CLASS 1 – EXHILARATING AND BREATHTAKING
Just imagine…‘two of you strapped into an enclosed safety cockpit, one has the throttle controls the other, the steering wheel. Wrapped around you five tons of state-of-the-art carbon Kevlar composite powerboat. Behind you, twin 900hp engines capable of speeds in excess of 160mph/250kmh. In front of you unpredictable seas, either side, boats just inches apart. The flag drops; full throttle – it’s a breathtaking charge to the first turn buoy’…welcome to the unique and exhilarating world of Class 1…an unrivalled cocktail of world-class racing and entertainment.
The UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship is an exhilarating and breathtaking spectacle. From the 34-foot, 21hp wooden mono-hulls of the 1950s that averaged speeds of 20mph, the modern-day raceboat is a 42ft, twin-engined, 900hp composite catamaran capable of speeds exceeding 160mph/250kmh.
It brings together the latest in million-dollar, state-of-the-art technology, an array of spectacular venues from South America to the steel-blue waters of Scandinavia, the lakes and sun-drenched coasts of southern Europe and the golden sands of the Arabian Gulf, and an international group of teams and racers who remain a breed apart in professional sport.
A Grand Prix weekend is a three-day extravaganza where top flight international motorsport, spectacular venues and world-class entertainment come together to create a unique experience.
The Boats
Weighing in at around 5 tonnes, each boat in the Class 1 fleet is approximately 12-14m in length, 3.5m wide, and constructed using composite materials. Over the years, safety has become a key concern and today’s Class 1 boats are the safest they have ever been. The quest for speed has produced boats, engines and transmission systems which are inevitably more sophisticated, and the use of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) with advanced composites using kevlar and carbon fibre has made them safer.
Manufacturers Maritimo, MTI, Tencara and Victory make up the fleet. All boats run petrol engines, either SKEMA or SCAM 8.2litre V12s, with several teams now opting to run the Mercury V8, or Sterling supercharged 9 litre V8, with the Victory Team running the Victory V12.
Inside the cockpit, satellite GPS systems, trim indicators, engine data dashboards and instrument panels and warning lights keep the crew aware of the boat’s progress during a race.
The cockpit is reinforced to withstand enormous impacts that may occur if a boat crashes at speeds in excess of 150mph, with an escape hatch in the hull as an added safety feature in the event of an accident.
The Crews
Each boat has a two-man crew; the driver who navigates and steers the boat and a throttleman who dictates the speed and attitude, controlling the throttles and the trim. It is a combination that requires total trust – imagine driving a car and the person beside you has control of the accelerator – and a close working relationship. People often believe that the crew, simply jump into the cockpit, and it’s the guys who drive quickest that can win. A simple enough theory, but one that doesn’t take into account, the skills and professionalism of pilots who regularly hurtle across the waves at over 160mph/250kmh. Both pilots work closely with their pit crews to determine the race set-up: the type of propeller required for the conditions, gear ratio settings’, the amount of fuel needed and race tactics. Propeller choice is critical and can win or lose not only a race, but also a Championship.
Propeller design has seen the early three-bladed bronze wheels superseded by stainless steel props with five or six blades for maximum efficiency and a top-flight team will carry multiple pairs of props of differing pitches and diameters to accommodate differing sea conditions, fuel loads and handling characteristics.
The Championship
A maximum of sixteen races at eight venues make up the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, with races run over approximately 55 or 75Nm of multiple laps of approx 5Nm (including one or two mandatory long laps).
The World Championship is awarded to the team with the most accumulated points throughout the season. A winning crew collects 20 points, the runners-up 15, with the third-placed team awarded 12 points.
Other positions are awarded points on a sliding scale (9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) to the tenth-placed finisher. Bonus points are also awarded (one point per engine per race) to teams for running engines for two consecutive races.
A Grand Prix weekend is run over three days, with registration, technical scrutineering and the first practice session and driver briefings taking place on day one.
On day two, a practice session is run in the morning, followed immediately by the Edox Pole Position (qualifying), also counting as a separate Championship, and Race 1 in the afternoon. The Edox Pole Position, like the practice sessions, is run over the Grand Prix course, giving the crews a further opportunity to familiarise themselves with circuits and conditions, and to decide on set-up. It acts as the qualifier for the line-up for Race 1, with the Pole-sitter (fastest time) lining-up closest to the official start boat. The Edox Pole Position lasts for 45 minutes, with teams having to complete a minimum of one timed lap and allowed to return to the wet pits to make adjustments to set-up, but limited to a total of 10 minutes under the crane.
On day three, a final practice session in the morning is followed in the afternoon by Race 2. Each race is started by two Nor-Tech 3600 supercat official pace boats, running at a controlled speed, which lead the boats from the wet pits and call them into a line-abreast under a yellow flag or amber flashing light, with the finishing order of the Edox Pole Position dictating the line-up of the boats for Race 1 and the finishing order of Race 1, the start order for Race 2. When all the boats are considered by the official starter to be in line, a green flag will be raised.
Each race consists of approximately 11-15 laps and is 55-75Nm in length, including one or two mandatory long laps.
Although Class 1 has certainly changed and developed over the years, one thing has remained constant and no amount of techno-wizardry will ever change it.
The sea is the sea. It remains unpredictable and, on occasion, at its inhospitable best – and for all the progress made in the sport, Class 1 still enjoys, as its basic element, the battle of man and machine against the sea.
For more information please visit the Class 1 website.
