raceboat international issue #16

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EVIAN GP YOUSEFF AL-RUBAYAN’S FIRST F1 VICTORY P1 SUPERSTOCK SCARBOROUGH UK/SARASOTA US CLASS 1 ITALY 1990 BRISTOL THE LAST GP XDubai takes CASCAIS WORLD CLASS 3 SWEDEN raceboat Issue 16 - JULY/AUGUST 2015 international.com KING OF THE SURF THUNDERCATS BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP SURFURY MEMOIRS Yesteryear 1966

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Page 1: Raceboat International Issue #16

EVIAN GPYOUSEFF AL-RUBAYAN’S

FIRST F1 VICTORY

P1 SUPERSTOCKSCARBOROUGH UK/SARASOTA US

CLASS 1ITALY

1990BRISTOL

THE LAST GP

XDubaitakes

CASCAIS

WORLD CLASS 3

SWEDEN

raceboatIssue 16 - JULY/AUGUST 2015 international.com

KING OF THE SURF THUNDERCATS BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

SURFURY MEMOIRSYesteryear 1966

Page 2: Raceboat International Issue #16

Wherever your competition takes you...Trust the world’s only ISO accredited boat transporter to get you there safely.

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

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

Our world leading services include:

• Global Boat Transport

• Time Critical Shipments

• Race Event Logistics

• VAT & Customs Documentation

Contact Neil McKeown- Powerboat racing logistics expert

Telephone

+44 (0) 2380 480 [email protected]

Visit your nearest offi ce atwww.petersandmay.com

A division of Peters & May

Racing logistics, expertly delivered...

Our global offi ces include: u UK(Head Offi ce)

u USAu Germany

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Page 3: Raceboat International Issue #16

EDITORIAL ENQUIRIESPO Box No. 4871

Poole, Dorset BH15 1HXTel: +44 (0) 1202 625048Mobile: 07896 230630

Email: [email protected]

EDITORDavid Sewell

WEBSITE/NEWSJohn Moore

www.raceboatinternational.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNCarolynne Sewell

CONTRIBUTORSJohn Moore

Steve MichealNeil PerkinsRoy Mantle

Sean HenshelwoodKarien Jonckheere

Dave OrmistonColin ClarkeJeremy Ward

PHOTOGRAPHYTim Tapping

Simon PalfraderRaffaello BastianiVittorio Obertone

Chris DaviesArek Rejs

Graham StevensPaul Kemiel

Russel PuckeridgeJeremy Ward

Andrew Le PoidevinMartin Gray

SUBSCRIPTIONS(4 issues)

£30 per annum (U.K.)£35 per annum (Europe)£40 per annum (ROW)

Post cheque made payable to:Raceboat International

or pay by Paypal on-linewww.raceboatinternational.com

FRONT COVER PHOTO BYArek Rejs - Shaun Torrente

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.

DAVID SEWELLEDITOR

Dave

NOTEfrOm ThE

EdiTOr

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 downloadedFREE OF CHARGE from raceboatinternational.com.

What a year 2015 is turning out to be, and we have only reached the half way stage. Races have been cancelled, drivers have been banned and the RYA seems to be causing a great deal of unnecessary stress to the UK offshore pow-erboat community. It seems strange that Thundercats have had so many races already - what are they doing right? Guernsey is another ‘hot spot’ for offshore racing with three well supported races under their belt, and P1 Superstock looks to have their house in order. Why is it that Brits can take their boats to the Channel Islands to race but don’t support English meetings....it can’t just be duty free surely. Organisers of the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race (the oldest race in offshore history) still get concerned about how many entries will arrive for their famous event, and at the Venice-Monte Carlo race in early July only seven crossed the line ranging from a small RIB to a Pershing 53 and including three Class 1 V hulls.

Judging by comments I have heard there seems to be a general concensus that the RYA Powerboat Racing division should be closed down and restarted next year, and judging by some of the actions taken by the RYA lately it might as well have closed down already. Banned drivers, banned officials, banned promoters, cancelled events to name but a few controversial decisions made by the RYA over the last year. An independent consultant has been recruited to try and discover what’s needed to ‘kick start’ the RYA powerboat racing department back on track, but having seen the unhelpful survey form sent out to members I’m not holding my breath.

With very little domestic activity this term the small British contingent who went to Sweden for the Class 3 World Championship did remarkably well. It was a cracking event which included several local classes, and over sixty entries took part.

There is a glimmer of hope emerging for the ailing Class 1/V-1 championship with two interested parties bidding for the rights to promote this prestigious champion-ship. It is still feasible for the series to be resumed by another promoter, although it’s not going to be easy with the emergence of the X Cats which cost a fraction of a Class 1 package. The UIM have make a decision by the end of July. In the mean-time the championship will still conclude in December this year in Abu Dhabi.

Wherever your competition takes you...Trust the world’s only ISO accredited boat transporter to get you there safely.

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

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

Our world leading services include:

• Global Boat Transport

• Time Critical Shipments

• Race Event Logistics

• VAT & Customs Documentation

Contact Neil McKeown- Powerboat racing logistics expert

Telephone

+44 (0) 2380 480 [email protected]

Visit your nearest offi ce atwww.petersandmay.com

A division of Peters & May

Racing logistics, expertly delivered...

Our global offi ces include: u UK(Head Offi ce)

u USAu Germany

u Spainu France

u Asiau Italy

Page 4: Raceboat International Issue #16

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Latch/Link system, Quick-Flip non-slip adjusters.LIFELINE COMP VEST #170

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Page 5: Raceboat International Issue #16

raceboatinternational 5

CONTENTSWWW.RACEBOATINTERNATIONAL.COm

6 NEWS BRIEFING Who’s WHO and what’s WHAT

12 FAST ON WATER BRISTOL 25 Celebrating the last BrisTOl GrAnd Prix in 1990

14 CLASS 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS sAlernO, Italy - the first of 2 events this year

16 XCAT WORLD SERIES XDubai one point ahead after 3rd round CAsCAis Grand Prix

24 2015 WORLD F1 FRENCH GP Youseff Al-Rubayan secures his first F1 victory in eviAn beating World Champion Philippe Chiappe

34 GB P1 SUPERSTOCK FLYING PANTHER snatches victory in the opening round of 2015 British season

38 US P1 SUPERSTOCK A thrilling race win for LYCAMOBILE RACING in sArAsOTA

40 CLASS 3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - SWEDEN Teams from England and the Channel Islands joined the Swedish for UIM international honours

42 TORBAY Just 5 boats racing, but the tradition goes on and it can only get better

44 GUERNSEY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Heats 1 & 2 of the Stanley Gibbons Investment Series

48 RYA CHAMPIONSHIPS GUERNSEY Ocke Mannerfelt V24 class boats top of the bill

52 USF1 POWERBOAT TOUR 3rd Annual Maple City Grand Prix in lAPOrTe, indiana

54 THUNDERCAT RACING Rounds 3-8 in Watergate Bay, Fistral Beach & Southsea

60 2015 AUSTRALIAN V8 SUPERBOAT Mullan claims back-to-back wins in CABAriTA

64 NEW ZEALAND OFFSHORE Fairview Windows revelled in the light conditions

66 YESTERYEAR The success story of SURFURY from 1966

72 TAKING THE PIC Pit Action Photos

34

48

52

66

54

24

60

Page 6: Raceboat International Issue #16

6 raceboatinternational

VICTORY TO BUILDCIRCUIT BOATS

While in Evian, France we spoke to Victory boss Arif Al Zaffain who announcd that Dubai based Victory are to start building Formula cats and he made no secret of it. Bearing in mind the success the company have enjoyed with their Class 1, 2 and X cats, there is no reason to assume they won’t repeat that success in circuit craft. Al Zaffain did not indicate what hull their cats will be based on bearing in mind the majority of today’s models originated from a Burgess creation so it’s fair to say a Victory F1/2 model will be derived from anyone of the current race boats. Quite simply it’s very difficult to notice any obvious difference with running surfaces, although the width of tunnels can differ how-ever the deck and topsides can vary tremendously.

Although the BaBa hull used by Victory in Sharjah and Evian was driven by American i.e Price and Tor-rente, Al Zaffain insists the Victory Formula cats will be driven by Arab pilots and Victory will be starting a training programme in the very near future.

Who’s who and what’s what

on the powerboat scene

UIM CLASS 1/V-12016 DAWN OF A NEW ERAAfter Almost three decAdes And umpteen pro-moters, the uIm World clAss 1 chAmpIonshIp WIll come to An end In Abu dhAbI In december 2015.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom as the UIM put the Class 1/V-1 promotion up for tender and of all the applicants they received, they have chosen two, who they consider suitable. One is British based EMME-E Group Ltd (London) and the other is IPO based in the Abu Dhabi International Marine Club and a decision will be made by 31st July 2015.

There are no venues in place for 2016 so the new promoter will be starting with a clean sheet, and it certainly won’t be an easy task. With the emergence of XCATS introducing new venues and new boats, the new Class 1/V-1 promoter face serious opposition. Nevertheless, Class 1 has one major advantage, there is nothing more dramatic and spectacular than a Class 1 cat in full flight with

its screaming open exhausts of highly tuned V8’s.In the meantime, the 2015 season started with a race off Saler-

no, Italy, one of the stop-over venues of the Venezia-Monte Carlo race. Class 1 cats don’t have the fuel capacity for marathon races so it was decided to lay a course off Salerno just for the opening two rounds of the 2015 UIM World series, along with two or three of the V-1 boats. Two Abu Dhabi boats and one of the two Fendi cats have entered, together with ‘Zabo’ and Dubai’s ‘Victory’ team who have chartered a cat from an Italian owner.

Terracina, Italy is listed on the 2015 calendar, but it seem unlikely to host an event there this term so the final two races will be in Abu Dhabi.

Page 7: Raceboat International Issue #16

raceboatinternational 7

LUNDIN WINS FIRST ROUND WORLD F2 SERIES

HELMET MOUNTEDCAMCORDERS BANNED

HENDRICKS BOATRE-ENGINED

The long awaited racing debut of German businessman’s Markus Hendricks new monohull has taken one step nearer to fruition when it was announced the huge 50 footer with be running with twin Mercruiser 1350hp V8’s as opposed to the V12 Ilmor’s origi-nally planned.

The Adam Younger designed craft built by Ross Smith Marine in Lymington, Hampshire had suffered countless delays and when it was finally launched, the designer and builder excepted the Ilm-or’s were not powerful enough to give the boat a fighting chance when it lines up in the 2015 Cowes- Torquay marathon so the big Mercruisers were chosen to show off the craft’s full potential.

GoPro helmet camcorders have been banned from powerboat racing. Following the serious injury to Michael Schumacher whilst skiing, the powers that be have said that the fixing of GoPro cam-corders on helmets effect the strength of the composite either by the adhesive or fixing boats. Camcorders can be fitted to engine cowels and the water deflectors in front of the driver as long as it does not affect his vision. After examination of helmet which have been drilled to fix cameras or adhesive, it has been proven to reduce the overall strength of GRP or composite headgear.

However banning helmet cams does not apply to all motorised sports as we saw a speedway race recently where three of the four riders sported the gizmos and steepchase jockeys have been seen to be wearing one on the headgear.

It’s great to see ‘Mr Nice Guy’ Pierre Lundin has win round one of the F2 World Championships in Brindizi - congratulations to the Lundin Marin team who prepared Pierre’s new rig.

Pierre Lundin from Sweden excelled in F1 when he was with CITC China alongside Philippe Chiappe, if his performance in Brin-dizi is anything to go by, he could be on his way to a world title.

We must congratulate the runner-up Nick Bisterfield and Britain’s Matt Palfreyman who clinched 3rd place. Matt was an important part of the F1h2o family as a pilot in F4S and the official pace boat driver but like Pierre, running his own race team was an

opportunity to good to miss.

Next issue Raceboat will have a full feature on the Norwegian F2 World Champion-ship event which is promoted by Frode Sunsdal

for rACE, LEISUrE, rIBAnd CoMMErCIAL MArKETSFrom concept to Full de-

sign - turning IdEASinto rEALITY

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Page 8: Raceboat International Issue #16

8 raceboatinternational

SENAAT EMIRATE RACINGA NEW TEAM ENTERS F1 SERIESFor the first time since CITC China joined F1 several years ago a new team has entered the fray for the 2015 series and once the teething problems are sorted out, they are billed to be one of the strongest on the grid.

the two emirate racing 2 boat team - Al hameli 27 and stark 28, at their

first meeting in Evian, France

Page 9: Raceboat International Issue #16

raceboatinternational 9

Ahmed Al Hameli (Above) and eric stark hand picked by scott Gillman for his new F1 team

Left: Scott Gillman has been Al Hameli’s racing mentor for the last decade

Senaat Emirate Racing has facilities both in the UAE and headquarters in the Italian town of Casale Monferrato (left)

When Scott Gillman parted company with Abu Dhabi Interna-tional Marine Club after 15 years as the F1 team’s Powerboat Manager, it was an opportunity for him to fulfill an ambition he has long harboured to manage his own racing team, and be able to race himself from time to time. He officially retired from racing in 2007, but likes to keep his hand in when he can. And so, Senaat Emirate Racing was formed after he swiftly sourced sponsorship from one of the biggest industrial names in the United Arab Emirates.

