Australia’s only production boat manufacturer with an international race team, Maritimo Racing, has initiated its title defense in the opening rounds of the 2017 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships with two commanding victories from four events.
Maritimo’s offshore superboat team is leading the Supercat Extreme Class and running second overall after four of 10 events. Having claimed their 14th Australian Offshore Superboat Championship title last year, Maritimo is determined to repeat that success again this year and is also committed to a two-boat assault on the Key West Super Boat International World Championships (SBI) in the USA this November.
Driving in both the national and international Maritimo campaigns this year, Tom Barry-Cotter is confident with the team’s pre-season preparations and performance so far.
“The team has not eased off after last season’s success, and are determined to carry that momentum through the 2017 season with the goal of retaining a national title and winning a world title,” he said. “It’s a challenge the team has taken on with great motivation and energy.”
“We are campaigning two boats in the Australian Super Cat Extreme Class this season, 40’ and 42’ Maritimo catamarans powered by twin 8.3L naturally aspirated V8 engines, developing around 750hp each.”
Tom Barry-Cotter has teamed up with Steve Jellick in the team’s 40’ Catamaran, and for the first time, father and son duo Ross and Andrew Willaton have joined forces together in the 42’ Catamaran. The Australian series kicked off in North Queensland in July, and will include five venues with ten races.
The team is also in the construction process of a secretive new 36’ catamaran at the Hope Harbour manufacturing facility. The Maritimo Racing R36 is scheduled for racing debut at the Key West SBI World Championships.
Barry-Cotter said the Maritimo Racing R36 will be a culmination of decades of racing knowledge and experience in terms of design and engineering, that has stemmed from new cost reducing technical rules being implemented from the 2017 season.
“The Maritimo Racing R36 is an affordable racing package that can be manufactured to order for existing competitors or anyone with the urge to get involved in powerboat racing, and is already drawing plenty of interest,” he said.
Barry-Cotter said the Maritimo race team is internationally respected in terms of race boat construction and setup, always attracting significant interest when it brings something new to the USA.
Maritimo’s International Sales and Marketing manager, Greg Haines, said Maritimo was the only production boat builder in Australia which had the benefit of race driven technology and advances built into its model range.
“Competing at an international level provides us with insights that cannot be gained in any other way and those insights ultimately drive the way we produce our luxury cruiser range, ” he said. “The race team has just finalised the setup of its new headquarters, adjacent to the company’s manufacturing plant at Coomera on the Gold Coast, and it is already turning into an attraction with many existing and prospective Maritimo owners wanting to see what goes on behind the scenes in the world of high speed offshore powerboat racing.”
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