have got their own annual award. Now the UIM have created their own Hall of Fame and the first recipient of this prestigious title is Guido Cappellini, ten times winner of the UIM World F1 championship.

Guido, who started his competitive career in Go-Kart racing has become the most successful F1 driver of all times and is currently the Manager of the Abu Dhabi powerboat division whilst also heading up the DAC boa tbuilding enterprise in Como, Italy.

PHILLIPPE CHIAPPE 2016 F1 World Champion from France There were a number of new awards this year including ‘Sport for All Award’, the Hall of Fame, which was won by Italy’s F1 champion and now team manager Guido Cappellini, and the first Junior Driver and Driver of the Year awards which went to Stefan Arand and the late Massimo Rossi.

Among the many competitors to receive awards was France’s Philippe Chiappe who went home with another world F1 world title, his third consecutive gold medal, and former F1

pilot Pierre Lundin from Sweden who clinched his second world F2 title.

The UK was represented by winning Jack Bobin and Barry Culver who won their gold medal in the 3A offshore class in Norway.

Norway was also represented at the Gala by F1 driver Marit Stromoy who entertained the guests with her singing talents.

raceboatinternational 13

YESTERYEAR

Tim Powell

TRIBUTE to TIM POWELL 1938-2017

If it hadn’t been for Tim Powell, the chances are the Cowes-Torquay race would have finished thirty years ago.

TP as he was fondly known, became the driving force behind this famous event first as a competitor and then organiser. One of the advantages he had as an event organiser was that he had many contacts, particularly Italian and he was always assured of a good turn-out for his CTC races.

I recall many occasions, strolling down to the Cowes Marina early morning, to be greeted by Tim with his usual “Morning old boy,” as he puffed away on a cigarette.

Tim was known to be very persuasive and with his decisivie and dedicated approach to whatever he turned his hand to he had the respect from everyone. Few would argue with him as he was almost always right. He was generous too with a great sense of fun and his parties at Northwood House, Cowes sponsored by Martini were legendary.

When the Dailey Express and Embassy withdrew their sponsorship at the end of 1979 it looked like the end of the famous CTC. However, Tim thought otherwise and took on the mammoth task himself. The rest is history as Tim’s organising skills lasted the same time as the Dailey Express.

In recent years, Tim’s health had deteriorated, but it still came as a shock to us all when we learned that Tim has passed away peacefully on 24th January 2017.

The following article was written by Ray Bulman and published in August 2002 as a tribute to Tim Powell’s contribution to powerboat racing.

14 raceboatinternational

Powell and the glory

He’s a pioneer of powerboat racing and a long-term race organiser of the Cowes-Torquay.

And many in the sport hail Tim Powell as the saviour of British offshore.

Text Ray Bulman Portraits Suzanne Grala To great cheers, Tim Powell and Fabio Buzzi won last year’s 41st Honda Cowes Classic in Giancanotto - a dramatic victory for Powell, back in the driving seat after 15 years. Remarkably, it was his first win, despite competing in almost all the races up to the end of the 1970s, but it’s a fitting tribute to the achievements of a man without whom the event would not exist. It was Tim Powell who rescued the Cowes-Torquay in 1979, after the Daily Express withdrew their sponsorship. His efforts saved British Offshore racing in all its forms - the demise of the Cowes-Torquay being akin to the ravens leaving the Tower.

Tim Powell was a man about town. He had money, connections in high society and raced cars around the tracks of Europe. But it was a chance meeting in a London nightclub in 1964 that changed his life. The CowesTorquay was four years old. A club member offered him the chance to get his hands on an offshore powerboat. The vendor boasted that the quadrupleJaguar-powered Tramontana II had £8,000 of a £10,000 sponsorship deal outstanding from Esso. Whoever picked up the boat would therefore, he claimed, collect the balance towards their next year’s racing costs. The deal could be closed for £10,000, which meant the buyer got a free racing season.

Tim, with a couple of associates, decided to take on the boat. But when he approached Esso for confirmation of the deal, the sponsorship money never materialised.

Educated at Charterhouse, Tim followed his father into the engineering business. Today he can converse on most mechanical subjects with a clear understanding - it’s not rare to see him sleeves rolled up and head deep inside a marine engine, getting his hands dirty.

Powell carried out his National Service in the Royal Navy. The Duke of Edinburgh was a serving officer at Portsmouth, where Powell’s ship was based. It happened that Tim’s father not only owned the same model Aston Martin Lagonda as the Duke, but it was also the same colour - a circumstance that opened many doors for Tim when his father loaned him the vehicle to drive back to Portsmouth after a weekend pass. Seeing the car approaching, the officer of the day called out the guard!

He worked on a cruiser off West Africa, where an uncle, through his oil

Tramontana II in the 1966 Cowes-Torquay race

firm, had links with the newly independent Ghana, and Tim was invited to the celebrations. His captain was also invited, through diplomatic channels, and was surprised not only to see one of his seamen at the same upmarket bash, but sitting next to and in conversation with the president.

But Tim would never rest on privilege. The key to his many successes as a racing driver and race organiser is his willingness to knuckle down and get on with the job in hand, while everyone else is merely talking about doing it.

So it was with Tramontana II: the lack of a sponsorship deal wasn’t going to stop him racing.

During their first year, the 1965 Cowes-Torquay, they came in fourth. In 1966 the crew were almost asphyxiated when a couple of exhaust manifolds fell off in the rough. As they were on a cruising-class boat with a cabin, the members of the trio were taking turns to venture below for a quick sharpener. It wasn’t until they began feeling far more heady than their alcohol consumption would lead them to expect, that the penny finally dropped.

Wanting something a little more competitive, Tim purchased UFO, a 28ft (8.5m) Wynne Walters-designed Thunderbird. She was fitted with a pair of Hollman and Moody Fords producing 900hp - a powerful package in those days. With Norman Barclay, and rally driver Paddy Hopkirk as crew, Tim finished third in the rough 1968 race, when a new format brought the fleet back to Cowes. He used the same boat a year later to take the lead in the first Round Britain, and had it not been for fog causing the UFO to run ashore in Scotland, he would have won, instead of finishing second.

Tim was now well and truly smitten with the sport. He joined the Avenger team the following year to challenge for the 19760 World Offshore Championship, driving the revolutionary Don Shead-designed 007 - the first world title contender to use turbocharged petrol engines.

With Tommy Sopwith leading Tim Powell the championship on points, finally wins Tim let Tommy enter the final ‘his race’ in two rounds with 007. Sopwith’s 2001 success in the penultimate round sparked an international battle over the rules.

He was disqualified, but raced the final event under protest. The boat caught fire and it was some years before Tim came back on the world circuit.

Meanwhile, he had made many friends in international racing, particularly in the US, where he had found UFO three years earlier. His next boat Moppie was also shipped across the Atlantic. He drove the 3ft (10.5m) Mercruiser-powered Bertram in many events, joined by Princess Michael of Kent in the 1073 Needles trophy. But results were mixed. His biggest disappointment was his retirement from the London-Monte Carlo race in 1972. raceboatinternational 15

Powell suited and booted behind the controls of ‘Marlboro’

There is no doubt that Tim’s vast experience behind the wheel and ability to take punishing seas would have made him more than a match for the eventual winner, HTS, but once again navigation proved his downfall. They had a 13-minute lead over the rest of the fleet, when his navigating co-driver gave Tim the wrong heading and the boat hit rocks off Selsey Bill at full speed.

The collision wiped out the props, shafts and rudder. In the days before GPS, success or failure relied on dead reckoning.

Powell’s next opportunity on the World Offshore Championship came with Mike Doxford, in 1977, aboard Limit Up. Together they scored an impressive nine international wins, but lost out in the one-race final decider off Key West, to American Betty Cook.

But it was the events of the following year that triggered an intriguing shift in direction. At the end of 1978 the Daily Express changed hands. Eighteen years of sponsoring the Cowes-Torquay came to an end when the new owners announced the withdrawal of their support. Tobacco firm WD&HO Wills also pulled out their sponsorship.

It was a huge blow for British offshore. The next race, in 1979, was now without a sponsor or an organiser. There was a great deal of talk, but the only action came from Tim Powell. He chased up past competitors to help fund the event, some becoming members of the organising committee. Their attempt to save the race was not helped by the new owners of the Express destroying everything that could have been useful. Among other things, they burnt the large scoreboards that had once allowed everyone in Cowes to follow the progress of the race.

Tim’s racing days were now almost over. Although he would have a couple of rides as a working passenger in the years ahead, he channelled most of his energy into race organisation. Then came his first piece of luck - sponsorship from Toyota. It meant that Tim had some breathing space - and an opportunity to learn how best to organise the race. When Toyota pulled out three years later, he could almost run it with his eyes shut, though money was once again a problem. Financial support for the race now came from a variety of sources, including the Isle of Wight Council, who knew the value of the race as a tourist attraction. Over the years, Tim also topped up shortfalls out of his own pocket.

His organisational skills weren’t solely confined to the Cowes-Torquay race. Tim’s ability to get things moving was recognised by others, including Richard Branson, who asked him to head up his London-based operation room during his bids for the Blue Riband - awarded to the fastest boat to cross the Atlantic. Branson met with success on his second attempt inn 1986.

But nothing quite demonstrates Tim’s drive and enthusiasm as clearly as his involvement with the Round Britain. Seeing that there was far more

enthusiasm than effort involved in running the 1984 race, Tim offered to organise it on behalf of the UK Offshore Boating Association, of which he was chairman and commodore. Until this point, support from his fellow committee members had been limited, and Powell could see the event would need the type of full-time effort only he could provide. With five years’ experience of organising the world-leading Cowes-Torquay, he was clearly cut out for the task, although he knew it wouldn’t generate much income. The drawback was that he would need diplomacy to succeed - not always exactly his strong point.

In contrast with the boats that had formed the line-up for the first Round Britain 15 years before, offshore racing craft in the UK had become much smaller and far less seaworthy. There were concerns that most could not last the distance. Indeed, only a few boats managed to complete each leg, with some contestants bypassing the rougher areas on road trailers. Despite this, the event was an undisputed success, largely thanks to the Italians, whose larger, tougher, more seaworthy craft were better equipped for the course.

The Italians had towboats, one driven by Renato Della Valle, the other

by Fabio Buzzi. Della Valle’s Ego was the trial-horse for the inaugural Lamborghini engine (a risk that paid off), while Buzzi’s White Iveco was using already proven Iveco diesels. Money was no object for the Italians, unlike the Brits, who were forced to scrimp and save. The Italians could afford travelling teams of onshore engineers, the best hotels and light-aircraft to ferry them back and forth.

Socially, the Italians had little in common with the other competitors. Their main contact throughout was Tim Powell, a man who shared their sense of style and had a similar background. Something needed to be done to bring everyone together. At the halfway stage, with the Italians anticipating a relaxing time in the Grand Hotel, Inverness, everyone was surprised to find Tim organising a barbecue on a piece of wasteland. They saw him drag, unaided, four barbecue stoves to the site, fire them up and begin to cook sausages, burgers, steaks and a massive black pudding. With Tim cooking away merrily, even the Italians left an evening of pampering at the hotel and took their place in the queue for sausages.

Later, Tim, turning down offers of help, happily dragged a tarpaulin round the site, scooping up the litter of the evening.

This summed him up. If ever there was a man with the ability to, in Kipling’s words, “walk with kings” and retain “the common touch”, it must be Tim Powell.

He won lasting respect from the Italians that evening. No wonder that many times since, when Tim has been scraping around for international entries for his Cowes-Torquay race, one call to Fabio Buzzi brings instant support. Nor does it come as any great surprise that Buzzi chose to hand him the Powell and Mike Doxford campaigned the Class 1 World Campionship in wheel of his giant RIB in the 2001 Honda Cowes Classic.

1977 in the Aronow-designed Cigarette ‘Limit Up’ 16 raceboatinternational

YESTERYEAR

A LONG TIME IN THE DRIVING SEAT

Tim’s early boating experience was gained aboard his father’s ex-World War II 34ft (10.3m) RAF torpedo recovery boat. This was a wooden clinker-built planing hull fitted with a single Grey Marine petrol engine.

Apart from his own racing boats, Tim Powell has driven and crewed aboard many famous craft owned by other enthusiasts. These include 007 (1970) and Limit Up - a 35ft (10.6m) Aronow-designed Cigarette, originally powered by Jaguar engines, and then with Mercruisers, in which he and the late Mike Doxford campaigned for the world Class 1 crown in 1977. Not forgetting Miss Embassy, which Powell raced for one season with Ronnie Hoare and Harry Hyams after Don Shead injured his back.

Tim Powell and his boats

16ft (4.8m) PochinCraft runabout powered by a single evinrude outboard.

Mainly used for waterskiing. Speed about 35pmh.

007

Not to be confused with the later Avenger boat, this 70mph Peter Du Canedesigned, Vosper-built racing monohull, with its single BMW petrol inboard, competed in Paris 6-Hour events in the early 1960s.

Jaguars totalling 1,100hp. It competed in Class I (16-litre) with a speed of around 65mph, but proved no match against the Italian and US-designed craft of its day.