Senaat have pledged their support on a long term basis and Emirate Racing have facilities in the UAE and a European HQ in Casale Monferrato, Italy. Once the investment and workshops were in place Scott set about recruiting the best pilots available, and who better than Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al Hameli and four times Swedish world F2 champion Erik Stark. The first time the duo performed as a team was in Evian, France on Lake Geneva. Conditions were far from ideal for qualifying and Al Hameli crashed out while attempting to reach the top six shoot. The incident resulted in an injured wrist and he retired from the race after starting 7th. Stark, a resident of Stockholm faired better and was lying in 5th place with ten laps to the finish when a rival piled into the back of him and he too was forced to retire. However far from being too down- hearted Scott and his crew are looking forward to round three in Porto, Portugal when Senaat Emirate Rac-ing should be prepared to show their true colours and with the season only just starting, Emirate Racing can confidently boast that they have the strongest two man team.

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Page 10: Raceboat International Issue #16

10 raceboatinternational

former europeAn 2ltr chAmpIon Sarah dONOhuE fInAlly tIed the knot on June 10th In mArbellA to former royAl mArIne of 20 yeArs, lee bArrett.

Joined by 16 close friends and without pres-sures of family being present they enjoyed a warm wedding at Salduna Beach Club until the early hours.

Sarah was given away by long term friend Matteo Nicolini and also present from pow-erboat racing was Miles Jennings, Debra France and John Ridd. Sarah’s now runs

Miss Galaxy Universe, europe’s biggest all female fitness show and her bridesmaids are all part of the show apart from Tilly Garcia a bar owner from Alicante who has known Sarah for 25 years. Unable to attend Sarah’s wedding were Matteo’s brother Luca who had to work, and Sarah’s long term friend Giovanni Carpitella who also an engine

delivery to see to, although that didn’t hinder the lively entertain-ment. Sarah said, ‘racing is rac-ing, and they have to prepare. There are plenty of other occa-sions to celebrate.’

Matteo and Miles both had to leave the morning after the night before to get to their next race in Cascai whilst Sarah and friends remained at the 8 bedroomed villa for the rest of the week.

Rumour has it that Sarah along with 3 other well-versed women are gearing up to set a

world record in the coming 2 years, London to Monte Carlo, but sworn to secrecy she couldn’t answer any questions and said that nothing was solid. One things for sure we know her new husband has his hands full, but if anyone can tame her, its a Royal Marine.

POWER GIRL WEDS

XCAT’s Matteo Nicolini gives away the bride

Page 11: Raceboat International Issue #16

raceboatinternational 11

EFI 4-BUTTON TESTER

This MDDU (Mercury Digital Diag-nostic Unit) is made for Mercury outboards 2,0L - 2,4L - 2,5L ECU´s 849849A1-14 and 8M80232** Hi-Performance engines used in Formula 1 and 2.

Produced by Lundins Marine R&D the unit has a newer updated commu-nication software which makes it more reliable during diagnostic testing, and has many other valuable functions:- Fuel Adj%, Real time RPm, Peak RPm, Injector Pulses, Injectors Spray Test, Self test Diag, Temp C or F, Volt check, Charge check, Data Recept etc., PRICE 995€

NEW - FROM LUNDIN MARIN SWEDEN

New 35 cm (13.8”) diam. steering wheel models have been introduced to the wide range of Ultraflex steering wheels. They all fit Ultraflex steering helms with or without tilt and paddle trim.

ADORNO is a fine steering wheel available either with leather or polyure-thane grip, chrome plated or painted center cap.

CONTARINI is a new classic steering wheel with a 316 stainless steel frame and technical rubber grip.

GRIMANI is a sport steering wheel featuring an anatomic grip and the pos-sibility to opt for either chrome plated or painted inserts.

Ultraflex steering wheels are branded “Vero Volante Italiano”, to guarantee that all the models are designed, engineered and manufactured in Italy, by employing Italian components and technologies according to Ultraflex’ quality control system. They meet the EEC directive 94/25 requirements and they are CE marked in conformity with the EN 28848 – EN 29775 and ABYC P22 safety standards.

IN BRIEF

FOUR HURT INPOWERBOAT CRASH

CAPELLINI - CLEARED OF FRAUD AND TAX EVASION

The crew of four survived a horrendous crash in Southampton Waters in late May. The new 42 foot Vector monohull powered by twin Ilmor engines was scorching along at about 70mph when it hooked to port. The craft collided with a large iron chan-nel marker buoy resulting in the Vector flipping over. Three of the crew escaped from the cabin, but a 17 year old was trapped inside with serious head and arm injuries. The craft’s skipper, who is also the father of the youngster, dived back into the upturned hull and managed to pull his son to safety. Three of the crew received minor injuries while the young man was airlifted to hospital.

Since the accident the boy has been released from hospital and begins the long road to recovery.

After a case lasting over six years and involving 6 million Euros, ten times world F1 champion Guido Cappellini has finally been cleared of all charges against him. How much it cost to investigate the Italian is anyone’s guess as it reached the Supreme Court. Cappellini has pleaded his innocence throughout claiming he was a resident of Monaco and not Italy.

RYA RECRUITS OUTSIDER FOR POWERBOAT RACING REVIEW

In an attempt to ascertain why the RYA National Championship is suffering unprecidented problems an independent surveyor has been commissioned to carry out an investigation of the situation and hopefully he can proceed without influence from staff already involved in the organization.

A survey was sent out recently to competitors asking questions like a) Do you own a boat? b) When did you last have a licence? c) Was it easy to get? The contents of the survey will at least show that the numbers of competitors have dropped dramatically in the last decade. Maybe they would shed more light on the situation if they asked a) What do you think is wrong with powerboat racing in the UK? and b) Who do you think is responsible?

Balance anod-ized Test Disc for F1 & F2 Optimax for running in the engine etc...PRICE 499€

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Lundins Marine produce a wide range of products for high performance out-boards including anodized aluminum trim and lift indicators with stainless bracket. PRICE 95€

Page 12: Raceboat International Issue #16

12 raceboatinternational

A WEEKEND OF NOSTALGIAIt was an opportunity too good to turn down. A weekend in Bristol rubbing shoulder with the stars of yesteryear at a party to celebrate the final BriSTOL GraNd PriX that took place in 1990

THE FAST ON WATER BRISTOL 25 was the brainchild of Roy Cooper ably assisted by former F1 pilots Dene Stallard, Steve Kerton and Pelli Brolin.

The guest list was a galaxy of household names from the golden era of Bristol Grand Prix Powerboat Racing. The ultimate prize from winning the race then was the £80,000 Duke of York Trophy which Seebold won 8 times and Jonathan Jones 4 times.

Possibly the most famous Seebold vic-tory that captured the attention of 250,000 race fans surrounding the dock was when Bill Seebold won the 2 litre race that preceeded the Grand Prix. He swept into the pits where his crew removed the 2 litre engine and fitted a V8 F1 engine. With only

seconds to spare, the American roared out of the pits and joined his rivals on the start grid and the effort was well worthwhile. Billy Seebold won the Grand Prix which pro-duced tumultuous applause from his thou-sands of fans who had crossed the Atlantic to witness his victory.

After meeting up at the Bristol Hotel that was once race HQ during the event’s 19 year history, the group made their way to the dockside and boarded two ferries which pro-ceeded on to the original race course. Much to everyone’s surprise, an Formula 1 cat swept past with Steve Kerton at the control, the first time apparently, that an F1 boat had been seen on the dock since 1990. The next stop was the SS Great Britain where the

Lord Mayor of Bristol Rt Hon Clare Campion Smith greeted the distinguished guests at a reception in the dockside building. After various speeches there was a tour of Brunels Great Britain, one of the city’s most famous attractions.

Celebrations went on into the evening with dinner when when there was much reminiscing of the Bristol Grand Prix days and on the stage was Chris Bush’s Burgess F1 boat alongside Seebold’s Nordica spon-sored F1 outfit.

Apparently, the Fast on Water team are planning a touring exhibition that will not only relate to members of the public Britain’s illustrious past, but also promote the sport for the future.

Page 13: Raceboat International Issue #16

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left: Andy elliott who continued racing F1 until just 4 years ago, the legendary billy seebold

Right: Bristol 25 organisers have produced a souvineer poster signed by all the drivers who attended the event in Bristol

Left: Steve Kerton driving what is believed to be the first f1 boat to make an appearance on Bristol Docks for 25 years.

Carlos Maidana (left) and F4 driver Ken mccrorie

5 times World Champion Jonathan Jones (left) and Pelle Brolin from Sweden

F1 driver Dene Stallard greets the Mayor of Bristol Coun. Clare Campion-Smith

Pelle Brolin (left) and Mike Zamparelli

ss Great britain

Page 14: Raceboat International Issue #16

14 raceboatinternational

MAGNIFICENT START TO CLASS I SEASON FOR ABU DHABI

It all came good for the ABu DhABI Class 1 team in the opening round of the 2015 uIM World Class 1 Championship. They arrived in Salerno, Italy with two MTi boats and an international crew of American’s John Tomlinson and Gary Ballough in one cat and uAE’s Majid Al Mansoori and Rashid Al Tayer in the other.

Article: Nigel Quilter Photos: Simon Palfrader, Raffaello Bastian

This was not a typical Class 1 event as it was made part of the famous Venezia-Monte Carlo marathon rather than an event in the H2o series which only has one grand prix fixure this season for Class 1. So the 2015 Class 1 World Championship looks like it will consist of 4 heats at 2 events, although Terracima, Italy is still tentatively on the cal-endar for October.

A circuit had been laid out in Salerno, Italy to cater for the cats and four Class 1V boats, but because of the uncertainty of the meeting only five class 1 cats arrived at the Italian venue. Reigning champions, Victory team Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi chose to charter a boat rather than ship their own boat from Dubai. Despite the very short notice, Abu Dhabi decided to pull out all the stops and managed to ship both their craft to Italy, and it paid dividends as they completed a unique 1-2 in the first of the two races.

The American duo of driver Gary Bal-lough and throttleman John Tomlinson qualified the first of the two Team Abu Dhabi American-built MTi boats in second place, with the Emirati pairing of Majid Al-Mansoori and Rashid Al-Tayer starting the race just behind their team-mates in third after the morning’s qualifying session.

“It was all a bit of a rush getting the boats shipped in and everything ready for the start at the last minute, but this result goes to prove that it was all worth it, and the team is on the right track for a really good challenge for the Class 1 title this year,” said Al-Tayer. “We need to keep the momentum going into the second race and try and deliver a 1-2 for Abu Dhabi again.”

Britain’s Miles Jennings and Giovanni Carpetella was up with the front-runners aboard Fendi 10 throughout the race until an engine management malfunction on the last lap dropped them to the back of the pack.

Team Abu Dhabi faced a fierce chal-lenge in Salerno from the defending UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Champions, Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi. Rather than use their usual boat, the Dubai-based duo leased a Victory-built hull from Mauro D’Alessio and went on to qualify for the first race in fourth position. They rounded off the podium places with third overall.

Italian Giovanni Carpitella and England’s Miles Jennings also lined up at the start in their Fendi Racing entry and claimed pole, while Swedish rookie Niclas Johans-son replaced Ugur Isik and joined Christian Zaborowski in a Zabo Racing entry in the fifth boat. They qualified fifth and finished the race in fourth place.

Team Abu Dhabi continued their su-perb start to the new UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship season with first and fourth positions in the second of the two Salerno races, held in conjunction with the seventh leg of the Venice-Monte Carlo endurance race, on Thursday. It means that the team that runs out of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) leads the prestigious offshore series after the first round.

The triumphant race pairing of Gary Bal-lough and throttleman John Tomlinson had won the opening race on Wednesday after-noon in their American-built MTi catamaran and claimed pole position for the second race. They were not to be denied in race two

either and passed the chequered flag in first place to cap a perfect weekend for the UAE team.

The Emirati pairing of Majid Al-Mansoori and Rashid Al-Tayer had finished second in the first 13-lap encounter and qualified third for the second of the Italian races behind Italian driver Giovanni Carpitella and England’s Miles Jennings in Fendi Racing’s T-Bone Station. An engine issue had cost Carpitella and Jennings a potential second place on Wednesday and they competed race two in third. Al-Mansoori and Al-Tayer reached the finish in fourth in the second Team Abu Dhabi boat.

“This has been a fantastic weekend for Team Abu Dhabi and a perfect way to start the season with two race wins,” said Team Abu Dhabi spokesman Salem Al-Remeithi. “The whole team is focused and we really feel that we can win the Class 1 World Championship this year. There may well be more races to go into the calendar, even at this late stage, but we will take this as a perfect start and look forward to the rest of the championship.”

The Victory team Arif Saif Al-Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi in their leased boat followed up Wednesday’s eventual fifth-placed finish by qualifying fourth for the second race. They showed a noticeable improvement in race two to claim the runner-up spot.

