SHE LOVES SPEED
Norway’s Marit Strømøy became the first female powerboat racer to be named Driver of the Year at the 11th Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) Awards, held in Lausanne in March.
One of just two women to make the seven-driver shortlist, the 43-yearold from Sandefjord made sporting history by lifting the coveted Best Driver trophy, having obtained the highest score in a social media poll and a vote by the UIM Council.
She is also first and only woman to have won a Formula 1 race (in Sharjah, UAE in 2015) and finished on the final podium of the 2019 UIM F1H2O World Championship.
“It was a big surprise but I’m incredibly proud,” said Strømøy. “This means so much to me, my team, my sponsors and my family. Of course, it’s an honour to be considered a role model for female drivers in our sport – I’ve been racing for 30 years now and this will give the team a huge boost as we prepare for the new season.”
Around 200 VIP guests, featuring powerboating world champions as well as attendees from the worlds of sport, commerce, the boating industry and media, gathered for the first UIM Annual Awards to be held outside of its base in Monaco.
MARITIMO BEATS WORLD’S BEST
Maritimo’s international race team was crowned UIM XCAT World Champions and XCAT Pole Position World Champions in Dubai late last year – becoming the first team in XCAT history to win both titles and also the first nonUAE team to win a world championship.
Maritimo’s lead designer and race team member Tom Barry-Cotter says the win came after a year of high and lows and was a long way from the serious accident that saw the team’s boat destroyed in an accident in April 2018.
“We competed in a new boat designed and built by Maritimo on the Gold Coast and first raced in Italy in Round 1 where it secured pole position and second place in Race 1 in its first outing. We developed the boat all year, improving handling and speed, taking two wins in Shanghai in November 2019 to set up the championship showdown with Dubai Police#3 and Abu Dhabi#4.
“We are incredibly proud and excited to bring
the championship back to Australia for the first time and share with our 300 staff at Maritimo.”
Maritimo is the only production motor yacht manufacturer with a dedicated race team competing on the international stage. The learnings from such high-pressure racing flow through to improvements and innovation in the production yacht range.
Maritimo Racing wins in Shanghai
Australian luxury motor yacht manufacturer, Maritimo's international Racing Technologies Division is on a high with its new R30 XCAT performing strongly in Shanghai resulting in Maritimo Racing taking out two of the three races in round two of the UIM XCAT World Championship in early November.
The new R30 was only having its second outing after a strong
debut in Italy earlier this year.
The new hull and design package benefiting from further
testing and development back in Australia, after Maritimo Racing shipped their
XCAT and equipment back to Maritimo Racing’s Technology Centre in between
rounds one and two for modifications and upgrades.
“The team have worked tirelessly on developing the setup to
improve performance since Italy, and we continue to find more pace with what
was already a fast package out of the box,” said driver Tom Barry-Cotter
"The new R30 advantages are seen in its handling and
balance characteristics with the new design carrying noticeably higher
cornering speeds to the rest of the competition in Shanghai,"
"The R30 differs radically in appearance to the rest of
the competition when at speed, but we are very comfortable in the cockpit and
the boat is proving extremely predictable in its handling characteristics.
Barry-Cotter, who raced the R30 with veteran offshore
powerboat campaigner, Ross Willaton, said a fuel pressure issue in the first
race of the Shanghai series saw Maritimo drop back from fourth to sixth
position in the closing laps with a podium position in sight.
The following two days were a different result he said, as the wins in Shanghai close up the
championship with just six points separating the top three boats with three
races to go in the final round in Dubai in December.
The team now turns its focus to the final Round of three
races in Dubai December 12-14 where the UIM XCAT World Championship will be
decided.
"The team is already back in Australia working on
upgrades for the final round, as we know we need yet more pace and more
important reliability to bring to the decider" he said.
