Offshore powerboat racing

Offshore powerboat racing is a type of racing by ocean-going powerboats, typically point-to-point racing.

In most of the world, offshore powerboat racing is led by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) regulated Class 1 and Powerboat P1. In the US, offshore powerboat racing is led by the APBA/UIM and consists of races hosted by Powerboat P1 USA.

The sport is financed by a mixture of private funding and commercial sponsors.

History of the sport

In 1903, the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, and its offshoot, the Marine Motor Association organised a race of auto-boats. The winner was awarded the Harmsworth Trophy. Offshore powerboat racing was first recognised as a sport when, in 1904, a race took place from the south-eastern coast England to Calais, France. In the United States, the APBA (American Power Boat Association) was formed soon thereafter and the first U.S. recorded race was in 1911, in California.

The sport increased in popularity over the next few years in the United States, with 10 races being scheduled during the 1917 season. The sport's growth was disrupted in Europe during World War I.

Over the period of 1927–35 there was a huge interest in power boat racing in Europe both on sea water and on freshwater rivers and lakes. These boats which were described as hydroplanes were powered by Evinrude, Elto, Johnson, Lockwood, and Watermota outboard engines.
The sport entered the modern era in the 1960s, with notable names like Jim Wynn, Don Aronow, and Dick Bertram competing in events such as the Bahamas race. During that time, the 'navigator' position in the raceboat was extremely important (unlike in today's small, track-like circuits), as finding small checkpoints over a hundred-mile open ocean run was a difficult endeavour.

The list of modern world champions extended into the 1980s, when the sport entered the catamaran, and then the 'superboat' era – the 1000 cubic inch total engine displacement restrictions were lifted for boats over in length, and soon three- and four-engine boats sporting F16 fighter canopies replaced the venerable deep-vee hulls that had been the sport's top category for twenty years.

Modern races are short, track style events with much improved viewing for the spectators, and the different categories of boats have multiplied far beyond the 4 classes that were common through much of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.

In recent years the biggest number of entries in Offshore races have been for the Cowes – Torquay – Cowes and Cowes – Poole – Cowes races held by the British Offshore Powerboat Race Club.

Offshore Race Series

UIM Class One World Powerboat Championship

Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.
The technology of Class 1 has advanced considerably since the class was first sanctioned by the U.I.M. in 1964. Shortly after its advent, Americans Jim Wynne, Dick Bertram and Don Aronow supported technological advancement, with Daytona, Mercruiser, and AeroMarine. In the 1980s European design became more prominent. Don Shead's Aluminium monohulls, Italian manufacturers Picchiotti and CUV, and the James Beard-Clive Curtis Cougar catamarans set the record. Fabio Buzzi made a large technological advance by introduing glass-reinforced polymer hulls, turbo-charged engines, and integral surface drives and the 90's subsequently saw the emergence of Michael Peter's design and Tencara and Victory hulls dominate, with Sterling, Lamborghini, Seatek and more recently, Mercury sharing the power battle.

Weighing around five tonnes, each boat in the Class 1 fleet is approximately 12-14m in length, 3.5m wide, and constructed using composite materials. All the boats were catamarans until 2019, when monohulls were permitted again.

Venture Cup

In 2012, it was announced that a new series of 'ultra-marathon' offshore races would be run every two years under the title of the Venture Cup. The first race was scheduled to take place in June 2013 from Cowes in the UK to Monte Carlo; many consider the 1972 London to Monte Carlo race to have been the greatest powerboat race ever. The Venture Cup is billed as the World's longest, toughest and most prestigious powerboat race. The 2013 race was however cancelled because of lack of funding and replaced by a Prologue.

In 2015 the Venture Offshore Cup was announced. The race was to be run around the entire coast of Ireland, beginning in Cork and ending in Dublin with multiple stops en route. However, in May 2016 the organisers cancelled the race again.

P1 SuperStock Championship

P1 SuperStock is a single class powerboat race series. It has international recognition and guaranteed media exposure and is broadcast on TV. P1 SuperStock is approved by the sport's governing body, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), as an international class of powerboat racing.

P1 SuperStock is a major sporting festival over five or six weekends in May through October. There are up to six races over the race weekend, lasting 30–45 minutes each. The free events attract thousands of spectators and often run alongside the AquaX jetski series. All teams race in P1 Panther race boats with 250HP outboard engines.

Powerboat P1 Management Ltd is the rights-holder for P1 SuperStock and also owns the rights to Powerboat P1 World Championship and P1 Aqua X. In the US, a wholly owned subsidiary, P1 USA, manages all aspects of racing throughout North America.

Boats in the 250+ hp class are sport racers powered by a 250+ hp engine. This propels the boat to speeds up to in flat water, and its lower centre of gravity provides greater stability and improved handling.

UIM Powerboat GPS World Championship

The series was officially founded as Powerboat P1 World Championship in May 2003 in Nettuno, Italy. Twelve boats, the majority of which were Italian, raced in the first-ever Grand Prix of the Sea. Starting out with 15-year-old aluminium boats, Powerboat P1 boats evolved dramatically through the decade to the point where the mono-hull twin-engine boats were developing around 1800 hp. During the Powerboat P1 World Championship era, which spanned 2003 to 2009, there was 40% more horsepower on a P1 starting grid than Formula 1.

Notable offshore powerboat races

Cowes Torquay Cowes

The Cowes-Torquay was launched by Sir Max Aitken, 2nd Baronet, as the first Offshore Powerboat race in Europe in 1961.

It is the longest-running offshore powerboat race in the world.

Initially sponsored by the Daily Express newspaper, its success encouraged several countries in Europe and the Middle East to follow suit. Hence it can rightly claim to have introduced offshore powerboat racing to the rest of the world outside the United States where the modern sport was launched with the first Miami-Nassau Race in 1956.

In 1964, the Union Internationale Motonautique, the world governing authority for powerboat racing, introduced the World Championship and a Sam Griffith Memorial Trophy, a memorial to Sam Griffith, the American founder of modern offshore racing.

In order to qualify as a championship heat, the race format was therefore changed and instead of finishing at Tor-quay, the fleet returned to Cowes, a pattern that remains to this day.

The race is organised by the British Powerboat Racing Club.

Event Director Martin Levi, son of powerboat designer, Sonny Levi took over the running of the event in 2016.

The Round Britain Powerboat Race

The Round Britain Powerboat has been run on 3 previous occasions.
*Winner 1969: Timo Mäkinen – Avenger Too
*Winner 1984: Fabio Buzzi – White Iveco
*Winner 2008: Pateras Vassilis