Swedish rookie Niclas Johansson and Norwegian colleague Christian Zaborowski completed the line-up and started the race from fifth place and finished in a similar posi-tion.

The final race of the Championship will be held in Abu Dhabi 9-13 November.

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2015 sAlerno GrAnd prIx – racE 1 result

1 Gary Ballough (USA) / John Tomlinson (USA) 6 Team Abu Dhabi

2 Majid Al-Mansoori (ARE) / Rashid Al-Tayer (ARE) 5 Team Abu Dhabi

3 Arif Saif Al-Zafeen (ARE) / Nadir bin Hendi (ARE) 3 Victory Team

4 Christian Zaborowski (NOR) / Niclas Johansson (SWE) 91 Zabo Racing

5 Giovanni Carpitella (ITA) / Miles Jennings (GBR) 10 Fendi Racing

2015 sAlerno GrAnd prIx – RACE 2 result

1 Gary Ballough (USA) / John Tomlinson (USA) 6 Team Abu Dhabi

2 Arif Saif Al-Zafeen (ARE) / Nadir bin Hendi (ARE) 3 Victory Team

3 Giovanni Carpitella (ITA) / Miles Jennings (GBR) 10 Fendi Racing

4 Majid Al-Mansoori (ARE) / Rashid Al-Tayer (ARE) 5 Team Abu Dhabi

5 Christian Zaborowski (NOR) / Niclas Johansson (SWE) 91 Zabo Racing

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Article: Karien Jonckheere Photos: Simon Palfrader, Raffaello Bastiani

CASCAISROUND 3

3 - X DUBAIPilots: Arif Al Zaffain, Nadir Bin HeindiTm/Radioman: Ragesh Elayadethmechanic: Marco Carvello

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SERIES IN THE BALANCEas XDubai take Cascais GP14 June 2015 - just one point now separates the teams at the top of the uIM XCAT World Series Standings after an exhilarating third round

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20 - mARINE INVESTImENTI SUDPilots: Serafino Barlesi, Alessandro BaroneTm/Radioman: Valter Martinogliomechanic: Claudio Cappelli, Antonio Dell’Anna

XcaT rOuNd 3 caScaiS

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96 - YACHTSPilots: Francois Pinelli, Saul Bubacco, Michel KarsentiTm/Radioman: Arthur Hlusickamechanic: Massimiliano Paties

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Having won the opening round of the Series in February, the ‘Abu Dhabi Team’ (Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori) came into the race as Series leaders. But a bad start and then later engine trouble saw them slip-ping out of contention, eventually finishing in fifth spot, while last year’s winners, ‘XDubai’, produced a flawless performance to take the win.

The ‘XDubai’ pair of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir bin Hendi proved untouchable as they led from the start, mastering the tricky conditions that saw the race committee changing the course just an hour before, and crossed the line first.

The real battle was going on behind them, however. ‘T-Bone Sta-tion ‘(Giovanni Carpitella and Marco Pennesi) continued their bad run of luck so far this season. The Italian duo were in second spot for much of the race, but a sudden loss of their power steering meant they had to abandon their chase as it was unsafe to continue.

Behind them the ‘Yachts’ duo of Fran-cois Pinelli and Saul Bubacco were engaged in a fierce battle with the ‘Abu Dhabi Team’ for third spot. It was one they eventually won, with ‘Abu Dhabi’ pushing just that little bit too hard and eventually succumbing to engine trouble, so slipping down the plac-ings.

The ‘Hoorsenbuhs’ team of Tomaso Polli

and Matteo Nicolini made the most of the gap and pounced on third spot – their sec-ond podium finish of the season. With that, the Italian team have moved into third place overall in the Series.

‘XDubai’s’ Bin Hendi explained after the race, that taking top spot in the overall standings was their main priority. “We were looking forward to that. We were calculating a lot this afternoon and we said we wish we could become number one,” he explained.

“We had a good start. It was a bit rough at the start – but we got control of it and after we got past the first buoy we concen-

trated for three laps to push and get the gap and then relax a bit. The changed course was definitely safer, but coming out from the last buoy towards the chequered flag – that was the worst part. It was very bumpy so we were taking it easy because we were afraid something might break.”

Speaking about the 1 point lead they now have over the ‘Abu Dhabi Team’ in the standings, Bin Hendi added:

The key was not to get emotional and to keep calm......we came across walls of waves, even three in a row, 1.5m high...

Francois Pinelli - ‘Yachts’

22 - VIDEXPilots: Alfredo Amato, Joakim KumlinRadioman: Ciro MontiTm: Mario Di Cosmo, Alessandra Di Tucciomechanic: Ciro Monti, Andrea Comello

XcaT rOuNd 3 caScaiS

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POS NO. TEAM CREW rNd 1 rNd 2 rNd 3 TOTaL

1 3 XDUBAI Arif Al Zaffain / Nadir Bin Hendi 7 42 43 92

2 5 ABU DHABI TEAM Rashed Suhail Al Tayer / Faleh Khalfan Almansoori 36 34 21 91

=2 6 HOORSENBUHS Matteo Nicolini / Tomaso Polli 30 16 28 74

4 7 DUBAI Salem Al Adidi / Al Ali Eisa 17 32 13 62

5 2 SWECAT RACING Erik Stark / Michael Bengtsson 28 7 21 56

6 20 MARINE INVESTMENTI SUD Serafino Barlesi / Alessandro Barone 27 22 11 40

7 96 YACHT Francois Pinelli / Saul Bubacco 2 5 31 38

8 22 VIDEX Alfredo Amato / Joakim Kumlin 1 13 23 37

9 8 TEAM SARACEN AUSTRALIA Brett Luhrmann / Antony De Fina 19 8 9 36

10 10 T - BONE STATION Giovanni Carpitella / Marco Pennes 17 9 9 35

11 46 LADY SPAIN Jay Price / Shaun Torrente 1 19 9 29

12 50 MOUAWAD 50 Gary Ballough / Joakim Kumlin 1 23 0 24

13 17 RAHEEB Abdullateef Al Omani / Veronica Olderin 0 7 8 15

14 28 GLOBAL MARINE Roberto Lo Piano / Francesco Calo 0 12 1 13

XCAT 2015 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS - SERIES OVERALL

“The Championship is still hanging out there, and so we have to go all out for the next race and see what happens.”

The French ‘Yachts’ duo were, mean-while, ecstatic after their highest ever XCAT finish of second place. Pinelli said: “It was a very nice race, tough, but we managed it very well. The key was not to get emotional and to keep calm. We had a challenge with ‘Abu Dhabi’, but we realised they were risking too much. The sea was not constant and we came across walls of waves, even three in a row, 1.5m high, but this is the ocean after all. It’s a pity that we broke the good props for rough sea yesterday. We had to use longer ones today, but in the end we are extremely satisfied.”

XCAT racing now moves to another new venue – with Round 4 of the Series sched-uled for Gold Coast, Australia from August 21-23. Then it’s on to a new venue for XCAT racing - Nice, France in October before the final two rounds take place in the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) in November.

For more information on the UIM XCAT World Series and full results, log on to www.xcatracing.com

5 - ABU DHABIPilots: Rashed Suhail Al Tayer, Faleh Khalfan Al MansooriTm/Radioman: Jumaa Sanad Al Qubaisimechanic: Alexander Felix

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FRENCH CHEER THEIRF1 WORLD CHAMPIONTHOUSANDS OF FRENCH SUPPORTERS WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 2ND ROUND OF THE UIM WORLD F1 CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE BEAUTIFUL VENUE OF EVIAN SITUATED ON LAKE GENEVA IN EASTERN FRANCE, WORLD RENOWN FOR ITS BOTTLED WATER, TO APPLAUD THEIR OWN F1 WORLD CHAMPION PHILIPPE CHIAPPE.BUT IT WAS YOUSEFF AL-RUBAYAN WHO SECURED HIS FIRST F1 VICTORY

Article: David Sewell Photos: Vittorio Obertone, Arek Rejs

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RACE WINNER YOuSEFAL-RuBAYAN FROM KuWAIT, hAD PREVIOuSLY CLINChED A WORLD

F2 WIN IN 2012

The 2015 Grand Prix of France starred Philippe Chiappe, the country’s first world F1 champion so it was not surprising the pilot from Rouen had attracted a huge following.

There were some hasty adjustments to this year’s Formula One itinary after the withdrawal of Qatar from the series calendar. Another Arab nation, Dubai - more famed for its offshore exploits, has stepped in to host a round of the championship in ????, whilst Shaun Torrente who scored the first win of the season in the opening round of the season in Qatar colours was invited to join Victory Team as a one man entry. Torrente’s former Qatar team partner, Italian Alex Carrella, is now number one pilot in Team Abu Dhabi along

with Italian David Del Pin under the new managership of another Italian Guido Cap-pellini. Cappellini took over the Abu Dhabi job from Scott Gillman who had successfuly run the team for 15 years. Gillman has now formed his own team Emirate Racing, and recruited former Abu Dhabi driver Ahmed Al Hameli who joined forces with four times F1 world champion Eric Stark from Stockholm, Sweden.

Notable inclusions to the fleet were two Frenchmen, the tall Cedric Desguine entered as a one boat outfit Maverick Racing, and Christopher Larigot who took over the seat in Marit Stromoy’s EMIC’s team vacated by Erik Stark.

WOrLd f1 2015 EViaN

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Above: The H2o 2 seater hospitality boat gives F1 guests a blast round the circuit.

Sami Selio was in with a slender chance of of the World Championship

WOrLd f1 2015 EViaN

Philippe Chiappe started his home Grand Prix after taking pole-position.

the defending World champion won the trophy for the Fastest Lap - 0:53.84 and

now lies 4th in the drivers championship. This is the frenchman’s 13th season in F1,

and drives a French Moore hull

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After a retirement in Qatar mad croc sami Selio finished in Evian to claim 7 points

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frenchman, cedric Desguine (right) entered as one boat outfit 73 Maverick Racing, and Christopher Larigot (above) took over the seat in Marit Stromoy’s EMIC’s team vacated by erik stark.

18 Bartek Marszalek

WOrLd f1 2015 EViaN

73 Cedric Deguisne

The scene was set for a thrilling race but before Sunday’s GP drivers had to contend with conditions far from ideal as they took to the water for qualifying. The first drama of the day involved Abu Dhabi’s Del Pin when he stormed away from the dock and promptly hit and punctured a turn buoy. He limped around the circuit for one lap with the orange plastic marker stuck on his nose cone. As he past the commentary post he appeared to be sinking and when his DAC was craned from the water it become clear why. One of the large iron anchors securing the buoy had been hauled upwards when Del Pin’s boat hit the marker and it punched a large hole in the tunnel of the DAC putting an end to Del Pin’s racing that weekend. Austrian Bernd Enzenhofer lasted a bit longer before stuffing his DAC Motorglass after 6 laps of qualifying.

Water conditions started to deteriorate when qualify-ing got underway, but Kuwaiti Yousef Al Rubayan was undeterred as he led the first qualifying session ahead of Jonas Andersson, Shaun Torrente, Sami Selio, Philippe Chiappe, Erik Stark, Jesper Forss, Ahmed Al Hameli, Alex Carella and Franceco Cantando rounded off the top ten.

It was almost offshore conditions when the driv-ers headed out for Q2 and it appeared only a matter of time before someone would come to grief. Selio managed a quick lap, and the only other pilot to almost match the Finn’s time was American Shaun Torrente driving Victory’s BaBa while the rest of the fleet were taking it very carefully.

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The Emirate Racing Team didn’t enjoy the best of luck in their opening race in Evian. Ahmed Al Hameli was trying for a Top 6 Shoot Out place when he hit a rogue wave and his boat No. 27 violently barrel-rolled. His team mate Eric Stark in No. 28 was lying in 5th place when Francesco Cantando ran into the back of him causing a spin out and retirement

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Left: Abu Dhabi’s David del pin hadn’t completed half a lap before he hit a turn buoy and the buoy’s anchor shot up and punched a hole in the tunnel of his DAC

Finland’s young Filip Roms was awarded 3rd place when his captain Sami Selio was docked a lap for hitting a turn buoy

Shaun Torrente drove an excellent race in Victory’s Baba to come 4th and stays at the top of the points table

WOrLd f1 2015 EViaN

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Youssef Al Rubayan

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Sadly Emirates Racing’s Al Hameli, at-tempting to clinch a top six place, per-formed a spectacular aerial display, landing very heavily on the BaBa’s transom. Offi-cials then decided it was too dangerous to complete the session and Q3 top six shoot out would take place on Sunday morning prior to the afternoon’s Grand Prix.

As expected the crowds turned out in force early Sunday morning hoping to see their local hero Philippe Chiappe clinch pole position, and they weren’t disappoint-ed as Chiappe held off the hard charging Rubayan for the top spot with Team Abu Dhabi’s Carella in 3rd place ahead of Tor-rente, Selio and Andersson.

The tension was at fever pitch as the start lights switched off and Chiappe stormed away from the dock to lead the pack. It looked like the perfect result - a French driver leading the French GP. Regretably, the bubble burst on lap 16 of 35 when Chi-appe’s flywheel snapped off and the world champion’s China CTIC Moore hull ground to a standstill. It looked like Italian Carella was handed victory on a plate as he led the pack by a country mile. Rubayan was foot down hard to reduce the gap but he could not get close.