UFO

Designed and built in 1967 by Thunderbird - the Merrick Lewis stable in Miami - the 28ft (8.5m) Class I UFO was powered by a pair of Holman Moody Fords totalling 900hp. It had a top speed of around 70mph, carrying it to third place in the 1968 Cowes-Torquay and second overall in the BP Round Britain the following year.

American Moppie Tramontana II

The 41ft (12.4m) Tramontana II, designed by Du Cane and built by Vosper in 1963, was powered by four 3.8-litre

Designed by Russ Specht and Vacuummoulded at the Bertram yard in Miami, this Class I offshore racer was owned and driven by Tim Powell from 1971 to 1973. It finished third overall in the

There has been more than one occasion when Tim’s retirement from the team of Cowes-Torquay organisers has been heralded with final race dates and farewell parties. But no one ever stepped forward to fill his shoes. Retirement, therefore, seldom lasted more than a month. By the London Boat Show in January, Tim was usually back behind the reins.

He has often suffered unfair criticism, taking the blame when things went wrong: the dangerous grounding of two race boats in a foggy Torbay ten years ago being the best example.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment was when Cowes was refused a round of the World Offshore Championship by the UIM in January 1992. Powell was devastated. The excuse was lack of facilities and adequate funding but although the 2001 race in Plymouth may have achieved sufficient funds, its facilities fell far short of what Cowes can offer. Tim still didn’t let up his efforts.

By 1996, with 17 years in race organisation, he had equalled the time that the Daily Express and later Embassy had been involved. Only following the success of the 40th anniversary dinner at the Royal Yacht Squadron in 2000 did he finally give up his role to a new group of organisers under the burgee of the British Powerboat Racing Club.

That’s not to say he’s sitting around twiddling his thumbs. Powell is a keen motor yachtsman - until recently the owner of the 70ft (21.3m) Tramontana III is a competent engineer and still, I suspect, a man-about-town.

But he will always be remembered for his efforts that ensured the survival of Britain’s flagship powerboat race, the Cowes-Torquay, for 22 years. It was at the 2001 AGM of the RYA that he finally received recognition for all the years he has worked, virtually alone, to keep the British flag flying high in the world of international offshore powerboat racing. RYA president, the Princess Royal,

roughest ever Cowes-Torquay-Cowes in 1971 (a freshening gale) and led the first leg of the London-Monte Carlo the following year. With a 31ft (9.4m) Bertram Nautic hull, American Moppie was powered by a pair of Mercruiser petrol engines, developing 1,000hp and giving her speeds between 60 and 70mph.

Breathless

This 36ft (11m) Shead-designed hull was originally moulded by Planetec as ABO (Another Bloody Omelette) for Bobby Buchanan-Michaelson to challenge the 1973 World Class I Offshore Championship title. The underside was damaged in the opening round of the series in South America and it was shipped back home for conversion into a less punishing day boat, while a replacement ABO was constructed in its stead. Tim Powell purchased the original damaged boat later that year, and supervised its transformation. It was powered by a couple of Mercruiser petrol engines producing approximately 700hp. Breathless stayed in Tim’s ownership for several years and was entered in Cowes-Torquay in 1979, but with a speed of about 50mph it was purely a makeweight to swell the fleet.

Marlboro

This 33ft.6in (10.5m) Don shead-designed aluminium hull was built as Miss Enfield in 1970 by Enfield Marine,

for Tommy Sopwith. In 1973 the RYA introduced an experimental offshore class for gas turbine-powered craft.

Sopwith entered the 42ft (12.8m) Miss Embassy. Tim Powell was equally interested in the concept and purchased the old Miss Enfield. He found sponsorship from Marlboro, installed a 1,000hp Rolle-Royce Gnome gas turbine and repainted the craft in his sponsor’s livery. Unfortunately it suffered a host of development problems, but did achieve the turbine record on Lake Windermere before the experiment was eventually abandoned.

Tramontana III

70ft (21.8m) overall, this high-speed motor yacht was built by Souter of Cowes to a Don Shead design in the early 1970s for Dick Wilkins and purchased

by Tim Powell a few years later. It was still in his ownership until very recently and is currently berthed in the Caribbean after a spell in the UK and the Balearics. The boat is fitted with a pair of V12 cylinder GM Detroit diesels, which are both super and turbocharged.

Their total output of 1,400hp give this very attractive craft a top speed of 32 knots - impressive for a vessel of this size and age.

presented him with a framed letter of appreciation and a gold anchor tie-pin.

Tim Powell was the last person to expect such an honour. But, in my eyes - and I’m sure I speak for racing enthusiasts everywhere - the tribute was long overdue.

Powell (smoking) in ‘Moppie’ in 1973 with fellow crew members Stirling Moss, Prince Michael of Kent and Willie Meyers

raceboatinternational 17

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

on the

grid 2017

Gleaning up to date pre-season information on the F1 teams is never easy, and the new championship line up is often only fully revealed when the teams turn up for the opening round of the F1 series in Portimao, Portugal. So apologies now for any inaccuracies in this preview to the new season. The biggest surprise so far for 2017 is that Scott Gillman has taken over the management of Dubai’s Victory Team and his former team, Emirate Racing is now

managed by Paola Bochetti with Marit Stromoy and Mike Szymura (ex EMIC Team), and Ivan Brigada won’t be racing this year. The Victory drivers are still American Shaun Torrente retaining the blue overalls of Victory, and he will line-up alongside Ahmed Al Hameli.

It appears Nadir bin Hendi will step aside from F1 and will resume his competing in Class 1 and XCats. Originally Australian Grant Trask was joining Scott’s team, but that was before the

The 8 international teams lining up for the 2017 F1 World Championship Series which starts in Portimao in April and ends after 6 rounds in Sharjah in December Text DAVID SEWELL

CTIC CHINA TEAM

China Team Manager - Eric Chan

1 Philippe Chiappe

Nationality: France World Championships: 3 Grand Prix Entered 108 Hull: Moore The defending World Champion with 2 back to back titles began F1 racing in 2002. Also won Rouen 24 Hour race several times.

2 Peter Morin

Nationality: France World Championships: 0 Grand Prix Entered 0 Hull: Moore This will be the first F1 season for Philippe Chiappe’s Rouen 24 Hour race partner.

MAD CROC F1 TEAM

ItaLY Team Manager - Michael Jenkins

VICTORY TEAM

UAE Team Manager - Scott Gillman

4 Shaun torrente

Nationality: United States Grand Prix Entered: 35 World Championships: 0 Hull: Moore After a mid season debut in 2007 Shaun started his first full season in 2011 with Team Qatar. He has won three times with six podium finishes.

27 Ahmed Al Hameli

Nationality: U.A.E. Grand Prix Entered: 73 World Championships: 0 Hull: Baba Made his debut in 2006 with Team Abu Dhabi and moved with Manager Scott Gillman to join Emirates Racing in 2015. He has moved to Victory Team for 2017. Ahmed won six grand prix and in 2011 finished in fourth in the championship

BLAZE PERFORMANCE TEAM ITALY Team Manager - Francesco Cantando

1 1 Sami Selio

24 Francesco Cantando

Nationality: Finland Grand Prix Entered: 146 World Championships: 2 Hull: Baba After 19 years on the F1 tour, Sami has won 13 grand prix and 44 podium finishes. He came 3rd in the 2016 Championship

Nationality: Italian Grand Prix Entered: 168 World Championships: 0 Hull: Blaze Performance In his 20 year 168 grand prix career he has come close to the world title three times with second places in the championship standings. He has won 12 grand prix and 49 podiums

12 Filip Roms

23 Bartek Marszalek

Nationality: Finland Grand Prix Entered 30 World Championships: 0 Hul: BaBa At 22 Filip is the youngest driver who started racing F1 in 2012. Picked up his first podium place last year with a 3rd place in Evian, France.

18 raceboatinternational

Nationality: Poland Grand Prix Entered: 27 World Championships: 0 Hull: DAC After 5 years in F1 Bartek’s best season was in 2014 when he tied for 7th in the championship taking top ten places in every race that year.

Victory deal was signed. Now Trask will race in Team Atlantic with Duarte Benevente.

In the CTIC China team Xiong Ziwei has pulled out and Philippe Chiappe who attempts to secure a fourth F1 world crown is joined by fellow frenchman Peter Morin. There is no Philippe made it look very easy last term and there is no reason why he can’t continue his winning ways in his French built Moore hull. Jesper Forss of Team Sweden is another driver who will not be returning this year, his over-enthusiasm invariably ended with a spectacular crash last term and his team mate Jonas Andersson will be joined by fellow Swede Eric Start. We believe both will be driving Danish built

Molgaard hulls.

Poland’s Bartek Marszalek of the Blaze Racing team kept his best performance to the end of the season when he qualified in the Sharjah shoot-out. Sadly though his engine expired before the end of the race. Bart’s team leader veteran Francesco Cantando, who builds the Blaze boats and prepares his own engines, is not quite the force he was a decade ago, but still mixes it with the frontrunners.

By rights, Team Abu Dhabi should be on the podium after every race. However, retirements blighted their points tally last year with 3 times world champion Alex Carella finishing 5th and Thani Al Qamzi 13th in the standings. The team, managed by 10 time world champion Guido Cappellini, promised so much at the start of the season with a new sparkling colour scheme, but their results never matched the preparation. Surely 2017 will prove to be better as Abu Dhabi paymasters will expect something - at least a world title.

Continued...

TEAM ABU DHABI

UAE Team Manager - Guido Cappellini

5 Thani Al Qamzi

EMIRATE RACING TEAM U.A.E. Team Manager - Paola Bochetti

50 Marit Stromoy

Nationality: Norway Grand Prix Entered: 71 World Championships: 0 Hull: BaBa First woman to earn pole position. She made her F1 debut in 2007 and enjoyed her best season last year finishing 5th after a win in the last race of 2015 in Sharjah

51 Mike Szymura

Nationality: Germany Grand Prix Entered: 7 World Championships: 0 Hull: Dragon Made his F1 debut in 2016 moving up from F4 and was restricted by mechanical issues

F1 ATLANTIC TEAM

Portugal Team Manager - Mario Benavente

Nationality: U.A.E. Grand Prix Entered: 121 World Championships: 0 Hull: DAC His first F1 event was in Sharjah in 2000. He has won 7 grand prix with 30 podiums. His best season was in 2009 with runner-up in the World Championship.

6 Alex Carella

Nationality: Italy Grand Prix Entered: 45 World Championships: 3 Hull: DAC A three time World Champion in just 6 years. He joined F1 in 2010 with Team Qatar from F2 and won his first grand prix in his third start in Linyi, China. He has never finished lower than 3rd.

7 Rashed Al Qamzi

Nationality: U.A.E. Grand Prix Entered: 0 World Championships: 0 Hull: Molgaard Joined the team for his first outing in the 2016 Sharjah grand prix after taking the F4 World Championship title in Abu Dhabi.

TEAM SWEDEN

SWEDEN Team Manager - Jane Pearson

10 Duarte Benavente

14 Jonas Andersson

9 Grant Trask

28 Eric Stark

Nationality: Portugal Grand Prix Entered: 142 World Championships: 0 Hull: Moore Duarte is a 17 year tour veteran. He has had five podium finishes, his best being 2nd in Sardinia in 2002

Nationality: Australia Grand Prix Entered: 2 World Championships: 0 Hull: DAC Debuted in 2016 with Emirate Racing in a borrowed cat in 2 grand prix starts. Best qualifying position was 12th . Raced in Australia where he followed in the footsteps of father Bob and Uncle David. Won the 2007 F2000 class.

Nationality: Sweden Grand Prix Entered: 82 World Championships: 0 Hull: Molgaard Debuted in 2006 after success in F2000. He was F2 Champion twice. In 74 grand prix starts he has won four, and reached the podium 9 times.

Nationality: Sweden Grand Prix Entered: 20 World Championships: 0 Hull: DAC The four time F2 World Champion made his F1 debut in 2012 then full time from 2014 taking his first podium in China. He has had two 6th and one 7th championship positions raceboatinternational 19

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

www.adamyoungerdesign.com Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, UK Tel: +44 (1983) 760723 Evian 2016 Probably the most improved driver of 2016 was Mad Croc’s Filip Roms. The young Finn had come through the F4 ranks, and when he joined Selio’s F1 team no-one expected miracles, but his second season in the top ranks saw him finish 6th overall. He was lying in second place in the Harbin GP when Carella took him out, and perhaps had that not happened a top four place could have been on the scoresheet. Sami Selio suffered a few mechanical ailments which hampered his progress, but when everything is running as it should the former world champion always looks a winner and he made 3rd in the 2016 Championship.

Team Atlantic’s Duarte Benavente is ‘Mr Consistant’, and has scored points at every meeting, but never threatens to win a race.

This term, his number two driver Chris Larigot has retired from F1 and the Portuguese pilot will be with a new partner Australian Grant Trask who performed well in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah 2016.

Benavente will be hoping for a respectable result in Portimao on home waters, and a podium place would be a great bonus for the diminutive driver from Lisbon.

One of the most professional team leaders in F1 is also the only female driver. Norway’s Marit Stromoy ended the 2015 season in Sharjah on a high when she became the first woman to win a grand prix. It didn’t go so well last year in Sharjah when she reired after just a few laps. This year Marit will be racing in the established Emirate Racing Team whilc her former team EMIC is no more. Her partner in 2017 will again be Mike Syzmura who made his F1 debut last year in a Dragon hull. He endured several niggling mechanical issues mainly with power steering, but the boat has undergone one or two modifications during the winter, so hopefully the German driver can move up the points table.

