This year the 77 Lucas Oil MAV-TV throttle man Nigel Hook and driver Michael Silfverberg are racing in their own boat brand, the newly designed 48′ SilverHook (www.SilverHook.com). They will be gunning to win the Super Vee Extreme World Championship in Key West, racing against the biggest and baddest ocean mono-hulls in the world. The competition will be fierce with teams arriving from the UK, Ukraine, Australia and Italy.

Marine transport specialist Peters & May Global Boat Transport is currently shipping The 77 Lucas Oil MAV-TV back to the USA from Europe, where they competed in the UIM Endurance World Championship Ocean Grand Prix earlier this year.

The Ocean Grand Prix terminated the 2011 season after five rounds of racing in Malta and Italy. The 77 Lucas Oil MAV-TV is points leader in that series pending the outcome of the appeal against a protest made by a competitor (Belgium Fountain entry #33). Race officials posted 77 Lucas Oil MAV-TV as the winner. However, after failing to complete the race, the Belgium team filed a protest because the race organization did not have spare torque sensors available in force majeure situations.

The torque sensor device measures horsepower and torque in real-time during testing and racing. The performance data from engine electronic control units, gyros, GPS and accelerometers to measure G-forces is synchronized with four onboard cameras and logged for the team. The performance analytics review often provides needed information in order to fine-tune the boat’s performance.

Nigel Hook, captain of the 77 Lucas Oil MAV-TV team, is looking forward to coming home to race and show off the new SilverHook with his race and business partner Michael Silfverberg. “Michael and I first raced together in Key West in 2009, and we raced Key West last year taking a second place. Now that we have our own designed boat, winning this World Championship, and nothing less, is our mission,” said Hook.

Armed with a stellar crew guided by Racing Director Jerry Gilbreath and Crew Chief Simon Powell (www.cerberus-international.com/), the team will be well supported by Chief Mechanic Franco Galluzzo, Chief Electrician Tret Robertson, and John Hanas in charge of Transportation and Equipment Logistics.

The 77 Lucas Oil MAV-TV Team Manager, Janet Wilson, recently announced a new associate sponsor for the team, MAV-TV, one of the fastest growing channels in the industry. With a history of being a men’s oriented network, MAV-TV is now expanding mainstream into movies, comedies and family programming.

77 Lucas Oil MAV-TV thanks our sponsors and loyal supporters. Check out the new marine specialty oils from Lucas Oil, the leader in high performance oils at www.lucasoil.com.

Lucas Oil has been amajor sponsor of a broad spectrum of racing from NHRA Drag Racing to Offshore Powerboat Racing for many years. Nigel Hook, a National and World Champion in the American Powerboat Association (APBA), racing association has annually carried the Lucas Oil banner, both in the US and in international races, all part of the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), the Monaco, France-based organization that sanctions all offshore powerboat racing. Peters & May is also the “official marine transport provider” to the UIM, as well as a sponsor for Hook’s new SilverHook, Mannerfelt designed boat, built by Mystic Powerboats and racing in the Ocean Grand Prix series in Europe.

Lucas Oil took interest in reluctant readers as part of its “giving back” to the community and especially to youth who idolize racers and can look to them as inspiration. The Lucasville Legends books are designed specifically for the reluctant readers, predominantly boys, aged from second grade into high school. who are: intelligent children interested in reading, but don’t read well; children with no interest in reading who tend to fall behind in school; children with learning issues that impede their ability and willingness to read, or the child who reads well, but has little interest.

“Everyone is very excited about these books, not only for their educational value, but also because of their broad reach– kids who read the books, parents who purchase them and the grandparents who may read the books with their grandchildren,” says Wilson. The creators also believe the original series of four books will become collector’s editions, then grow with popularity. The first are on Morgan Lucas, NHRA Top Fuel drag racer, Heidi Steele, off-road racer, Michael Wiskus, stunt plane flyer and Nigel Hook and Michael Silfverberg in the SilverHook race boat.

“We are so pleased to assist in this effort with Lucas Oil and Janet, who has written a very clear and easy to understand look into a variety of racing venues,” states Holley, “As a parent, I recognize the importance of reading skills, and as a race fan, I appreciate the interest that young boys and girls have in excitement and things that go fast. As a professional, I’m pleased to offer some financial support to an effort that can help kids everywhere enjoy both reading and racing!”