The dramatic Grand Prix of France took a turn for the worse on lap 24 of 35 when Francesco Cantando clipped the engine of Eric Stark. The Swede’s boat spun out and Cantando’s rolled, but landed the right way up. The two boats were swiftly removed from the race circuit by a Jetski tow boat and with several laps still remaining, we waited for the green flag. However, there

was no green flag to be seen, and the crowd were getting restless as lap after lap the fleet trolled round waiting for the restart signal. Eventually the pace boat pulled off the track with just two or three laps to go and the decision was made to continue the race with the yellow flag (no restart), and disappointingly the race finished at a snails pace. Torrente’s engine started spluttering as they crawled round until he realised he could not complete the full distance.

As fans gathered round the podium, the line-up was very misleading as it transpired the winner Alex Carella ended up being dis-qualified for running an illegal engine, whilst second place Sami Selio was dropped down the score board to 7th place after

hitting a turn buoy, and was penalised a lap. Meanwhile, third place Jonas Anders-son moved up to second place and young Finnish Mad Croc Filip Roms was elevated to 3rd place, his best career position yet. Like Roms, the winner Yousef Rubayan from Kuwait was denied the glory of the top step of the podium in front of a huge crowd and photographers. A most unsatisfactory end-ing to what was a great event.

Certainly one has to question the ability of the officials responsible for this fiasco, as it’s the second time this season a race has finishes on a yellow flag, and we’ve only had two races. Are they aware there is a world-wide television audience.

WOrLd f1 2015 EViaN

2015 DRIVERS POINTS TABLEPositions after Round 2

POS BOAT DRIVER NAT QATAR FRA TOTAL

1 77 Shaun Torrente QAT 20 9 29

2 9 Youssef Al Rubayan KUW 4 20 24

3 14 Jonas Andersson SWE 9 15 24

4 1 Philippe Chiappe FRA 15 RET 15

5 12 Filip Roms FIN 3 12 15

6 28 Erik Stark SWE 12 RET 12

7 6 Alex Carella ITA 7 DSQ 7

8 11 Sami Selio FIN RET 7 7

9 50 Marit Stromoy NOR 5 1 6

10 15 Jesper Forss SWE RET 5 5

11 18 Bartek Marszalek POL - 4 4

12 73 Cedrio Deguisne FRA - 3 3

13 51 Christophe Larigot FRA - 2 2

14 5 David Del Pin ITA 2 DNS 2

15 10 Duarte Benavente POR 1 RET 1

16 2 Ziwei Xiong CHN 0 0 0

17 24 Francesco Cantando ITA RET RET 0

18 23 Bernd Enzenhofer AUT DNS DNS 0

19 27 Ahmed Al Hameli UAE RET RET 0

3rd place Jonas Andersson from sweden

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Photos: Ed Rangsi

Offshore race organisers are often accused of only running meetings on the south coast however the P1 promoter is not scared of venturing further afield with meetings in Hull and this year, Scarborough, affectionately known as the Queen of the Yorkshire Coast was cho-sen to open the P1 championship.

The rain soon gave way to glorious sunshine as crowds gathered on the sweeping bay for the first of a packed programme of watersports. The unusually calm conditions of the North Sea saw a fleet of eleven Superstock set off on the first heat at it took the ‘fastest lap’ decider for the FLYING PANTHER crew of Nick Williams and Martin Robinson to snatch vic-tory in the opening round of this season’s SuperStock UK Championship after they finished the four race weekend level on points with Arran Scott’s ALLAM MARINE. Scott put the disappointment of last season behind him as he established an impressive new partnership with navigator Gavin Feldt when they narrowly missed out on the top spot.

Nick Williams and Martin Robinson in 11 FLYING PANTHER showed the form that took them to the runner-up spot last year, and the Buckinghamshire couple look capable of going one better this season.

Mechanical failures meant that it was a bitterly disappointing weekend for reigning cham-pions James Norvill and Charlie Parsons-Young in the GD DEVELOPMENTS boat and they will be hoping for better luck when they go to Jacksonville USA next weekend as they start the defence of their American title (they race in the UK and USA Championships)

The husband and wife team of David Toozs-Hobson were delighted with third place at Scarborough as they opened their campaign in the PICKFORDS boat.

The next round is in Gosport, Hampshire.

SCARBOROUGH QUEEN OFYORKSHIRECOASTGREETSSUPERSTOCKhEAVY RAIN GREETED ThE P1 FLEET OF ELEVEN POWER-BOATS AND ALMOST FORTY AquABIKES ON ThE EVE OF ThE daLE POWEr SOLuTiONS P1 GraNd PriX Of ThE SEa.

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scarborough winner flyInG pAnther

Close second Arran Scott’s ALLAM MARINE

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POWERBOAT P1 UKScarborough Results

POS BOAT DRIVER

1 77 FLYING PANTHER 74

2 9 ALLAM MARINE 74

3 14 PICKFORDS RACING 59

4 1 PERTEMPS 51

5 12 VISITWALES.COM 49

6 28 LYCAMOBILE RACING 39

7 6 ARTHUR J. GALLAGHER 39

8 11 TYPHOO 38

9 50 NEW WAVE 32

10 15 QUANTUM RACING 10

11 18 GD ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES 9

P1 SuPERSTOCK ScarBOrOuGh

TEAM TYPHOO with John Donnely and Kevin Hunt in their 5th P1 Superstock season.

David and Kirsty Toozs-Hobson PICKFORDS

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Two firsts and a third place for the LYCAMO-BILE Racing team on Saturday saw the pair-ing of Lee Baker and Sandy Kenigsman take an early lead in the standings at the halfway mark of the Grand Prix weekend. Strong per-formances on Saturday from reigning champi-ons GD ENVIRONMENTAL keep them in the hunt together with father-and-son pairing Bill and Elijah Kingery in Team ALISYN OIL.

The likeable pairing from Ohio rued an early mistake in race one when they ran wide on the south side of the course and lost their early lead over the rest of the fleet. They fought back to regain second place behind a LYCAMOBILE boat which looked to be run-ning very competitively all weekend.

There were battles aplenty in the final race on Saturday, with no less than four boats vying for third place in what can only be described as one of the most closely fought finishes in SuperStock racing history. SOUTHEASTERN LIGHTING SOLUTIONS eventually claimed the third spot, followed by GD ENVIRONMENTAL, ADVANCED MASON-RY and HALLOWEENMEGASTORE.COM, with less than two seconds splitting the four protagonists.

Sunday’s opening race – the fourth of the weekend for the P1 SuperStock fleet – was dominated by Team ALISYN OIL who led from the opening lap to the chequered flag. SOUTHEASTERN LIGHTING SOLUTIONS

finished in second place and HALLOWEEN-MEGASTORE.COM in third, with both boats recording their best positions of the weekend. Following the race, LYCAMOBILE Racing re-ceived a one minute time penalty for missing a mark which relegated them to 8th place.

In the final race on Sunday afternoon, held in baking hot conditions, Team LYCAMOBILE Racing put the disappointment of the earlier penalty behind them to take a commanding win – their third of the weekend – by more than 20 seconds, securing them the overall victory of the weekend. With the sweet taste of champagne still on his lips, an ecstatic Lee Baker said: “To take three wins out of five this weekend is a dream come true, and we fought so hard all weekend. Conditions on Sunday were tougher than Saturday, but we worked our way through the field and knew that we had a chance of the overall win if we finished consistently.”

Festival organiser, Lucy Nicandri, said: “Expanding this historic event to include the P1 classes has really got people talking. The feedback we have received has been really positive with fans able to see so many variations of marine motorsport across the weekend. My thanks go to the entire P1 organisation for the support and professional approach in making this event a great suc-cess.”

Organised for 31 years the Grand Prix has

been produced by Suncoast Charities for Children to help children and young adults with disabilities, and is a highlight on the US powerboat racing calendar. In addition to the racing, the week-long festivities include a charity dinner, drivers’ meet-and-greet ses-sion, boat parade, block party and swimsuit competition, fireworks spectacular and podium celebrations on the beach in front of a capacity crowd.

P1 Chief Operating Officer, Robert Wicks, said: “P1 is delighted to have been part of this amazing event for the first time and it’s great to know that there are several charities that will benefit as a result. The feedback from spectators about our SuperStock and AquaX race classes has been terrific, and I have no doubt about the significant impact our racing has made to the overall weekend. We very much look forward to including Sarasota on our 2016 schedule, and will be working closely with Lucy and her team to ensure the continued success of the event.”

GD ENVIRONMENTAL remain top of the overall championship standings on 176 points, with LYCAMOBILE Racing on 159 points and HALLOWEENMEGASTORE.COM on 137 points. The US teams now have a three week break before the next round of the Championship in St. Cloud, Florida at the end of July.

LYCAmOBILE RACING take the weekend winas P1 SuperStock serves up a thrilling racespectacle under theSarasota sunP1 SuperStock’s unique racing formula stole the headlines in Sarasota this weekend with five close-fought battles in front of huge crowds who flocked to the beach over the Indepen-dence holiday weekend

uS

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POS NO. TEAM PTS

1 02 LYCAMOBILE 85

2 17 TEAM ALISYN OIL 81

3 07 GD ENVIRONMENTAL 79

4 31 HALLOWEENMEGASTORE.COM 68

5 15 BOATWRENCH 66

6 55 SOUTHEASTERN LIGHTING SOLUTIONS 59

7 33 ADVANCED MASONRY 47

8 09 LIVORSI 42

9 94 VISIT JACKSONVILLE 32

US P1 SUPERSTOCK SARASOTA RESULTS

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In an epic battle between young Swedes William Söderlind with co-pilot Marcus Grönvall and equally young Brits, Jack Bobin and Jamie White, the Championship went down to the wire. Söderlind had the slightly higher top speed, and Bobin’s Phantom 19G came good in the rougher sections of the course.

After the three heats, Söderlind triumphed over the quietly spoken and modest Bobin, “There was nothing I could do to catch William. I have to be happy with three podium places, and a run-ners up in the World Championship, I look forward to racing against him again”.

The equally modest John Guille had hoped to follow on from his 2014 3A World Championship win in his brand new, designed and built Phantom 19G. “It wasn’t to be eh? We rigged the boat late, got to Sweden and found we had engine problems. I’m pleased to see Jack Bobin do so well in my old boat, Mark Brownhall and I will take a leisurely drive home and draw up our plans for next year”.

At the final prize giving gala, no one was prouder of Söderlind and Bobin than their fathers, who had in various ways, contributed towards their sons success and exemplary racing over three heats.

Veronica Olderin and Kristina Coleman became the first all girl team to win a Class 3 World Championship since Tracey Clarke and Donna James’ victory in 3C back in 1989. Kristina told Raceboat International after the race, “I was just so nervous, I was concen-trating on every mark, I made a navigation error in Heat One and I just didn’t want to let Veronica down. Driving for a second place, I was doing the maths and knew it would be good enough to take the title.”

The 3B class is now made up of quick Twister catamarans, Ve-ronica Olderin, using her winter experience whilst competing in the XCAT Racing Series, positively blew her male competitors away, her navigator Kristina had to find the marks first - and did.

The Swedish girls accepted their UIM 3B World Titles later at prize giving, looking absolutely stunning in their dresses - World Class.

It was the first time that all three classes have competed for

a World Crown at the same venue and at the same date.

With competing craft mainly coming from Sweden and Nor-

way, it was a a pleasant surprise to the organising Oskar-

shamns Motorbat Klubb, that six teams from England and

the Channel Islands made the 2,500 mile drive to compete

for UIM international honours.

Racing stalwart, Bob McCarthy was one that made the

trip. “I’m having to race with a Belgium licence due to a few

“paperwork issues with the RYA”, but my boat is painted

with a Union Jack and I am looking forward to some good

racing over the next few days”.

2014 3B UIM World Champion Jeremy Gibson was in a

similar situation to McCarthy, “paperwork issues with the

RYA”. He also arrived at Oskarshamn with a Belgium flag on

his Phantom hull.

A team that didn’t have “paperwork issues with the RYA”,

Class 3A - Motorvated Racing, nearly elected to race under

the Belgium Flag, over a long standing dispute with UK of-

ficialdom stretching back to July last year when they were

disqualified for a technical infringement at the RYA National

SEPA organised Southend race and stripped of their accrued

season’s points.

John Guille from the Channel Island of Sark, who took

the UIM 3A World Title in Guernsey last September under

a Belgium Flag, was pleased to be flying his local colours,

although his co-driver, Southampton based Mark Brown-

hall, was racing with, you guessed it - a Belgium licence!

Jacques and Pierre Vermeulen, the ultra nice guys from

Sark’s larger neighbour in the Channel Island’s, Guernsey,

could have had Belgium licences, or French for that mat-

ter, but chose to race on RYA International tickets, Kevin

Edmondson had his West Ham Season Ticket in place

and with his partner and co driver Annika Hawthorne,

were fairly happy that most of the above didn’t involve

them.