The 2017 championship launches in Portimao, Portugal before moving north to the French town of Evian. It then heads south to the Orient with two races in China, Harbin and Liuzhou, and then back to the UAE with Abu Dhabi hosting the penultimate round of the championship, and finally Sharjah.

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE POWERCRAFT FOR RACE,

LEISURE AND COMMERCIAL CRAFT

COVERING MONOHULLs AND MULTIHULLS, ONE OFF’S AND PRODUCTION BOATS

Portimao 2016

Now incorporating our in-house R & D department: First project being the Aquavite 3AZ150 race boat 20 raceboatinternational

2017 PREVIEW Article Dave Sewell

AQUA ADRENALINE TOUR OCRDA CHAMPIONSHIP The discord has been rumbling on for at least two years, and now the decision has been made at last for the OCRDA to run their races independently from the RYA. Since the RYA removed Offshore Circuit Racing (OCR) as a nationally recognised class two years ago, the entry numbers have increased under the leadership of OCRDA running as a Club Championship.

However, there was contention that the teams still had to pay for an RYA licence at the same cost as those competing in the RYA National Championships, and the majority of OCRDA teams did not wish to compete in RYA events anyway. To date only the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes, Falmouth and the one event in Guernsey are on the RYA National Offshore calendar. The Falmouth event is organised by the newly affiliated International Powerboat Racing Club (IPRC), and is primarily aimed at the Marathon classes although it is hoped to also run OCR there as well and possibly the second (final) round of the National Championship.

The ‘breakaway’ will not affect the plans for racing this year although the Irish event may be in question as the Irish club remains under the RYA banner. The OCRDA calendar starts in Torquay, then Newhaven, West Bay, Howth (Ireland), and Plymouth. The opening round of the 2017 Championship series is part of the Aqua Adrenaline Tour, also featuring Jet Skis, Flyboarding displays and Ski Racing behind powerboats at speeds of up to 70mph.

2017 OCRDA CALENDAR

28 April-1 May

Round 1

Torquay

9-11 June

Round 2

Newhaven

14-16 July

Round 3

West Bay

22-24 September

Round 4

Howth, Ireland

6-8 October

Round 5

Plymouth

Brian Peedell and Dan Priestley will be racing their V24 boats again this year in Unlimited class as will Tom MontgomerySwan in his Phantom ‘Sunas’

The fleet of thirty plus offshore and 10 plus Ski boats will be lined up on Torquay’s Haldon Quay where they will be scrutineered and launched for the first of four

races which will take place over the action packed weekend.

OCR is made up of three classes, 1, 2, 3 depending on engine size. There will be several new teams out this season including 5 or 6 new and old faces from Exmouth Powerboat and Water-Ski Club, a further 2 or 3 from Ireland, and Max Walker, a top offshore Class III 4 Litre driver from the mid 90s who has decided to make a come back after a twenty year sabbatical driving his newly acquired Bernico F3.

Rob McCarthy, also in a new Bernico, will once again be one of the front-runners this season, while Jeremy Gibson and Graham Lawton will be in their new black Phantom boats.

It will be interesting to see who turns out in the Unlimited class as, apart from the two V24s of Brian Peedell and Dan Priestley there was only one other boat last year - Tom Montgomery-Swan’s big Phantom ‘Sunas’ - which turned out for the Plymouth heats. There is currently two more Unlimited boat entries, both catamarans, that are as yet unconfirmed including John Evans, who owns the company Tally Medicals, a past Class 3 sponsor, who has just purchased the old Class 2 catamaran ‘Assagai’.

The Howth Grand Prix hosted by OCR Ireland, is a new addition to the OCRDA calendar. Ireland’s Alan Power has been a regular competitor in OCR races for the last few seasons, so he will be pleased to go racing in his home waters. raceboatinternational 21

2017 PREVIEW

A FEAST OF MARATHON ACTIVITY

The Cowes-Torquay-Cowes weekend won’t be the only event on the UK calendar for long distance racing this year when the Falmouth Powerboat Festival brings Marathon racing back to Cornwall waters for the Falmouth-Scilly Isles race.

When it comes to Marathon racing, the UK is renowned for the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes which has been going for over 56 years, and despite concerted efforts over the years to introduce other Marathon races to the UK racing calendar, the CTC, organised by the BPRC one of the UK’s oldest powerboat clubs, is the only Endurance race to stand the test of time. However in 2017, the famous Cowes-Torquay-Cowes marathon has a serious competitor, the Falmouth Powerboat Festival featuring the Falmouth-Scilly Isles race organised by Britain’s newest powerboat club, the IPRC (International Powerboat Racing Club).

Although their race is not until July, the IPRC has already attracted a healthy entry list which could top fifteen by race time. It’s been many years since the sound of racing exhausts have been heard in Cornwall and this spectacular location should guarantee big crowds during the holiday season. When IPRC first announced that they were going to organise the Falmouth Powerboat Festival, it was to include all classes of offshore boats and even circuit boats racing in the river. It now appears the Marathon fleet are getting all the attention, and with OCRDA only racing in Club Class, it will be interesting to see if their members are permitted to take part in the RYA/IPRC event with Club Class licences.

Much is said about the challenge of CTC racing in the exposed waters of the English Channel, but few would argue that the Falmouth-Scilly Isles race course is in even more exposed waters where the channel meets the Atlantic. The Scilly Isles have long been associated with the ‘Torrey Canyon’ where a huge Supertanker crashed onto the Seven Stones Reef spilling tens of thousands of tons of crude oil into the waters off the Scilly Isles and Cornwall causing the biggest environmental disaster in the UK’s maritime history.

Just weeks after the Falmouth Powerboat Festival Britain’s second marathon epic comes in August. The Cowes-TorquayCowes has weathered the test of time although boat numbers have decreased dramatically since its hey day in the 1960-70’s when a large contingent of overseas teams regularly converged on Cowes and the line up consisted of a healthy Class 1 fleet and a Cruiser class which in these days of health and safety has long since been abolished.

One of the most famous names in internatioal offshore racing, is UK’s multi World Class 1 Champion Steve Curtis who clinched his first CTC victory in 2016 after many attempts over the years to emulae his father Clive Curtis who won the race in the 60s alongside

Drew Langdon’s new Outerlimits ‘Silverline’ sank during the 2016 CTC

‘HTS’ won the very first Monaco-London race over 50 years ago and is still going strong for this year’s Falmouth-Scilly Isles

Paul Sinclair, Steve Curtis and Richard Carr in the Cougar which won the CTC last year 22 raceboatinternational

2017 PREVIEW

GUERNSEY INTERNATIOAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Above: ‘Blastoff’ was runner-up in 2016 CTC Right: Tom Mongomery Swan’s Phantom ‘Sunus’

Don Aronow American designer, builder of the famous Magnum Marine, Cary, Cigarette (the CTC winner) and Donzi. Steve raced alongside veteran racers Richard Carr and Paul Sinclair, and their steed, an aluminium Cougar powered by twin Mercruisers, battled through the elements to secure maximum points. Cougar has also been entered for the Falmouth extravaganza so by the end of the year, the monohull will have a few hundred miles on the clock.

Other boats likely to turn up at Falmouth are:- HTS, Silverline, Biretta (the Belgium entry), Allblack Racing (Ireland), Dirty Deeds (Guernsey), Sunus, 747, Thunderstreak, and Marine Vector The BMIC are also hoping to run the Cowes-Poole-Cowes race on the same weekend for boats that don’t fit the CTC rules. It was cancelled last year due to foul weather, and a shortened course around the Solent was deemed a resounding success, so the BMIC might consider it again this year if needs be.

The Channel Island of Guernsey has been a firm favourite with offshore race teams over the years, and during its glory days the Guernsey round of the UIM World Class 1 Championship was without doubt the best venue on the circuit. These days the Guernsey Powerboat Club still hosts international events and have a very healthy fleet of Class 3 boats.

This term St Peter Port, the island’s capital, will welcome teams from 3A and 3b for the UIM World Championships, and the UIM European Championship for V24 in October.

There is also a UIM International Ordinary Championship for Z150, a class for green engines that was launched a couple of years ago, the same weekend.

2017 PREVIEW SBI SUPERBOAT INTERNATIONAL OFFSHORE

SBI 2017 CALENDER May 18-21

COCOA BEACH

July 21-23

MENTOR, OHIO

Aug 3-6

MICHIGAN CITY

Sept 29-Oct 1

CLEARWATER

Nov 5-12

KEY WEST

2017 CALENDAR

The American SBI Series starts very late this year with five events in the calendar. Randy Scism’s MTI cats have been flying in the last two years so there is every reason to assume his teams will be in the shake up come Key West in November. The American ‘World’ Championship in Key West attracted forty five teams in 2016 and an usual huge crowds turned up at America’s most southerly point.

raceboatinternational 23

UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championships

2017 CHASE FOR THE CROWNS Article Nigel Quilter Photos Arek Rejs / Simon Palfrader

24 raceboatinternational

NEW SEASON PREVIEW

The early signs are that 2017 looks all set to be another fascinating season for the prestigious UIM-ABP Aquabike Circuit World Championship with riders from 23 countries.

Rok Florjancic is 2016 World Freestyle Champion

2016 World Champion in SKI Ladies Emma-Nellie Ortendahl from Sweden

The first batch of contracted riders to have signed on the dotted line includes a raft of World, European and National Champions, as well as an influx of newcomers.

In all categories the defending world champions head the listings; in Runabout GP1 Kuwait’s Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq is aiming to become the first rider to win three consecutive titles and take his tally to four earning himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. But he faces some tough challengers, Briton James Bushell, who achieved the Shanghai GP title last season, and Swede Lars Akerblom who finished third overall last year for the second time. Also looking to unseat the Champion is World Ranking number one, two-time championship runner-up and four-time European Champion Jeremy Perez, and the elusive World title will no doubt be his burning ambition.

In Ski the intense rivalry between the world’s top four will continue, with Champion Jeremy Poret chasing a staggering fifth crown and having to contend with the likes of Kevin Reiterer, the 2015 Champion who suffered technical issues last season but ended the year with a win, Nacho Armillas, who has come close to the title several times, and Stian Schjetlein, who has yet to win his first GP, not to mention his brothers multiple race winners and World Champions Mickael and Morgan, and veteran Alberto Monti.

Emma-Nellie Ortendahl who says she is training hard for the new season and testing on Lake Havesu in Arizona, will undoubtedly be the bookies’ favourite to retain her title, with Estelle Poret, Virginie Morlaes and Kylie Ellmers hoping they can produce something special to challenge the Champion.

In Freestyle the man to beat is defending and four-time champion Rok Florjancic who will be looking to add to his current 17 Grand Prix win haul, his main opposition at this stage is brother Nac. raceboatinternational 25

You’ve all seen the boat.

You’ve all seen the logo.

But you’ve asked us what we do…

We are the No. 1 supplier to the classroom and workplace of technology which helps people with disabilities and conditions reach their full potential.

Microlink are the leaders in the field of Assistive Technology. We have enabled over a quarter of a million people with health conditions to succeed in education and employment.

We stock the largest range of technology & tools in the UK. Our workplace adjustment service - MiCase is embraced as best practice for some of the largest corporations in the country.

From Dyslexia to Arthritis, to visual & hearing losses, whatever the condition, Microlink can assess, advise, supply, train and support anyone looking to break down a barrier caused by their condition/s.

Microlink consults at government level, wins numerous awards for its dedication, and sources the latest technology to deliver a service to their customers that’s second to none.

Whether you’re a large corporation, a small business, a school, a worker, a parent or student, call us today and let us provide the tools you need to not only achieve but thrive.

Our vision is to create an inclusive society which embraces diversity and releases potential to advance humanity.

Jeremy Poret

www.microlinkpc.com

Microlink PC (UK) Ltd | Microlink House | Brickfield Lane Chandler’s Ford | Hampshire SO53 4DP t 023 80240300

UIM/ABP AQUABIKE PREVIEW

Rok Florjancic

UIM-ABP AQUABIKE CIRCUIT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2016 STANDINGS SKI …top 6 out of 227 riders 1

Jeremy Poret

fra

Jeremy Poret 2016 Ski World Champion

190

2

Kevin Reiterer

aut

167

3

Nacho Armillas

ES

144

4

Stian Schjetlein

NOR

123

5

Mickael Poret

fra

111

6

Alberto Monti

Ita

100

SKI LADIES …top 6 1

Emma-Nellie Ortendahl

swe

238

2

Jennifer Menard

fra

171

3

Beatriz Curtinhal

por

156

4

Estelle Poret

FRA

140

5

Virginie Morlaes

fra

118

6

Kylie Ellmers

RU

100

RUNABOUT…top 6 1

Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq

kuw

206

2

James Bushell

GB

140

3

Lars Akerblom

SE

109

4

Jeremy Perez

fra

97

5

Christophe Agostinho

fra

89

6

Marcus Jorgensen

HU

86

slo

231

FREESTYLE…top 6 1

Rok Florjancic

2

Rashid Al Mulla

uae

207

3

Nac Florjancic

slo

150

4

Roberto Mariani

ita

116

5

Aleksandar Petrovic

ME

99

6

Alberto Camerlengo

ITA

97

2017 CALENDAR

2/4 June Porto Cesareo, Italy 9/11 June Vieste, Italy 1/3 October tba, China 6/8 October tba, China 23/25 November tba, Middle East 20/22 December Sharjah, UAE For more information visit: aquabike.net

Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq - the Runabout Champion from Kuwait The season kicks-off 2 June with three days of back-to-back Grand Prix racing in the stunning region of Puglia in Italy, starting with a spectacular action-packed event in a new venue, Porto Cesareo for the opening round of the Runabout and Ski GP1 and Freestyle World Championship and the one event world championship for Runabout GP2, GP4 and Ski GP2, GP3. The championship will then immediately head north and across to the Adriatic coast to the picturesque city of Vieste.

