Tom Barry-Cotter on testing new Maritimo boat, Team Qatar and Mackay
We catch up with Tom just as he is helping out at the Maritimo factory. Things are very hectic with the work to be done for Maritimo Racing and with aftermath of the Sanctuary Cove boat show on Australia’s Gold Coast. The show was a big success for all Maritimo brands with about 16 boats being sold on the spot. Part of this boat show success can be attributed to adding the Mustang brand to the Maritimo line of brands. So Tom is busy doing business and preparing for racing. Let’s see if we can get into a bit more detail.
Tom starts out with informing us why he is so busy with helping out at Maritimo Racing. Tom, Peter McGrath and Ross Willaton went out last Tuesday to test the new all Maritimo boat. With Luke Durman having become a father last week, Peter McGrath and Ross Willaton will be the paring that will drive the second Maritimo boat. For them the test was also about having a bit of seat time together before they hit the waters at Mackay. With Peter and Luke being out on the water a problem occurred with the engine and the boat had to be towed back to shore. So the crew is now hard at work to rebuild the engine. While they were at it they decided to also do some further work on the hull that should further improve handling of the boat. And with Mustang coming in as a new sponsor for Tom’s boat, apart from all the technical work involved, this boat also has to be re-styled to the Mustang look. Tom feels confident though that all work to the new all Maritimo race boat will be done before Mackay including the new Mustang color scheme. Luke and Ross will pilot the Tencara hull in Mackay which will feature the Maritimo scheme. All planned modifications and reinforcements to this boat also have been done now so we can expect to see some exciting racing in Mackay.
Tom also reports back to us that the Qatar boat is ready to go and is being kept at the Maritimo facilities at the Gold Coast. The #96 Team Qatar boat will participate in the next two races in Mackay (26-27 June) and Townsville (3 – 4 July) of the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club (AOPC) Class 1 championship. Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis will be the paring, as always, that will drive the #96 Qatar boat. From talking to them, Tom gets the feeling they are eagerly awaiting their first outing on the water in a long time. Team Qatar raced the Key West World championships last November and more recently Ocean city but when they hit the waters at Mackay, it will have been a year since Arendal 2009 that both teams had to battle it out in competition. Tom can sense Steve Curtis and Sheikh Hassan are excited about the opportunity to just go out, have fun and do the racing. Without the pressure of racing for a title at the end of the season, both are looking forward to having a fun time racing in Australia and both look forward to giving it their all in the two races they will participate in.
So all in all busy times for Maritimo Racing but also on the business side of Maritimo things have been developing. Maritimo took over ownership of Mustang boats. The thinking behind this is that most Mustang boats are smaller and serve another customer segment which could be named the Sports Cruiser market. Maritimo’s management saw bringing in Mustang as an ideal opportunity to become represented in a further range of market segments for luxurious sports boats. In the next coming months Maritimo will take a decision on the global distribution of the Mustang brand. Expectancies for the new Maritimo brand are high and the Sanctuary Cove boat show so far proved Maritimo right about the market potential of the Mustang boats.
When we asked Tom about participating in the Key West World Championships in November he answers that that race would get in the way of the last two races in the Australian Championships. With Maritimo being keen to win the championship again this year, the team decided not to go. Tom regrets not having the chance this year to go up against the world’s best teams but he too agrees that taking the Australian Championships should be priority for this year. And what about a return to the Class 1 World Stage next season? Tom answers that the situation within UIM Class 1 World Championship at this point in time is so volatile that the team decided to wait with a decision to return to the championship. The new chairman of IOTA, Mohmmad Al Jaidah, is now steering for a new course and Maritimo wish to wait until this new course, new rules and policing of the rules have been made more clear.
Until that time Maritimo enjoy racing in Australia’s AOPC Class 1 Championship. They enjoy racing the already stiff competition in Australia and are glad to see teams like #96 Qatar coming in. Tom says:”it is always a joy to race against the best teams out there and with us not being able to go abroad this year, it is good for the sport in Australia that big international teams like Qatar see value racing in the AOPC. It is great to see the sport is in such an upward curve in Australia at the moment”.
We from PowerboatPro are sure these positive developments will keep going in Australia and we will keep a close eye on the series and Maritimo Racing. Furthermore we would like to congratulate Luke Durman with the birth of his son.
Article and pictures courtesy of Maritimo Racing and Tom Barry-Cotter.
For more information on Maritimo motoryachts and Maritimo Racing please visit the Maritimo website.
For more news on Mustang boats, new sponsors for Maritimo Racing, please visit the Mustang Marine website.
All information on Offshore Racing in Australia to be found at the AOPC website and the Superboat Australia website.