The racing was compacted over a four day period, nine

UIM World Championship races, two Swedish National

races and all run in a scorching hot, Swedish summer.

SWEDISH DOmINATIONin UIM Class 3 World ChampionshipsArticle: John moore Photos: Jesper Zander

ThE TOWN OF OSKARShAMN IN SWEDEN WAS ThE hOST FOR ThE 2015 uIM CLASS 3A, 3B AND 3C WORLD ChAMPIONShIPS IN JuLY ThIS YEAR.

Söderlind claims crown for Swedenuim class 3a World championship

Veronica is Victoriousuim class 3B World championship

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2015 UIM CLASS 3A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

1st A68 Sweden William Söderlind and Marcus Grönvall Hotshot / Evinrude 115 E-tec HO 1200 points

2nd A26 Great Britain Jack Bobin And Jamie White Phantom 19G / Mercury 115 ProXS 825 points

3rd A85 Sweden Thomas Billman and Emma Lunden Hotshot / Evinrude 115 E-tec HO 620 points

2015 UIM CLASS 3B WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

1st B87 Sweden Veronica Olderin and Kristina Coleman Twister / Mercury 115 ProXS 925 points

2nd B86 Sweden Fredrik Groth Fyrö and Hanna Thorén Twister / Mercury 115 ProXS 869 points

3rd B61 Sweden Thomas Wrenkler and Annika Wrenkler Twister / Evinrude 115 E-tec HO 566 points

A68 - William Söderlind and Marcus Gronvall

B87 - Veronica Olderin and Kristina Coleman

A91 - Jacques and Pierre Vermeulen

A26 - Jack bobin and Jamie White

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With rounds 1-2 of the 3A-3B National Championship at Allhallows cancelled due to the lack of entrants the organisers of round three, The Torbay Classic, knew it was going to be an uphill struggle to put on their event. If they had known back in November of last year just how hard it was going to be they probably would ‘nt have bothered.

After the 3A and 3B World Championship staged in Guernsey last September, where out of a total of 17 boats 13 came from the UK including a new World Champion in Class B, and with the introduction of this new class things were looking up. With Zapcats, OCR, Club Classes, Marathon and ski-boats added to the event the Torbay Classic would put on a show. However, as the race got closer to the end of May Bank Holiday start date, events took a turn for the worse.

First of all, OCR was prohibited from racing for national points due to a technical infringement of the rules, then Zapcats were suspended from racing due to an on going problem with the authorities, the two Mara-thon boats dropped out a week before due to technical problems with their boats, and two teams from the Club Class who had raced in France the previous weekend were refused UK licences so were not allowed to race.

By race weekend the total entrants were down to 6 boats - 2 A Class, 2 V24’s, and 2 Club Class 200hp Mannerfelt’s Bat Boats which soon reduced to 1 when Graham Reeder blew his engine while practising on the Saturday. So it was agreed that the 5 remaining boats would do 7 long and 1 short lap, a total distance of 43.88 nm for Sunday’s race.

The race was going to be a bit of a family affair, with Brian Peedell and navigator Neil Jackson in V13 up against Brian’s grandson Dan Priestley in V17 along with navigator Sam Brewster. In the A Class was Brian’s grand daughter and Dan’s 16 year old sister Kayleigh along with her navigator Barry Cul-ver in A18. And in A12 YKNOT was Kevin Edmondson and Annika Hawthorne. This was the first race in their new boat which was last year’s B Class World Champion boat which had been re engined for Class A.

In the sole remaining Club Class 2 were Niall Bougourd and Ivan Lancaster who had made the long journey over from Guernsey to compete in the race in Arotech Racing. Weather for race day was overcast, but sea conditions were reasonably calm, so it was going to be 7 laps covering just over 5nm and 1 short of just 3 nm. As the conditions were deemed to be acceptable all 5 boats were going to do the full course of 43.88 nm.

It was always going to be a straight fight between the two V24s of Brian Peedell V13 Circle Express and grandson Dan Priestly in V17 the Sick Children’s Trust. After a couple of laps it was Dan who pulled away from Brian and held the position to the end of the race, winning by a couple of minutes with an average speed of 65.89 mph. Brian’s aver-age was 63.00 mph.

The contest between the two A Class boats ended in a win for Kevin Edmondson and navigator Annika Hawthorne in A12 YKNOT with an average speed of 49-59 mph. 16 year old Kayleigh Priestly and her navigator Barry Culver in A18 Sick Chil-dren’s Trust followed behind with an average speed of 47 mph.

The sole survivor in the Club Class 2, Neil and Ivan in Boat 2-2 Arctech Racing, un-fortunately had some issue with navigation and only completed 6 laps. It was a great effort from the Guernsey crew for coming to Torquay to support the race, and from Steve Bird and the Southwest Regional Ski Racers for putting on a great show before the main race.

The Race organizers, the Offshore Rac-ing Drivers Association, will decide in the coming weeks if they will continue to put on events in the future. As it is getting very dif-ficult to get enough competitors to commit.

COULD THIS BE THE END OF AN ERA?TORBAY CLASSICA few short years ago, the Offshore Racing Drivers Association (ORDA)’s Torbay Classic staged in Torquay was one of the highlights of the season and many teams used the Devon resort to debut new boats. Sadly despite a tremendous effort from all those on the organising committee, the numbers did not stack up and only five boats turned out representing three classes. Whether ORDA have the stom-ach or finances to continue their ‘flagship’ event remains to be seen.

Article and pictures by David ‘Snapper’ Ormiston

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Five boats racing in the Torbay Classic

this year - two V boats: The Sick

Children’s Trust and Circle Express;

two A Class boats: YKNOT (with Kevin

Edmondson above, and A18 Sick

Children’s Trust, and in Club Class 2

one boat - Arotech racing.

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RACE ONEThe first race of the traditional two race weekend saw a creditable fifteen race boats cross the start line in confused seas whipped up by a force 4 wind against a strong tide around the formidable North Beach course running from the middle of the Little Russell, into and along Belgrave Bay before skirting close along the entire length of the East Arm of the QE2 marina. As is normal on this particular course, the East arm wall was once again lined with specta-tors who had turned out in large numbers to witness the continued resurrection of competitive Powerboat Racing in Guernsey waters.

From the off the two V24 enclosed cock-pit Bat Boats, ‘Diablo Racing’ and ‘It Wasn’t Us’, stormed into an early lead hotly pur-sued by the two large U class catamarans, ‘Flash Back’ and ‘Codycat’. Unfortunately, ‘Flash Back’s’ weekend was short lived with less than half a lap completed when it retired

with a blown power head on one of its two engines.

Hot on the heels of these hot rods were the former 3C class, newly identi-fied this term with a ‘2’ prefix, and it was boat 2-4 ‘Prime Suspect’ driven by Frank Le Tissier who drove an impeccable race, streaming away from its class competi-tors and remained there throughout. 2-4 was pursued by boat 2-2, the Stanley Gibbons sponsored ‘Arctech Racing’ of Niall Bougourd, 2-211 ‘R.G.Racing’, and newcomer to the sport, Harbourmaster Capt. Chad Murray driving the old ‘Artech’ racing backdraft.

Mixing it with some of the slower 200hp boats were the impressive 3A & B 115hp powered boats that were seen fighting for the World Championships here last September. Once again the pace setter in this class was Ollie Duquemin driving A-93, ‘Resolution Offshore’ who had led the World Championships after two of the three races. On this occasion. ‘Resolution

Offshore’ cemented its lead early on and held that position throughout followed by Jacques Vermuelen in A-91 ‘In the Red’ and B-92 ‘Bad Influence’ driven by Gareth Keast with female navigator Sue Cosgrave sat in the back.

As Heat 1 progressed, the outer leg of the Little Russell was becoming more and more confused with a large breaking swell which firstly saw A-93 ‘Resolution Offshore’ climb vertically into the sky, then A-59 ‘Top Secret’ driven by Tom Sauvarin snatched violently from one side to the other causing damage to the top deck and injuring navi-gator Scott Hicks in the process. That was to be the end of ‘Top Secret’s’ weekend.

Just when everyone thought the worst was over, a further incident was to occur at the outer Little Russell turn mark involving a brand new boat, 2-4 ‘Nosfera2’ crewed by experienced racers, Father and son combi-nation, Muir and Ollie Ashworth, who up to that point had put in a great performance in their new 2015 raceboat.

GUERNSEY RACINGheats 1 & 2 of the Stanley Gibbons Investment sponsored 2015 Race series certainly proved to be a baptism of fire for some members of the Guernsey Powerboat Association as racing got under way in some challenging seas conditions.

STaNLEY GiBBONS iNVESTmENT GuErNSEY POWErBOaT racE SEriES

Article: Colin Clarke Photos: Andrew Le Poidevin & Martin Gray

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This year’s boat arrived at Castle Em-placement in impeccable condition, as with all their previous boats, where attention to detail is second to none. With a stroke of bad luck it would appear the underside began to delaminate causing water to enter at such speed that the boat became submerged within minutes with only the bow visible above water. Both crew members were quickly rescued uninjured but wet, by Safety Officer Steve Lowe’s impressive safety team made up of paramedics, divers and guard boats.

At the front of the pack the two V24 Bat-boats and ‘Codycat’ were lapping the fleet with ease, but in a final twist ‘Diablo Racing’, driven by Dave Corbet, suffered an hydraulic steering problem, allowing Martyn Roberts in ‘It Wasn’t Us’ to take top honours ahead of Birthday boy Carl Wallbridge driving the ageing, but powerful ‘Codycat’.

RACE TWOHeat 2 on the Sunday evening held over the same course as Saturday, saw three boats less cross the start line. The whole feeling surrounding this second race of the ten race series appeared upbeat amongst racers, officials and spectators, and the weather and sea conditions were definitely going to be kinder.

As the traditional parade lap began, it appeared the word must have got around as a result of the previous evening’s frolics, and the entire length of the East arm wall was packed solid with spectators. In some areas it was three deep with over 1,000 people eagerly awaiting a promising battle at the front of the pack between the two noisy V8 powered Bat Boats and ‘Codycat’ who had driven a sensible race the previous evening. Given lighter winds, calmer seas, and the fact that ‘Codycat’ had hit 98mph earlier in the week during practice, the neutrals had come to witness the stranglehold normally held by the V boats being wrestled from their grasp by the Wallbridge boys, and they weren’t to be disappointed.

From the off the repaired ‘Diablo Racing’, driven this time out by Kerry Le Patourel who had swapped seats with Dave Corbet to navigate this round, and ‘It Wasn’t Us’ set

the early pace with ‘Codycat’ lurking behind predatory fashion.

In the two following classes it was busi-ness as usual, but with greater speeds than the previous day. Once again Frank Le Tissier in boat 2-4 ‘Prime Suspect’ and Ollie Duquemin in A-93 ‘Resolution Offshore’ led their respective classes from start to finish, rounding off a satisfying weekend’s work.

Towards the back of the fleet, Jeff Fox, making a return to powerboating after a number of years away from the sport, unfor-tunately suffered a seized engine on his 21 foot Ring ‘Fools & Horses’ causing him to retire. His race, like the rest of the retirees, begins now to source an alternative engine so as to be ready for the next event.

Above: 2-2, the Stanley Gibbons sponsored ‘Arctech Racing’ of Niall

bougourd

Left: B-92 ‘Bad Influence’ driven by Gareth Keast with female navigator

Sue Cosgrave behind ‘Codycat’ with carl Wallbridge and lloyd

Wallbridge in U/V Class

Below: Jacques Vermuelen in A-91 ‘In the Red’ - second in both heats

in A/B Class

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THE BRAND THAT BUILDSMANUFACTURER OF HANd TOOLS, POWER TOOLS, FIXINGS, HARdWARE ANd MORE

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GPA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTSHEAT 1

A / B Class

1st A93 Resolution Offshore Olly Duquemin/Clint Roberts

2nd A-91 In the Red Jacques Vermuelien/Pierre Vermuelen

3rd B-92 Bad Influence Gareth Keast/Suzanne Cosgrave

2- Class:

1st 2-4 Prime Suspect Frank Le Tissier/Ben Sargent

2nd 2-2 Artech Racing Ivan Lancaster/Niall Bougourd

3rd 2-211 R.G.Falla Darren Leadbeater/Lee Gorvel

U/V Class:

1st V-3 It wasn’t us Martyn Roberts/Tim Abbott

2nd U-202 Codycat Carl Wallbridge/ Lloyd Wallbridge

HEAT 2

A / B Class:

1st A93 Resolution Offshore Olly Duquemin/Clint Roberts

2nd A-91 In the Red Jacques Vermuelen/Pierre Vermuelen

3rd B-92 Bad Influence Gareth Keast/Suzanne Cosgrave

2- Class:

1st 2-4 Prime Suspect Frank Le Tissier/Ben Sargent

2nd 2-2 Artech Racing Ivan Lancaster/Niall Bougourd

3rd 2=211 R.G.Falla Darren Leadbeater/Lee Gorvel

U/V Class:

1st V-8 Diablo Racing Kerry Le Patourel/Dave Corbet

2nd V-3 It wasn’t us Martyn Roberts/Tim Abbott

3rd U-202 Codycat Carl Wallbridge/ Lloyd Wallbridge

The excitement however, was intensifying at the head of the pack by half way stage as ‘Codycat’ patiently set about the task of pick-ing off the two V24 Bat Boats ahead. First it was to be ‘It Wasn’t Us’ that fell to ‘Codycat’s’ superiority, and as the laps ticked away the gap between the green ‘Diablo Racing’ and ‘Codycat’ began to fall until a change of lead-ership finally came on the penultimate lap right in front of the watching crowds. Unfortunately, soon after, ‘Codycat’ was forced to pull off the race course due to a miscalculation of fuel, leaving ‘Diablo Racing’ to complete the final lap and take the chequered flag unchallenged.