It was a global racing week with Le Mans, F1 Canadian GP, UK Moto GP and the season opener for the Ocean Grand Prix in Malta.

Six-foot seas, white caps and up to 30 mph winds, stirred an exciting racetrack for the first two rounds of the UIM Endurance World Championship and European Championship Series.

Photo by Peter Moorkens

Situated in the Mediterranean just south of Sicily and north of the African coast, Malta has been a focal point for ocean racing for decades and brought in powerboat racers from Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Great Britain, Belgium, Sweden and the United States.

Headed by Joseph Azzopardi, International Sea Racing promoted the first event in grand Malta style. The competition heated up during qualifying with the top two favored boats in Evolution class #33 Furnibo / ING Financial and #77 Lucas Oil / Peters & May split by just .6 seconds and trailing in third place #66 Hercules Sageman.

Saturday morning practice was cut short due to untenable conditions for the safety craft in the high seas but virtually nothing stops the racing in UIM Endurance so in the afternoon even as the winds picked up, the course was set for the first round of racing starting at 4pm. A textbook start by race director Jean-Marie Van Lanker, unleashed the fleet of racers roaring down the back straightaway heading to the two 90 degree corners, Foxtrot and Golf.

The Scandinavian Offshore Challenge Team’s #77 Lucas Oil accelerated to an early lead with #66 edging up on the outside as they headed into the first turn with #33 Furnibo / ING Financial hanging tight on the inside. It seemed evident Silfverberg and Hook in their new SilverHook were taking the conservative approach into the first turn and with very little test time in this newly design race boat, caution was the better part of valor.

Emerging out of the first two turns was #66 Siegfried Greve and Douglas Verbanck with #33 Frank Hemelaer and Pierre Colpin right in their rooster tail. As the pack approached the start finish line, the Sterling powered #77 Lucas Oil SOC made their move and surged to the front of the pack (click to watch movie: Sprint Race - Lap 1)

Silfverberg and Hook held the lead confidently for the first half the race until turn buoy Delta came adrift giving the second place boat #33 time to cut inside and overtake.

While attempting to regain the lead, #77 broke a trim pump losing control of their port trim tab (used to keep the boat level flying in varying seas) along with some electrical systems whose wires got tore out by the carnage. “Basically what happened was the trim motor broke off its mount due to the high G-forces while still tethered by its wires. It was lashing around in the engine compartment like a ninja nunchaku damaging everything in sight!” exclaimed driver Michael Silfverberg.

“Trim tabs on a monohull are an essential control system for flying the boat level and minimizing roll just like on an airplane”, explained throttleman Nigel Hook. “Without the hydraulic tabs we lost several miles per hour and the ride became rougher as we rode more on the side” added Hook.

“Ancora in grado di prendere un secondo posto nella sua prima uscita è stata un successo enorme e il nostro post-gara ha rivelato l’ispezione dello scafo. SilverHook era totalmente senza danni, dopo una gara molto ruvida per molto tempo!” commented chief mechanic Franco Galluzzo from Rome.

Photo by Karel Overlaet

The podium presentation played the Belgium national anthem for Hemelaer and Colpin receiving the gold medal, Swedish Silfverberg and American Hook the Silver medal and on the third rung, the German team of Meschermidt Schlinglinger.

“I’m thoroughly relieved”, shared Hook. “We have been on a well planned, yet extremely tight schedule, and just making this race was a huge effort by everyone on our team!” said Hook. “When we passed the Furnibo Fountain I felt relief. We have a few wrinkles to iron out, but there is no doubt, no doubt at all, we have a winner in SilverHook!”

Sunday’s endurance race was triggered early at 2pm as the weather conditions were just as strong and the seas bigger than the day before. “Other race organizations have cancelled races not even as rough as this”, Crew Chief, John Cosker was quoted remarking. UIM Endurance series was going to earn its reputation for being the toughest race series on the planet with the marine environment exacting the most brutal test for the machines and men that race in it.

Sunday’s green flag saw a similar scene unfold with Belgium #33 screaming out of the first turn just ahead of the #77 with the English duo of Miles Jennings and Drew Langdon in the Silverline Fountain hanging onto the third slot. Before the first lap was done, the new SilverHook GP48 had taken the lead showing its speed on the straightaway.

