Sail-World.com : Evo crews brand Tunisian Endurance race tough
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Evo crews brand Tunisian Endurance race tough |
The #60 GFN Gibellato crew of Marco Pennesi and Giampaolo Montavoci continued their impressive 2008 form in this weekend’s Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea Evolution Endurance race. The Italian crew pipped the #88 Kiton Outerlimits and #99 Fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com entries in a dramatic race of incidents and attrition that proved a real test for the stamina of both boats and crews.
The crews competing in today’s Endurance round of the Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea have branded the race one of the hardest they’ve ever done. With shore-side temperatures of 40C and temperatures in the cockpits and engine bays of the closed canopy Evolution boats in excess of 60C, the event proved a real test of stamina for both man and machine.
Only four boats finished what proved to be a real race of attrition, with many suffering heat-related (and, in particular, water pump problems). The majority of crews were also clearly suffering with heat exhaustion with bottles of cold water and iced towels much in abundance on the wet pits pontoon.
'So beautiful to win in such tough conditions that I want to immediately start working on the boat so I can do just as well tomorrow,' said Marco Pennesi, pilot of the winning #60 GFN Gibellato boat. 'The heat was unbelievable. I’ve been competing for many years, but in that race I was destroyed. In the last four laps, we lost one of our trim tabs, so the boat was uncontrollable. That made it even harder. By the end of the race, I was so fatigued I couldn’t turn my neck. I’ve never competed in race like that. It was unbelievable.'
That was a view share by James Sheppard, pilot of the third-place finishing #99 fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com team. 'It was a fantastic race, but probably one of the hardest races I’ve ever competed in,' he said. 'I’ve raced in Florida and Dubai, and it has never felt that hot in the cockpit. Like everyone, we had problems with engines and overheating, so we just had to hang on and keep pushing. Hats off to everyone who finished that race, because it was tough.'
#99 Honeyparty.com pilot Mark Pascoe said that the surprisingly choppy conditions added to the tough nature of the race, and gave the #60 GFN Gibellato boat a crucial advantage. 'It was really rough out there,' he said. 'Really horrible waters. It was always going to be the case that the #60 GFN Gibellato boat would come through the field. Once that boat burns off its fuel, it’s almost unstoppable.' | The #69 Honeyparty.com team took Evolution PowerPole honours in Tunisia - U.I.M Powerboat P1 World Championship - © |
#44 Conam Yachts win tight SuperSport Endurance
The reigning champion #44 Conam Yachts team of pilot Aaron Ciantar and throttleman Angelo Tedeschi took their sixth win of the 2008 Powerboat P1 season in today’s Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea Endurance race, but the Italian-based outfit was nearly beaten on the track for the first time this year.
The #07 VoomVoom.com boat took the initial lead on the run through the first corner, they were passed on the back straight by the #59 Saho Offshore Ranas boat of pilot Maurizio Di Stasio and throttleman Federico Terenziani. The twin-canopy boat then powered into a comfortable lead that they held for the first half of the race.
On lap seven, though, the #59 Saho boat fell off plane on the far side of the course, and despite a concerted effort to restart the race, they were forced to pull into the harbour. That gave the lead back to the #44 Conam Yachts crew, who had quickly worked their way past the #07 VoomVoom.com boat and chased #59 Saho as they opened up a clear gap over #07 VoomVoom.com and the rest of the field.
 | The #44 Conam Yachts crew celebrate their Tunisian SuperSport Endurance win - U.I.M Powerboat P1 World Championship - © |
Ultimately, the #07 VoomVoom.com crew took second, but it was a close run thing. The #38 Baia High Performance mechanics had worked all through the night to make their Donzi hull seaworthy after it was inadvertently dropped on the dock while being craned out of the wet pits on Friday afternoon. After just making the start of the race, they powered their way through the field to a well-deserved podium finish.
The #05 Team Tullio Abbate Wild Card entry, the #22 Big Sergio Al & Al boat and the #11 Team Sunseeker crew rounded out the top six finishers. There was disappointment for the #47 Silverline Buzzi Bullet crew as they were forced to miss the race after suffering a seized engine in final practice, while the #08 Phoenix TV and the #46 Spirit of Portomaso boats retired.
#38 Baia crew beat odds to reach podium
The #38 Baia High Performance OSG team pulled off an absolute miracle to take a well-deserved podium in today’s SuperSport Endurance round of the Tunisian Grand Prix of the Sea. The Italian-based SuperSport outfit, which is new to Powerboat P1 this year, worked overnight to repair a heavily damaged hull after their boat was dropped off the crane on Friday afternoon while being craned out of the water.
That meant extensive repairs to the hull, which was severely cracked around its mid-section. These were done in time for the race, and pilot Stefano Acanfora and throttleman Renato Guidi were able to work their way through the field and even challenged the #07 VoomVoom.com team for second place in the closing stages.
'We suffered from the incident from the yesterday because we were not so strong for the first four or five laps as we feared we might break something,' said pilot Stefano Acanfora. 'We were more concerned keeping teams behind us, rather than chasing the boats in front. By the eighth lap, though, we saw the #59 Saho boat had problems and the #07 VoomVoom.com boat had problems, so we pushed hard for two to three laps.  | The #38 Baia High Performance team scored a miraculous comeback in the Tunisian SuperSport Endurance - U.I.M Powerboat P1 World Championship - © |
'A couple of laps more, and who knows what we could have done. We’re incredibly pleased considering that yesterday we had the incident in the dry pits and in just 24 hours we were on the podium, going from despair to joy. We’re optimistic for the Sprint race. We want to exploit this moment to finally beat Angelo Tedeschi and the #44 Conam Yachts, although the #59 Saho team seem to have found something.'
Heartbreak for #59 Saho SuperSport crew
After dominating the Friday PowerPole session, and comfortably leading the early stages of today’s SuperSport Endurance race, there was huge disappointment for the #59 Saho crew of pilot Maurizio Di Stasio and throttleman Federico Terenziani as they were forced to pull out of the race on the seventh lap.
The #59 Saho team – currently third in the SuperSport title standings – had been odds on to be the first on-track winners to beat the reigning champion #44 Conam Yachts team on merit, and were comfortably holding the race lead from their fellow Italian-based team. However, they were forced to retire from the event with a broken driveshaft on the left engine.
'The boat felt perfect and we had a comfortable lead,' said Di Stasio. 'There was no problem at all for the first few laps. We have such big disappointment. We have a strong boat, and in most races we are top two or three. But every time we have to retire from a race, it’s because of a small problem. This was a big opportunity to score some good points and to close on #44 Conam Yachts in the championship.'
www.powerboatp1.com
by Angharad Gibbs
2:02 AM Sun 13 Jul 2008 GMT
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