Although not placing in either heat, con-gratulations must go to the only female driver racing this first event, Hollie Woodhouse in her 200hp powered Phantom ‘Me Too’. Embark-ing on only her second season of racing. Hollie drove sensibily over the two races in change-able conditions, and this can only reinforce her future confidence in the sport.

Top: 2-4 ‘Prime Suspect Frank Le Tissier and Ben Sarent

Above: V3 ‘It wasn’t us’ Martyn Roberts and Tim Abbott

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RACE ONEGuernsey’s own bright green V8 ‘Diablo Racing’ (Dave Corbet and Kerry Le Pa-tourel) took maximum National points from the weekend ahead of UK competitor ‘The Sick Children’s Trust’ (Dan Priestley and Sam Brewster). With over a two mile start shoot for the first race, the four V24’s which also included ‘It Wasn’t Us’ (Martyn Robert

and Tim Abbott) and ‘Circle Express’ (Brian Peedell and Neil Jackson) left the 3A Na-tional fleet in its wake in choppy conditions in the Little Russell as they fought for the lead whilst heading for the first turn mark off St. Martins Point.

As they turned east towards Lower-heads, it was ‘The Sick Childrens Trust’ who edged it, but then took the wrong direction towards Jethou whilst the other

DIABLO RACING Conquers AllIt was always billed as a clash of the Titans and they certainly delivered! With four V24 class boats competing for British National points, two from the uK and two from Guernsey, these fully enclosed Ocke Mannerfelt V8 powered V24 one design boats tore up the course with relative ease on both race days in front of the large crowds who had gathered along the havelet Bay wall.

GuErNSEY rYa NaTiONaL chamPiONShiP

article: colin clarke Photos: andrew Le Poidevin martin Gray

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raceboatinternational 49

three remained on course. Soon realising their error, they corrected themselves by which time, ‘Diablo Racing’ had surged into a lead which they continued to maintain throughout even whilst encountering steer-ing problems due to losing most of their hydraulic oil.

Further behind in National 3A, UK com-petitor Jack Bobin driving the ex John Guille 2014 World 3A Championship winning boat, newly named ‘Motorvated Racing’, span out shortly after the start injuring his

co driver Jamie White. Guernsey’s great white hope, Ollie Duquemin and Clint Rob-erts in ‘Resolution Offshore’ retired almost at the same time after selecting the wrong gearbox ratio.

At the front of their pack, a battle royale quickly developed between ‘In the Red’ (Jacques and Pierre Vermeulen) and last year’s 3B World Championship winning boat YKNOT! (Kevin Edmonston and An-

nika Hawthorne) each swapping the lead throughout, but in the end it was the local Vermeulen boys who took the honours, set-ting them up for the World Championships in Sweden the following month.

Club Class 2, made up of boats with engines up to 200hp, provided a surprise at the beginning when the 21’ Phantom, ‘R.G. Racing’ (Darren Leadbeater and Lee Gorvel) took the first turn mark in the lead ahead of the two B23 Bat Boats, ‘Prime Suspect’ (Frank Le Tissier and Ben Sargent), and

‘Artech Racing’ (Ivan Lancaster and Niall Bougourd), but surprisingly as the outer legs of the course flattened out, it was ‘Artech Racing’ who accelerated away from the pack only to dip a wing and almost throw the crew from the boat as it twisted from side to side ripping co driver Bougourd’s visor from his helmet and causing them to stop. In an attempt to gain points, they sat near the finish line until the lead boat in their class, ‘Prime Suspect’, had finished and then crossed the finish line themselves only to be later disqualified.

This same class also saw two lady driv-ers taking part, Hollie Woodhouse driv-ing her 21’ Phantom, ‘Me Too’ and Katie

Sauvarin driving her 20’ Ring, ‘Just Peachy’. This was to be Katie’s first ever race, co driven by her veteran racer Father Mark, and she didn’t let the Sauvarin family down. She unfortunately, came up against Wood-house who is gaining in confidence with each race, although it was to be the latter’s best performances yet in her short career.

Whilst Katie Sauvarin was doing battle in Club Class 2, her brother Tom with co driver Pierre Petit, were driving the 115hp powered ‘Top Secret’ to its first win in Club

Class 3 after initial class leader ‘Bad Influ-ence’ (Gareth Keast and Sue Cosgrave) took a wrong turn. They were unable to rectify their mistake and settled for second place.

Placing a creditable third in this class, and amazingly after the choppy start to the race, was UK entrant Andy Hiscox with local racer Sean Homer in a brand new 16’ Marshan, ‘Team Hyperactive’.

V8 diablo racing

2-211 rG racing

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Left: ‘Circle Express’ driven by Priestley’s Grandfather, brian peedell.

Above: B92 ‘Bad Influence Gareth Keast and Sue Cosgrave

left: uk competitor Jack Bobin driving A26 ‘Motorvated racing’, the ex John Guille 2014 World 3A Championship winning boat which still has all the credentials to secure future championships.

RACE RESULTS Day 1:NATIONAL - V24

1st V8 Diablo Racing Dave Corbet / Kerry Le Patourel

2nd V17 The Sick Children’s Trust Dan Priestley / Sam Brewster

3rd V3 It Wasn’t Us Martyn Robert / Tim Abbott

NATIONAL CLASS 3A

1st A91 In the Red Jacques and Pierre Vermeulen

2nd A12 YKNOT! Kevin Edmonston / Annika Hawthorne

3rd A18 The Sick children’s Trust Kayleigh Priestley / Barry Culver

CLUB CLASS 2

1st 2-4 Prime Suspect Frank Le Tissier / Ben Sargent

2nd 2-211 R.G.Racing Darren Leadbeater / Lee Gorvel

3rd 2-121 Me Too Hollie Woodhouse / Bill Gladstone

CLUB CLASS 3

1st A59 Top Secret Tom Sauvarin / Pierre Petit

2nd B92 Bad Influence Gareth Keast / Sue Cosgrave

3rd Team Hyperactive Andy Hiscox / Sean Homer

RACE RESULTS Day 2:NATIONAL - V24

1st V8 Diablo Racing Dave Corbet / Kerry Le Patourel

2nd V17 The Sick Children’s Trust Dan Priestley / Sam Brewster

3rd V13 Circle Express Brian Peedell / Neil Jackson

NATIONAL CLASS 3A

1st A93 Resolution IT Ollie Duquemin and Clint Roberts

2nd A91 In the Red Jacques and Pierre Vermeulen

3rd A12 YKNOT! Kevin Edmonston / Annika Hawthorne

CLUB CLASS 2

1st 2-2 Artech Racing Ivan Lancaster / Niall Bougourd

2nd 2-211 R.G.Racing Darren Leadbeater / Lee Gorvel

3rd Motorvator Kerry Bobin / Paul Etasse

CLUB CLASS 3

1st A26 Motorvated Jack Bobin / Jamie White

2nd B92 Bad Influence Gareth Keast / Sue Cosgrave

3rd A59 Top Secret Tom Sauvarin / Pierre Petit

GuErNSEY POWErBOaT racE SEriES 2015

RACE TWOWith the same 18 boats starting as the previous day, the second day’s racing saw beautiful sunshine and calmer seas, bringing even bigger crowds to Havelet Bay, and it wasn’t long before the unmistakable roar of those V8 Volvos could be heard approach-ing Castle Cornet.

As the noise began to reverberate off the granite walls that outline the bay, it was a Guernsey’s fully repaired ‘Diablo Racing’ which again led the way around the inner turn buoys closely followed by Dan Priest-ley’s ‘The Sick Children’s Trust’, ‘It Wasn’t Us’ and ‘Circle Express’ driven by Priestley’s Grandfather, Brian Peedell. The only chang-es to occur from then on were for Dave Corbet stretching ‘Diablo Racing’’s lead at the front to round off a satisfying weekend’s work, whilst the second Guernsey V24, ‘It

Wasn’t Us’ of Martyn Robert and Tim Ab-bott, was to retire with mechanical problems thus allowing Peedell to take the last podium honours in ‘Circle Express’.

With ‘Resolution IT’ now fitted with the correct gearbox, Ollie Duquemin and Clint Roberts in Class 3A continued where they left off after the previous North Beach event, and dominated from start to finish, begging the question - should they also be accom-panying the Vermeulen’s at the Worlds next month?

Behind Duquemin, a cat and mouse game was ensuing between the two evenly matched ‘In the Red’ and UK entrant ‘YKNOT!’ with the Vermeulens once again outpacing their counterparts.

In Club Class 2, it was unfortunately Frank Le Tissier’s B23 Bat Boat ‘Prime Suspect’s’ turn to suffer mechanical grem-lins after establishing a lengthy lead over

the Stanley Gibbons Invest-ment - ‘Arctech Racing’. Having benefitted from ‘Prime Suspects’ bad luck, the orange B23 Bat Boat made no mistakes this time to lead the remainder of the race and give Lancaster and Bougourd their first win in local waters.

‘R.G. Racing’ once again placed second in class gaining valuable handicap points which could prove vital by the end of the season.

Having failed to finish on day one, veteran UK racer Kerry Bobin took third place in ‘Motor-vator’, co driven by Guernsey’s 2014 3B national speed record holder Paul Etasse. Bobin’s son Jack restored family pride by driving a safe honest race after the previous day’s mishap in A26 ‘Motorvated’, showing the watching crowds what they already knew, that his ex 2014 3A championship winning boat still has all the credentials to secure future championships. This was Bobin’s first competitive outing with this boat and on this form he will no doubt become a force to be reckoned with. Guernsey boats ‘Bad Influence’ and ‘Top Secret’ were no match for young Jack and had to settle for 2nd and 3rd respectively.

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The one-mile (1.6 kilometer) six pin circuit saw constant pressure when two-time race winner Terry Rinker of the Amsoil Racing sponsored organization pushed 51 year-old Tim Seebold to the limit as the two rivals carved their way through the biggest racing F1 field in years as 22 drivers were on hand for the opening round of the 2015 U.S. F1 Championship tour.

Seebold earned pole position by out dueling the four time defending series cham-pion in three pre-main race 10 lap heats that would determine the starting grid.

The start, for the first time in the history of LaPorte, was a two-by-two ‘rolling start’ with the pace boat setting the fast pace, and it was Seebold getting the jump right from the start and into an immediate two second lead. From there he and Terry fought to the bitter end weaving through heavy traffic on the six-pin circuit on Stone Lake lapping all but the final top-five drivers.

Third place finisher, Chris Fairchild in his Mercury Racing DAC hull from Italy, was third, a half a lap behind and excited to earn his 27th career podium in the process.

For the winner, Tim was truly satisfied getting a little ‘pay back’ from a year ago when he lost the race on the final turn be-cause of a broken propeller blade and hand-ing the win to Rinker on that occasion.

“We had the set-up we were hoping for to suit this circuit and it truly paid off in the end,” said the first time winner in LaPorte. “I want to credit everyone in the crew who wanted to win as much as I did since we worked long hours until we got it right and we did just that in the end. I’m truly over the moon at the result.”

Meanwhile, for the second place driver, Rinker, he was satisfied with a second place finish, “Well, we can’t win every event and we’ll settle for second this time. We will make sure we turn the tide in Bay City. It is less than a month away and now we have to play catch-up in the title even though the season just started. We’ll be ready in Michigan.”

Taking fourth was Terry’s son Rob Rinker who put in a solid run in only his fourth career start finishing just ahead of Tennes-see driver Jeff Shepherd who rounded out the top-five with the Shepherd Construction Pugh boat in a solid performance of his own.

Canadian Mark Major took sixth in the Jenkinson Racing Moore built boat made in France as he introduced the new craft to its first race in North America. Like any new partner, it was a period of getting used to the new environment, and the driver from Newmarket, Ontario has to feel pleased at the end of the day after a physical race in

numerous mid-pack battles.Rookie Brent Dillard in the Dillard Finan-

cial Solutions’ new DAC boat from Italy, ended being the highest placing rookie tak-ing seventh place.

Just behind was a very disappointed Miami, Florida driver in Jose Mendana Jr. in the Mendana Enterprises race boat hav-ing started strong in third place and slowly losing place after place because of mechani-cal issues ruining a promising and possible second straight podium finish for the 29 year-old driver.

Brother Carlos Mendana started seventh and came home ninth while veteran Lynn Simburger rounded out the top-10 in his Evolution hull.