The #77 Lucas Oil SOC SilverHook GP48 powered by Sterling and owned by the Scandinavian Offshore Challenge Team had to contend with cruising to a hobbled third place after finally succumbing to a failed transmission.

The team would like to thank honorary team recruit for the week, Rob Bugeja for all of his hard work and support in the pits, for PR and for logistical help in sourcing needed parts locally. Finally yet importantly, we were delighted to have at our side in the pits and helping with scoring and video, Dr. Sarah Hendersen. The lovely Sara usually is splitting her time between her practices in the hospital as well as running the Lucas Oil distributorship on the Island and in neighboring countries.

Lucas Oil is expanding into many new markets and geographies at record pace. Out this spring was a new line of marine lubricants featuring the 77 Lucas Oil on the label, delivering on the company’s mantra “Made in America, Sold to the World”. With The UIM Endurance World Championship being televised again by Greenlight TV, each show will broadcast into 500 million homes!

The SilverHook was conceived last September and has been a global endeavor ever since Michael and Nigel made the decision to build an all-out, 100% race boat. Based upon their previous seasons’ experience with their pleasure-boat-turned-race boat, the duo quickly agreed that Mannerfelt Design Team was the only choice to design their race-only boat. The next decision was to select a builder. Mystic Powerboats, well renowned for building world-class race boats like Miss GEICO was the obvious choice. The power train decision was next, with Sterling Class 1 engines and BPM surface drives. In just over six months, the team of Hook, Silfverberg, Mannerfelt, and Cosker moved their design from brain waves into a carbon fibre reality.

Last month the all new 77 LUCAS OIL Scandinavian Offshore Challenge, was rigged by Italians Franco Galluzzo and Fabio Araneo, and electronics expert Tret Robertson, all of whom are onboard to support the SilverHook under the leadership of John Cosker. Taking care of the engines at each race site will be Mike D’Anniballe, president and founder of Sterling Performance. Simon Powell, winner of last year’s 50th anniversary Cowes-Torquay-Cowes endurance race, was hands on during the SilverHook’s launch on Lake Monroe near De Land, Florida.

Today, transported from Baltimore to Zeebrugge by new sponsor Peters & May, the Sterling powered SilverHook GP48 has made its way to Rome and will be ferried to Malta to compete in the first event of the 2011 Ocean Grand Prix series. Malta hosts the first two rounds on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12. In addition, be sure to join the team in the pits starting Friday, June 10 via UStreamTV.

Malta is the first stop in the 2011 UIM Endurance World Championship series, under the new name of Ocean Grand Prix and run by International Sea Limited. And back again this year is GreenLight.tv bringing world wide exposure to the sport of ocean racing into the homes of hundreds of millions people across 30 countries.

“Malta has always been a special venue for us”, said Hook. “On previous years we have meet the Prime Minister of Malta, Dr. Lawrence Gonzi, a strong supporter of our races. We have local help from our friend and Lucas Oil distributor, Sarah Henderson and also from our number one fan and local press officer, Rob Bugeja”, added throttle man Hook.

“We are expecting and hoping for the rough water for which Malta known. Our SilverHook was designed and built for that purpose”, commented Michael Silfverberg, driver of the 77 Lucas Oil SOC. “We consider the best way for SilverHook to make its marque is to compete against the best in the world”, Silfverberg went on to say.

The team would like to thank our sponsors and contributors to the SilverHook project, all of whom have been instrumental in pulling off the feat of taking a brand new design from creation on a computer CAD program, to cutting plugs with 5-Axis machines, to forming the molds, to building the hull and deck and testing all within 7 months. This huge effort included Livorsi Marine Inc., Custom Marine Inc., Mastercraft Safety, and Sterling Performance Engines.

Janet, Angela and Jeff Carles (Lucas Oil), Nigel Hook, Michael Silfverberg, Gabriella Williams, Tret Robertson, Craig Archer and Dael West

 November Action – Super Boat International 30th Annual Key West World Championships (watch team video)

Wednesday, 10 November — Although 77 Lucas Oil SOC took first place in this first race at Keywest, the team also collected a 3-minute penalty for a GPS technical infraction that pushed the points awarded down to fourth place.

