PRW is well aware of the modern-day insatiable appetite for controversy but what we don’t want to see is all that drama over-shadow the positive aspects of the sport such as the welcome return of Pål Virik Nilsen after his battle with cancer or stand out performances by the British team who secured the UK’s best ever XCat result with a superb second place last Saturday.

Team GB Throttleman Scott Williams said

It was a great weekend for us.  The rough water conditions really worked in our favour, and we were chuffed with second place in the first race. Sundays was even rougher, and we started really well.  Then on the third lap we lost the trim control on one engine and rather than push for a podium finish we opted for a finish to collect more points.  Fifth overall for the new team is a great start to this year’s series.

Martin Campbell, the team’s driver spoke about the weekend

I was blown away with a second-place finish.  When we raced here just before Christmas it was the start of a steep learning curve for me.  Then when you realise that there are teams here who have never been on the podium it just goes to show what a brilliant result it was. Sunday saw that once again we were right up there until engine problems. Now we are leaving the UAE holding fifth place in the world championships, plus it’s great knowing there is still a lot to play for this season.

Team Manager Shelley Jory-Leigh certainly rolled up her sleeves and put a shift in

To have achieved the best result in XCat for a British team makes me enormously proud. As a former racer I know how tough it is out there on the course.

 

Now as a Team Manager in XCat World Championship you need a different kind of strength because it’s quite demanding but worth it when it all comes together which it certainly has this weekend in Fujairah.

The team are now relaxing at a beach club before heading back to the UK and will be looking forward to the next rounds of the 2022 UIM XCat World Series the double header taking place on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in mid-June.

This time though he’s competing at the opening round of the 2022 UIM XCat World Championships, the Grand Prix of Fujairah with the Swecat Racing Team. During the five years he raced with them he helped them secure fourth place in both the 2016 and 2017 World Championships.

The last-minute opportunity to race for the Swedish team came about due to Konstantin Ustinov facing the recently imposed UIM ban on Russian competitors competing and now three months after the last Grand Prix held in Dubai Stark is physically and mentally ready to get back out on water.

Last year the Swecat entry was plagued with difficulties which stemmed back to the Chinese round of the 2019 XCat World Championships when they were hit by Abu Dhabi 5 and crashed out at high speed. In the impact the carbon fibre hull was cracked and both Mercury engines and all the electrics were submerged. The wreaked boat was then shipped to Dubai for the last round of that year’s series, but with no time to carry out the repairs the hull just sat there.

After being left untouched due to travel restriction throughout 2020, the team then arrived in Fujairah to prepare their entry for the 2021 championship bringing with them a lot of spear parts including updated powerheads, and midsections, digital throttles, and even new race seats. When they started to test though they quickly discovered that the foam inside the bag tanks had turned to fine powder which got into the fuel filter, fuel pumps and stopped the engines.

Since then the boat has been thoroughly worked on in the UAE with assistance from Hameed Extreme Marine.

When Niklas Sjöö Co/Founder/Team Builder & Chairman of Hypercat Boats AB spoke to PRW he paid special thanks to all the private teams who gave it their all to help them out.

It is like having a big family here with everyone helping us out and this gives us the encouragement we need to fight hard to get out onto the racecourse.

Stark told PRW

Unfortunately, the Victory Team won’t be joining the first round of the championship, but I’m happy to be racing with my old team alongside driver Sebastian Groth. The package that we have will allow us to fight for seventh position but of course we will try our best to achieve a better finish. It will be difficult to defend the same result I achieved in last year’s championship, but I will never stop fighting and believing. In the end I’m extremely glad to be back racing and that’s what truly matters.

Action gets under way at 2022 UIM XCat World Championships, Grand Prix of Fujairah on Friday 4 March with Pole Position taking place at 12:00 local time (GMT + 4). Then Race One starts at 15:00 local on Saturday 5 March. The following day Pole Position is at 11:00 local followed by Race Two four hours later.

‘The Executive Committee of the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) examined today the situation created by the military invasion of Ukraine. The UIM EXCO Members expressed their shock over the ruthless initiative taken against a sovereign state. They underlined that the UIM strongly condemns all acts of violence perpetrated against civilians and reaffirms its solidarity with the Ukrainian population.

As the world governing body of the powerboating sport, the UIM is committed to encouraging its practice in all disciplines on a global scale and to offering opportunities to the athletes to perform. Yet, in light of the present situation caused by the Russian invasion in Ukraine, international powerboating events organized and staged under the auspices of the UIM in Russia and Belarus are excluded until the current threats to the Ukrainian population are cleared.

The UIM EXCO also resolved not to invite Russian and Belarussian athletes and officials nor to allow their participation in international powerboating competitions organised worldwide under the authority of the UIM until further notice.

As an IOC recognized International Sports Federation, the UIM fully supports the initiatives taken so far by the Olympic Movement in search of a peaceful solution of the current conflict.

The UIM Office continues to closely monitor the situation and remains at the disposal of the Member Federations, Athletes and Officials for further guidance.’

With the opening round of the 2022 UIM XCat World Championship getting underway this week in Fujairah, UAE, this will see Mikhail Kitashev and Dmitry Vandyshev and their New Star Racing Team entry excluded from the series until further notice.