So, Tim Seebold, the winningest driver in the history of the tour now leads the cham-pionship as the second round heads off to Bay City, Michigan and the Bay City River Roar on the 26th thru-28th of June on the Saginaw River.

Both Tim Seebold and Terry Rinker have won this event more than once while Chris Fairchild is always a factor and is ripe for a win for the first time in over 27 starts. It will be a pivotal early race to the season and one all drivers will want to take home a place for the top spot on the podium - a result on their resume for a career.

SEEBOLD HOLDS OFF RINKER FOR WIN IN LA PORTE

Five-time U.S. F1 Series Champion Tim Seebold in his NGK Spark Plugs sponsored Seebold boat led from start to finish, but not without drama as the Osage Beach, Missouri driver came home the winner after 30 laps at the 3rd Annual Maple City Grand prix in laporte, Indiana in front of thousands of race fans on a cool and wet sunday afternoon.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Article: Steve Michael Photo(s) by :www.paulkemielphotographics.com.

LA PORTE, INDIANA

Defending champion Terry Rinker in his Aero Lee hull passes Mark Major to a 2nd

place finish

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raceboatinternational 53

LA PORTE, INDIANA

F1 race start

Formula One podium. (L-R) Chris Fairchild 3rd place, Tim Seebold 1st place, Terry Rinker 2nd place.

left: Brent Dillard with a 7th place finish in his first F1 race in his Italian-built DAC hull

Below left: F1 rookie Robert Rinker drove to a well earned fourth place finish

Below: Canadian Mark Major debuts his French-built Moore hull and drives to a 6th plac finish

Right: Jeff Shepherd in his Pugh hull finished in fifth place

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THUNDERCAT RACING MOVED ON TO WATERGATE BAY, CORNWALL FOR THE THE FIRST OF THIS yEAR’S “SURF EVENTS”.

TOUGH RACING FOR KING OF THE SURF IN WATERGATE

Round 3 and 4 2015 RYA P750 ThunderCat British Championship

Round 3 An ever increasing entry into the series included a good few rookie teams who found the going tough and even the most experienced of competitors made a few errors in the four foot surf.

South African Sean Fisher, the 2013 ThunderCat World Cham-pion, was making his début appearance for Team Bobkat – Moku Racing, returning with no loss of form, only the ejection of his co-driver in heat 3 robbed him of a 100% win rate going into the final.

James Tapp in Microlink / Ahmad Tea also went into the final with 3 heat wins, after Fisher relegated him to runner-up in the

final heat of the day.Team 33 were missing their 2014 British Champion driver Bligh

Julius, and Jack Weller was drafted in to race with Charlie Hatfield who impressed with a very consistent 4 second places in the heats. Hoonigan / Ahmad Tea had already showed how quick they could be in the previous rounds at Boscombe and continued to improve into the final.

Due to late running of the heats, it was decided to run the much anticipated final on the Sunday morning which, with the tide much closer to the spectators, looked like a master stroke.

51 racing - simon harding and kurt croft

Article: John Moore Photos: Tim Tapping

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Top: Hoonigan/Ahmad Tea - Rob Davies and Darren Phillips

Above: Moku Racing - Sean Fisher and Grant pittard

Left: Multispark Racing Products - Jack Weller replaced Bligh Julius to race with Charlie Hatfield

Photos: Tim Tapping

The Round Three final was an absolute cracker, with Sean Fisher leading Microlink / Amad Tea home, although it wasn’t enough to stop James Tapp taking the round overall, due to Fisher’s zero point score in heat 3. The new crew combination in Team 33 completed the podium line up, and were very pleased indeed with their third place.

Round 4Straight after the Round 3 final the competitors got straight down to fighting for Round 4 honours. After some tough racing from the previous day, a few crew changes had to made with certain injuries preventing some from racing. The most notable change was that Demelza Johns was now the co-driver for the current World

Champion Sean Fisher, and she was to enjoy her first heat wins in ThunderCat Racing with the Surf Master.

The other story of the day was a meteoric rise in form of Simon Harding’s Team 51.

With weather conditions still extremely tricky, the final was cancelled and the decision was made to award the overall Round 4 positions from the heat results. Team 51’s Ocean Racing prepared engine powered it through to the overall win, Demelza Johns was to claim her first ever ThunderCat Racing podium with second place in Team Bobkat – Moku Racing, while James Tapp kept his cham-pionship challenge on course with a third. The racers now had a few weeks for the bruises to heel and the bumps to go down before they returned to Cornwall for Rounds 5 and 6 at Fistral Beach on the 30th to 31st of May.

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JAMES TAPP, ‘THE SURF MASTER’, DRIVING MICROLINK / AHMAD TEA PUT TOGETHERANOTHER MASTER CLASS IN RACING BOTH, ON AND OFF THE SURF, WINNING BOTH OF THE ROUNDS HELD AT FISTRAL BEACH ON 30-31 MAY

SURF’S UP AT FISTRAL BEACHRounds 5 and 6 in RYA P759 British Championship

Round 5Bligh Julius racing in Team 33 – Multispark Racing Products, was expected to be Tapp’s main challenger, but was forced to pull out of the weekend’s racing when his co-driver Dan Lewin was injured during the second heat on Saturday. Julius the 2014 ThunderCat British Champion said afterwards: “I could have continued racing with another co-driver, but I like to race with someone I know. It’s looking like my focus will now have to be on the international event later this year in Malta.”

Julius however, didn’t come away from the weekend empty

handed, setting the record for the highest leap into the air for a ThunderCat this year.

The final, which was red flagged after the Racing Angels, De-melza Johns and Tracy Robinson, suffered a spectacular blow over in the surf, with the driver Demelza, ejected some 20 feet away from her Bobkat hull. Both brave ladies received minor injuries, only engine damage was to stop them from racing the next day.

The final was restarted and for the first couple of laps James Tapp tentatively followed Rob Davies’ Hoonagan / Ahmad Tea around the M – Shape course until getting past with a clever move where the surf was at its worse.

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Round 6After starting with 19 entrants at the start of the weekend, the final of round 6 was contested by just eight boats, as the weather took its toll on even the most experienced of racers.

The final, in which James Tapp took the win, had just five boats left to battle through the boiling waters.

David Finlayson who skilfully drove Haggis Hunters to fifth overall said before his long drive back to Edinburgh: “I was so proud of my daughter Ashleigh, the lass held on tight and was so brave. We are going to remember this weekend for a long time”.

It was quite simply an outstanding weekend of ThunderCat Racing. The competitors headed to Southsea, Portsmouth for rounds 7 and 8 (27-28 June) no doubt praying for some slightly calmer water!

Haggis Hunters - David and Ashleigh Finlayson

Photos: Tim Tapping

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mAXImUm POINTS EACH FOR JAmES TAPP AND BLIGH JULIUS

Round 7James Tapp with co-driver Ed Redman, continued their total domi-nance of the 2015 ThunderCat season with another win at South-sea, Portsmouth driving Microlink / Ahmad Tea. Tapp and Redman have won all but one of the heats they contested, being beaten by the ThunderCat World Champion, Sean Fisher in heat 4.

Bligh Julius was forced to swap hulls after he noticed transom damage on his 2015 Aquarius hull, hours before the start of the

first race. His father Glenn managed to deliver the Team 33 2014 Championship winning hull in time to rig, scruitineer and then win 5 heats, before Julius and co-driver Arron Joyce succumbed to me-chanical problems in the final, which robbed them of the chance to battle Tapp on equal terms, and they had to settle for a third place.

Hoonigan / Ahmad Tea (Rob Davies and Darren Phillips) were consistent throughout the day and their steady performances paid off, giving them a second place overall.

SHAREd SPOILS IN SOUTHSEARounds 7 and 8 in RYA P759 British Championship

‘Team 33’- Bligh Julius and Charlie Hatfield

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Round 8With his old boat and trusty co-driver Charlie Hatfield, Bligh Julius

driving Team 33 – Multispark Racing Products won Round 8 of the 2015 RYA P750 British Championship at Southsea, Portsmouth. 2015 Championship leader James Tapp crashed out in the final, only for Julius to scorch round after the re start.

ThunderCat World Champion, Sean Fisher is also regaining top form, driving Team BobKat – Moku Racing with Damion Bowen. He took a deserved second place overall in a hull built in his home country – South Africa.

It was a good day for another UIM World Champion. Tom Williams-Hawkes is the current UIM Class 3A World Champion co-driver and together with Dom Langdon in Broad Bean, he took his first ever ThunderCat podium.

DRIVERS POINTS TABLEAFTER 4 ROUNDS

James Tapp 136

Rob Davies 96

Marc Newton 86

Bligh Julius 73

Simon Harding 68

Steven Pidsley 64

David Finlayson 63

Sean Fisher 58

Simon Matthews 55

Tom William-Hawkes 45

Darryn Harrison 39

Andy Cousins 31

Rob Web 30

Connor Blackman 29

Gary Tolman 27

Jack Weller 26

Demelza Johns 18

Oliver Field 16

Stuart Croxford 15

Phil Hillier 14

Jason Peacock 12

Dan Smith 10

Mark Lloyd 9

Andrew Bennett 9

Matt Littlechild 6

Lynsay Crellin 5

Andrew Edwards 3

Ben Backhouse 2

Paddy Cunningham 2

Andy White 2

Dave Sheldon 1

Chef Tom cooks up his first ThunderCat podium – The quietly spoken chef who trained under Gordon Ramsey said afterwards, “I have been testing back in Topsham,

improving speed and today is a great pay off”.

‘Broad Bean’ Tom William-Hawkes and Dom Langdon

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Billed as one of the strongest fields outside of a World Championship, the second event on the 2015 Australian V8 Superboats calendar more than delivered across the two days of competition with a mix of impressive speed and dramatic off course excursions to keep the strong local crowd entertained.

Ultimately the unofficial ‘Australia vs New Zealand’ event was settled strongly in favour of the ‘home’ team, although not without some stunning performances by Kiwis Rob Coley and dual-Australian Unlimited Superboat champion Daryl Hutton. In the

end though, despite recovering from injury, no-one could stop reigning Australian cham-pion Phonsy Mullan, the two-time Unlimited Superboat Champion, delivering two flaw-less performances in his twin-turbo 445ci powered ‘RAMJET’ to continue his 2015 season undefeated.

Whilst the Unlimited Superboat field deliv-ered one of the strongest collections of driv-ers in recent history, the 400-Class too was no less impressive with mere hundredths of a second separating the leading boats. Old foes Mark Garlick and Brooke Lucas took a win apiece, although on both occasions they were kept honest by Adelaide’s Damian O’Leary whose consistency has given him

the series points lead, to keep the title fight well and truly alive.

For Saturday’s opening round the big talking point in the pits was the circuit rota-tion, with multiple boats out of the water, and less than half the field recording a time two qualifying heats in, after failing to perfect their navigation. Some called for a change of course, however AFJSA President Ted Sygidus - himself struggling to come to grips with the tricky course direction - re-minded everyone that they were all literally in the same boat.

The Victorian was one of few who did have the rotation correct, but the former Un-limited Superboat champion was battling his own woes. “We have a new jet unit for this weekend, something we’re developing, and whilst it was incredible on open water, the only way to test a superboat jet - or for that matter anything to do with a superboat - is on a superboat course, so we’re learning on the fly at present, because the boat is handling a lot differently to the way we had it performing in the past. It’s no bad thing, we just need to tune quickly because the qualifiers and the finals come at you pretty quickly.”

Early in qualifying on day one, the battle looked very much like it would go to the Kiwis, with race-winning New Zealander Rob Coley topping the time sheets ahead of former Australian champion Daryl Hut-ton. By finals time though they were joined by Australia’s best led by Mullan, Brooke Avenell, Ted Sygidus and Tremayne Jukes, the former 400-Class front-runner cam-paigning a 410-cubic-inch Sprintcar power-plant similar to Avenell.

muLLaN cLaimS BacK-TO-BacK WiNS iN TESTiNG caBariTa dOuBLE-hEadEr 2015 AUSTRALIAN V8 SUPERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIPSTweed Coast Jetsprint Club, Cabarita Beach, NSW23-24 May, 2015Article: Sean henshelwood Photos: Russel Puckeridge (Pureart Creative Images)

Phonsy Mullan wins round 2 at cabarita in rAmJet

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With his rivals watching Coley was first to venture out, although the New Zealander didn’t even make half a lap, beaching his 705 cubic-inch big block powered ‘Poison Ivy’ after losing visibility driving into the sun.

Sadly former 400-Class Champion Brooke Avenell was next to retire, the team unable to make the ramp after discovering a mechani-cal issue. That forced some rapid repairs overnight with parts flown in from Melbourne to ensure she’d make the field for round three.

Ted Sygidus put in one of his biggest efforts of the weekend in the Top 6 to set up a run for the podium, before first Jukes, then Hutton and ultimately Mullan dropped him off the podium.

In the 400-Class long-time rivals Mark Garlick and Brooke Lucas battled Damian O’Leary through the qualifiers and into the finals, before Garlick suffered a rare off and rollover in the Top 6, eliminat-ing the opening round winner from contention. “That run just wasn’t comfortable, I was unsettled and the boat was unsettled, and as a result, it all came unstuck, fortunately with nothing worse than a couple of scratches,” Garlick explained.

