Buzzi retires from Round Britain Powerboat race

by Powerboat-World on 24 Jun 2008
A crew of Watford based taxi drivers who were considered rank outsiders when they entered the race are now contenders for their class prize in the 2008 Round Britain race.

The performance of skipper Barry Deakin on the opening leg between Portsmouth and Plymouth on Saturday confounded the pundits but this was no fluke. After having to transport their boat overland to Milford Haven when high seas forced the second leg to be abandoned, they repeated the performance on Monday by using navigational tactics.

Despite choosing the longer course off the Irish coast between Milford Haven and Bangor NI in an attempt to seek shelter from a strong South Westerly wind, it was a gamble that paid off and they hit the finish in tenth place overall to collect first prize in the RB2 class.

The result keeps them ahead of the game. It also proves the belief that taxi drivers choose.

The end of the third leg of the 2008 Round Britain Race between Milford Haven and Bangor NI today (Monday) produced a surprise result when Jamie Edwards and John Lindsay brought their Mercury powered Rib (Rigid Hull Inflatable) Mr Mako across the finish line. However although they took their class prize, the fastest time was set by Gutta Boyz, entered by Nick and Ivar Tollefsen, Norweigan brothers.

Bohinc left with the second start over 30 minutes later hitting speeds in excess of 100mph.

After finishing third in the RB4 class in the opening leg to Plymouth on Saturday at an average speed almost 12 mph below the class winner, those aboard Mr Mako won the day by using navigational tactics on their crossing of the Irish Sea. Instead of hugging the Irish coast they set a direct heading for Bangor which more than paid off. Their final performance relegated Saturday’s RB4 class winner, Swipewipes.co.uk driven by Nick Gilley and Jon Fuller, to third place.

The success of Wettpunkt.com was just reward after a disappointing start on Saturday. Austrian Hannes Bohinc was virtually unchallenged after the Italian race boat designed/builder Fabio Buzzi aboard Red FPT had mechanical trouble and retired early on this leg. Once clear of the coast there was no stopping the Austrian and he creamed up the Irish Sea at full speed producing and average well over 65mph for the 240 statue mile course.

A fast performance was also set by the Greek entered Blue FPT driven by Vassilis Pateras and Panos Tsikopoulos. They finished a matter of minutes behind Wettpunct.Com to take second in the MC1 class. Collectively with the high placing on Saturday’s first leg Blue FPT now leads the larger class fleet on elapsed time.

Wettpunkt.com, the Anglo-Austrian boat of Hannes Bohinc, Max Holzfeid and Ed Williams-Hawkes, won the third leg of the 10-day Round Britain Powerboat Race with an incident-free crossing from Milford Haven to Bangor in Northern Ireland.

The FB Design, powered by 1800hp Isotta Fraschini engines, completed the 190nautical mile journey with over an hour to spare on many of its competitors.

'The boat ran perfectly across the Irish Sea.' confirmed a relieved Hannes Bohinc, team owner and throttleman. 'We have arrived in Bangor more than an hour ahead of most of the competitors which is a fantastic achievement. This performance is dedicated to our engineers and mechanics who have worked tirelessly to put us back in the race after the disappointment of Saturday.'

On Saturday, Wettpunkt.com led the first stage from Portsmouth-to-Plymouth before water flooded the engines and the boat was forced to detour to Torquay. The team fitted new engines overnight and are determined to make up for lost time.

It is disappointment for Italian Fabio Buzzi aboard Red FPT in the 2008 Round Britain Race. Despite being among the leaders at the start of the third leg from Milford Haven to Bangor NI this morning (Monday), he has since suffered problems and been force retired.

Meanwhile his teammate, the Greek entered Blue FPT driven by Vassilis Pateras and Panos Tsikopoulos, was leading the event at 1.45pm.

Great first leg for Vassilis Pateras.

Vassilis Pateras, the Greek owner and driver of Blue FPT, made his best race in his young career.

All the members of the crew were very concentrated before the start. The strain was easily visible on their faces. The throttleman Tsikopoulos Panos did not even find any time for a photo, while Vasiliou Lefteris, navigator and mechanics on board, kept calm before starting for his first international race.

Pateras declared: 'we were very prudent at the beginning because there were to much boats close around us, but as soon as we started we found our route and pushed the engines at maximum. Minutes by minutes, we reached the opponents and overtook them quiet easily. We made over 30 overtaking and it was fantastic to feel the power of the engines and the extraordinary performance of the hull, even on 1,5 meter wave height'.

The FPT N60-480 is a production engines rated at 480 horse power also for pleasure boat application, ideal for sport and fast cruising boats. The engine is one of the lightest and the smallest in his category and even the racing boats take advantage from these features.

http://www.roundbritainrace.co.uk/