Friday, 12 November — The next race produced a more conservative second place, as the 77 Lucas Oil SOC finished hot on the heels of 11 Hawaiian Tropic Skater driven by long-time rival Bill McComb and Walt Ottaviano in the Pro-2 class. “I know the Skater V399 very well, and Bill has been racing it for many years. It was a deck-to-deck battle and we thrive on that level of competition,” said Hook, throttleman of the 77 Lucas Oil SOC.

Sunday, 14 November — The final and deciding race started with a tense moment during lap one, corner mark 2, when the bright green Pro-1 29 Cleveland Construction boat barrel-rolled. The rescue helicopter was on the scene, scuba divers were being deployed, and a medical boat was heading across the course to the crash site, so there was no room for error. Hook credited Michael Silfverberg’s driving skills for their first place finish. “Without missing a beat, Michael did not hesitate, and he drove around the incident with precision and confidence. Situations like that prove the mettle of any driver,” said Hook.

Other exciting activities during the week-long event included special 3D videotaping by David Helmly of Adobe Systems, hanging out with Chris and his bird Picaso at El Alamo, and shooting video from the top of the Galleon Resort and Marina.

Super Boat International’s 30th Annual Key West World Championships was the team’s season closer, and the 77 Lucas Oil SOC finished on a high note with a checkered flag in the final race of 2010. A beautiful 60+ page program which documents the Key West story starting 30 years ago features legends from the past. An excellent job by Rodrick Cox at Cox Marketing Group. Take a look at pages 31, 38 and 59.

September Action – Sicily, Italy – UIM GPS Endurance Final Race

The 77 Lucas Oil SOC team faced another close incident during the last race of the UIM GPS Endurance series across the Atlantic in the Sicilian “Slick Mist” Grand Prix in Syracuse, Italy in September. Tune in to the team video and check it out at 2 minutes 6 seconds to see the close call captured on the GoPro camera during lap 5 of Saturday’s Sprint race. You will see the 77 Lucas Oil SOC in the hunt to chase down 55 Ukrainian Spirit, only to get unintentionally almost swiped by their sister boat 43 Team Ukraine.

The 77 Lucas Oil SOC team wishes to thank its loyal sponsors for the support for the 2010 season.

Have you visited Nigel Hook’s Powerboat Magazine blog?

The seas at Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean, were relatively calm at the start of the Grand Prix, with two foot swells rolling in. However gigantic wakes were frequently thrown off the sterns of the ever present mega yachts. These conditions took a casualty during Pole Position with the #17 Rotary Watches tripping, stuffing and sinking! Driver Shelley Jory and thottleman Patrick Huybens survived, but in water ninety meters deep, the wreck was not recovered until a week later.

The Saturday Sprint Race was delayed by half an hour, but the green flag initiated the best start of the season with all race boats, including new race boat entries from Italy and China, in a disciplined line off the transom of the pace boat. The first corner was hotly contested by #60 Italian Metamarine, #33 Belgium Furnibo, and #77 Lucas Oil SOC, with #88 SNAV- Kiton in the mix.

Hundreds of spectator boats lined the perimeter of the racetrack, which featured seven right-handers and two left-hand dog-legs making it a real driver’s course. “After reviewing the telemetry data from qualifying practice laps with Kieran Ironmonger from Race Technology, we decided to select a smaller pitch prop than usual,” said Nigel Hook, Captain of the #77 Lucas Oil SOC. The smaller pitch offered increased acceleration rather than top end speed — a strategy that gave driver Michael Silfverberg more power out of the corners to take advantage of the special characteristics of the Mannerfelt designed hull.

At the checkered flag, Hook and Silfverberg took a well earned second place finish in the Ilmor powered #77 Lucas Oil SOC after swapping positions many times from second place to fourth place. Italian driver Giampaolo Montavoci in the #60 Italian Metamarine took first place.

The Sunday Endurance Race followed much the same pace with conditions a bit less turbulent. Calmer seas played well into the hands of the Fountain race boat, and at the end of the race, the #33 Belgium Furnibo entry finished in first place. The #77 Lucas Oil SOC held third place for most of the race, but experienced some over-heating in the cooling system with just two laps to go, and dropped to a fifth place finish.

