Victory Team on the road to another conquest 

 
As the city of Travemunde prepares to host the Class One UIM World Offshore Powerboat Championship (6-7 July 2002), representatives for Dubai and current World Champions Victory Team’s fleet of boats, trucks and crews will today start on the long trip to Germany  and the second leg of the grueling climb to the top of the championship standings.

Although Victory Teams 1-2 place finish in Trieste last month showed a flawless performance, pre-race tests are still extensive for the team that will not accept anything less then perfection and crews have spent the lull in between races stripping the boats down and putting the replaced and tested engines through their paces.

One area that the Team will be paying close attention to will be the rudder on Victory 1. Although there have been few modifications to the two boats this year, the winter months has seen Victory 1 fitted with a new and unique movable rudder. Always looking to new possibilities in order to improve on the design of their boats, Victory Team are in the initial development stages. “The concept of the movable rudder is to establish if there is any advantage to using the rudder deeper or higher. At the moment we are collecting the data but as yet we are still awaiting the findings.” said Khalfan Harib, Managing Director of Victory Team and retired two times World Champion.

Team tactics for the series seem to be there are no tactics, just follow their instincts. “Our drivers are naturally competitive and you can guarantee that both boats will be pushing hard to be in first when they cross the finish line during Sunday’s race.” said Harib. “We are a team but our drivers are individuals when it comes to winning. Our engines have proven reliable in pre-race testing and we hope for a good result this weekend.”

Heat one in Trieste proved a weekend that would be hard to follow in terms of sporting drama, but Travemunde could prove Trieste as just a taste of things to come if top contenders are back in the running for next Saturdays race. Their need to notch up the points will be sure to raise the tempo and turn up the heat on what already looks set to be a great championship series. “I don’t think that we have fully seen the potential and standard of the other boats as yet.” said Harib. 

Last years time trial champions; Spirit of Norway has certainly improved if the increased speed in their engines is anything to go by. Showing quicker times then last year, the Anglo/Norwegian pairing will be gunning hard to snatch another first in the pole position run, not to mention the UIM title from Victory Team. Also hot to trot is new boat on the series, Reverie. Proving a very fast boat, they certainly gave 3rd place finishers in Trieste, Spirit of Norway, a run for their money until a high speed crash going into a corner saw them barrel roll out of the race and off the podium.  With a wider tunnel then the rest of the boats in the fleet, Reverie will prove the one to look out for on the straights as they will possibly have more lift (due to their wider tunnel) and less resistance in the water. Let’s hope that they have the American built Skater ready in time to show competitors that big really is better.

In design, Riviera also looks to be a very good contender for the title. Slightly smaller in size then Victory 1 and 7, the Australian team’s Tencarra comes equipped with very strong 2 stroke diesel engines and theoretically, if running to its full capabilities, could leave everybody in their wake in the chase to the title.

Held back last month by a blown turbo, Ugland didn’t show their true capabilities in Trieste last month but pre-race preparations will have the red boat back on form. Although throttleman Jann Hillestad will be out of the running with a broken wrist, former Victory Team throttleman, Randy Scism will be stepping in to assist the team until Jann is back in action.

 Hopes are also high that Highlander will be ready to race this weekend after a crash during their pole position run in Trieste put them out of action last month. If in the race and on form, this boat may well be a contender for a top spot on the day, and after the hard work that the team must put in to have the boat race ready, you can bet followers of offshore will be cheering them on.