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The Portuguese Grand Prix

28th September to 30th September 2007

Portuguese Grand Prix - Race 1

The run up to the Portuguese Grand Prix had been fraught with problems. Firstly, we’d had to replace some engine mountings and fix some damage to the hull where we had struck something in Belgium. We had then had to remove an engine to be dyno tested by P1 so with only 3 weeks to go to the finals, the boat was in bits again!

All credit to Race and Marine and sponsors Osmotech for assisting us with the repairs to the boat and getting the mountings fixed. Their commitment enabled us to get to the Grand Prix and even allowed for some testing the weekend the boat left to get to Portugal.

As you will see in a statement shortly, our engines were considered by P1 to be very slightly over on the manufacturers declared horsepower which meant we had been running light of weight in Belgium supposedly. We therefore had to add weight to the boat to comply with their findings irrespective of the appeal process that we are now going through.

So the weekend before Portugal we were hastily testing up and down Southampton Water trying to set the boat up to reduce the impact of the additional weight.

After a while and some experimenting we had the boat running very well and better than expected. Adjusting where the additional weight should go and then swapping the drives to be inward rotating rather than outward seemed to do the trick and we started to find the speed we had previously lost to the weight. All be it to the expense of the handling slightly, but it was worth it. We wanted to win the final race despite the extra weight. The set up at Portimao was excellent, more than enough pontoon space and the hotel was right by the pits for the crew, ideal.

Friday was hot and sunny and just the sort of weather you’d expect for the Portuguese coastline. We went out for a quick test and the boat was running well. We were feeling confident. Saturday morning was rougher and again we decided to test, trying out some more propellers. Out we went and the boat behaved terribly, completely different from the day before, what had gone wrong? The handling was all over the place and she chined badly from side to side reacting violently to what was really an innocuous sea.

We flew back into the pits and our engineer immediately spotted a loose plug on the engine. This was causing the revs to go all over the place on the starboard engine thus affecting the balance of the boat. So off we went to test again only to be told that the testing had finished early.

This was slightly annoying, coming into the race you want to feel confident that the boat is going at its best; you focus on the race and what you need to do to win. Unfortunately, we were just worried that the problem had been fixed with the boat and that there wasn’t an underlying issue….was the boat balanced correctly, was a sensor playing up…questions, questions! As there was a speed trial in the river on the Saturday before the race, we decided to use this to re-check the setup and everything seemed to be ok again.

All the boats had to do a little jaunt out of the harbour, around and few buoys and then come back in, to allow the crowds to take a close look at the teams. Our number was displayed and we flew out of the harbour, up to the lap gate, around the buoy and back in. As we went out to the gate the boat was flying again, we hit a bit wave and she flew, beautifully level and the engines singing. I grinned … this was going to be a good race!

So feeling a lot more confident we lined up for the start. Our start was not good, P1 is trying hard to make sure the boats line up level and behind the start boat and we have strict rules as to how far behind we should be behind the start boat. There are penalties if you get it wrong and the start is filmed from the start boat for this purpose.

Mike rightly told me to hang back and not get ahead of the start boat, we did not want anymore hassle and reasons to DQ us! Unfortunately, as I slowed to back off a bit the flag went up so we were not as quick as usual. But off we went. A great start though, all the boats once again in lumpy conditions very close together.

Within the first few miles there was an awful lot of jostling for position, Sunseeker was forced hard off their line and straight across us giving the boat and us a good soaking and a moment of absolute blindness, not for the faint hearted but we are strangely getting used to it!

As we came to the first big turn nearly all the boats were still together showing how the standard has so much improved this season. I could not really have told you the order but I could see Sun Lik Beer, Roscioli, Sunseeker, Buzzi Bullet and a few others all around. We were lying about fourth which we were not happy about. We had to prove that despite the additional weight we were now forced to carry we could still win, we had to win this race to prove that point!

However, at this stage its important not to panic, we had the whole race to get to the front, but emotions were running high in the boat after our DQ in Belgium so it was hard not to get mad. We had to wait for the right moment and then we could go. Fortunately, it was worth waiting patiently for the right moment to break out of the pack … as this was to come sooner than anticipated.

As we came to the ‘F’ buoy Mike told me to prepare for a nine o’clock turn … but the others went straight on! Mike just said, don’t follow the others and having trusted him for years now we slowed slightly and let the other boats go and turned tightly to the left cutting inside the other boats. VoomVoom who were behind us followed, but the rest went straight on until they realised what they had done!! Too late!! We had the lead, and no intention of giving it up.

 

We came up towards the beach and crowds, I went wide to push the boats on our outside further out and give them a longer line to the marker, but Mike  said that VoomVoom was fast coming up on our inside and that we should block them and defend our line into the turn. So one strategy went to another and we turned tight to block VoomVoom on the turn. We went through the lap line and we were now ahead with the boats literally just feet behind us. It was important now we had got our break, to keep it and not let anyone get in front.

The conditions were lively as well, not so much big, perhaps 2 to 2.5 metres, but mixed and close together with some sizeable holes just to really catch you out. In some respects it was just like the Solent back home!

We were now running fast up to turn buoy B (a red mark we had to leave to starboard). VoomVoom was literally right beside us, so close you could reach out and touch them. Mike was telling at me to block them at the turn making them either slow or cut behind us and over our wash. However, the boat was spending too much time out of the water, so steering it precisely enough to block them was proving difficult. We’d missed our chance and I was mad at myself as we gave them lots of space on the mark.

