Maritimo Offshore team back to two boats

by Bob Wonders on 16 Feb 2009
Bill Barry-Cotter’s plans to campaign a third boat in the third and fourth rounds of the Offshore Superboat Series have come unstuck.

Set for Williamstown (February 28 – March 1) and Geelong (March 7-8), the scene is set for some exciting clashes with only 50 points separating the three Class I leaders and close racing a certainty in the smaller classes.

Barry-Cotter was originally planning to make a return to the race circuit at the wheel of one of his new lightweight catamarans powered by the naturally-aspirated V8 engines which recently won UIM approval.

However, the boat he planned to run is due in Dubai and shipping arrangements required prevent it appearing at Williamstown.

After the opening two rounds at Redcliffe and the Gold Coast last year, ‘Global Racing’ a fairly new catamaran owned by John and Mark Gilbert, is the surprise Class I leader.

Surprise because with dual 525hp MerCruiser race engines, ‘Global Racing’ is seriously lacking in the ‘grunt department’ when compared with its Class I rivals.

‘Maritimo’ sports dual Lamborghini engines at 920hp each, ‘Simrad’ has dual MerCruiser engines generating 940hp each and ‘Acme Racing’ can call on dual big block engines each pumping out 960hp.

Consistent racing from driver Mike Biel and throttleman Ross Willaton, which gained ‘Global Racing’ two thirds, has given the US-built boat top spot to date’, with ‘Maritimo’ and ‘Simrad’ both recording DNF at the Gold Coast race and ‘Acme Racing’ a DNF at Redcliffe.

Reigning Class I champions, Tom Barry-Cotter (driver) and Pal Virik Nilsen (throttles) aboard ‘Maritimo’ are determined to reproduce the form they showed in a convincing win at Redcliffe.

'We were confident of a similar result on the Gold Coast, but a minor electrical fault put paid to that', Tom explained.

With ‘Acme Racing’ charging to a clear cut win in the Gold Coast round, team boss Steve Searle will be looking to his team for another good showing in the two Victorian
Races.

In Supercat Outboard, Mat Humphrey and Simon Isherwood (‘SUV Dodge Ram’) hold a commanding 575 point lead over their main rivals, ‘Saracen’ (Antony De Fina and Nigel Craven) and ‘Blade Custom Boats’ (Cameron Davis and Gryff Ethell).

‘SUV Dodge Ram’ will definitely take some catching, but ‘Saracen’, reigning titleholder, will not give up easily.

The action will fire up too in Supercat Outboard Lite, where ‘Elders’ (Mick Walker and Gary Smith) is locked in a tie for the lead with ‘Ezy Does it’ (Ian Harris and Graham Fraser).

They hold the lead each with 550 points ahead of ‘Shaken Not Stirred’ (Brian Dale and Mark Taylor) with 375 points and ‘Team 3’ (Leigh Trevaskis and Steve Nugent) a further 300 points to the rear.

'Team 3’ will long remember the Redcliffe race where the boat was struck awkwardly by a ‘rogue wave’ and was virtually destroyed.

Adam Gilbert, owner of ‘Team 3’ and brother of ‘Global Racing’s Mark Gilbert, will be campaigning a new 32’ Victory catamaran with dual 525 MerCruiser engines set up by Maritimo Offshore crew chief Peter McGrath.

Kiwi Steve Nugent will likely partner another New Zealander, Craig Archer, in the boat.

More than 20 entries have been confirmed across the various classes and for Victorian fans two weekends of hard and fast racing seems assured.

Offshore Superboat Championships chairman Paul Gibbs and race director Russell Embleton said a ‘coast hugging’ course ensured good viewing for spectators at both rounds.

For further information visit the website, www.aopc.com.au