4:55 PM Thu 4 Feb 2010 GMT
It's shaping as a busier year than usual for the Maritimo Offshore Race Team, with the Australian Class 1 championship to be defended, engines to be changed and, importantly, handling issues to be resolved in its new hull designs.
The team's #1 driver, Tom Barry-Cotter, has confirmed he will strive to defend his '08 and '09 championships, but no decision has been made as to which boat he will drive.
Last year's Tencara hull, but with Maritimo supercharged V8 engines instead of the V12 Lamborghini engines used last year, will be campaigned, but no decision has been made on its crew.
Tom has confirmed that Norwegian ace Pal Virik Nilsen will be his throttleman.
Luke Durman, the team's #2 driver (and Tom's half-brother and director of marketing for Maritimo) will be at the wheel of another boat, #15, it may be the Tencara hull or the Victory boat which ran last year as 'Simrad'.
Ross 'Rossco' (his spelling) Willaton, Maritimo's warranty manager, will be throttleman aboard #15.
The team's original plans to run the new design this year have been temporarily shelved.
'I think the design boasts enormous potential,' Tom explained, 'but we encountered severe handling problems throughout the 2009 Class 1 World championships with the boat running as #11.
'Peter McGrath and Georgio Manuzzi ran #12 and experienced virtually identical problems; they had a major spin out in the Doha race and crashed in the Romania round.
'That particular boat has since been sold to the Norwegian Welmax team', Tom added.
Another of the new hulls was run in the final round of the Australian Class1 championships last year, with team owner Bill Barry-Cotter and Ross Willaton aboard.
Again, the cornering problem reared, the boat 'losing it' on the first corner, rolling onto its side and sustaining damage to the deck, engine hatch and air scoop.
'As I said, we believe the hull has outstanding potential, it simply needs some developmental work and until that is carried out to our satisfaction there's no possibility of it entering a race,' he declared.
The team did plan to run smaller engines with the lighter and more advanced hull design, using carburettor 790hp V8 engines instead of supercharged power, but this too has been put on hold until the handling issues have been resolved in the new hull design.
Tom Barry-Cotter is the reigning Class 1 title holder, having claimed the crown in '08 and '09; Pal Virik Nilsen was throttleman in the '08 win and he and Ross Willaton shared the title in '09.
Luke took out the '06 championship with Ross on throttles.
Tom admits it would be 'nice' to defend his title and claim three championships in succession.
'But that's not my priority,' he said.
'My primary goal for 2010 is to have a safe season following the tragic loss of Mohammad El Mehairi and Jean-Marc Sanchez in the Dubai accident last November.
'The on-going development of the new hull design to eliminate the handling issues, while continuing to enhance safety also remains a major aim,' he added.
For team owner Bill Barry-Cotter, as much as he enjoys his forays into offshore racing, the bottom line remains utilising offshore race technology that could be adapted to improve the Maritimo luxury cruiser range.
Hull design, propeller selection, rudder design, instrumentation, shaft angle, fuel tankage, any aspect which proves itself able to withstand the enormous stresses encountered on the offshore circuits goes 'under the microscope' to see if it has value for the cruiser range.
by Bob Wonders
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Davis, TAS
