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ffiH|STORY MAKER-4afhtel won the fitst offshore raoe in Malaysia convincing[.

In the first offshore race everheld in Malaysia, boats from fourcontinents showed up at theresoft island of Langkawi for the$52,000 USD Malaysia OffshoreWorld Invitational Championship1994 on November 5-6. This isianddestination left competitors andsupporters speechless. Staging itsfirst event in fine style, PenangPowerboat Club spared no ex-pense in ensuring that the visitorsfrom Ita1y, Australia, NewZea\and, Argentina, Dubai, the

United States and Bangladeshwould be impressed. With a pitarea set up in the car parking areaof downtown Kuah, spbctatorsflocked to see the various boatsfrom the 40' Skater, Caffarel, ofthe Italian father-and-son team ofMarco and Massimo Capoferri, toFred Uthman's and Ross Wil-laton's 24' Skater, MercuryRaci,ng, out of Australia. FromNew Zealand came Peter Turnerand Peter McGrath in Sleepyhead,,

which so thoroughly dominatedthe action in its home countrr,r last

season, while Ian Trevaskis andRobert Voges brought the Arab-owned, Australian-driven Vi,ctotryMarine and Leigh Trevaskis andPaul Gibbs in Marmum DairyFwms, a 32' Yictory design, also

came up from Down Under.Argentina's Jorge Kern and OmarBruzzone hoped to score in Touclt-donn and, the lone Malaysian con-

tender, Altco Racfu,g, a 41'Apacheowned and driven by Audi Chungof Hong Kong, had Ralph Madinof Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on thethrottles and American Mike

Bonga navigating.Because it was new water for the

drivers, they were shown around thecourse on a sampan. The outermostpoint, the island of Pulau Singa Besar,offered the roughest conditions. As iscommon in UIM competition, a poie-posi-tion kilo speed run was scheduled forSaturday afternoon, but after only twocompetitors attempted to run, the cus-tomary afternoon monsoon hit, reducingvisibility to about three meters and forc-ing a course closure.

Practice sessions the foliowing morn-ing proved interesting when Marmum,Dany Fa.rms hit a log at about 95 mph,ripping a hole in the bottom of the cat.While other boats were craned in, thedamaged cat limped back into the jettyarea, where members from nearly everycrew ran down to help the stricken craft,

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W|DE OPEN-Wctory Marine gave its all.

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emphasizing Lhe camaraderie of theracing community. Unfortunately, theboat was forced to withdrarn' from therace. The crew of the Bangladesh/Arabentry, Roya| Bengal Tiger, ilso ran intoploblems; howet'er, theirs wet'e at theairport. Being last-minute entrants, bhey

had forgotten to apply for visas to enterthe counbry and were not alloweci toparticdiate. The saf'ety aspect of the racealso sholvcasecl the cledication of theorganizers with nine rescue boats lrlacedaround the course and turo helicoptersprovided by the Maiaysian Air Forceoverhead, one with four divers onboarcl.

Tempelatures on raceday rvere thesarne as they had been for the precedinglveek, arouncl 36 degrees (centigrade)and humid. The 108.3-nautical-niile-coruse had a slight chop to it, but rl'oulcl

suit the big italian cat, CafJu"eL, to a T.The kiwi entrant, Sleepylzeacl was almosta non-starter due to the hig'h tempera-tures and humidity. After coming off

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plane in the miiling area befbre the start,the 32' Lincler cat hacl troubie gettingback up on plane. It was not untii sixminutes after the rest of the field shotthrough the staiting gate at 1 p.rn. thatthe trvo Chewolet big blocks came to life,popping the kiwi boat up to racing speeds

and puL them in the hunt.As expected, lhe two Lamborghini V-

l?s in Caffarel propelled lhe Skater tothe lead. APCO Raci,rzg and VictoryfuIuhrc were also away with Tou,cldnuntand Mercu,ry Ro,eing not far behincl.Once rolling, Sleepylrcad startecl eatingaway aL the pack. Rouncling the outer-nrost island on lhe course, Caffurel hatlopenecl up a handy lead witli VietoryMwine nosing out APCA Racittg. Kernhad Tou,ch,d,otun t::unning well anciMa'any Rctc[tzg's tu'in 2.4 Offshore EFIoutboar ds were screaming.

