1999 U.I.M. CLASS 1 WORLD POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 2 – GERMAN GRAND PRIX – TRAVEMUNDE.
TECHNICAL COMMISSIONERS REPORT.
Eleven boats arrived in Travemunde for the second round of the Championships.
Boat No. 1 "Spirit of Norway".
A new canopy has been fitted to the starboard side since the last race. Testing went to
plan but that was all that did this weekend - the teams run of bad luck continuing. Missed
the first run of Pole Position and ran the second run in third gear only, due to a fault
with the air bottle used for the gear change. Their second run was only good enough for
fifth place at a speed of 145.43mph (234.19kph). They led the race until lap three with a
fastest race average lap of 136.00. mph (218.88kph) until a propshaft broke.
Boat No.3 "No Fear".
A change of name from "Caesar Marine" did not change the team’s bad luck.
Had done all of the work asked for at the last race but still have to change the race
numbers. Broke a gearbox in practice and fitted two new units, they feel they have now
found the problem with these new "Nicolini Offshore" designed gear boxes, but
only time will tell. On their first and only run of Pole they recorded a speed of
139.70mph (224.95kph) before a plastic bag was sucked into the water intake causing an
engine to overheated and seize. A turbocharger broke on lap three of the race after
recording a best lap average of 124.96mph (197.12kph).
Boat No.4 "Victory Team".
Trying new Bob Herring designed propellers for this meeting, no problems in testing.
Fourth place in Pole with a speed of 148.15mph (238.57kph). Went on to win the race with
the fastest ever race average speed of 139.30mph (224.20kph) and their second win of the
season so far.
Boat No5 "Binautica".
Have done some of the canopy modifications asked for, new bigger roll bars and now has
inner and outer flange canopy mountings. Recorded a Pole speed of 132.71mph (213.71kph),
and their fastest race average lap was 97.98mph (157.70kph) to finish three laps down on
the winners.
Boat No.7 "Victory Team".
Running the Lamborghini engines with throttle butterfly system instead of the normal
throttle slides. Recorded a Pole speed of 148.69mph (239.92kph) good for third place. Also
had third place in the race averaging 128.92mph (207.44kph). Lost the steering in the
closing stages of the race, also taking in water from a broken cooling fitting and got hit
a glancing blow by a ferry boat coming back to the pits.
Boat No.8 "Immersion". Missing from this race reportedly due to the lack of engines.
Boat No.9 "Jolly Motor".
Changed the race numbers as asked for. Fitted new engines and gearboxes before testing.
Seventh place in Pole, 139.25mph (224.24kph). Retired on lap three in the race when one of
the normally reliable SCAM built Lamborghini engines let go in a big way.
Boat No.22 "Isiklar".
The team had all the work done that was asked of them, except they still have to fit a
water deflector around the canopy hatch. Pole speeds were 97.05mph (156.29kph) and a race
average speed of 94.53mph (152.14kph).
Boat No.23 "Isiklar". This team arrived at the venue but had not attempted to do any of the work asked of them, they were not signed off at Technical Inspection and were not allowed to race.
Boat No.27 "Hyatt".
No real problems in testing. Second place in Pole 149.49mph (240.73kph). Running in third
place in the race with a best lap average of 134.73mph (216.83kph). Unfortunately an
engine broke on lap ten, but they were still awarded with fourth place.
Boat No.44 "Victory Team".
Also running with the Bob Herring props for this meeting, broke a propeller blade during
practice. The winners of Pole Position with a speed of 152.58mph (245.70kph). Leading the
race until lap seven, raced to a good second place, with a race average of 138.91mph
(223.57kph) ten seconds behind the race winners, and a "Victory" 1-2-3.
Boat No.90 "Jotun".
This new team is improving more than the results show. Missed practice because of a small
fault in the transmission. Only managed one run in Pole with a speed of 93.68mph
(150.85kph) a fault traced to a sensor in the computer system not allowing the
turbo’s to "come in". Had a troublesome race, with the computer system
shutting down the engines twice. Finished two laps down with a race average speed of
122.48mph (197.12kph). They reported to have seen some very good speeds when everything
was running correctly.
As I said in my last report, the speeds this year will be higher than last year. We have just seen the fastest race average speed ever, 139.30mph. Bearing in mind this course had some reasonably tight turns in it we could be seeing even higher speeds in the next two races, Arendal and Oslo, where there are really no turns at all.
M.B.Robert.
UIM Technical Commissioner - Class 1