In October the championship heads east to China for back-to-back events which will be announced in the coming weeks by the newly appointed exclusive partner of ABP in China, BUND Holding Group.

The climax to the season will take place in the Middle East where ABP is working on expanding its presence and is anticipating announcing a second race at a new venue in the region soon, with the season finale scheduled to take place in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates in December. raceboatinternational 27

2016 ABU DHABI

POWERBOAT FESTIVAL Article DAVID SEWELL Photos Arek Rejs / Simon Palfrader

POWER TO ABU DHABI

THE LONGEST SERVING VENUE IN THE HISTORY OF F1 AND ONE OF THE MOST PROFESSIONAL

28 raceboatinternational

Of all the international UIM championships, F1 remains the jewel in their crown.

Promoted by H2o, the series each year presents a championship with up to twenty boats and drivers representing at least ten nations.

Last year the series staged grand prix events in seven countries, however, in the early years there were regularly ten venues on the racing calendar, and Abu Dhabi played a major part in establishing F1 in the Middle East when in 1993 it hosted two Grand Prix events, one in April and the second in December.

Before the plush club ADIMSC that is HQ for all the boating events staged in Abu Dhabi, including sailing, was built on the breakwater site, the original F1 pits used to be on the roadside on the opposite side of the inner harbor next to the Sheritan Hotel. Over the ensuing 23 years, Abu Dhabi has undergone a total transformation.

The location known as the breakwater was, in those early days a road leading to nowhere. The reclaimed area has now become one of the city’s busiest leisure and retail complexes with the development built alongside the ADIMSC one of the earliest constructions there.

The 2016 Powerboat Festival hosted by the Abu Dhabi International Marine & Sports Club will go down in history as the event that possibly saved Class 1 from extinction. The Emirate capital presented a three race World Championship event as part of the Festival featuring six Class 1 boats, the third race also being open to XCats for the Abu Dhabi Cup. The Festival was rounded off with the penultimate round of the UIM World F1 Championship.

2016 CLASS 1 WORLDS

THREE RACE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT When it was announced that Abu Dhabi would be staging the 2016 Class 1 World Championship in three races over the weekend of their 2016 Powerboat Festival, it was anyone’s guess as to how many teams would turn up. Obviously the host city would be entering their almost new Mercury powered MTI cat that won them their first world Class 1 title in 2015, and Victory would participate as they were only 100 miles away in Dubai, but who else?

In the event, five contenders were on parade, Abu Dhabi had two boats entered together with the almost unbeatable Victory 3. The ageing Zabo-Relekter was also there together with the Australian Maritimo ‘Aquasport’ chartered by Britain’s Daniel Cramphorn alongside Belgium Nick Huyberns.

Originally Abu Dhabi 6 was to be crewed by two UAE pilots, but the team chief decided to improve their chances of success and they ‘imported’ American’s John Tomlinson and Gary Ballough, the duo who won them their first Class 1 World crown in 2015. However, they were up against the might of multi-world champions Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi in Victory 3. Abu Dhabi 5 was crewed by UAE duo Rasheed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori.

Surprisingly, two Brits were competing in this championship - Daniel Cramphorn alongside Belgium Nick Huyberns in Aquasport 99, and Ian Blacker had teamed up with experienced Italian Giovanni Carpetella aboard Zabo 91.

It was no surprise when Victory 3 streaked into the lead in race one chased by Abu Dhabi 6 with Zabo 91 in third place. Aquasport was running in fourth place but dropped out on lap 8 when the cat started taking on water. Unfortunately, Abu Dhabi 5 did not start as engineers could not get one engine functioning properly after the cat flipped over during practice.

There was little change in race two as the Lamborghini-Victory V12 powered Victory 3 built up a healthy lead over the Mercury powered Abu Dhabi 6. The procession continued for much of the 30 minutes plus a lap and there was little the crews of Zabo and Aquasport could do about it, although Zabo clinched third place.

There are many tales to be told concerning the history of powerboat racing in Abu Dhabi over the last 24 years, that can highlight the highs and the lows. During the first GP in the city the sport lost one of its ‘greats’ when Britain’s John Hill lost his life in a tragic accident. The race was curtailed following the incident and half points were awarded with Guido Capellini being acclaimed the winner. Ironically, Capellini is now the team manager of Abu Dhabi’s F1 powerboat racing division.

The second GP held in December 1993, was won by long since retired Puerto Rican Felix Serrallas. 26 drivers took part including seven British pilots (today there are none from GB). In 2009 the Class 1 championship series came to Abu Dhabi and in more recent times Abu Dhabi joined the ranks with a Class 1 team and winning their first world title in 2015.

They have also enjoyed success in the Nations Cup, a class that was formed in 2011 to run at the F1 Grand Prix meetings and is regarded as a

good training ground for up and coming F2 and F1 drivers.

What does the future hold for the ADIMSC? By all accounts the marine club will continue to support F1H2o in the World Formlula 1 series and Nations Cup, and if in the event of Class 1 having a revival (its happened before) they are prepared for that with two of the latest Class 1 cats waiting in the wings, an MTI and an ex Victory. They also have a very competitive XCat outfit, and are hoping to see this once very successful championship series get going again.

Almost every year the breakwater area changes as new building are erected, but in 2016 a village theme was added with stalls selling almost every kind of goods from boats to clothing, ice cream and local food dishes. Being open to the public it attracted hundreds of families. The only problem was car parking as it appears every family in AD owns a 4 X 4. raceboatinternational 29

Second overall - four time F1 World Champion Scott Gillman (right) and Jay Price for Team America

Team Abu Dhabi stunned their arch rivals from Dubai’s Victory Team by winning the third race of the Class 1 World Championship at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater on Friday afternoon.

But in the end the Victory Team regained the world title that they had ceded to Team Abu Dhabi in November 2015 by a single point. The Dubai crew earned four extra points for running the same engines throughout the race meeting whilst Team Abu Dhabi was penalised two points for lifting a Mercury valve cover to make necessary engine checks.

Trailing the multiple World Champions, Arif Saf Al-Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi, by 10 points and heading into the third-race showdown, John Tomlinson and Gary Ballough in Team Abu Dhabi 6 led through the opening lap and began to pull away from their rivals, using a quick three short lap strategy to perfection to enhance the gap. When the Victory boat slowed to a crawl with a broken propeller and was unable to finish higher than fourth, it looked as though the host team would retain their title in dramatic circumstances by a single championship point. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the American crew of Abu Dhabi 6 to miss out on the UIM Class 1 World Championship title by a single point when engine bonus points were awarded.

“I guess that is why we go racing,” said Team Abu Dhabi’s Class 1 racing manager Randy Scism. “This is what it is all about.

30 raceboatinternational

The boys worked around the clock to get the second boat back in the water. We got the first boat running right, so this is unbelievable for us to win the final race only to lose the title by a single point when the engine bonus points were awarded. What a great finish for His Highness Sheikh Sultan and everyone in the Abu Dhabi team”.

This was the first time that the Class 1 World Championship had been contested over three races at one venue since 1993 and in the last heat they were joined by three X Cats, racing for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Cup. Four X Cats competed - Abu Dhabi 5, T-Bone Station, Dubai 33 and Raheeb, and it seemed appropriate that it should be won by the Abu Dhabi 5 boat with former World F1 champion Alex Carella making his debut in the XCAT class took the Cup alongside Majed Al Mansoori. Dubai’s Dubai 33 filled the runner-up berth in the hands of Salem Aldidi and Eisa Al Ali, and Abdullateef Al Omani and Khaled Burabee in Raheed collected the bronze medal. “`Our team has put a lot of effort into hosting this event and I am delighted that it has been a success and the racing was so exciting,” said Salem Al-Romaithi, assistant general manager of the ADIMSC. “We extend our thanks to H.H. Sheikh Sultan for his support.”

CLASS 1 ABU DHABI

John Tomlinson and Gary Ballough a close second in Abu Dhabi 6 left

3rd Giovanni Carpitella and Ian Blacker in Zabo Racing/Relekta

Left: 2016 Class 1 World Champions - Victory Team Arif Saif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi

2016 UIM CLASS I WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - RESULTS POS

NO

BOAT

DRIVER

NAVIGATOR

RACE 1

RACE 2

RACE 3

PTS

1

3

VICTORY

Arif Saif Al Zaffain UAE

Nadir Bin Hendi UAE

20

20

9

49

2

6

ABU DHABI

John Tomlinson USA

Gary Ballough USA

15

15

20

50

3

91

ZABO RACING/RELEKTA

Giovanni Carpitella ITA

Ian Blacker GBR

12

12

12

36

4

99

AQUASPORT

Nico Huybens BEL

Daniel Cramphorn GBR

9

9

0

18

5

5

TEAM ABU DHABI

Rashed Al Tayer UAE

Majed Al Mansoori UAE

0

0

15

15

raceboatinternational 31

F1H20

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ABU DHABI - ROUND 6 OF 2016 SEASON Article DAVID SEWELL Photos Arek Rejs Simon Palfrader / Vittorio Obertone

FIRST for Jonas Andersson in the tough penultimate round of the F1 World Championships

32 raceboatinternational

When Sweden’s Jonas Andersson swept across the finish line for his first victory since 2009, he had survived one of the toughest F1 races for many years. We’ve come to expect the occasional yellow flag situation but the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP was a blaze of yellow from lap 8 right through to lap 40

The ‘yellow flag’ drama had started to unfold during qualifying the previous day. Abu Dhabi’s Alex Carella was on target for pole position when it appeared he was caught out by a gust of wind in the dying seconds of Q2 and barrel-rolled. Thankfully, his engineers managed to dry out the motor without changing it which would have invalidated the Italian’s 6th place on the grid putting him at the back at the start of the grand prix race. His 6th place put him behind pole-setter Jonas Andersson, Emirate Racing’s Erik Stark, CTIC China’s Philippe Chiappe, Victory’s Shaun Torrente and Emirate Racing’s Ahmed Al Hameli.

In light winds and a setting sun, the nineteen starters lined up and included 27 year old Australian Grant Trask, making his world F1 debut in a chartered DAC named ‘Monster Homes’. Grant is the son of former racer F1 Bob Trask who competed with his brother David in the Australian team t.d.c. in the early 2000s.

As the lights went out the leading six bolted to the first turn mark and amidst the spray Andersson emerged the leader chased by Chiappe. For eight laps they formed an orderly formation although the Swede had forged a comfortable lead. However, it was all about to change as CTIC’s second driver Ziwei Xiong flipped over for no apparent reason. Yellow flags were raised until Osprey Rescue removed the stricken Chinese cat and on lap 13 the green was raised….. for just a few seconds, as at almost the same spot that caught Carella out the previous day, Emirate Racing’s Al Hamelli violently barrel-rolled and out came the yellow flags again.

raceboatinternational 33

Marit Stromoy finished 10th in the championship Above: Australian Grant Trask drove ‘Monster Homes’ in his first UIM F1 grand prix Right: Francesco Cantando is the longest serving F1 driver in the series - 1997 was his first season, but hasn’t had a place on the podium for many years

After winning 3 world titles in the Qatar Team Alex Carella has been struggling since joining Team Abu Dhabi. He turned the boat over during Qualifying but his engineers managed to dry the engine out without replacing it resulting in a valuable 12points for 3rd place on the podium

Sami Selio

34 raceboatinternational

2016 F1H2o ABU DHABI

Filip Romms’ two 7th grand prix places and 6th in the championship makes him the most successful recruit from F4 Sami Selio

Above: Team Atlantic’s Duarte Benavente is ‘Mr Consistent’ with 7th/8th places throughout the season leading to 9th in the Championship Left: Eric Stark held on to second place in Abu Dhabi until propeller problems caused him to retire On the ‘all-clear’ Al Hameli’s team mate Erik Stark had moved up to second place behind the determined leader Andersson.

Surely this must be the last we would see of the yellow flag, but no, not quite. On lap 17 Andersson’s Swedish team mate Jesper Forss performed his predictable barrel-roll and even Andersson admitted later, “I wondered if this demolition would ever end.”

While Osprey were hauling Forss’s boat back to the dock, Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al Qamzi was also speeding to the pontoon where his shore crew were frantically waving to the crane driver that they needed a lift urgently. As Al Qamzi’s cat was hauled out, it became clear his starboard sponson was delaminating and he had narrowly escaped a sinking.

