Maritimo Racing launches apprentice-focused program

The Gold Coast-based company has recently launched a program where it allows apprentices to accompany the race team to an Australian event, where they work with the team to prepare the high-speed catamarans for races.

However, one of the two 36-foot Maritimo Racing boats competing in last weekend’s final round of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championship at Hervey Bay, Queensland clipped a competitor’s boat that had hooked up and flipped just in front of it.

The impact of the high-speed crash – just two laps into the 30-minute event – punctured the number 11 Maritimo Racing boat’s fuel tanks, with the boat spectacularly bursting into flames.

Images posted on the GP Hydro Livestreaming Facebook page after the crash show extensive fire damage to the Maritimo Racing boat’s hull.

The boat was driven by Andrew Willaton, with his father, experienced offshore racer Ross Willaton.

Ross Willaton told Speedonthewater.com he thought the 43-foot catamaran that collided with the Maritimo Racing boat was clear of them.

“We got to that turn in front of them and we thought we had them out of sight, and kaboom, all of the sudden we got T-boned and they were upside down,” Willaton said.

“It happened so fast. We hadn't even fallen off plane and we were still trying to shut it down and shut the fuel off when Andrew looked back and happened to see that the boat was on fire.”

Maritimo said its race-based apprenticeship program was aimed at providing “the opportunity to experience the workings and operation of the Maritimo Racing team at championship races throughout the year”.

The apprentices Will be hands on the tools at race events, and are expected to pitch in and help the team prepare the boats.

"Attention to detail, where even the smallest gain remains a goal and adds to our overall competitiveness sets us apart,” Maritimo designer and race team representative Tom Barry-Cotter said.

"The mindset of continually developing small incremental evolutionary improvements over the course of time, no matter how small, is worth the effort if it is advancing you forward.

"There are expectations that our product performance is elite, so every member of our brand feels that responsibility.

"The best performing machine means nothing without reliability and durability, and to be successful, reliability and toughness must be methodical."

Techniques ands new processes – such as exterior finishes and different ways of laminating to build strength without adding weight – flow out of the race team and into Maritimo’s motor yacht-building process in a similar way to how Formula 1 race technology trickles down into the cars we buy in showrooms.

All Maritimo motor yachts use a Maritimo Racing-developed hydraulic power steering system that increases responsiveness at the wheel.

Last weekend’s race was not the first time a Maritimo Racing boat had caught fire while competing. In July, the team’s other boat split a fuel hose and caught fire while out on a sighting lap of the course.