Bill back behind the wheel

by Bob Wonders on 9 Jan 2009 itimo Offshore Race Team owner Bill Barry-Cotter will return to the cockpit for the next round of the Australian Offshore Superboat Series scheduled for Williamstown, Victoria, over the weekend of February 28 – March 1.

He will be at the wheel of one of the new Maritimo-built catamarans with the dual 790hp naturally aspirated engines, the new design pushed through by Barry-Cotter in an attempt to entice more competitors into the sport.

Williamstown will mark Bill’s first return to the race circuit since the final round at Townsville last year.

He will be in the boat with the experienced Ross Willaton on throttles.

“We plan in running the #2 example of the small catamaran, then, the following weekend, we’ll run boat #3 at Geelong (March 7-8),” he said.

“Two have been sold to new owners, so hopefully my original plant to tempt more people to become part of offshore racing is starting to pay off,” he added.

Hull #1 of the design contested two GP events in the Middle East late last year and was damaged when the boat spun out violently in heavy conditions, leaving throttleman Pal Virik Nilsen unconscious and driver Tom Barry-Cotter nursing an injured neck.

Fortunately, both men made a full recovery.

Barry-Cotter is sending two of his staff to Dubai to carry out the repairs to the damaged boat and it will then be campaigned again in forthcoming Middle East events, starting at Qatar.

The Maritimo team will campaign three boats during the two Victorian rounds, ‘Maritimo’ (Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen aboard), boasting the thundering V12 Lamborghini engines, ‘Simrad’ (Luke Durman and Peter McGrath), with big block MerCruisers, and the new catamaran.

‘Global Racing’, currently leading the Class I field with 600 points, will need a new throttleman to assist driver Mike Biel.

In its two races to date, Ross Willaton has handled the throttles, but with his commitment to Bill Barry-Cotter the way is open for ‘Global Racing’ owner Mark Gilbert to come aboard.

‘Acme Racing’ (Steve and Andrew Searle) and ‘Maritimo’ (Tom Barry-Cotter and Virik Nilsen) are hot on the proverbial heels of ‘Global Racing’, sharing second place with 550 points each.

In another close battle for points, ‘Simrad’ and the Melbourne entry ‘Impact Steel’ share third place on the ladder with 450 points each.

Mat Humphrey and Simon Isherwood (‘SUV Dodge Ram’) have a stranglehold on the Supercat Outboard Class, their 950 points placing them well clear of the next two boats, ‘Saracen’ and ‘Blade Custom Boats’ each with 375 points.

‘Elders’, Mick Walker and Gary Smith aboard, is involved in a ‘dogfight’ with ‘Ezy Does It’ (Ian Harris and Graham Fraser), both having totalled 550 points to lead the Supercat Outboard Lite class from ‘Shaken Not Stirred’ (Brian Dale and Mark Taylor).

The full calendar for the remaining rounds of the Australian Superboat Offshore Series is:

February 28 – March 1: Williamstown, Victoria.

March 7 – 8: Geelong, Victoria.

May 2 -3: Newcastle, NSW.

July 4 -5: Townsville, Queensland.

September 12 – 13: Redcliffe, Queensland.

September 19 – 20: Gold Coast, Queensland.