At last the Abu Dhabi GP began to resemble a regular race as Andersson led the way with Stark holding on to second place ahead of Chiappe and Torrente. Mad Croc’s Sami Selio was keeping his team mate Filip Roms at bay in 5th place and Norway’s Marit Stormy in EMIC had moved up to 6th place from 8th.

Alex Carella appeared determined to finish in the top four as he forged his way past Selio, and with the checkered flag in view, Carella managed to find another gear as he swept past a shocked Torrente to claim the Bronze medal and his 3rd place.

The middle order runners were involved in a battle of their own.

Duarte Benavente, who has been consistent all season, was just ahead of Blaze Performance Polish driver Bartek Marszalek in 8th place, while Grant Trask, who is a regular on the Aussie F1 circuit, held 10th place.

Stark was beginning to drop back as propeller problems were causing severe vibrations until he retired on lap 40 of 45. Still running at the checkered flag, but out of the points was Team Atlantic’s Chris Larigot, Blaze Performance Francesco Cantando, EMIC’s German Mike Szymura, and last place Victory’s Nadir bin Hendi.

Trask was jubilant, he had collected a point in his first world F1 GP, and then bitterly disappointed to discover that his father Bob, who was his radioman, had not told him to slow down under the yellow flag, and Grant completed two laps before slowing resulting in a penalty and a removal of his point.

For the large crowd watching the event, it was both exciting and dramatic, but for engineers - they had a frantic seven days ahead to get their steeds repaired and pristine for the season’s ‘Grand Finale’ in Sharjah.

raceboatinternational 35

F1H20

SHARJAH

FINAL Article DAVID SEWELL Photos Arek Rejs / Simon Palfrader / Vittorio Obertone

36 raceboatinternational

CHIAPPE SECURES HAT-TRICK OF GOLD MEDALS The 2016 World F1 Series was concluded in Sharjah, the third largest of the Emirates and one of my favourite venues of the F1 tour. Being the last of the series, the championship winner can often be a foregone conclusion when a driver has already amassed an unassailable lead on the points table, or preferably it will be a nail-biting finale with two pilots separated by just a few points. However, the 17th running of the 2016 Sharjah Grand Prix was neither. Mathmatically it was possible for American Shaun Torrente to win the title providing a) he won the race and b) China’s adopted Frenchman and reigning champion Philippe Chiappe finished outside the top ten. Torrente duly won the Sharjah race, but Chiappe was runner-up which secured him his third world championship.

Victory’s Shaun Torrente, F1H2o Promoter Nicolo di San Germano, and World Champion Philippe Chiappe

The pits area in Sharjah

Sharjah is just 170km from the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, and it has two coastlines, one facing the Persian Gulf and the other facing the Gulf of Oman. The race course is set on the Khalid Lagoon, which is overlooked by the Press Room of the Hilton Hotel, and the dry and wet pits are a two minute stroll from the hotel and a twenty minute drive from Dubai Airport.

Reigning World Champion Phillippe Chiappe was away from the grid first, but the hard charging Shaun Torrente soon managed to overhaul the Frenchman. Sami Selio held third place ahead of Jonas Andersson when the yellow flags were raised after Chiappe’s team mate Leo Xiong violently barrel-rolled on lap 15 causing extensive damage to his boat. Positions remained the same after the green flag appeared although boats were dropping out in increasing numbers. First to go was Team EMIC German Mike Szymura after just one lap. Then Team Sweden’s Jesper Forss faired little better after crashing out on lap 3, while Team Emirates Ahmed Al Hameli departed three laps later. Abu Dhabi had three boats in the line-up, but all retired before the closing stages of the GP.

raceboatinternational 37

Victory 4 - winner of the Sharjah Grand Prix

Above: Erik Stark (28) and Rashed Al Qamzi Below: Nadir bin Hendi and Sami Selio

Final grand prix podium of the 2016 season Philippe Chiappe 2nd, Shaun Torrente - 1st, and Sami Selio - 3rd

A gust of wind caught Jonas Andersson’s Molgaard and almost sent it into orbit.

38 raceboatinternational

2016 F1h2o SHARJAH

A gust of wind caught Jonas Andersson’s Molgaard and almost sent it into orbit.

Team Victory’s Nadir Bin Hendi picked up his first point of the season finishing 10th albeit 2 laps behind the winner, and last year’s winner of the Sharjah race Marit Stromoy had to be content with 9th place behind Atlantic Team’s Duarte Benavente. The surprise package in the fleet was Ausralian Grant Trask, whose father Bob raced F1 six years ago. Noone expected Grant to mix it with the best having just raced in Australia. However, in a borrowed boat with a delaminating fuel tank, Trask crossed the line in 6th place collecting 5 championship points.

Sweden’s former world F2 champion Erik Stark rounded off the top six. A mention must go to Mad Croc Filip Roms who finished in 7th place and was one of the seven who completed the full distance of 45 laps. Filip is one of only two drivers (Leo Xiong) is the other one who started their F1 career in the F4S class which supports the F1 GP.

A couple of retirements and some unremarkable results put Eric Stark 7th in the Championship

raceboatinternational 39

2016 F1 drivers:

End of season press conference

A victory plunge for Torrente CTIC China’s team manager Eric Chan was so confident of his man winning his third gold medal, the team were soon striding around with tee shirts bearing the words, 2016 World F1 Champion, although Chiappe looked a little embarrassed about the stunt as he is basically a very quiet and unassuming gent. Nevertheless, few will dispute he is by far the best driver in the current line-up. Unfortunatelly age is npw against him to challenge Guido Cappellini’s ten world titles.

After five rounds of the series reigning F1 World Champion Phillippe Chiappe topped the points table with Shaun Torrente in second place and Sami Selio third. The Finn could have clinched the silver medal if he had won the last race of the season and the top two had dropped out. In the event it never happened although Sami managed third place in the shoot-out.

Unluckiest pilot during qualifying was Sweden’s Jonas Andersson who had come into form in the second part of the season. He was bowling along in the second qualifying session when a gust of wind caught his Molgaard and almost sent it into orbit. A dream for photographers but scary for the driver. Thankfully, Jonas was unhurt and his boat only suffered superficial damage which allowed him to fill 5th place on the grid as his crew managed to dry everything out without changing the engine.

As we departed Sharjah and headed for home and Christmas, the promoter of the Evian GP who shared my taxi assured me that they were already preparing to host the 2017 French GP in April and naturally hoped their F1 star Chiappe would win it in his home waters.

40 raceboatinternational

Mad Croc Sami Selio 3rd in the Championship

2017 WORLD F1 CALENDAR

APRIL 21/23

GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL

PORTIMAO, PORTUGAL

JUNE 30/2

GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE

EVIAN, FRANCE

AUGUST 11/13

GRAND PRIX OF HARBIN

HARBIN, CHINA

SEPTEMBER 29/1

GRAND PRIX OF LUIXHOU

LUIXHOU, CHINA

DECEMBER 6/8

GRAND PRIX OF ABU DHABI

ABU DHABI, U.A.E.

DECEMBER 13/15

GRAND PRIX OF SHARJAH

SHARJAH, U.A.E.

2016 F1H2o SHARJAH

2016 World Champion Philippe Chiappe

2016 DRIVERS FINAL POINTS TABLE POS BOAT DRIVER

NAT

DUBAI

EVIAN

P’MAO

HARBIN

LIUZHOU

A/DHABI

SHARJAH

1

1

Philippe Chiappe

CTIC CHINA TEAM

FRA

20

RET

20

12

15

15

15

97

2

4

Shaun Torrente

VICTORY TEAM

UAE

12

12

12

9

9

9

20

83

3

11

Sami Selio

BABA RACING

FIN

DNS

RET

15

20

12

7

12

66

4

14

Jonas Andersson

TEAM SWEDEN

SWE

9

RET

9

15

4

20

9

66

5

6

Alex Carella

TEAM ABU DHABI

UAE

15

20

7

0

0

12

0

54

6

12

Filip Roms

BABA RACING

7

28

Erik Stark

EMIRATES RACING

TOTAL

FIN

2

15

0

0

1

4

4

26

SWE

RET

RET

5

7

7

0

7

26

8

27

Ahmed Al Hameli

EMIRATES RACING

UAE

-

3

2

0

20

0

0

25

9

10

Duarte Benavente

F1 ATLANTIC TEAM

POR

5

4

3

4

3

3

3

25 17

10

50

Marit Stromoy

EMIC RACING

NOR

RET

5

0

5

0

5

2

11

73

Cedric Deguisne

MAVERICK RACING

FRA

-

9

0

-

-

-

-

9

12

2

Xiong Ziwei

CTIC CHINA TEAM

CHN

7

RET

0

2

0

0

0

9

13

5

Thani Al Qamzi

TEAM ABU DHABI

UAE

RET

RET

4

0

5

0

0

9

14

9

Christopher Larigot

F1 ATLANTIC TEAM

FRA

0

7

0

0

0

1

0

8

POL

1

DNS

1

3

0

2

0

7

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

5

5

15

23

Bartek Marszalek

BLAZE PERFORMANCE

16

17

Grant Trask

EMIC RACING

17

80

Ivan Brigada

EMIC RACING

ITA

4

RET

-

-

-

-

-

4

18

51

Mike Szymura

EMIC RACING

GER

0

1

RET

1

2

0

0

4

19

24

Francesco Cantando

BLAZE PERFORMANCE

ITA

3

RET

0

0

0

0

0

3

20

3

Nadir Bin Hendi

VICTORY TEAM

UAE

0

2

0

0

0

0

1

3

21

7

Rashed Al Qamzi

TEAM ABU DHABI

22

15

Jesper Forss

TEAM SWEDEN

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

0

SWE

RET

DNS

0

0

0

0

0

0

raceboatinternational 41

F4S FINALE 2016 CAMPAIGN

Jeremy Brisset completed the double to take overall victory in the F4-S Grand Prix in Sharjah and secure third overall in the 2016 championship standings behind Rashed Al Qamzi and Ferdinand Zandbergen The F1 Atlantic driver qualified in pole and led from start-to-finish to claim his second GP tile of the year.

A procession of eight drivers tailed around in Brisset’s wake with no change over the 22 laps to the starting order. Team Sweden’s Kalle Viippo took second and second overall in Sharjah, with Victory Team’s Mohamed Al Mehairbi finishing third, but he was given a post-race one lap penalty for a jump start dropping him to sixth. This elevated Ferdinand Zandbergen from Mad Croc Baba Racing into fourth position to claim the final podium slot and the runners-up slot in the championship standings behind Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Qamzi who closed out the title with overall victory last week in Abu Dhabi.

F4S 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RESULTS 1

56

Rashed Al Qamzi

155

2

29

Ferdinand Zandbergen

128

3

10

Jeremy Brisset

122

4

41

Kalle Viippo

116

5

3

Mohamed Al Yamahi

75

6

65

Mohammed Al Mehairbi

74

7

88

Bingchen Wu

64

8

7

Tom Chiappe

45

9

41

Magnus Sederholm

35

10

27

Ali Bin Shaiban

33

11

28

Mansoor Al Mansoori

27

12

8

Paolo Longhi

16

13

5

Sigitas Mickus

8

14

17

Ugo Dessertene

0

42 raceboatinternational

2016 F4S Championship winner is Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Qamzi who moves on to the F1 series this year

Jeremy Brisset winner of the Sharjah Grand Prix

White Ellerton Products Ltd

Specialists in the design and production of all types of acrylic forming www.whiteellerton.co.uk Warwick Road, Borehamwood, Herts WD6 1US Tel: 0208 236 0444 Email: info@whiteellerton.co.uk

THE

SALUTATION INN

Local food served by friendly people Fine Dining Restaurant, GlassHouse cafĂŠ and Accommodation set in the heart of Topsham, close to Exeter in Devon. Breakfast, light lunch and afternoon tea served in the GlassHouse followed by ever changing tasting menus in our Fine Dining restaurant in the evening.

The Salutation Inn, 68 Fore Street, Topsham, Exeter, EX3 0HL

01392 873060

info@salutationtopsham.co.uk www.salutationtopsham.co.uk @salutation1

RoundS 4 ABU DHABI

WORLD SERIES 2016 FINAL

After a mysterious break in the middle of the season the XCats returned to complete the 2016 Championship in Abu Dhabi. Dubai 33’s Salem Al-Adidi and Eisa Al-Ali led from pole and fended off a fierce challenge from Team Abu Dhabi 5’s Rashed Al-Tayer and Majed Al-Mansoori to seal an impressive 3.16-second victory in Friday afternoon’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Series, at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater Dubai 33 and Team Abu Dhabi 5 were neck and neck throughou until the red flag interrupted the action. Yje world champion winning crew of Al -Zafeen and bin Hendy aboard the Victory Team’ latest X Cat flipped out of second place on the third lap of 14, but the Dubai boat managed to fend off the local challenge on two occasions when Al-Tayer and Al-Mansoori tried to use the long lap strategy to their advantage.

Meanwhile Giovanni Carpitella and Ahmed Al-Hameli in T-Bone Station saw off the challenge of Lady Spain’s Joakhim Kumlin and Jay Price to confirm the final place on the podium. The result also gave Dubai 33 the runner-up spot behind the Victory Team in the UIM XCAT World Series points’ standings.

