Erik Hoorn tragically lost his life in September, with Fabio Buzzi and Luca Nicolini, due to an accident in the Lido di Venezia after successfully completing a Monte Carlo to Venice record.

Hoorn, who was born in Holland in 1965, had been an integral part of Fabio Buzzi’s marine record-breaking runs.

Working with Buzzi’s company, FB Design, Hoorn applied his vast experience and technical know how with diesel engines to the maximum benefit.

In 2001, Hoorn acted as Buzzi’s chief engineer for a Monte Carlo to London speed attempt.

Hoorn looked after the four MTU 12V 2000 engines in a FB 80’ hull that covered the 2000 nautical miles in 63 hours and 54 minutes, setting a new record and capturing the Steigenberger Trophy.

The boat was appropriately called, ‘Record’ and was owned by Austrian entrepreneur, Hannes Bohinc.

In the same year, Hoorn, Buzzi, Bohinc, Dag Pike and Simon Powell would also beat the Round Britain record time by nearly 25 percent.

Hoorn continued to use his diesel expertise on further successful record attempts including Buzzi’s Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT) powered three-pointer, that he set a Guinness Record of 172.12 mph on Lake Como last year.

He spent many hours with Buzzi in Brianza, Italy preparing the former Gran Argentina boat for their final record attempt together.

Their posthumous Monte Carlo to Venice record of 18 hours, 33 minutes and 30 seconds will be very hard to beat and is testament to Hoorn’s engineering ability.

Erik Hoorn is survived by his wife and 3 children.

Erik Hoorn, born February 2 1965, died September 17 2019

Erik Hoorn will be laid to rest on Saturday at St. Jakobus, Andreas-Hofer-Straße 34, 88074 Meckenbeuren, Germany.