The Royal Australian Navy-backed 222 Offshore of Darren Nicholson and Giovanni Carpitella took their maiden UIM Class 1 victory of the year in challenging Lake Michigan waters yesterday. The Australian and Italian duo started the race in P2 on the outside of polesitters, Huski Racing.

Yes baby… that’s a win in Michigan City. Wow, conditions were crazy out there and we’re just glad everyone finished the right way up. Well done to all the teams – everyone’s necks and kidneys will be hurting tonight. This is a team win – our crew bust their arses after long flights to get us on the water and give us a competitive boat. Thank you, boys.

At the drop of the green flag, Huski Racing and 222 Offshore commenced battle to the first turn buoy ahead of the new entry GBX Racing, and JBS Racing.

It was Nicholson and Carpitella in their 222 Offshore Victory catamaran that would prove to have the right boat setup for the day, as they out accelerated the Huski Racing crew of Steve Curtis and Travis Pastrana, opening a sizeable lead, and never looking back.

Huski Racing Technical Director, Gary Stray explained

It started out as an extremely competitive race with us battling with 222 Offshore, but on the third lap we had a turbo temperature sensor fail which put us into guardian mode for the rest of the race. We are glad that we manage to finish the race and pick up some more points towards the Class 1 championship.  We would like to congratulate 222 Offshore on their win and we look forward to St Pete in September.

GBX Racing’s Alex Pratt and Miles Jennings produced the heartstopper of the day, taking a massive jump and standing the boat straight up in the air and landing on its side.

The Anglo-American pairing would continue to finish third, despite considerable damage to their MTI catamaran.

Pratt commented:

There was some big water out there today which provided a steep learning curve for me in my debut race season. The team will need to carry out some repairs before the next race on Florida’s Gulf Coast and I can’t wait to get back into action next month.

Jeff Stevenson and Micheal Stancombe of JBS Racing did not finish the race, pulling out with a mechanical issue after seven laps.

With Huski Racing still leading the championship, the next round will be in St. Petersburg, Florida, on September 2-4.

Photo credit: Paul Kemiel