Maritimo back to racing after 200km/h crash

After securing a 15th AUS1 championship title in the Offshore Super Boat Championships in Australia in 2017, Maritimo Racing is gearing up for the first round of the UIM XCAT World Championship in the UAE next month (March).

At the time of writing, the team's race boat and workshop container were en route to the UAE after spending the summer months testing and improving the 'new' boat.

Maritimo Racing will compete in a rebuilt 30ft Doug Wright design with two 400 ROS Mercury Racing outboards.

THE 200KM/H CRASH
Tom Barry-Cotter said the boat had been completely re-rigged and repaired following its 200 kilometres per hour plus crash in 2016 and had been rebranded from Gold Coast Australia to Maritimo Racing.

"We lengthened the boat to better handle the 400 ROS outboards and we have undertaken cockpit safety modifications with changes to the windscreen, seats and both upper and lower escape hatches," he said.

Barry-Cotter said the XCAT series in 2018 involved races in the UAE, Europe and China and he was excited by the team's prospects.

AUSTRALIA, A ONE-HORSE RACE
In 2017, Maritimo 12 crewed by Barry-Cotter and Steve Jellick proved to be a formidable combination in the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships and they enter 2018 as heavy favourites in a title defence.

The 40ft Maritimo Catamaran has undergone an upgrade program amid its off-season overhaul.

Maritimo's second entry, Maritimo 11 crewed by father and son duo Ross and Andrew Willaton will compete in the new Maritimo R36 and will also present a strong challenge to the title defence.

TESTING THE NEW R36
Barry-Cotter said the off-season had been spent testing and developing the new R36.

The development of the R36 model will see it ultimately made available as a package for purchase, for anyone looking at getting involved in the sport.

The first race in the Australian series will be held in Bowen in late April and the growing Super Cat Extreme Class will see the largest competitive fleet in many years, according to Barry-Cotter.

"We are looking forward to both competitions and we believe we have positioned ourselves very well in terms of the boats we will be campaigning."

Barry-Cotter said Maritimo was the only Australian luxury cruiser manufacturer that had its own race team and the experience and knowledge gained on the international race circuit was inbuilt into the company's range of production vessels.

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Some images with this story from EMB Photographs.