Conventional global television coverage of the event is courtesy Chris Courteyn TV, renowned for World Rally. Television production for the new UIM World Championship series is captured with 1 stabilized webcam on a helicopter recording in XDcam, 3 ENG camera crews on XDcam broadcast cameras, and 5 cameras onboard the boats. Shows are distributed for transmission to Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, and the Middle East.

Pictures by GrandPrixoftheSea.com - Karel Overlaet

“Local Teen Saves the Day!”

Robert Bugeja, a native Maltese teenager, spent the “best week of my life” at the Maltese Grand Prix of the Sea as a volunteer crewing with the 77 LUCAS OIL Scandinavian Offshore Challenge race team. Saturday was a special day - Rob got to meet the Prime Minister of Malta, Lawrnce Gonzi, who came to tour the pits and thank the team for traveling so far. On Sunday Rob got to shine - he never dreamt he would be the one to save the day. But he did just that when he used his local connections to secure a critical bearing the boat needed for Sunday’s race. As a result, the team’s performance in the Sunday Endurance race enabled them to take 2nd place overall in the standings.

A strong finish in Sunday’s Round 4 Endurance race was crucial for the 77 LUCAS OIL SOC after taking 3rd place in Saturday’s Round 3 Sprint in the UIM World Championship. “In our practice before the Saturday race, we had taken two extra laps to get a lock on the water conditions,” said team captain Nigel Hook. “We were running well across the 5-foot seas, but since we expected Saturday’s waves to keep getting taller, we went with our smallest propeller selection.”

When the time came for Saturday’s green flag, however, the waves had dropped to barely two footers, leaving the 77 LUCAS OIL SOC severely under-propped. They struggled to stay competitive in the back straightaways, but tight turns on the course played well for driver Michael Silverberg who was pleased with the stellar cornering capabilities of the 40′ Mannerfelt monohull, hanging onto a 3rd place finish.

Sunday was the chance to show what the boat could really do, but vibrations felt during the afternoon test spelled trouble. Crew Chief Nico Bertels from Belgium determined the fix was replacement bearings, if they could be found. They searched without success, seemingly exhausting all options, when Rob stepped in with his family and local connections to acquire the bearings. They were back in the game.

The team’s live streaming video from the pits gave fans watching from afar a look at the team’s struggle to get the 77 LUCAS OIL SOC ship-shape. Visable was chief engineer Craig Archer making things happen in spite of a knee injury suffered at the Auckland airport. As luck would have it, on hand to inspect his injury was Dr. Sarah Henderson, who is the owner of the Malta Lucas Oil Distributor and also an M.D. at the local hospital. Sarah founded the Lucas Oil Distributorship there in 2005 and recently expanded into Libya and Tunisia.

At the end of the day, the top three positions on Sunday’s podium were 1st place Issoto Diesel-powered 60 Metamarine Foresti & Saurdi (Italian entry, driver Giampaolo Montavoci), 2nd place Ilmor-powered 77 Lucas Oil Scandinavian Offshore Challenge (Swedish entry, driver Michael Silfverberg), and 3rd place 66 Cranefields Wine (German entry, driver Sigi Greve).

77 LUCAS OIL SOC now holds 2nd place standings in the European Championship and 5th place in the UIM World Championship.

Conventional global television coverage of the event is courtesy Chris Courteyn TV, renowned for World Rally. Television production for the new UIM World Championship series is captured with 1 stabilized webcam on a helicopter recording in XDcam, 3 ENG camera crews on XDcam broadcast cameras, and 5 cameras onboard the boats. Shows are distributed for transmission to Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, and the Middle East.

Lucas Oil is the leading producer of high performance lubricants.
Lucas Oil Made In America - Sold to the WORLD!

Links:
* Lucas Oil
* Scandinavian Offshore Challenge

* Ilmor
* Vector Powerboats
* Virtual Spectator
* Custom Marine Inc.
* Premiere Shipping and Packing

With a special shout out to Rob Bugeja - Michael Silfverberg, Gabriella Williams, Janet Wilson and Nigel Hook wish to thank their teammates for the hard and diligent work:
     Nico Bertels - Crew Chief, Belgium
     Craig Archer - Chief Engineer, New Zealand
     Jason Witt - Telemetry, California
     Mauro D’Alessio - Communications, Italy
     Ian Hawkins - Ilmor Marine General Manager
     Nick Reed - Ilmor Marine Engine Builder

Now see LIVE broadcasting from the pits! 

