Victory Team - Ocke Mannerfelt- A Class III Force

by Press and Media Services, Dubai, UAE on 12 Jun 2008
In a move that brings together two of the biggest names in world powerboat racing, the Dubai Victory Team has signed an agreement to build, market and race Class III boats designed by renowned Ocke Mannerfelt Design.

Founded in 1989 and owned by the Government of Dubai, the Victory Team is arguably the most famous and successful offshore racing team in the world. Victory boats have competed professionally in UIM Class I and Class II and won eleven world championship titles with race boats built in-house to the highest professional and competitive standards.

In February 2007, the team opted to compete in the UIM Class III, Six Litre class to test new ideas and talent in a class that is highly competitive and provides demanding racing experiences.

A brief was made for the main dimensions and technical features of the boat required to handle the new type of multi-lap race courses with good drivability and the capability of being able to race at high average speeds. Ocke Mannerfelt Design was given the brief and asked to come up with a proposal for the new 30-foot cat.

Based in Sweden, Ocke Mannerfelt Design has designed professional boats for more than 30 years and is specialised in race boats for UIM Class III. Mannerfelt’s designs are internationally renowned as being both fast and innovative, winning over fourteen world championships.

The new boat was designed on a 3D computer following close co-operation with the Victory Team. The boat was to be a safe-design but using all the long term experience of high-tech hydro and aerodynamics from Ocke’s design office. The boat is a Registered Design ® and was superbly built by the Victory Team in Dubai.

Design 2 , the new 30ft cat competed in the last three races of the Middle East Six Litre series and performed well winning the second race, while sprinting into the lead and turning well in the first and third race before engine failures forced the boat to stop. The boat has displayed good acceleration and cornering capabilities as well as top speeds in the class against the best competitors. Rough water performance was also outstanding with the boat running fast, safe and stable.

'It has fulfilled everything we asked for,' said Victory Team General Manager Gianfranco Venturelli. 'We have learned a lot from this design and successfully tested new drivers from Dubai. The coming season will be very exciting and we will undoubtedly give the other teams tough competition from now on.'

One week after the final race, Victory Team had pre-sold the three boats being constructed for the forthcoming Middle East winter series to racing teams from Italy, Abu Dhabi and Sweden.

'It has been very interesting and challenging to design the new cat for Victory Team,' said Ocke Mannerfelt. 'We are very impressed with the construction and glad that our thorough work with this design has been so successful.'

www.victoryteam.ae and www.ocke.se