Gold Coast based Maritimo Offshore Racing is gearing up to take on the world at the Key West based Superboat World Championships early next month with their race boat already on its way to the USA.
Long time Maritimo race team member and throttle man, Ross Willaton, said their boat is equipped with 1500 horsepower engines and is a tried and proven performer which he expects will be very competitive.
“Last year we did not have the benefit of time to iron out all the bugs in the boat we raced, but this boat not only has plenty of power, it is a proven performer and it is also reliable so we will be right up there I am sure ,” he said.
Willaton leaves Australia on October 21st to be on site when the ship carrying the race boat arrives in Savannah at the end of the month. Once the boat is unloaded he will then take it to Riviera Beach where one of the top teams in the competition, Miss Geico, has again allowed the Aussies to share their race team facilities.
“Miss Geico is one of the toughest competitors around and it is an honour to be able to share their facilities and base our team there,” said Willaton.
When the flag drops at Key West early in November, Willaton will be at the throttles of the Maritimo entry and Travis Thompson will be at the wheel. They hope they can repeat the team’s 2012 performance when they took out the world championships. He said the Miss Geico and CMS teams were the ones to beat.
Willaton said the race boat had been set up by Maritimo’s team manager and engine builder, Kurt Davies who, along with Andrew Willaton, will be the mechanical crew in Key West.
He said the Maritimo team was quietly confident about the World Championships after its impressive performance at the recent Coffs Harbour round of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships.
In that event Willaton and Thompson drew pole position and won both races finishing on top in both the Superboat Extreme category and outright.
In the Superboat 1000 category Andrew Willaton and Andrew Searle, in the Maritimo #12 boat, came third in both the Coffs Harbour races.
“We are very competitive at the moment so things are looking good for Key West.”
Maritimo’s International Sales and Marketing Manager, Greg Haines, said the experience gained at the coal face of international offshore racing was invaluable in the design and performance of the company’s production cruisers.
“No other Australian manufacturer, and actually very few internationally, have the benefit of the learnings we gain from serious offshore racing which can ultimately be built into our production boats,” he said.
Maritimo will have a large on water display at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show starting on November 3rd and a significant contingent of owners and Maritimo fans would be going to the World Championships from the boat show. A Maritimo owners’ muster is going to be held as part of the pre-World Championship activities.
“The USA will certainly know that the Australian’s have arrived,” said Haines. Maritimo dealer partners from around the world will be at Fort Lauderdale.
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