The Maltese Grand Prix of the Sea, set in the heart of the Mediterranean, is the backdrop for new live broadcasting of the 77 LUCAS OIL Scandinavian Offshore Challenge team as they prepare for rounds 3 & 4 of the 2010 Powerboat GPS World Championships. Watch the action in the pits as the teams prepare for the Grand Prix. This is where languages and cultures intersect, where aerodynamics and hydrodynamics intervene, where racers from many countries battle each other and the elements. 

Fans will be able to gain a unique perspective of the beehive of activity and the occasional hurry-up-and-wait cadence inside the racing pits, thanks to the open technology of Ustream combined with Virtual Spectator’s VSTourTrac. Ustream provides a platform for live online event video streaming. Over 2 million registered users at Ustream generate over 1.5 million hours of live streamed content per month capturing over 10 million unique online hits. Users can watch and chat on the website and also on Ustream iPhone and Android applications.

There are at least three ways to watch the 77 LUCAS OIL Scandinavian Offshore Challenge team in the pits at the Maltese Grand Prix of the Sea:
     1. Website Viewing
     2. Ustream Channel
     3. Mobile Application (download for iPhone or Android)

2010 Malta GPS - Powerboat

“Our 77 Lucas Oil race boat has been campaigning on the international circuit since 2007, and we been seen on television in several hundred million homes all around the globe for each race, with some races having live national television,” said Nigel Hook, team captain. “This new Ustream channel offers another element to broaden the appeal of this great sport by sharing a live link into our base camp in the pits.”

Watch for Sara Henderson, CEO of the Lucas Oil Distributorship for Malta, onsite in the pits along with her General Manager, Sandro, and his staff. See the Principal of the Scandinavian Offshore Challenge Michael Silfverberg, driver of the 77 LUCAS OIL SOC, and Nigel Hook, team captain and throttleman.  See all the hard-working teammates, and listen for the various accents - Swedish, American, English, Belgium, New Zealander and Italian.
 
Looking like a giant sand castle resting between the boot of Italy and tip of Tunisia, Malta has been inhabited since it was settled around 5200 BC. The Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and British have left their mark. Today Malta is part of the European Union.

Malta at Sunset

The TV programs are being distributed for transmission to the following countries:
Belgium / France / Italy / Portugal / Poland / Hungary / Serbia / Croatia / Romania / United Kingdom / Ireland / Sweden / Norway / Australia / Middle East

Lucas Oil is the leading producer of high performance lubricants.
Lucas Oil: Made In America - Sold to the WORLD!

The 77 LUCAS OIL SOC premiered the new 40’ Vector designed by Ocke and Ted Mannerfelt of Sweden and powered by Ilmor V10 / Indy drive packages. Sea trials for the new boat began in Canada in January, followed in February by extensive testing in Sarasota, Florida, then in April to Belgium for rough water and prop testing, and finally in May to the Ukraine to be the first boat to commence official practice for the Yalta Grand Prix of the Sea.

“We had every angle covered,” said Nigel Hook, Captain of the 77 LUCAS OIL SOC. “All the preparation. A great team. The best equipment. And, optimistically I was expecting a little better result, but overall we are very happy. This all came together so well and from so far, and we have a truly evolutionary boat in the EVO class. A winner — mark my words.” The speeds on Saturday supported his comments, with the 77 LUCAS OIL SOC achieving the fastest time over all the boats for Lap 3.

A mechanical issue kept the 77 LUCAS OIL SOC from fulfilling its potential in Yalta, as an electrical short shut off all power to the port side of the race boat in Saturday’s race just three laps short of the checkered flag. Before that abrupt end, however, Michael Silfverberg, driver and partner in SOC, demonstrated the remarkable cornering capabilities of the Mannerfelt design by safely passing several boats inside the corners by carving a tighter course. The electrical gremlin reoccurred at the onset of the Sunday Endurance race.

With 3 new raceboats in the fleet of 15 for the first race, the rough conditions on the Black Sea gave an opportunity to witness the potential of another new entry, the Ilmor V10 powered Chaudron Evo boat, 55 Spirit of Ukraine. Driven by Aaron Ciantar and throttled by Victor Shemchuk, this last year’s P1 Super Sport World Champion was also challenged with new boat issues, completing the Yalta Grand Prix in the 5th place tie.

