Australia’s Maritimo Racing, which currently leads the overall Australian Offshore Superboat Championship, is heading into round four of the series at Lake Macquarie with a totally new boat it says will give it the winning edge.
The Maritimo R36 is currently undergoing testing on the Gold Coast in readiness for the Lake Macquarie event. It will be driven by father and son team Ross and Andrew Willaton.
Maritimo’s Tom Barry-Cotter said the new R36 is a Mercury VI Drive Design, that is compatible with the SBI Superboat Class. It is four feet shorter than Maritimo 12 which is driven by Barry-Cotter and Steve Jellick.
“We believe that the smaller R36 hull will have an acceleration and speed advantage in the calm waters of Lake Macquarie,” said Barry-Cotter. “Lake Macquarie will offer a three race format for the first time in OSC history and with no pole position and an extra race the new format will place critical importance in getting a clean start. With the starting grid order being random in each race and a lot of boats being evenly matched in straight line speed it is very important to get a quick start and get clean water.”
Barry-Cotter said the most important thing for the team was reliability. “We are not getting complacent with the championship lead and we are concentrating all our focus on scoring points every race for the remainder of the season,” he said.
Maritimo 12 with the Barry-Cotter and Jellick crew has won four out of the six races in the Australian series this season and secured two from three pole positions.
Ross Willaton said he believed the R36 will be a competitive package for Lake Macquarie.
“Traditionally the waters down there don’t get too rough so I think the small hull size and acceleration attributes of the hull design should hold us in good stead,” he said.
Barry-Cotter said the testing and experience gained in this year’s Australian series would bode well for Maritimo Racing in the world championships held in Key West in 2018.
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