#77 LUCAS OIL SOC current standings
2nd Place Italian Championship
2nd Place European Championship
4th Place World Championship
See
featuring multiple onboard GoPro cameras.
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
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