Many festive parties during the weekend allowed the hosts to share their excitement for the racing events and harmonize with the country’s biggest annual celebration – Victory Day. Since 1995, the Ukraine and the other former siblings of the USSR have increased their openness with the West from the iron curtain cold war days. Victory Day ceremonies in Moscow for the first time ever included troops from four NATO countries. About 1,000 soldiers from the United States, Britain, France and Poland marched alongside Russian troops through Red Square to mark the 65th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

The Sunday evening closing party featured an art exhibition to raise money for a local children’s charity, including paintings of activities at the Yalta Grand Prix of the Sea by local child art groups (see Facebook Photo Album). Of the 19 paintings, 14 featured the 77 LUCAS OIL race boat, which had clearly created a memorable impression in Yalta.

Also featured in the March/April 2010 edition of World of Powerboats.

Television production for the new UIM World Championship series is being captured with:
- 1 Wescam on a helicopter (stabilised camera) recording in XDcam.
- 3 ENG camera crews on XDcam broadcast camera’s
- 5 on board camera’s in/on the boats

Each one-hour show is being distributed for transmission to the following countries:
Belgium / France / Italy / Portugal / Poland / Hungary / Serbia / Croatia / Romania / United Kingdom / Ireland / Sweden / Norway / Australia / Middle East .

Lucas Oil is the leading producer of high performance lubricants.
Lucas Oil Made In America… Sold to the WORLD!

* Lucas Oil
* Scandinavian Offshore Challenge
* Ilmor
* Vector Powerboats
* Virtual Spectator
* Custom Marine Inc.
* Premiere Shipping and Packing

YouTube Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yalta, Ukraine is the first stop in the 2010 UIM P1 World Championship series. The series has already made waves by replacing CEO Asif Rangoonwala and reorganizing under the direction of the UIM, the international sanctioning body for all water motorsports. Jean-Marie Van Lancker, President UIM Pleasure Navigation and veteran race organizer, has taken the helm providing untold hours and relentless services to fulfill the P1 World Championship obligations.

As pilots Michael Silfverberg and Nigel Hook return home to Stockholm and San Diego respectively, the rest of the international team disperses to New Zealand, Michigan, California and Sweden. Not even flight cancellations courtesy of the volcano Vulkaanuitbarsting have dampened the enthusiasm for the results achieved to date. Team Captain Nigel Hook, expressed high marks on the accomplishments of the new team which has come together so successfully since its inception just five months ago.

Expectations were exceeded during the sea trials, with renowned naval architect, Ocke Mannerfelt on hand to witness the impressive rough water handling capabilities of his new design. The twin Ilmor V10 powered 77 LUCAS OIL / SOC crushed the 6 to 7 foot waves as it flew across the turbulent North Seas in Zeebrugge recording G-Forces up to 6.4G.

The Scandinavian Offshore Challenge carefully selected Bernico International (www.bernico.be) as its European race headquarters. Owned by Nico Bertels, the Bernico facility not only provided work shop, cranes, and a convenient marina hotel with restaurant, it also provided immediate access to the Channel Willebroek facilitating high speed propeller test runs.

The remarkable speeds achieved during alpha testing in February just prior to the Miami Boat Show exhibit were re-demonstrated and additionally, the acceleration parameters have been greatly improved with new Hering propellers and the minor set up changes which were made during the longer speed runs on the River Schelde.

All test session data was logged on the new Race Technology system (www.race-technology.com) which synchronizes four video cameras, all the Ilmor engine ECU information, and sensor data received from the electric/hydraulic control systems. This has allowed the team to review and analyze the testing statistics and leverage the knowledge of all resources in the team including onsite support from Ian Hawkins, GM Marine Division Ilmor and former Formula One engine guru.

Lucas Oil is the leading producer of high performance lubricants.
Links:
* Lucas Oil (www.LucasOil.com)
* Scandinavian Offshore Challenge (www.SOCRacing.se)
* Ilmor (www.Ilmor.com)
* Vector Powerboats (www.VectorPowerboats.com)
* Premier Shipping and Packaging (www.psap.co.uk)