Both teams were now jostling to get the line to the next turn and there was no way we were giving up the line, not in a million years, it was a battle of nerves with both boats were getting closer and closer. VoomVoom pushed and pushed and we stayed firm. Mike could almost touch their boat, but was urging me to get more room so I edged the boat out yet closer to them, and this pushed them hard off the line and out of sight….job done. But they gave us a run for our money! This gave us a good turn at buoy C and we were away. We now had to keep the advantage, the race was ours to lose (how I hate that statement!).

The sea was hard work and changing the drives around had made the boat come alive! She was hard to keep together but giving us the ride of our lives! As she flew out of the water you could feel the back end kick out, just like a frisky thoroughbred race horse! This was absolutely fantastic!

We came up to buoy F and I made a total hash of the turn, still getting used to driving the boat differently, I was not fully committed to the turn, I faffed about, unbalanced the boat and we went hard over, this time the props propelling us the wrong way…not AGAIN, the thought of our now famous airborne incident in Belgium going through my mind. Fortunately a sharp tug on the wheel and we were back the right way up…I must stop making a habit of this!!

We now hurtled back towards the crowds in a big following sea, with the drives trimmed out she was running beautifully, just skipping neatly from one wave to the next and giving me a great feel. I was getting more and more confident of this set up and loving every moment.

By now the others were a way behind, enough to keep on the pressure but not enough to catch us, well unless something broke or we made a significant mistake. We continued on for a few more laps, the gap ever widening. This was great fun, we had some brilliant moments when the boat just flew through the air but she landed so level that we lost very little speed if any and off we went.

After a few more laps, Mike told me that for some reason we were losing speed. At first it was so subtle, 1-2 mph, I thought it must be me? Was I tired? Had I lost the plot! I went through everything in my mind, sensors? No, the RPM was level on both engines, perhaps a little down? I checked the trim tabs to make sure they were the right height, they were fine. I trimmed out some more to get some more speed and then I noticed the drive trim gauge. The starboard one had dropped slightly, ummm odd? I have separate switches on the side of the boat as well as on the steering wheel, so I tried to adjust it with them, taking my hand off the steering wheel to do so was interesting and once again we went airborne. Nothing happened, the gauge was stuck.

Maybe the gauge had broken? We went through everything it could be and then slowing the gauge dropped further and further and the RPM dropped with it. I trimmed the port out to counteract and sure enough that gauge was OK. We had broken a trim pump. Now this sounds insignificant but it means that the engine leg is rammed into the back of the boat at its lowest point and creates a huge amount of drag, effectively acting like an anchor. This makes it harder work for both engines the sum effect being 15mph slower and losing over 1200 revs.

So sadly we were now stuck at 65mph and had to painfully endure watching both Roscioli and Buzzi Bullet II go by.

You cannot imagine how hard this was, we so wanted to prove we could win irrespective of our penalties and weight. But it was not to be. However, we finished 3^rd overall which was OK and we proved a point that no matter what, we will go out and win based on teamwork on the water despite everything being against us.

Portuguese Grand Prix - Race 2

Due to bad weather, the second race was cancelled!

Statement by Extremeboat Racing Team

On Friday evening (28th September 2007), the P1 management committee informed the team, that following the Dyno test on our engine following the Belgian Grand Prix that they had taken the extremely unusual step of disqualifying our boat from both rounds of the Belgian Grand Prix. This move was to cost the team 200 points in total and effectively prevent us from winning the SuperSport World Title for the second year running.

The grounds given for this decision were:

• The P1 TCC had given us a MAP (horsepower rating) of 531hp which means our boat has to weigh 4.5kg times 1062hp (two times 531) for a total weight of 4,779kg

• After the races in Belgium, our boat weighed 4,900kg on Saturday and 4,840kg on Sunday, so well over this required weight

• Following the Dyno test, our engines were assessed at 547hp, meaning our boat needed to weigh 4,923kg and concluded our boat was under weight

The same test was carried out on 3 Evolution boats prior to Cowes and all were found to be over their horsepower rating, and two as a result we also under their required weight. These boats however were not penalised other than being required to carry more weight in future races which is what we would have expected also. Our boat unfortunately was not treated in the same way as the others, and in addition to extra weight, we were penalised by 200 points.

It seems bizarre to us that this ruling effectively means we are responsible for Dyno-ing our own engines, and hoping that any subsequent Dyno by P1 (on different equipment, in a different location and with a different correction factor) could possibly result in the same horsepower rating. This was the purpose of the MAP originally. It seems that they have created an un-enforceable precedent.

We have appealed this decision to the U.I.M. and as per the rules have requested that the Dyno test be re-taken. (All boats were dyno'd in different countries, in different conditions and with different equipment). P1 have been unable to explain what correction factor if any was used.

The team is extremely disappointed in what we consider to be unfair and inconsistent application of this penalty by the P1 management committee and what appears to be an arbitrary and otherwise motivated decision.

We obviously await the outcome of the appeal.

For the Saturday endurance race, we ran the start lap covering a distance of 8.133nm followed by 8 laps of the full lap (shown opposite) each of which was 8.133nm for a total course length of 73.197nm

For the Sunday sprint race, we covered the start lap followed by 7 laps of the full lap for a total race length of 48.448nm.

All the marks on the course were either laid yellow or red pillar buoys. The Muster area (marked "M" on the charts) was south of mark G (far right on the chart)

The numbers in the black boxes show the bearing (direction) we have to race in.

The numbers in the brown circles show the direction we have to turn to at each laid mark, in terms of numbers on a clock face. So, the number 10 in the brown circle at the top left of the picture at Mark X means that we had to turn left to 10 o’clock.

The red arrows show the direction of the course which was clockwise for each of the laps.

The chequered box represents the lap line in front of the P1 village in the Portimao marina.