RAGING - Powerboat Archive

RAGING
MOTORBOATS MONTHLY
After a winter of discontent, the Eur0pean offshore series is healthier than ever.
John Walker reports f rom race one, at St Tropez.

JULY 1 991
WHEN offshore went into hibernation for the
winter, the waterborne cut and thrust was
replaced by an intriguing mixture of politics,
disinformation, polemics and hype. Against a
backdrop of war and recession, the prospects for
1991 could hardly have been less auspicious.
But the CafleLavazza Grand Prix in St Tropezlaid
the rumours to rest.
As with the opening race of any new season, it
was the entry listwhich commanded attention.
Of the 29 Class lteams which made the trip, 24
were ltalian and two French, with one each from
Finland, Norway and Switzerland. Of the 24
catamarans, ten were f rom the board of Mike
Peters, fivefrom Cougar, threefrom STAIN, and
one each from Apache, Birkett, Codecasa,
Cunningham, Lucini and Molinari. The five
monohulls included the ill-fated Leader and
Buzzi's new Offshorer Soort 46.
lsotta Fraschini turbo-diesels powered ten
boats, Lamborghini Vl 2 petrol machinery
another eight, Seatek four, Lightning three and
Baudouin, Mercury, Merlin and Subaru Alloni one
apiece. Onlyfour boats ran anything otherthan
surface shaftdrives.
Ten boats were new, including Giuseppe
Photographs by Adam Wilson/Sea & See ltalia except where otnerwlse stated
The llalian conneclion and
lhe Nonuegian interloper.
The winner Spelta Jnr (far
left), third-placed Botli
(top) and Capofeni (lefl)
were wellto the fore in St
Tropez. AndreaS Ugland's
Offshore Sport 46 mono
(above) finished but was
off the pace.
B3
Cesura's Giesse, a Peters/Seatek aluminium
4O-footer built in Viareggio by a CUV spin-off
operation called Axis; Norberto Ferretti's
lceberg, a composite Peters design with
Lamborghinis; the Cunningham brothers' Seatek
S i reg for Marco Capof erri ; the STAI N-bu ilI Ac h i I I i
Motors;Steve Curtis' Bagutta, a development of
last season's Cougar desigh and Lamborghini's
test boat; and Fabio Buzzi's equivalent rig, the
46ft GRP composite Offshorer monohullwith its
triple Seateks, built forAndreas Ugland
Twenty boats were crafted in aluminium, with
the remaining nine in GRP composite The drivers
oI 1 7 of Ihe 24 cats had elected to mount their
cockpits in the centreof the wing, ratherthan in
the sponsons. while only three teams chose
f ully-enclosed canopies. All but one boat passed
what was a much more stringent scrutineering
process than in previous years, leaving 28
SIATIETS.
From the outset, the season of '91 looked to be
a contest between the team principals to see who
could cast most money on the waters. The days of
single-boat entries appears to be a thing of the
past, and families are in fashion.
Vittorio Missoni's Chesterfield-sponsored MGP
Offshore has three boats, all powered by
standard VB turbocharged Isotta Fraschinis.
Rainbow Racing's three included Eduardo Polli in
SDA, Vincenzo Polli in Curtis' Bagutta and
newcomer Leonardo Polliin Unipol, running with
Subaru Alloni, Lamborghini and Baudouin power
respectively.
Marco and Massimo Caooferri have a boat
apiece, Sireg with Seateks on Arnesons (the first
time Buzzi has allowed this combination), and
Emit, last year's boat, running lsottas. Speltas
oere et f ils. the commercial outlet for those same
motors, are running theirold CUV/Peters
aluminium cats, Fresh &Clean and GB Pedrini
Some 48 hours before the race, with a rising
breeze and modest seas, Curtis put the new
Bagutta in the water, and ran a succession of
trials on what is probably the most advanced cat
on the circuit. The develooments on this new

