It will see the international, advanced communications company become the official marine radio communications of P1 Offshore powerboat racing and P1 AquaX personal watercraft racing for another season.

P1 USA Championship Manager, Michelle Petro said

Partnerships are at the heart of our business and reliable, clear communications are vital to our P1 event operations on land and on the water, so we are delighted to join forces with a world-class supplier. On a race weekend nothing is more important for a high-speed marine motorsport than safety for everyone involved, and we are acutely aware that safety and excellent communications go hand in hand.

P1 race marshals have a dual role at events, monitoring safety and ensuring there are no rules infringements, and with communication and reaction times being vital elements they rely on the range and quality of their Icom M94D radios.

Ray Novak, Icom America Senior Sales Manager commented

We always aim to provide products and solutions that meet customers’ needs and expectations, and as a fan of anything fast, I am excited that Icom is again the chosen official partner for the P1 Safety and officiating crews.

Icom have won many awards for its marine communications equipment and their radios are highly valued for their legendary durability and ease of use. They were the first manufacturer to produce highly advanced and very compact hand-held VHF marine transceivers that are not only submersible, have built-in GPS and DSC, but also float.

P1 Global Operations Director, Martin Raby explained

The P1 team of race marshals are the first people on the water and the last off it. We need long battery life on our radios and the M94D certainly delivers in this respect. Sometimes we operate racecourses up to four miles offshore and having a hand-held VHF radio which transmits at a higher wattage is essential.

One of P1’s key duties is setting up the racecourse with GPS pinpoint accuracy and the fact that the M94D has built-in GPS means that all our marshals can check the position of any of our marks with total confidence.

The P1 season gets underway at the end of next month with the opening round of the five-venue AquaX National Championship at Kissimmee/St. Cloud in Central Florida, and the following month P1 Offshore Powerboat Racing will kick off at the Thunder On Cocoa Beach event on Florida’s Space Coast.