Rookie Wins Class 1 At Mooloolaba

by Bob Carter on 7 Jul 2004 Queensland offshore racer Chris Rosch stormed to a commanding victory in the sixth round of Club Marine Powerboat Series, staged at Mooloolaba.

Stepping up to take the helm of the white hulled, diesel powered Maritimo Offshore racer, Chris Rosch and throttle man Ross Willarton stormed to record an impressive victory.

For driver Chris Rosch, the Mooloolaba round was the very first Class 1 race that he had ever contested. Normally taking to the start line in his Victory Marine Class 2 boat, Chris Rosch seized the opportunity to step up to race with the big boys when Maritimo boss Bill Barry-Cotter decided to enter both of his Class 1 Maritimo rigs for the Mooloolaba and Gold Coast rounds of the Club Marine series.

With a record four Class 1 boats fronting the starter, the Mooloolaba round attracted exceptional interest.

Series leader Bill Barry-Cotter and Peter McGrath were at the helm of the blue-hulled Lamborghini powered Maritimo Offshore, while 2003 champion Steve and Andrew Searle in Acme Racing were still looking to take their first outright victory for the season.

Tony Low and Simon Isherwood looked strong in Smorgon Steel with fresh engines delivering even better performance.

As the flag dropped on the rolling start, the crack field powered along the course, parallel to the shore line under sunny skies and flat seas.

The blue Maritimo boat ran hard to the first turn with Acme right alongside. Bill Barry-Cotter fed in more fuel to the Lamborghini's and began to edge away in the run out to sea. Once again the Maritimo boat showed superior outright speed over the Acme crew.

Then just when the old familiar race pattern was beginning to emerge, Maritimo slowed and pulled out having completed just three laps. his left Steve and Andrew Searle in the lead, ahead of the white Maritimo boat and then Smorgon Steel.

With four laps down and their confidence growing, Chris Rosch and Ross Willarton were getting the feel of the diesel powered Maritimo.

'When Bill offered me the drive in his second string Class 1 boat, I felt that the diesel powered Maritimo was actually a faster boat,' Chris Rosch said. 'As it turned out we never got to challenge Bill in a gunwale to gunwale dice, but the race sheets show that the fastest lap of the race was recorded by Ross and I. We saw 220 km/h (137 mph) on the GPS and that was quite fast enough in the conditions.'

As it turned out Bill Barry-Cotter had blown one of his fresh, factory supplied Lamborghini engines.

With the series leader out of contention, and Chris Rosch getting into the ace groove, Steve Searle's worst nightmare was about to unfold.

Having chased the rooster tail of Bill Barry-Cotter all season, the one event where mechanical failure thrust Acme into the lead, also happened to be the day when the second string Maritimo boat was on the water and very much on-song.

Maritimo Offshore, the white version, went by the Acme boat to take the lead. Smorgon Steel was still running in fourth position, the engines sounding a little out of sorts and crackling.

And that's pretty much the Mooloolaba Class 1 story. From this point Maritimo remained in the lead to complete 11 laps. The brothers Searle ran 10 laps but crossed the line on one engine at an idle, the other shut down completely. Team owner Steve Searle was guarded about his problems, citing a minor electrical fault.

Tony Low and Simon Isherwood in Smorgon Steel completed 8 laps to finish third. However, Smorgon Steel was also a forced retirement, retiring and limping home on a single engine; the reason cited was oil pressure problems.

The hotly contested Class 2 once again saw Splits Fibreglass (Damien Palisi and Stuart Adam) hold a comfortable edge to win almost 5 minutes ahead of XXX Racing, (Jason Ryder and Craig Persson).

The most absorbing racing of the Club Marine Powerboat Series at Mooloolaba was in Class 3 and National A. The private war between Shifty (Paul Gibbs and Paul Fowlds) and Spirit of the Mountain (Mike Beil and Steve Jellick) was once again intense. Each driver took a turn to edge ahead of the other before being reeled in with positions constantly changing throughout the event.

After some 84 minutes of tough racing, made even more difficult with a breeze building to chop up the seas, just 14 seconds separated the two boats at the chequered flag. Shifty just held sway in the conditions, Paul Gibbs acknowledging that the day had been a very tough one at the office.

In National A the series long duel between Slick (Craig Purton and Steve Rance) and Thycon (Simon Thomas and Antony DeFina) was almost a race of attrition. Throughout the race, the lead changed several times, with each driver pushing the other to running constantly to the ragged edge and beyond. With both boats trimmed way too high seeking the last ounce of speed and performance, both vee bottom hulls reared dangerously skyward way too often.

While Slick took the class victory, Thycon came home at the end of a tow rope having run out of fuel within a kilometre of the finish line. This allowed Eye of the Tiger (Nigel Craven and Douglas Craven) to move up into second position.

Club Marine The Club Marine Powerboat Series is proudly sponsored by Club Marine, Australia's leading pleasure boat insurer. Stewart Webster Land Rover is a also a series sponsor.