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84
Cougar have fallen into three categories -
aerodynamics, enhanced seakeeping and
recovery and have resulted from many hours
studying last year's f ilm footage, average speeds
and results.
Most cats lubricate their steps with air, but
Curtis has incorporated air rams on the leading
edge of each sponson, plumbed to deliver air not
just onto the running surfaces but also right aft to
vent the extended bustle{ailed wing The leading
edge of the wing also has a variable-pitch
hydraulic flap to assist stability
To guarantee solid air to the carburettors, an
exaggerated scoop, aft of the cockpit canopy,
force-feeds directly to the trumpets. The shortfall
in this had been uncomfortably demonstrated in
Rapallo, when the cat dropped a sponson and
took green water straight down the throat of one
motor, which stopped Curtis charge. In the
intervening week, the forward chines of both
soonsons had sorouted additional metal to
create greater lift and better recovery, in the hope
that the problem would not recur.
With the Mistral blowing a solid Force 6, the
race was in doubt all day Saturday, and only the
brave went af loat. But race day dawned sunny
and fairlyflat, causing acertin amountof
consternation amongst those who had fuelled
and propped for heavy weather. When Giancarlo
Rossi dropped the f lag for the 135-mile blast, the
28 boats got off to a tolerably good start, with
Leonardo Polli last away in the Baudouin cat.
Attheend of thefirst24-mile lap, with average
soeeds in the mid-90s. the orderwas Eduardo
Polli s SDA f rom Molinariin IARP. Damiano Soelta
in GB Pedrini, Angelo Spelta in Fresh & Clean,
then Curtis, Gio{fredi. Achilli, Ragazzi, Ferretti,
Boffi, Capoferri and Carotenuto. The only
accident had already occurred, when the
Frenchman Coustenable in Leader sideswiped
Dall'Oglio in Fassa; both retired.
As the second and third laps took the f leet
furtheroutto sea, the attrition rate increased
dramatically. Marco Capoferri lost a Seatekon
Slregwith a split injector, De Marco's Saratoga
limoed in with a blown lsotta Fraschini
turbocharger, and Gioffredi with Paul Picot newly
re-engined with Seateks, trashed his second
motor in 24 hours. Jukka-Pekka Mattila split a
cylinder head on one of his Lightning motors in
the somewhat garishly titled tr/nnscreuz, Eduardo
Polli destroyed his second Kiekhaefer drive in two
races, and the Curtis/Vincenzo Polli duo spun a
driveshaft into oblivion, having experienced low
oil pressure on one motor.

1991
EUROPEAlI
crAss l
GHAMPIOI{SHIP
DRIVER NAT
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D. SPELTA ITA 400 400
A. SPELTA TA 300 300
D. BOFFI ITA 225
B CAROTENUTO TA 169 169
N. FEBRETTI ITA 127 12?
A. UGLAND NOR 95 95
F, GERA ITA 71 71
t\4. t\,4ARtNO ITA 53 53
D. CIRILLI ITA 40 rl0
By two-thirds distance, the result was
predictable. Damiano Spelta cruised home in GB
Pedrini aI a very tidy 77.99 knots, ahead of his
father in Fresh &Clean, with Boffi's,?ossettr-
Velmontcat besting Carotenuto in his elderly
STAI N, Ferretti and Ugland.
The Swiss enIry, Palace Hotels driven by
Sandro Gianella, came homefourth on the water
but was later excluded forwrong-slotting early in
the race. Only nine boats f inished.
Surprises had included the disappointingly
slow performance of Ferretti's lightweight cat, not
helped by its f ixed-angie surface drive, and
Ugland s mono, clearlywelloff the pace. But, as
Suzzihad remarked earlier, monohulls are at a
20% disadvantage underthe reigning UIM diesel
rules.
Polli's big SDA cat looked more impressive,
and if Curtis can make his driveshafts live with the
efficient Lamborghini three-speed gearboxes, he
will undoubtedly be a realcontender. On this first
outing, of 1991 however, the glittering prizes
were bagged by the Spelta family. !
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Far lell:. Baguttais
advanced but not yet
ref iable. Left:. GB Pedrini
carried its nattytriplane
logo to victory. Below:
Fresh & Gleanspella
Spelta one-two.