Iarr Trevaskis in Victory Mutitze hadthe throtties fire'n'alled for the fust lap as

they had seen the luminous green andred APCO lake off from the starl, butthis clidn't last very iong. By the time theboats reaehed the staft/finish line for theend of the firsl lap, Ceffiu'el hacl opened

up a large ieacl with Victory Murin"eminutes behincl. APCO Ra,citzg had de-

velopeci problems and was slowly slip-

ping back throug'h the fieicl, being passed

by Tortchclotttn, a:nd Meru,r,ry Racing.Tulnel anrl McGi'ath wel'e olr a missionancl no horsepower was spared in theircharge at the front. Throughout theremaining slx tours ofthe course, Sleepy-Iteqd would overtake Merctny Racing,Toucltdotutt ancl the hometowtr APCORacing to take third place.

Toucltduorz. fi'esh from a ffih place alDubai, handlecl the conditions beautifullyand its tril:ie Mei'curys hummecl toperfection. Uthmann ancl Willaton clidlikeu'ise, pushing a maximum speed of108 mph oul of their 24'Skatei'.

This was the rvay the t'ace u'as goingLo remain until the finish. The Capoferr{stook the inaugurai Maiaysian OffshoreWorlcl Invitational Championship in a

firre of 1:16:31. Vietory Maritrc eanteaeross the line three minttes beliind,.,1'hiie Tlurrer anil McGrath macle a greatshor:r'ing for New Zealancl after theirdisastrons sLart. T ou,chdozr:rz finishedfoulth, rvhile X[erctn'y Rctci,ttg r.r'as fifth.Haviirg encounterecl problerns early inthe race, Chung ancl Martin brought thebroken APCA in last, sotne 10 minutesbehiird the t'inner.

When the time came for the present-ing of awarcls, the Pline Minister of

Malaysia, the Right Hon Datuk Seri Dr.Mahathir Bin Mohamad personallyhanded out the prizes and assured thatthe race would be mn again next year.

Summing things up, Marco Capofeinisaid, "It is great to be able to attend anevent and have fun without all the politi-cai hassles that have become part of thesport in recent years. We have really en-joyed coming here and we look forwardto next year."

-Neuille Danson,

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ffiWHAT A GA,FShe/ tlautilus started the season off on a positive note in F-1'

The first race ofthe New ZeaiandPowerboat Association's 1994-1995

season got under way on a blus-tery, clear day, with temperaturesaround 29 degrees (centigrade) on

Lake Karapiro.In its first venture as a major

event sponsor, CRC Industrieslaunched the CRC Hi Point series,a lineup of six races throughoutthe season.

The inaugural event drew topfields in seven classes, from theGrand Prix hydroplanes down to

the Mod H and Pro Com tunnelboats. A number of quaffing heatswere run throughout the day withthe winners being declared on a

points basis.

One major trophy up for grabswas the Masport Cup, which ispursued by both the Grand Prixracers and their opposition in theFormula 1 tunnels. In the battlefor the coveted goblet, PeterKnight had Boss Mobil 1 in Loprunning shape, as did the visitorfrom Wanganui, Warwick Luptonin Annifuilator II.

The veteran of the sport, War-

wick Jones had the awesomeRadical Rnt waiting on the backburner, while Greg Osborne wastrying to smooth out the kinks inhis problem-plagaed Redad,air.

Lake Karapiro has long beenknown as the best site for circuitracing in New Zealand, a notioneasily proven by the hundreds ofspectalors that lined the banks.

