After Round Three of the UIM Class 3D World Championship, which took place in Tvedestrand, Norway just seventy-five points now separate the top two contenders.
Having come away from the opening two races in Rodi Garganico, Italy with a decent points haul, Serafino Barlesi racing his Banca Generali backed Victory built catamaran now has the Frenchman François Pinelli breathing down the back of his neck after winning the third round.
Pinelli, who had Saul Bubacco sat alongside him in their Victory built catamaran Espace Power (D-1) described the race as beautiful.
Flat then rough is perfect for us. We had good speed in both sections. Yes, it’s a very technical lap but thankfully our boat is balanced well, it proved very stable when the conditions changed.
For Barlesi though he was not a happy Italian after both he and Pinelli went for the same line into the turn opposite the town on the opening lap. In the impact his right-hand sponson was holed but worse was the fact that his power steering was damaged, leaving them to complete the race with no assistance.
We won’t protest but yes, we have a hole to fix before Saturday.
With just thirty minutes between the UIM 3C World Championship race and the 3D race, Erik Sundblad Johansen reset his focus and joined Jan Trygve Braaten for their third race together in their Enegima sponsored catamaran. The ‘local hero’s’ felt that they had made a good propeller choice but still needed seat time.
Perhaps I’m a little disappointed to finish in third place but I can’t feel the boat yet. I need to get more friendly with it because it does not cope well in the tight corners just yet.
Fourth place went to the Rautti catamaran Marco driven by Alfredo Amato and Roberto Lo Piano. Their Mercury outboard engines were down on power giving them little chance of keeping up with the fleet.
| POS | No | Name | Race One | Race Two | Race Three | Total |
| 1 | D20 | Banca General | 400 | 300 | 300 | 1000 |
| 2 | D1 | Expace Power | 300 | 200 | 400 | 925 |
| 3 | D10 | Sabbie di Parma | 225 | 400 | DNS | 625 |
| 4 | D2 | Energima | 169 | RET | 225 | 394 |
| 5 | D69 | Marco | RET | 169 | 169 | 338 |
| 6 | D17 | De Mitiri | 127 | 127 | DNS | 254 |
| 7 | D8 | Hose Technology | RET | RET | DNS | 0 |
Race Four for the 3D World Championship competitors will take place on Saturday 9 July at 14:30 local time and can be followed via the Live Stream on the Tvedestrand Racing Klubb Facebook page.
Photos Chris Davies/PRW