“I guess we must be happy with second position, but the race win was the aim from the start,” said Abu Dhabi’s Al-Tayer. “We thought we had the strategy mapped out perfectly. We took a long lap before Victory twice and thought we could nip inside and snatch the lead on both occasions. But, I guess, they were able to carry the speed and momentum down the straight and managed to stay in front. It was a very close race, and we were evenly matched for speed.”

Victory Team’s Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi gained the advantage on Team Abu Dhabi through the opening turns and first two laps before flipping their Generation 2 four-stroke XCAT boat into retirement. The team had been working out handling issues with the boat after Emaar Pole Position on Thursday.

Carpisa Yamanay failed to start the race, Gold Coast Australia pitted early with technical issues before returning to the action after several laps, and engine problems forced the Fujairah Team out of the running.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Dubai 33 headed Team Abu Dhabi 5, Carpisa Yamanay and Victory Team into the parade lap at the start of the final 14-lap race of the 2016 XCAT World Series, but Carpisa Yamanay was forced to return to the pontoon with mechanical issues, as Dubai 33 led from Victory and Team Abu Dhabi after a delayed start. Gold Coast Australia struggled at the rear of the field and was lapped by Dubai 33 in front of the pontoon.

As Gold Coast returned to the pits at the end of the lap and Carpisa Yamanay remained in situ, Dubai 33 edged clear of Team Abu Dhabi, before the race was red flagged on lap three after the Victory Team crew spectacularly flipped their Generation 2 boat, 44 raceboatinternational

with Lady Spain in third and Spirit of France up to fourth.

Gold Coast managed to return to action after several laps, as Dubai 3 and Team Abu Dhabi jostled for the top spot and Swecat Racing was forced to run a penalty long lap, which eventually pushed the Swedish crew down to seventh position. Engine issues sidelined the Fujairah Team after nine tours of the course, as the long lap strategy played into T-Bone Station’s hands at the expense of Lady Spain.

Spirit of France could not repeat the form shown earlier in the week, but Francois Pinelli and Saul Bubacco reached the chequered flag in fifth place, ahead of Blu Roo, Swecat Racing, Raheeb and a struggling Gold Coast Australia. New Star was not registered for points and was handed a wild card entry, but would have finished in ninth place with the new Victory-built boat.

Teams were permitted to carry out a final official practice session on Friday morning and the stint included time to practice the long lap strategy. Carpisa Yamanay, Dubai 33 and Victory were the quickest three boats on the traditional lap – all three posting times well under 2min 19sec – but Team Abu Dhabi used the session to carry out a few final checks to the set-up before the race. T-Bone Station did not feature, but Gold Coast Australia took to the water in their repaired boat after missing out on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s action. The Australians carded a solitary timed lap of 2min 33.756sec.

The UAE’s Arif Saif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi were looking confidently towards the new season after clinching yet another world crown at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – the fourth and final round of the 2016 UIM XCAT World Series, held in Abu Dhabi on Friday [November 18].

Testing their brand-new Generation 2 boat that has been newlybuilt at their team base in Jebel Ali, Al Zaffain and Bin Hendi had to sit out through most of the final round after they flipped on the very second lap of the race. But all the hard work done during the first three rounds of the championships paid off as the Victory Team duo had already amassed 129 points to secure yet another world crown to their collection.

Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali made it a Dubai double as Dubai 33 won the fourth round over the weekend. That win took Al Adidi and Al Ali to 106 points and second place overall behind their stable-mates.

The Abu Dhabi 5 boat with Rashed Al Tayer and Majed Al Mansoori completed the podium in the overall standings with a second place in their home race to take their tally up to 98 points.

2016 World Champions - Victory Team of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi

Rashed Suhail Al Tayer / Faleh Khalfan Almansoori Abu Dhabi 5 “The Abu Dhabi round has been one of our most disappointing races so far,” Al Zafeen said. “We wish we had the new boat performing for us throughout the week as we wanted to see how we could get a head-start for next season. But the turn at the first buoy may have been a bit too sharp and that led up flipping out of the race,” he rued.

Till that disastrous second lap on the breakwaters of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC), Victory Team had kept up its chase of leaders Dubai 33, while Abu Dhabi 5 lagged behind in a close third. “There is very little we can do to change anything now. The advantage is still with us and we hope to build up on this success for the new season,” Al Zaffain added.

Among the group of four chasing the runners-up spot, Mikael Bengsston and Erik Stark in their Swecat Racing boat, ended in seventh place to sign off in fourth overall for the 2016 season. And the Gold Coast Australia pairing of Tom Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton took fifth overall after limping out towards the end of the race.

POS 1 2

NO. TEAM 3 VICTORY TEAM 33

Dubai 33’s Salem Al-Adidi and Eisa Al-Ali

XCAT 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS TABLE CREW Arif Al Zaffain / Nadir Bin Hendi

FUJAIRAH 43

DUBAI 43

Salem Al Adidi / Eisa Al Ali

23

28

19

36

106

Rashed Suhail Al Tayer / Faleh Khalfan Almansoori

1

31

32

34

98

Erik Stark / Michael Bengtsson

27

28

16

12

83

GOLD COAST AUSTRALIA

Tom Barry-Cotter / Ross Willaton

32

16

31

3

82

DUBAI 33

ABU DHABI TEAM

LUGANO A/DHABI 43 8

TOTAL 137

3

5

4

2

5

11

6

10

T - BONE STATION

Giovanni Carpitella / Luca Formilli Fendi

19

16

10

32

77

7

22

CARPISA YAMAMAY

Alfredo Amato / Diego Testa

20

19

12

0

51

7

8

TEAM AUSTRALIA

Brett Luhrmann / Pal Virik Nilsen

1

9

25

16

51

9

46

LADY SPAIN

Jay Price / Shaun Torrente

15

0

2

23

40

10

96

SPIRIT OF FRANCE - YACHT

Francois Pinelli / Saul Bubacco

11

1

7

20

39

11

20

FUJAIRAH TEAM

Serafino Barlesi / Alessandro Barone

5

12

13

2

32

12

6

SIX

Matteo Nicolini / Tomaso Polli

14

10

1

0

25

13

17

RAHEEB

Abdullateef Al Omani / Khaled Burabee

3

5

5

6

19

14

4

ABU DHABI TEAM 4

Majed Saeed Al Mansoori / Rashed Mubarak Al Qamzi

8

0

DNS

DNS

8

SWECAT RACING

raceboatinternational 45

Ring Powercraft Ltd., Ford Lane, Ford, ARUNDEL, West Sussex, BN18 0EF 44(0)1243 554401 www.ringpowercraft.co.uk

46 raceboatinternational

MUMBAI

Hosts P1 World Championship GP Article ROY MANTLE

Tens of thousands of spectators around the natural amphitheatre of Mumbai’s splendid, sweeping bay, together with millions of live viewers worldwide of Sony ESPN’s live television coverage, enjoyed three days of intense racing as the P1 Superstock World Championship made its first visit to India to stage the inaugural NEXA P1 POWERBOAT INDIAN GRAND PRIX OF THE SEAS The view from the shoreline of the Arabian Sea with its magnificent promenade against a back drop of elegant skyscrapers as the Indian sunshine raised temperatures above 35 degrees. In the midst of this impressive setting was a never-seen-before race track on water formed by an extraordinary 6,500 red and yellow buoys that replicated that of a car racing-style circuit.

Six teams comprising of two boats with competitors drawn from eight countries, including Indian motorsport superstars CS Santosh and Guarav Gill, competed across three days starting with a qualifying session. The world class talent on show, that included reigning champions from both the UK and USA P1 SuperStock series, as well as seasoned offshore campaigners such as Giovanni Carpitella (Italy) and Darren Nicholson (Australia), produced a thrilling finale to qualifying as the two leading boats were separated by just one hundredth of a second. The Baleno RS Booster Jets brother and sister pairing of Sam and Daisy Coleman took pole position ahead of fellow Welsh racers James Norvill and Charlie Parsons-Young. With less than two seconds covering the top four boats, it promised to be a monumental battle for the world championship title.

The teams would then face a total of 30 laps of racing around a 2.2 nautical mile track the following day in what would prove to be an extreme test of stamina in the gruelling afternoon heat.

Despite a slow start from the pole setters, the Coleman’s were able to carry more speed through turns one and two to regain first position from Norvill and Parsons-Young and never looked back to pick up victory in race one of three.

With starting positions reversed for race two, things would prove harder for the top boats to make their mark. The UK crew of John Donnelly and Kevin Burdock took an early lead, but it proved to be an afternoon of contrasting fortunes for the Mirchi Mavericks duo when their delight at finishing second in the opening race turned to despair on the last turn of race two as they rolled their P1 Panther when looking to finish in third place. Sam and Daisy completed a clean sweep of victories on the opening day to ensure their team would lead overnight. never-seen-before race track with 6,500 red and yellow buoys

raceboatinternational 47

UKs John Donnelly and Kevin Burdock took an early lead, but the Mirchi Mavericks duo rolled their P1 Panther when looking to finish in third place.

Craig Wilson and William Enriquez in Team Lloyd Dolphins

It was a hat-trick of race victories for World Champions Sam Coleman and Daisy Coleman who attributed their success to fitness, setting consistent lap times and detailed race preparation

P1 MUMBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS Pos

Boat No.

1st

150

Team

Crew

Baleno RS Booster Jets

Sam Coleman (UK) / Daisy Coleman (UK)

Race 1

Race 2

Race 3

Pts

20

20

-

40

2nd

99

Money on Mobile Marlins

James Norvill (UK) / Charlie Parsons-Young (UK)

14

17

-

31

3rd

11

LLoyd Dolphins

Stuart Cureton (UK) / Sara Cureton (UK)

15

15

-

30

4th

21

LLoyd Dolphins

Craig Wilson (UK) / William Enriquez (USA)

13

14

-

27

5th

10

Ultra Sharks

Guarav Gill (IND) / George Ivey (USA)

12

13

-

25

6th

999

Money on Mobile Marlins

Lee Norvall (UK) / Glynn Norvall (UK)

11

10

-

21

7th

95

Mirchi Mavericks

John Donnelly (UK) / Kevin Burdock (UK)

9

11

-

20

8th

100

Baleno RS Booster Jets

CS Santosh (IND) / Martin Robinson (UK)

10

9

-

19

9th

983

Mirchi Mavericks

David Taft (UK) / Frederick Bastien (BEL)

17

-

-

17

10th

20

Ultra Sharks

Neil Jackson (UK) / Jason Jackson(UK)

8

8

-

16

11th

14

HVR Racing

Darren Nicholson (AUS) / Giovanni Carpitella (ITA)

-

12

-

12

12th

25

HVR Racing

Frank Silva (USA) / Tony Innotta (USA)

7

-

-

7

48 raceboatinternational

P1 MUMBAI Team Baleno RS Booster Jets - Martin Robinson, Sam Coleman, CS Santosh (Indian motorsport superstar) and Daisy Coleman

Applauded by the international media core as they entered the evening press conference, Sam and Daisy attributed their success to fitness, setting consistent lap times and detailed race preparation. “It’s a very technical course and essential to seek out clear water and choose the right line when you’re racing in a pack of 12 boats on this innovative race track,” explained Sam. “Selecting when to take the compulsory pit laps is crucial and our strategy was to leave it to the last possible moment to make this decision and to be aware of the position of the rest of the fleet to give us the maximum benefit.”

Despite their two victories, the Coleman’s were very much aware that they needed their team mates in the other Baleno RS Booster Jets boat to play their part in the final race if they were to return home to Wales as World Champions with both teams’ points being combined to make up the championship standings. As day two concluded, the Baleno RS Booster Jets team held first place by just two points from the Lloyd Dolphins whose two crews of Craig Wilson and William Enriquez and Stuart and Sara Cureton had finished consistently in the top five.

To round off the weekend action would be an energy sapping 20-lap race that would decide the destination of both the NEXA P1 Powerboat Indian Grand Prix of the Seas team title and the UIM P1 SuperStock individual world title.

The battle for the world team title ended with the Baleno quartet edging out the Lloyd Dolphins team by just two points, whilst the all-British Money On Mobile Marlins team of Norvill, Parsons-Young and brothers Glynn and Lee Norvall took third place. It was a hat-trick of race victories for Sam and Daisy as they led from start to finish in the 50-minute finale. The American crew of Wilson and Enriquez drove superbly to push the champions all the way finishing just 13 seconds behind after almost an hour of racing.

Speaking at the final press conference of the weekend, Powerboat P1 Chief Operating Officer Robert Wicks told reporters: “This event was the culmination of six years developing a new paradigm for the sport, an innovative new race track and a new team format that showcases the best powerboat racers in the world. This has all happened with Mumbai as the backdrop – a world class city and a race venue befitting the scale of this achievement.”

The innovative team championship format has aroused considerable interest within the sport and the Mumbai event has taken the sport to a huge new audience on the sub-continent. The nine hours of live television broadcasting and extensive media coverage has played a considerable role in taking powerboat racing to the next level on its journey to becoming a mainstream sport.

“Our partnership with local promoter Procam International has enabled us to realise our world championship ambition this year and, very importantly, we believe it will now allow us to grow P1 racing in India and around the world over the coming years,” added Wicks.

2017 P1 PREVIEW P1, the world’s leading marine motorsport promoter, has unveiled plans to take its UK powerboat racing series to four countries this summer, with two new venues joining the line-up. Denmark, Scotland.