That elevated the impressive Paul Kelly to the podium, with Lucas pulling out all stops to take his maiden victory at Cabarita after 16 years trying. “I’ve won everywhere else, but never cracked it here,” he admitted with a broad smile. “Today everything just worked out, but I didn’t get ahead of myself, I just fo-cused on every round as it came, but I knew where I could find time if I needed to, and put it all together for the final. I’m rapt!”

Despite a record field of 16 Unlimited Su-perboat entries, and a typically strong field of 400 Class boats, only two 350-Class boats entered for Cabarita, led by former champion Jake Garlick in Col Bellert’s ‘Evil As’, whilst Ben Hathaway joined the field in ‘Weapon’, the Victorian taking first blood in round one after Garlick made a navigational error in the final of round two. He made amends in round two with a comfortable victory when Hathaway was forced to borrow a spare boat after suffering a mechanical issue at the end of day one.

In front of a strong local crowd and the cameras of an Austrian production crew filming for energy drink giant Red Bull, the action started fresh for day two with another full field of entries despite the large number of boats involved in incidents on day one. Of the recoveries, the best was West Austra-lian Jamie Welch who immediately jumped to the top of the Unlimited timesheets in Q1, the Natwel Racing driver keeping the form going through to the finals. “We’ve had the speed all year, but we just haven’t put it all together, so it’s nice to be at the top, we just need to keep it there,” he admitted ahead of the finals.

Left: 400 Class Garlick rollover in the top 6

Above: New Zealander Rob Coley in ‘Poison Ivy’

Top: Paul Gaston Frankinstein Jnr

Page 62: Raceboat International Issue #16

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Despite the early pace of Welch and Hutton, it was Mullan and Avenell who went into the finals trading places at the top of the timesheets, whilst for Rob Coley, a promis-ing start to the weekend was amounting to little more than frustration on day two. “I don’t know what it is, I just can’t get the rotation right in my head,” he explained. “I know we have the pace to run at the top, but until you get the rotation right, there’s little point in pushing it. I honestly can’t put a finger on it - it’s not a difficult course, but I just can’t put a complete lap together!”

Sadly for the popular Kiwi, his problems continued through until the finals where he was eliminated in the top 12. He wasn’t the only one, Greg Mercier was back up to speed for the finals, making the top six only narrowly over Coley, but a steering issue as a result of his new jet unit was making life difficult. “We’ve improved every session, but the boat is doing some very strange things in the steering department, and as a result I’m pushing it too hard, and inevitably it spat me off. A tough weekend, but we’ve learnt an awful lot about the boat and will be back for round four with a pretty potent package.”

Sadly for the two Sygidus brothers, they were both eliminated during the Top 12 final, Ted missing out by the narrowest of margins despite one of his best runs of the weekend. “This is a new package for us, the new 680ci big-block has just gone in, and together with our new jet unit needs a lot of development, but it showed plenty of poten-tial across the weekend. Even ‘Frankenstein Jnr’ was quick, but guest driver Paul Gaston [who was driving alongside Darek] obviously didn’t get the pre-event memo, because he knocked Dezi out of the Top 12!!”

The round three final saw Mullan comfort-ably through with an impressive 36.466, with Avenell too bringing her ‘A-game’ to a 37.27 laying the foundations for a great final, whilst arguably the drive of the weekend came from Tremayne Jukes who incredibly found

two seconds to eliminate Hutton for a place in the final three. In the end though, despite backing up his Top 6 time, Jukes could do nothing to stop Mullan, the ‘RAMJET’ pilot powering through with a 36.450 to take the win, whilst Avenell was forced to concede after failing to make a start with further me-chanical issues. Her efforts though reward-ed with third for the day and an extension in points, although with three wins from as many starts, Mullan sits alone at the top of the championship points table. “Very happy with that, that’s three from three, and six in a row. Brooke [Avenell] was keeping me pretty honest, she was pushing me harder than I wanted to go.”

As for Avenell, the disappointment of not being able to take the fight to Mullan in the final was evident. Whether she would have taken the top step of the podium is a topic of speculation, but there was no doubt in her mind she could have pushed it. “There wasn’t much in it, and we were almost there in the Top 6. As for what would have happened in the final, I would have given it a red-hot go, but sadly we suffered another mechanical issue on the ramp and couldn’t make the start. Disappointed, but happy to have taken the fight to Phonsy all weekend, am looking for-ward to going one better here in August.”

There was some consola-tion for the Hi-Tec Oils crew, with Avenell the recipient of the $1000 ‘dial-your-time’ prize from 360Bolt in Q4, the young Victorian coming closer to her predicted time than anyone else in the field, in the end defeating 400-Class competitor Greg Harriman and former Unlimited cham-

pion Daryl Hutton.In 400-Class Mark Garlick’s victory in

round three keeps the championship battle well and truly alive, but his error in round two which saw ‘Grumpy’ inverted in the Top 6, has allowed the ever-consistent Damian O’Leary to take the points lead. “It’s close this year, I think at one stage there was eight one hundredths of a second between the top three boats which is crazy,” Garlick admitted. “I’m just going to press on though and keep fighting because my main aim is for Jake [Garlick] to hand me the champions trophy at the end of the year. If I can do that, I’ll be one happy old man..!”

Round four of the 2015 season sees the Australian V8 Superboat Championship competitors return to Cabarita on the north coast of New South Wales in early August (8-9) for a two-day event with qualifying runs on Saturday and the final on Sunday.

AUSTRALIAN SUPERBOAT 2015 RACE DATES

Round 1 7 March Temora (NSW)

Round 2/3 23-24 May Tweed Coast (NSW)

Round 4 8-9 August Tweed Coast (NSW)

Round 5 26 September (venue TBC)

Round 6 24 October Temora (NSW)

Round 7 21-22 November Tweed Coast (NSW)

For more information on the 2015 Australian V8 Superboat Championships, visit www.v8superboats.com.auwww.

facebok.com/V8Superboats

auSTraLiaN V8 SuPErBOaT

2015 AUSTRALIAN V8 SUPERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIPS SERIES POINTS

UNLIMITED SUPERBOAT (after round 3 of 6)

1 Phonsy Mullan RAMJET 108

2 Ted Sygidus Frankenstein 77

3 Brooke Avenell Hi-Tec Oils 74

4 Jamie Welch Natwel Racing 72

5 Greg Mercier ACOL Racing 64

6 Tremayne Jukes JRE Engines 63

7 Daryl Hutton Total Lubricants 61

8 Darek Sygidus Frankenstein 58

9 Paul Burgess Daly Transport 56

10 Cheryl Welch Natwel Racing 48

10 Rob Coley Poison Ivy 48

12 Daniel deVoigt Q-BEARS 42

13 Paul Gaston Frankenstein Jnr 36

14 Louise Dixon Hi-Tec Oils 24

14 Tony Giustozzi Excalibur 24

16 Mick Carroll Excalibur 20

400-CLASS (GROUP A) (after round 3 of 7)

1 Damian O’Leary Kryptonite 99

2 Mark Garlick Grumpy 96

3 Greg Harriman Pangaea Floors 80

4 Kevin Laugesen spanet 70

4 Brad Marsden Allcott Transformer 70

6 Brooke Lucas Trouble Maker 66

7 Paul Kelly Anaconda 50

8 Peter Monger Mongrel 44

9 Brett Thornton Obsession 42

10 Jesse Watkins Kanaris Engines 38

11 Dave Moody Jackhammer 28

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Warren Lewis returned to FMI Racing following his retirement two years ago convincingly winning, Placemakers Pakuranga and GJ Gardner Manukau Thunder on the Coast 2015 with Andrew Koolen, at Beachlands in Auckland. The Fairview Windows and Doors Skater 34 reveling in the light conditions, absolutely scorching around the course showing a clean pair of drives to the whole field. Wayne Valder and Chris Hanley in Profloors NZ1 heavier Phantom 34 Cat taking second place overall, ahead of Gordon Robinson and Allan Branch in Superboat Lite Fuel Doctor in front of a capacity beachfront crowd.

Close racing in the truly spectacular conditions saw Gordon Robinson and Allan Branch in the AB Marine prepared Superboat Lite Fuel Doctor, powered with a pair of Mercury 300X outboards win the Superboat Lite Class title, with Total Home Developments #S-1 taking second place, with John Shand and Steve Jellick in Barely Legal #17 in third.

Bryan McLean and Alistair Reeves in the famous twin turbo big block Chevy powered Mackay 27 Topaz, lead the Classic field at the start before alternator failure curtailed their days racing. Total Home Developments #103 took out the classic class following the lead changing on several occasions; Gull Force 10 taking second place

ahead of Grant Valder’s single inboard 502 Mercuiser Outlaw, which suffered overheating problems caused by a seaweed blocked heat exchanger. New to the Classic class and all the way from Mangonui in the Far North, in an immaculacy prepared Sleekline, Wiltons Ga-rage & Marine were Hamish Wilton and Scott Tracey.

Husband and wife team, Haydon and Delia Spiers from Whangarei won Sports 300 in their Ocke Mannerfelt 23 monohull Outboard Pro. Sports 200 was taken out by Alex and Josh Smith in their Sonic 1900SS “Triple Trouble”, with Mike Urquhart and James Downs in “NZ Home Loans ” Sonic 1900SS in second and Alex Smith and Josh Smith in their Sonic 1900SS “Pirates” in third place.

Chris Haeger and Nick Campbell in New Zealand Home Loans 16 won Sports 150, with father and daughter Tony and Charlotte Carson in Red Steel second and D & H Steel crewed by brothers and sister Max, Jamie and Shara Carson in third. Visit http://www.nzoffshore.co.nz/ for full race results and the latest updates.

Racing heads to Whitianga on the beautiful Coromandal Pen-insula , on Saturday the 21st of March for Round four of the 2015 NZ Offshore Powerboat Championships. The events’ base and best viewing are from Buffalo Beach with racing starting at 11:00am.

Warren Lewis and Andrew Koolen, in the Fairview Windows and Doors Skater 34 took out the Whitianga Ice Supplies Offshore 100 on the Coromandal Peninsula

Article/Photos: Jeremy Ward

Page 65: Raceboat International Issue #16

2015 NZ OFFSHORE POWERBOAT CHAmPIONSHIPS

Wayne Valder and Chris Hanley in Profloors NZ1 Phantom 34 Cat took second place overall,

Article/Photos: Jeremy Ward

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YESTERYEAR

Surfury was the first powerboat to capture the public’s imagination all over the world. Designed by Italian Sonny Levi and built by the British company Souters on the Isle of Wight, Surfury actually had its own fan club. however, despite its fame Surfury was actually not that successful on the offshore race circuits, but it didn’t seem to hinder the craft’s popularity which could be attributed to the pioneering delta profile and striking appearance at that time.

SURFURY mEmOIRS

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The article written in World of Powerboats in 1998 by now Editor of Raceboat International David Sewell, re-counts the history of this British icon, and it’s unlikely we will ever see another offshore raceboat that will generate the iconic appeal that brought Surfury into the media arena.

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After retiring from racing Surfury became an attraction at the Basildon Powerboat Museum in Essex until it closed in 2012. She now languishes in a warehouse in Swindon, Wiltshire until her future is decided.

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YESTERYEAR SURFURY mEmOIRS

Page 70: Raceboat International Issue #16

2010 HUSTLER 29ROCKIT ONE owner from new and comes with full CE

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Ullman Daytona Race SeatFull Carbon with a neoprene seat insert. These are both new and unused – both have scratches on underneath as seen in the photos … this cannot be seen once mounted. Could easily be re-trimmed in leather and look top class for any super yacht/boat.The Ullman Daytona Seat is the lightest seat in its category available on the market. It is designed to be used in limited spaces and to give shock mitigation for extreme high speed boats.Daytona features;• Optimizing posture for impact protection and comfort. • Pure carbon fibre structures and seating elements in high-grade aluminum. • Ullman Semi Active Progressive Shock Mitigation System – Twin progressive dampers with adjustable compression. • Designed to fit limited and closed cabins. • No corrosive materials used in any components. • Lightweight racing performance.Important features;• All Ullman Seats are designed to protect the operator from getting injured. • The seat design optimizes your body posture, while the spring and damping system takes care of the high forces during impact.Please contact;Dean Gibbs – [email protected] - £5,500.00

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YESTERYEAR SURFURY mEmOIRS

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Darryn Harrison

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Lynsay Crellin & Amber Sexton

Tracy Robinson (blonde) & Demeiza Johns

taking the

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Tomaso Polli

Sami Selio

Scott Gillman (right) and Eric Stark

Marit Stromoy and her EMIC team

Erik Stark

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Page 74: Raceboat International Issue #16

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Keith Snow, 46 Skater "Terrible", 1500hp Sterling

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

■ 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

Marine “SBa/SL2” SurvivalBreathing air SySteMS

PLUG-IN “SBA” QUICK DISCONNECT AIR SYSTEMWhen 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 MaleAir 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

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