Nothing wooden about Wettpunkt.com - Five years on from P1 Crowning Glory | Powerboat P1

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Nothing wooden about Wettpunkt.com - Five years on from P1 Crowning Glory

Powerboat P1 - 14 December 2010-- Five years ago today, celebrations were still in full swing following Hannes Bohinc’s first Powerboat P1 Endurance World Championship triumph.

The Fabio Buzzi designed and legendary Admiral-Casino Tivoli had been renamed Wettpunkt.com ten years after taking Bohinc through a career-defining season.

The boat underwent a major transformation and was now equipped with a pair of 10.3-litre bi-turbo Seateks, providing 1000hp each, capable of producing over 80-knots. The team line-up for the season comprised throttleman/owner Bohinc, alongside Britons, Miles Jennings (driver) and Ed Williams-Hawkes (navigator).

Following the first two events, main rival Sony was dominant with four wins from four races and a maximum 40 points to Wettpunkt.com’s 14.

The tides began to turn at the third event of the season, in Travemunde, Germany as the Sony dominance was ended by Wettpunkt.com, taking its first P1 Grand Prix.

The team’s focus then turned to the home of powerboating – Cowes, Isle of Wight – a venue at which Bohinc, Jennings and Williams-Hawkes had all enjoyed previous success. A hard fought battle over two days resulted in a first win of the season for OSG, with Wettpunkt.com in second place.

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With Sony disqualified in both races, the championship had become a three-way battle – Sony: 50, Wettpunkt.com: 44, OSG: 42 - as the teams headed to Gallipoli, Italy for the European Grand Prix.

Sony once again failed to make the podium as Wettpunkt.com and OSG battled for the championship lead. Wettpunkt.com’s challenge was timed to perfection, the team winning the Grand Prix and taking a narrow lead into the final two races in Naples.

The victory was sealed with a second place finish and was a fitting reward for every member of the Wettpunkt.com team, from the mechanics and engineers through to the trio of pilots, whose determination, dedication and ethics were handsomely rewarded over an arduous and action-packed season of drama and excitement. It is a performance still remembered and celebrated by all connected to the Wettpunkt.com team.

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2010 HIGHLIGHTS

With even rougher waters and 10fit waves in places, it was no surprise that the treacherous conditions forced a host of early retirements in what has been aptly described since ites formation in 1961 as one of the toughest endurance races on the plant. Despite his frustration with the outcome of the racing. Bohinc did hint that he expects to return...

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2009 HIGHLIGHTS

Austrian Hannes Bohinc and his Wettpunkt.com team were cruelly denied victory in the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes when a ruptured fuel tank forced the Buzzi-designed powerboat to retire just 1.5 miles short of the finish after almost four hours of grueling race action. There was no stopping them, however...

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2008 HIGHLIGHTS

Wettpunkt.com completed a hat-trick of consecutive wins at an impressive average speed of 88mph, followed by Andy Macateer’s Venturer, the leader in the RB1 Class. Although moderate conditions had prevailed over most of the stage, the opening miles down the Firth of Forth brought strong headwinds and punishing seas...

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2007 HIGHLIGHTS

During 2006, Hannes Bohinc commissioned Italian powerboat legend Fabio Buzzi to design and build a brand new boat to compete in Offshore powerboat racing. Powered by Isotta Fraschini engines, the boat lined up for the start of the 2007 Powerboat P1 World Championship in Valletta, Malta and...

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2006 HIGHLIGHTS

Hannes Bohinc began the 2006 Powerboat P1 season as reigning World Champion. It started the season brightly in Valletta, Malta, powering into second place, until an onboard fire stopped it in its tracks. Further boat-related issues during the second race in Anzio, Italy saw Wettpunkt.com withdraw from the 2006 Championship.

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2005 HIGHLIGHTS

The team knew that its rivals would have to win by a clear margin and, having adjusted its race strategy accordingly, was happy to bring the boat home in second place to claim the World Championship crown; a more than fitting reward for every member of the Wettpunkt.com team...

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2004 HIGHLIGHTS

"These were some of the worst conditions we have ever experienced, but we knew the pedigree of boat and crew." said Bohinc. The sweet taste of victory in Europe's premier offshore series had whet the appetite of the Austrian team, 2005 could not come soon enough.

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2003 HIGHLIGHTS

The Needles Trophy is one of the most beautiful in Offshore, a solid silver sculpture of the Needles Lighthouse off the western tip of the Isle of Wight and was inaugurated in 1932.The inside line was held to the Dolphin buoy turn and on the last leg, at 76 knots in big water, the crew managed to get 'Wettpunkt' ahead by about 40 meters...

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2002 HIGHLIGHTS

The team started the Cowes Classic as favorites, with perfect racing conditions and on a high from the ‘Round the Island’ record. Hannes and his team led the fleet all the way to Portland Bill, however about half a mile into the crossing of Lyme Bay they broke down and, although making a successful effort to restart...

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2001 HIGHLIGHTS

The team started the Cowes Classic as favorites, with perfect racing conditions and on a high from the 'Round the Island' record. Hannes and his team led the fleet all the way to Portland Bill, however about half a mile into the crossing of Lyme Bay they broke down and, although making a successful effort to restart...

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1999 HIGHLIGHTS

The 1999 European Endurance was the first continental championship to be officially recognized by the UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique). Having established himself as a strong presence time and again in his first few years on the competitive powerboating circuit, the Austrian was unbeatable in Class P2...

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1998 HIGHLIGHTS

The 1999 European Endurance was the first continental championship to be officially recognized by the UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique). Having established himself as a strong presence time and again in his first few years on the competitive powerboating circuit, the Austrian was unbeatable in Class P2...

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1995 HIGHLIGHTS

The year of 1995 would become Bohinc's greatest and most prolific in powerboating. The 1993 Martini Endurance Trophy winner became the owner of a 1989 FB 46’ already possessing a winning pedigree; it was from then on that the relationship between Bohinc and Buzzi grew stronger and stronger.

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1994 HIGHLIGHTS

The first distinctive FB 46’ Casino Tivoli of Hannes Bohinc, boasting three Seatek engines, won all the Martini races during 1994 at an impressive average of above 70 knots as the Austrian continued to dominate, this time in the Sport 2 category. With silverware and Bohinc now well acquainted, …

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1993 HIGHLIGHTS

Piloting the same monohull Offshorer Marine 38’ which had brought him so much success during 1992, Hannes Bohinc continued a rich vein of form to not only match but improve upon his debut power boating season. 1993 ranks as a defining year in the power boating career of Hannes Bohinc as his exploits achieved world wide recognition.

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1992 HIGHLIGHTS

In what was his debut season in competitive power boat racing, Austrian entrepreneur Hannes Bohinc began his career in the sport in the best way possible – with silverware. Though he had been a seaman since 1984 – sailing around the Mediterranean in his first sports boat – his passion for competition was not kindled until 1992.