INTRODUCTION
The Class 1 World Powerboat Championship is an exhilarating
and breathtaking spectacle. It brings together the
latest in million dollar, state-of-the-art technology,
an array of spectacular venues from the golden sands
of the Arabian Gulf, the steely blue waters of the
Norwegian Fjords and the sun drenched coasts of
southern Europe and an international group of teams
and racers who remain a breed apart in professional
sport and compete for the most coveted prize in
world powerboat racing – the Sam Griffith
Trophy.
It is a supremely competitive sport with driver
and throttleman strapped into ‘jet fighter’
canopies, where 42ft powerboats, weighing five tons
and powered by twin 900hp engines race at perilous
speeds exceeding 160mph in always unpredictable
conditions. A sport fuelled by adrenalin; a powerful
and passionate display of skill and courage, creating
a theatre of excitement and drama for the crowds
who flock in their tens of thousands to watch real
racing at its limit.
HISTORY
From the 34-foot, 21hp wooden monohulls of the 1950’s
that averaged speeds of 20mph, to the modern-day,
42-foot, twin-engined, 900hp carbon kevlar composite
catamarans capable of exceeding speeds of 160mph,
powerboat racing remains the ultimate pursuit of
man-in-machine against the sea.
The early long distance offshore powerboat races,
such as the fabled Miami-Nassau, Cowes-Torquay-Cowes
Classic, and Viareggio-Bastia-Viareggio, initially
brought the sport of offshore powerboat racing to
the public’s attention, but today these classic
competitions have been superseded by Grand Prix
race courses of 100 nautical miles run over 18 laps.
The Americans dominated the sport in the 1950’s,
but were challenged in the 1960’s through
to the 1980’s by the Europeans with the emergence
of racers from the Middle East and Norway in the
1990s. Class 1 was officially sanctioned in 1964
by the Union Internationale Motonautique (U.I.M.),
the world governing body for waterborne motorsport,
and the Sam Griffith Trophy is still the prize that
all modern racers covet.
TECHNOLOGY
Class 1 has come a long way technologically since
first being sanctioned by the U.I.M. in 1964. Shortly
after its advent, Americans Jim Wynne, Dick Bertram
and Don Aronow led the battle for technological
supremacy, with Daytona, Mercruiser, and AeroMarine
power plants reigning supreme. But in the 1980’s,
the pendulum swung to witness a period of European
design dominance. Don Shead’s Aluminium monohulls,
Italian manufacturers Picchiotti and CUV, and the
James Beard-Clive Curtis Cougar catamarans set the
pace. Fabio Buzzi took a giant step forward with
the introduction of glass-reinforced polymer hulls,
turbo-charged engines, and integral surface drives
and the 90s subsequently saw the emergence of the
Michael Peter’s design and Tencara and Victory
hulls dominate, with Sterling, Lamborghini, Seatek
and more recently, Mercury sharing the power battle.
Today, state-of-the-art boat design and leading-edge
technology are pushing the barriers and extending
the boundaries of the modern-day racers in their
relentless pursuit of competitive excellence.
CLASS-1 WORLD POWERBOAT
CHAMPIONSHIP RULES
Selected technical and racing rules specific to
Class 1.