As expected, the Masport Cupdrew the most attention for theday, where lhe Grand Prix boatscompeted on level terms, sort of,

wilh the Formuia l tunnels.Steve Hughes in SheLL Nauti\us

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and Roger Seymour were ex-pected to do early battle in thequalifiers, but mechanical prob-lems forced Seymour to retirein the first round. That leftPeter Edmond ]n VDO Instuu-ments and Shane Murray inMarine PLus to provide thechallenge to Hughes.

The Grand Prix pilots werenot going to sit back and let

LOOKING EAST*Hughes may takea shot at Europe.

Edmond and Murray. Reportsalso surfaced that Hughes andSeymour are looking intotaking their boats to Europe tocompete in next year's Euro-pean Championships. Both ofthese drivers have been in thesport of boat racing for manyyears and have solidified them-selves in the upper echelon. Amove to Europe would be

"their" trophy be headhunted, andmounted a strong challenge.

Lupton had a great day, drivingAnniluilator 11 to three heat wins to takethe Masport Cup from Knight's BossMobil l.

The Formula 1 boats got close thisyear, with Edmond nearly claiming thetitie. He vowed that next year, Foirnulawould emerge victorious.

Throughout the day the trio ofHughes, Edmond and Murray did battlein Formula 1, pushed from behind byAlan Melody in Bltu,ebird,, Carl Lampe inSlzeLI Lubricanfs, Alan Coie in HoltysRestau,rant and Gerry Cawthray inMobilWcrbm,iomnta.

Hughes ended up winning the Fonn-ula 1 class after four heats. followed bv

Iooked upon with interest.Andrew Dempster in Outboard Spares

gave the Aucklanders one of their twowins on the day in Formula 2, beatingrunner-up Barry Whyte in Whyte UpFront and third-place finisher AshleighBrown in Kamnkaze Kiwi.

Malcom Jamison and, Step Right Upcaptured the Formula 3 class victory,rrrnning ahead of Mark Taiatini and TheHustler in second and Scott Dennis inHitnchiinLhvd.

In the Pro Com class, Allan Mallot ranCobrato first, while Steve Rosewarne inPlum Crazy was second and Simon Wat-kins in Firsl Offencewastlvd.

Malcolm Wotton won the 300 Series inMisty Blue, while Bill Wray was secondin the Stingray and Peter Brogren in

Buckshotwasthtrd.In Modified H, Barry Maundor was

first in SmaLL Torqte, vmth Peter Still-well second in Quantum and ColinGappen third in Tempo-Too.

The smaller ciasses provided sometop-notch racing throughout the day andgave the younger age groups an excel-lent introduction to the sport.

Raee two in the CRC I{i Point serieswas held January 8 in Rotorua.

-NeutLIe Dazoson

The final round of the Australian off-shore championship held the answer.s toa ferv questions, the biggest undoubtedlybeing who was going to be the AustralianClass I champion. The current titleholder, Riu'iera, was there, ready andwaiting, but Stefan Ackerie ancl his re-modeled cat, Jager, had other ideas.Looking at lhe conditions on the Thurs-day before the race, one must have rvon-dered what made these guys tick asconditions r,r'ere horrend otts. Jct g! er acit-ally submerged itself in a complete stuffduring practice.

However, come Saturclay, the rr"eatherwas fine and Port Phillip Bay \vas calm,not exactly the best type of conditions tosuit these offshore boats, but neverthe-less it u,-as going to be a great spectacle.

The course was changed from last yearand was now inside Port Phillip Bay,starting from the St. Kilcla Marina ancl

running across the bay to Station Pier.From there, it was a left-hand turn run-ning close to the pier-a great I'antagepoint for the public-before heading outand around a marker in the middle of thebay. The return run was basically thesame course in rer.erse, but headingfaither past the marina to a turning pointknown as Black Rock. Each lap consistedof 25 miles with the Class I and II boatsrunning four laps and the smaller entriestaking thlee.