The first stop in June for the P1 SuperStock teams will be the city of Aalborg in northern Denmark over the weekend of the city’s annual Regatta, a maritime festival both on the water and along the waterfront.

Two weeks later the fleet of P1 Panther race boats will return to Scotland after their debut last year, to entertain crowds in Greenock on the River Clyde.

Both P1 SuperStock powerboat racing and P1 AquaX Jet Ski action will take place around the UK coast, and each round includes two days of racing, as well as Jet Ski freestyle and hydroflight displays.

Wales see the return of P1 action for the fourth successive year in July when the series moves from Cardiff to the port of Milford Haven, UK’s biggest energy port, with its great cafes, bars and restaurants which overlook the course. The season finale in September will be the P1 Yorkshire Grand Prix of the Sea in Scarborough for the third successive year.

With its historic harbour and castle headland, the town’s South Bay offers a natural amphitheatre for racing and for spectators. .

More than 100,000 spectators will enjoy the P1 UK Championship this year and millions more will watch the action on Sky Sports and major sports networks around the world.

2017 P1 POWERBOAT CALENDAR Mar 03 - Mar 05

Mumbai

May 20 - May 20

St Cloud

June 03 - Jun 03

Jacksonville

June 10 - Jun 11

Aalborg

June 17 - Jun 18

St. Petersburg

June 24 - Jun 25

Greenock

July 01 - Jul 02

Sarasota

July 15 - Jul 16

Milford Haven

Aug 19 - Aug 20

Islamorada

Sep 02 - Sep 03

Scarborough

raceboatinternational 49

P750 THUNDERCAT

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS After 8 years, the UIM P750 Thundercat World Championship returned to the South African shores for two days of surf circuit racing, one long haul and two days of flatwater circuit racing.

Hosted by the beautiful city of Cape Town, this prestigious event was the most highly anticipated event on the racing calendar. The Mother City most certainly did not disappoint and produced perfect weather conditions for the competitors and spectators.

Perhaps Cape Town was the reason for the highest number of competitors ever recorded for a UIM P750 World Championship.

Countries making up the competitive field were South Africa, UK, Sweden, Germany, China and Russia. The Championship was contested in two classes, with 40 entries in the Pro Stock Class and a record 18 entries in the Modified Class. With the support of the City of Cape Town and the event set up sponsorship of 7 Stars Energy Drink and Boost Performance Racing, a professional racing platform was established.

The first discipline was the Surf Circuit Racing held at the infamous Bloubergstrand Beach with the majestic Table Mountain as a back drop to the action. As expected, the venue produced challenging conditions with waves of almost 3m high and light onshore winds. With almost 60 boats competing, it was a jam-packed weekend of racing. In the Pro Stock class, there was a titanic battle because only 12 boats could advance to the final. Some of the teams were challenged by the surf conditions as they did not have much experience in large surf in their country. This was particularly true for Team China who braved the massive waves heat after heat, 50 raceboatinternational

never giving up even after being flung into the water. Team Sweden had a spectacular roll in front of the gasping crowd which resulted in Jonas Gustafson suffering a shoulder break. The rescue and medical team from Immediate Medical were on the scene within seconds and made sure he received the proper care as quickly and effectively as possible.

The Pro Stock final was an all South African top 3 derby between legends Wimpie Ackerman & Whitey Louw (Imperial Cargo), Raynor Becker & Michael van Geems (CMH Volvo) and Eben de Bod & Gerhard Fernhout (SA Farm Assured Meat). After exchanging the lead during every lap, the checkered flag gave the title to the young guns, Raynor Becker & Michael van Geems. Team Great Britain’s Darryn Harris & Jimmy Ion (Moku Racing) secured a 4th position as the first visiting team.

The Modified Class was always going to be a hard-fought race between the title contenders. Once again it was an all South African podium with the current SA Champions, Johann Lodewyks & Philip Schoeman (Agrisell/Gemini) taking the gold. In second place was Wade Ball & Bobby Shaw (Landrover) followed closely by former World Champions, Stefan Lindeque & Tony Ingram (7 Stars Energy Drink). Dimitri Krylov & Nikolai Vasnev (Global Security) from Russia managed to secure an 8th position on this, their third visit to South Africa.

PHOTOS HEINRICH SAUER Pro-Stock Chris Vosloo and Gerhard Swiegers flying high Left: World Champions South Africans Johann Lodewyks and Philip Schoeman in M1 Agrisell/ Gemini Racing Joshua Myburgh and Miguel Mia

raceboatinternational 51

THE BRAND THAT BUILDS

MANUFACTURER OF HAND TOOLS, POWER TOOLS, FIXINGS, HARDWARE AND MORE

Britain’s Bligh Julius & Charlie Hatfield

The second discipline was the Long Haul, and after a lay day when teams had the opportunity to repair the damage from the previous day’s brutal waves, a 150km challenge in Table Bay awaited them.n With conditions being fairly flat, high speeds were expected from all classes. The Long Haul circuit ran from Bloubergstrand to Robben Island where the iconic Nelson Mandela was forced to reside for 27 years. From Robben Island, the circuit continued on to the Table Bay Harbour and then back to Bloubergstrand again.

That completed one lap and the teams had to complete 5 of these laps.

In the Pro Stock Class, the team of Johan Niemand & Brendon Langeveld (Rest Assured, South Africa) surprised everyone by crossing the finished line in first place. In second place was the Long Haul specialist father and son team of Dreyer & JD van Niekerk (Moku Racing, South Africa) followed by a consistent Eben de Bod & Gerhard Fernhout (South African Farm Assured Meat).

The only female pilot Adri Brand and her co-pilot Ohann Janse van Rensburg (Top Tool, South Africa) cruised into fourth place.

In the Modified Class, where the engines are pushed to the maximum with high revs, it’s always a nerve wrecking time for the teams as there is no assurance that their equipment will last the full 150km. With multiple Trans Agulhas titles under their belt, there was no surprise when David Barnet & Tjaart Oosthuizen (Rusgenot Transport, South Africa) took a first position, even after an engine failure scare during one of the laps. In second place was the ever present young team of Wade Ball & Bobby Shaw (Landrover, South Africa), strong contenders throughout the race. In third place was Hennie de Bod & Jean-Meine Fernhout (South African Farm Assured Meat), who especially came out of retirement for the World Championship.

The final discipline was the Flatwater Circuit which was hosted by the Oceana Powerboat Club in the V & A Waterfront. This was the perfect setting for the Flatwater racing and spectators were treated to a hot, windless final with hundreds of dolphins in the bay.

High speeds and close contention made for exciting racing and with such close racing, comes a certain amount of risk taking. This led to a few flips from the teams making the flat water race just as exciting as the large waves in the surf circuit.

In the Pro Stock class, it was the flat water specialist team of Des Potgieter & Ruan van Tonder (Clemen Gold, South Africa) who stole the show. Once again the team of Eben de Bod & Gerhard Fernhout (South African Farm Assured Meat) showed their all-round racing skills by finishing second. It was the team from Great Britain who took third place on the podium, Bligh Julius & Charlie Hatfield (Brandfuel), two Lymington lads who have raced together on the UK Thundercat Circuit for 10 years winning British and Euro Titles. A full winter of training with the support of several local sponsors including Poole based MultiSpark Racing and the London based Creative agency BrandFuel, made it all possible for them to fly to South Africa for the Worlds, the pinnacle of their racing career to date.

The Modified Class started off with a spectacular flip by the young team of Wade Ball & Bobby Shaw (Landrover, South Africa), after colliding with one of his South African team mates. The team managed to pull it all together in the final to take second place behind Johann Lodewyks & Philip Schoeman (Agrisell/Gemini, South Africa). Team 7 Stars Energy Drink, Stefan Lindeque and Tony Ingram from South Africa joined their team mates on the podium in third place.

After a week of racing, the coveted overall World Championship trophies were handed to Eben de Bod & Gerhard Fernhout (South African Farm Assured Meat) in the Pro Stock Class and Johann Lodewyks & Philip Schoeman (Agrisell/Gemini South Africa) in the Modified Class, ensuring the trophies stayed on home ground.

Cape Town has proven to be an exceptional venue for Thundercat racing and was awarded many compliments from the International teams and officials. It was a combination of the sponsors, officials and medical teams that put this professional event on the map again and be assured that it will return in the near future. raceboatinternational 53

Offshore Model Racing Association

AN INTRODUCTION TO MODEL BOAT RACING Article PHIL SNEWIN

Way back in the late 1960’s a small group of powerboat enthusiasts pioneered an idea to run and race model offshore powerboats (similar in appearance to their full sized counterparts) on the sea and in so doing achieved a new concept for model racing. The first ‘Chase Boat’ offshore race was held at Torquay in 1967. The event attracted 12 entries and a race took place on the open sea over a course of a couple of miles.

This proved to be a great success, so much so that following this initial achievement, further race venues were found – races were typically held at Folkestone, Canvey Island, and Port Talbot Docks n the early days. Thereafter a small consistent calendar of races evolved over the next few years which helped to increase the entry level and interest in what was fast developing into a niche sport. By 1970 the formation of a structured organisation to establish the foundations for progressive development of offshore model powerboat racing became essential. An inaugural meeting was held at The Paviors Arms in London late in 1970, to formulate rules and a structure for racing and OMRA was born.

THE EARLY DAYS OF OMRA Before the 1971 season could get underway the Offshore Model Racing Association structure had been established, and in that first “official” year, the series of planned races became the first formal OMRA Championships. Initially most of the early races were Chase Boat events but with the advent of multiple radio frequencies becoming readily available, circuit endurance racing made an entry onto the race calendar, as did racing on a number of large inland lakes which produced conditions similar to the that of the sea. The enthusiasm for offshore model powerboat racing expanded during

54 raceboatinternational

the 1970’s, and from then on OMRA has embraced the freedom of design, development and all aspects of racing model offshore powerboats.

CHAMPIONSHIPS & RACE CLASSES OMRA operates a total of 21 rounds across 8 different classes produces in excess of over 100 race events each year. These events are run to support 2 championship series: The Z-Class Championships were originally set up as an entrylevel series due to (at the time) the relatively low setup cost. Boats in this championship fall into 2 classes – regular and modified and feature tiny nitro engines (a mixture of methanol and nitromethane) up to a maximum capacity of 2.1cc.

Interest in this series has waned over recent years somewhat, in part due to the relatively low cost of alternative class options however a stalwart contingent still keep this class alive.

The AA-E Class Championships make up the main body of the OMRA calendar with a mix of nitro and petrol classes, ranging from 7.5cc to 65cc and, as of 2017, a new catamaran class. The petrol classes are really starting to take off in terms of the level of the following largely due to the relatively low cost of engines when compared to the nitro equivalent. The E (Evolution) Class allows engin+es up to 65cc with all states of tune and much like the full size P1 and V1 Offshore Classes, technological development is encouraged. F1 technology is starting to creep into the sport of late with some teams using vacuum infused carbon fibre technology, highly tuned 2-stroke engines and even mappable ECUs!

Races typically fall into three formats; Sprint races are, as the name suggests, a solo flat-out dash around the buoys over 5 laps with the fastest time determining the final position. This sounds relatively simple but as with all types of racing ther are challenges – balancing speed and power so as not to have a stoppage is critical, as is reliability so good boat preparation is critical.

Chase Boat events are true offshore time trials which involve the model powerboat driver being installed into a full size powerboat or high speed RHIB and the model is then literally “chased after” by the full size boat over a marked offshore course in order to produce a timed run. Fastest time of the day in each class wins. This format really presents a challenge for some of the smaller classes and weather variation is always a battle to be faced by all.

Enduro racing is much the same as full size offshore circuit racing where a marked buoyed circuit is raced around for a given period with the number of laps deciding the winners/runners up. Heats typically last for around 20 minutes with 2 heats run per day, however occasionally a Race Director may elect to run a single heat of anything up to an hour with a mandatory fuel stop. That length of time is enough to test not only the mechanical reliability of any boat but also the concentration abilities of the driver! This type of racing is the most exciting for spectators as each heat usually has 6-8 boats on the water at any time, all vying for the lead. When the bigger, faster classes run it can get seriously frantic!

THE PRESENT DAY OMRA Races take place at some of the most picturesque and popular locations around the coast, and on some impressive inland lakes. Often we frequent some of the historic Offshore venues such as Bristol Docks, Guernsey, Penzance and Southampton water to name just a few. Coupled with the many unique locations for racing the OMRA race format has created something very unique for our membership. The different venues make for a great variety of conditions from winds, rough waves, rolling seas, tides, calm water, salt water, fresh water and at times the racing tests ones’ own endurance and patience. No particular boat design is suited to all conditions encountered and the ability to set up a race boat to cope with all the variations throughout the season is addictive and enduring.

Raceboats Models Created by Philip Morris

Static display models of racing powerboats, old and new, made to be a miniature version of the real machine, accurately reproducing the lines, angles and curves to exacting standards.

Now with two types of model builds 1 - Small scale individual 'one-off ' powerboat models made from a solid piece of Sapele Mahogany with Mahogany and hardwood parts added to give the detailed finish.

2 - Fibreglass hand built reproduction range of raceboat models in 1:25th scale to a high level of detail.

