Cowes-Torquay - 30 August 2010 -- Rough sea conditions and a power loss in the starboard engine forced the early retirement of Wettpunkt.com from the Cowes Torquay Cowes and abruptly ended the attempt of team owner and throttleman, Hannes Bohinc, to secure a third win of powerboating’s most coveted prize, the Harmsworth Trophy.

Lacking acceleration, the FB39 struggled in the high waves, putting unnecessary strain upon the hull of the pleasure-designed craft which had already been patched up after its battering in Friday’s 100-mile World Cup Marathon race.

“We tested yesterday and everything seemed fine,” explains Bohinc. “We have prepared well for this race but the circumstances meant that our boat would have struggled to complete the course and we reluctantly decided to retire.

I am particularly sad for the team who have worked very hard without reward. One thing is clear; when we come back to race in Cowes, it will be with a race boat, not a pleasure craft.”

The race and Harmsworth Trophy were won by the Italian entry of Fabio Buzzi, Emilio Riganti, and Simon Powell, whose boat Red FPT completed the 178-mile course in a time of three hours 25 minutes at an average speed of 60mph (96km/h).

Fellow Italian Mario Invernizzi and Britain’s Peter Dredge were second in the FPT-powered Kerakoll with local racers Vee Ganjavian and Gareth Williams from Southampton third in Fury.