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au'ay fl"om thern and so the scene devel-oped into a closely contested ruce. As thetrio appi'oached Station Pier, every pailof eyes on shore uras gluecl to see rvhowould ronnd tlre buoy fwst. R'iuiera diclso in line style, but only a feu'feet behindrvei'e the two chailengers. The pi'essurewas on as Rfuiera had to finish in fi'ont ofJager Lo retain the title. Otheirrise, theflarnboyant Queenslancler Ackerie rvouldw-rench it ar'vay.

But. fat,e ahva;rs plays its part andlvhen rounding the outu'ald buoy,Ackerie triecl to lake things a little tootight, sending the big pitrk cat into anasty tailslide. As Jager n'as recoveringanci getting up to speecl, Jesse Janz,essnuck by, opening up soine space andgunning for.Biuiela.

Behind the leaders. tlie action rvas hotwith Harolcl Lowe runirirlg luell in .Loz,ues

.Ego, followecl by Coctstliner, Itt 2 It,Mtn'ray Moore Steel and Curlton Galcl.

The start was an impressive sight asthe boats streamed along in front of themarina to the starting line. As expected,Bill Barrie-Cotter's big V-bottom, Rl.d-era, was out in front, u,-hich had beencustomary for the majority of the season.However, Jo,ger and the kiwi raider, the30' Chris Cat, Jesse James wer:e right onRiuiera's transom. Jager, sporting theneu'' cockpit and some new propellers,and a highly modified Jesse Jatnes weredetermined to not let Barrie-Cotter get

Meanwhile back at the fi'ont, it wasapparent as the boats ran past the pierthat Jesse Janzes was making up time onRiuiera. Again a monkey wrench wasfhr:own in the works vnLh Jesse Ja,tnesretiring, forced out ofthe race by distrib-utol problems. Yet another race endedby a $20 paft.

This left, €ioieiu alone oul front, with anice gap ovet Jo,get', which was franti-cally trying to close the distance aftel itsmishap in the tum.

Wit,h ,.Iessa Jatrtes orit of the way,Loues Ego mo\:ed up to third aud ou.ryret'

Lowe was quite content running asteady, consistent race. Gary Rorve inCoustlit?,a'rvas having a great time withthe Morley brothers in In 2It. Faitherback, Mutay A{oore Stee| harl a mucirbetter race lhan its last run in Syclney,followed by Carlton Gold and anotherQueeirsiancl visitor, Shoft & Czn"Ly. Majicancl Equalize?'were Lussling away, asu'ele Nol l,legotiable, Spectre 6a00 andLiqzdtl Asset. These boats may nol be inthe saine league speecl-wise as the ClassI giants, but the-ri gave the public itsmoney's worth, providing some enter.taining moments as they jostled fol posi-tion thloughout tireir three-1ap battle.

Status quo remained for the next fewmiles until the crew aboard Jager de-eided it would lry the taiislide one moretime, this time causing eirough darnage toforce it oul of the race. At the same time,Tony Lowe and his VDO had their ownproblems with a fire that knocked themout of competition. Flom here on, it didnot look as if there was anything thatwas going to beat the big diesel-poweredRiai,erafor Class I and overall.

Unbeknownst to Barde-Cotter, LotnesEgo had moved up to second place andwas reaciy to take the winneils purse ifanl,thing happened to Riuieru.

And that's exactly rvhat occurredtvhen Riuiet'a iost a universai joint andlr.as reclucecl to lunning on one of itsDetroit Diesel riotors. The longshotLozues Ego seized the opportunity andmovecl past Riuiern, winning the HobsonBay Classic in a time of 1:27. Barrie-CoLter rnanaged to keep his dieselsr"unning rvell enough for Riaiera lo finishseconcl at about 50 inph, three minntesbehinci. Thanks to Ackerie's spinouts inJager, Batlrie-Cotter managed to claimthe Austialian Class I title. Will he be so

luclry in 1995? -Neuine

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