Models supplied in a Perspex frameless custom made display case for maximum viewing and model protection.

Website: www.raceboatmodels.co.uk Facebook & Twitter raceboatinternational 55

Experience + Technology + Quality = Safety

Blaze lifejackets

are the result of years of experience in the field of nautical competitions.

They are manufactured in a specialized workshop, using the best materials nowadays in commerce and being scrupulously checked.

Both outer surface and lining are in NOMEX and sewed up with NOMEX yarn.

Buoyancy material is in AIREX

U.I.M. approved Colour: Orange Price â‚Ź400.00 Contact: store@blazeperformance.com

SUPERBOAT FINAL 2016 AUSTRALIAN OFFSHORE SUPERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP Hervey Bay - 20 November 2016

Article/Photos Paul Bennett

Hervey Bay a quiet seaside town on the Queensland coast is well known for its warm, calm waters sheltered by World Heritage Listed Fraser Island. This stunning location was the backdrop for the final round of the National Offshore Powerboat Championship.

The boats started arriving early and by the end of the week the town was abuzz with excitement for the weekend event, which earlier in the year had been cancelled, but the generosity of local business raising the funds allowed the championship round to go ahead.

Saturday the boats took to the water for pole position in Sunday’s main race. It was a typical spring day in Queensland with warm sunshine and light winds. In the Supercat Extreme class ‘Maritimo Australia’ took pole position, with ‘222Offshore’ in second and ‘Yellow Brick Road’ taking out third. In the Supercat 1000, ‘Pro Floors’ took pole with ‘Team 3’ taking second. In Supercat Outboard, ‘R Marine Crawley’ took out pole while ‘Barely Legal’ took second and ‘Gold Coast City Marina’ third.

In the afternoon after the pole position shoot out the boats were loaded onto their trailers and set off on a parade lap along the foreshore of Hervey Bay, much to the delight of the organisers and hundreds of spectators.

Sunday race day saw another picture perfect day with plenty of sunshine and light winds. With hundreds of spectators on board whale watching boats anchored in the centre of the circuit and thousands more along the foreshore race one commenced at 11am. In the Supercat Extreme class ‘Yellow Brick Road’ got a flying start until the back strait when ‘222 Offshore’ and ‘Maritimo Australia’ blasted past, and this is how the race continued with ‘222 Offshore’ extending the lead, until a few laps from the finish when ‘Maritimo Australia’ pulled out with mechanical problems, leaving victory to ‘222 Offshore’ and handing ‘Maritimo’ #15 second place. In Supercat 1000 ‘Pro Floors’ took out first position and ‘Team 3’ taking second.

In Supercat Outboard it was hotly contested throughout the race between ‘Barely Legal’ and ‘R Marine Crawley’ who took the victory after ‘Barely Legal’ slowed to take second place. ‘Hogs Breath Offshore Racing’ took out third place and ‘Gold Coast City Marina’ taking forth.

By the time race 2 started at 1pm the wind had picked up to a stiff breeze, but that didn’t seem to bother the competitors. In the Supercat Extreme class ‘Yellow Brick Road’ once again got a great start until the first corner when ‘Maritimo Australia’ shot into the lead not to be contested the whole race and gradually pulling away from the rest of the field to take victory with ‘Yellow Brick Road’ finishing second. In Supercat 1000 it was once again ‘Pro Floors’ in first place with ‘Team 3’ in second. The Supercat Outboards ‘Hogs Breath Offshore Racing’ took the victory with ‘Gold Coast City Marina’ coming in second and ‘R Marine Crawley’ taking third position. ‘Barely Legal’ did not start due to mechanical problems in the first race.

2017 RACING CALENDAR

AUSTRALIAN SUPERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP Rnd 1

Mackay, QLD

15-16 July

Rnd 2

Bowen, QLD

22-23 July

Rnd 3

Coffs Harbour, NSW

26-27 Aug

Rnd 4

Lake Macquarie, NSW

14-15 Oct

Rnd 5

Hervey Bay, QLD

28-29 Oct

Rnd 6

Newcastle, NSW

25-26 Nov

raceboatinternational 57

FOUNTAIN 42 LIGHTENING

With twin 700 sci mercury racing with stage ll Whipple upgrade.

Super cyborg transmissions from Bam marine.

Ullman suspension seats. Tiger marine intercom wiring. Garmin Plotter.

VHF radio. Stereo. Cabin. 100 mph plus.

Cradle, spare engine, exhaust headers and many more spares Engine hours 240 ish and Hin number is USFGQ4L046160 Asking price and 160000 euros For more details Tel: 07785990101

HuntoN FOR SALE - formerly Kent Koi and Garmin

SSM3A’s fully rebuilt by Mel Riggs in states now rated to 800hp, only 1 hour on same.

Needs engines (original Cinzano Chief stroker big block engines in boxes but needing engineering) also needs upholstery and tidying, on 6 wheel braked trailer which was serviced last week. @£27,750 ono

Phone: 00353 86 8686 812

FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE BUZZI FB32

Fountain Built, under Buzzi licence Formerly Patriot wave, Jim Pisciotta Big Block supercharged engineFreshened and only 16 hours since first built.

New Casale gearbox fitted, new drive shaft, new intercooler, battery.

New oils and on serviced 6 wheel trailer.

Boat needs new fuel tank which could be fitted pre-sale if needed. £40,000 ONO-

Open to trades too, Car, Boat etc.

2011 - 11.55 METRE FOUNTAIN

3.19 beam - 4 x 300 Mercs - immaculate one careful owner - low hours For more details Tel: 07785990101

MARKETPLACE RACING INTO THE

FUTURE

NOW BOOK

www.babaracing.com

For all the latest News, Results and Reviews Europe’s Newest Builder of Custom High Performance Catamaran Log onto Powerboats. Single or Twin Outboard, Pleasure or Race Unfinished Cougar 41 All Boats CE Certifi ed www.worldof for sale – near completion Power Marine, powerboats.com 41ft Cougar Hull Dublin, Ireland.

www.powermarine.ie Stripped out 2014, strengthened and re-glassed on the inside alan@powermarine.ie External deck surfaces have been primed and undercoated +353 86 8783735 ready for painting Custom built screen giving ultimate protection in rough seas 4 x custom built fuel tanks bonded in giving very long range PROPELLERS 3 x new FPT 560 diesel engines, 2 fitted and running with only 6 hours use from new (cost £90k) The UK’s leading propeller Est. 1958 3 x Mercury No6 drives stripped and totallyspecialist refurbished PROP REPAIRS 3-4 Days + P&P NEW PROPELLERS available from stock (2 fitted and running) Alum prices online ordering available at www.steeldevelopments.co.uk 0 – 9” dia Size Series Velvet Aluminium 3 x New£30.00 72L Liberty gearboxesStainless Steel 9.1/8” – 11” dia £32.50 A/B series 9.9–35hp fr £120.00 (2 fitted and running)fr £55.00 11.1/8” – 14” dia £34.50 C series 40-65hp £85.00 £175.00 14.1/8” – 16”Set dia of 3 new £36.50 D series 70-125hp £89.99 Hering propellers 5 x 33 x18 degree fr £189.99 16.1/8” – 48” dia POA E series 135-300hp £99.00 fr £199.99 DAF tractor unit+ £2.00 and articulated trailer in £495.00 good working order Bronze props Bravo II £495.00 Thissteel rigProps has been built for rough seas in £135.00 the Marathon racing Stainless £57.50 Volvo SP fr £250.00 Impellers from £35.50 Volvo Duo £345.00 fr £740.00 class & has performed well on initial seafrtrials, showing 65mph Rebushes Skeg repair POA with 700 RPM left.

All prices + P&P + VAT Standard P&P £9.00 Express P&P £12.00 Should easily see 75mph with different props Dept ono WPB, Road,Will London, SW18 5JQ £125,000 for240 the Merton lot (no VAT). split. P/X welcome.

Tel 020 8874 7059 Fax 020 8877 9537 Shipping arranged +441903 713684

Builders of racing winning S3000, S2000 and Formula 1 Tunnel Boat 135 rue des Vignes du Val 277700 Tosny, France Tel: +33 (0) 232 54 15 29 Fax: +33 (0) 232 54 43 98 GSM: 06 08 16 45 78

Steel Developments

www.steeldevelopments.co.uk

WORLD OF P OWE RB OAT S

JANUARY/FE BRUARY 2 011 57

S T O H PIT S

60 raceboatinternational

raceboatinternational 61

tiger PerfOrManCe PrODuCtS Waterproof Submersible intercom System iP 67 & 68 rated

We Now Offer Optional Built-in Digital Sound Suppression and Bluetooth Wireless Phone Features!

er OrDW ! nO

Features include: ■ Modular plug and play design ■ Stereo or Monaural Intercom Operation ■ 2-10 person configurations ■ 1-3 Marine VHF or Programmable VHF or UHF radios ■ Multiple Radio Switching ■ Digital Sound Suppression (DSP)

Marine Stereo Intercom Control Unit 2 year Warranty

Wireless Bluetooth Wireless Headset & Helmet Bluetooth Headset Belt Box Adapter

UHF or VHF Marine Radio

Cell Phone

Universal Plug in Headsets & Helmets

Video Recorder

Intercom with Digital Sound Suppression (DSP)

Intercom

Family of Products that will connect to Intercom

Audible Alarm

Intercom with Digital Sound Suppression (DSP) and Bluetooth Wireless Phone Feature

My son and I installed the complete radio system in a few hours and spent a few cleaning up some of the boats other systems. Jerry and I put the boat through some "fast" pace testing.

Wow , the Tiger Performance Comm was so clear at any boat speed, with no engine electrical noise. Thanks for providing us with exactly what you said it would be. Great Job” Keith Snow, 46 Skater "Terrible", 1500hp Sterling

This safety hinge is the only reliable quick release safety hinge system on the market.

High tensile strength, 316 Marine grade cast stainless steel and precision engineering ensures reliable performance.

SNELL SA2010 Certification

Intercom with Bluetooth Wireless Phone Feature

“I choose Tiger Performance for all my Racing and High Performance Communication Equipment. The Tiger Intercom Systems offers the best sound quality and more features than any other Stereo Intercom System on the market.”

Bob Teague, Owner/Throttleman Teague Custom Marine, Inc. TEAM AMSOIL National & World Champion

MARINE GENERATION III STAINLESS STEEL SAFETY HINGES

Bell M arine h elMetS

■ Bluetooth Wireless phone, iPod and other device features ■ Mil Spec Waterproof breakaway plugs and jacks ■ Stereo / CD plug in ready ■ Audible Alarm, plug in ready ■ Digital Video Recorder audio out, plug in ready

WOrlDWiDe D iStriButOr fOr MSa M arine h elMetS

BELL SPORT MARINE FULL FACE HELMET (with Tiger Mask)

BELL SPORT MAG MARINE HELMET (with Tiger Mask)

MSA LH050 MARINE HELMET (with Tiger Mask)

■ Lightweight composite shell ■ Full ventilation system with chin bar ■ Forehead & Top Ventilation for maximum cooling ■ E-max Multi-density Liner ■ HANS ready (pre drilled) ■ SNELL 2010 Certified

■ Lightweight composite shell ■ Visor Peak ■ Smoke Visor (with Sun Peak) ■ Removeable Pad Inserts ■ HANS ready (pre drilled) ■ SNELL 2010 Certified

■ Single Inner Visor ■ Factory Bayonet Receivers ■ Comfort Padding ■ Removable ear cups ■ Adjustable leather chin strap ■ Lightweight Kevlar & Carbon Fiber Construction ■ Drawstring Helmet Bag

MSA LH250 MARINE HELMET (with Tiger Mask) ■ Inner Visor & Thermo Plastic Outer Visor Cover ■ Factory Bayonet Receivers ■ Comfort Padding ■ Removable ear cups ■ Adjustable leather chin strap ■ Lightweight Kevlar & Carbon Fiber Construction ■ Drawstring Helmet Bag

M arine “SBa/SL2” S urvival B reathing a ir S ySteMS PLUG-IN “SBA” QUICK DISCONNECT AIR SYSTEM When seconds count, don’t be without an SBA /SL2 system!

■ Ultra Lightweight and compact assembly components ■ Multi-port 1st Stage Regulator ■ Mini High Pressure Gauge ■ Stainless Steel Male Air Nipple ■ 2 port Swivel Adapter ■ 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 6.0 cu. ft., 3000 PSI cylinders ■ Plug-in Quick Disconnect ■ Holsters, Cylinder re-fill adapters, and other accessories available “SBA/SL2” INTEGRATED SECOND STAGE AIR SYSTEM ■ Ultra Lightweight and compact assembly components ■ Multi-port 1st Stage Regulator ■ Mini High Pressure Gauge ■ 2 port Swivel Adapter ■ 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 6.0 cu. ft., 3000 PSI cylinders ■ 20”, 27” or 36” flexible regulator hoses with swivel banjo fitting ■ Flat second stage regulator ■ Holsters, Cylinder re-fill adapters, and other accessories available

Tiger Performance Products, Inc. • 525 Bullis Rd. • West Seneca, New York 14224 • USA • phone: 1. 716 . 674.8545

62

• fax: 1. 716 . 674.7497 • shawkins@tigerper formance.com • www.tigerperformance.com raceboatinternational