1971

L’OFFSHORE RACING AS TESTING “GROUND”

                                                                               
The great adventure of UFOs in offshore powerboating can now begin. For decades it will mark the history of Italian sport boating and in direct competition with English and American teams, often beating them. In short: a UFO 21’ equal to that of the year before, with two brand-new Mercury outboards capable of "even" 135 HP SAE, participates in all seven races of the season finishing second in the Italian league and winning the Santa Margherita – Montecarlo GP and the Naples Trophy. The boat is called CO-DEL-CA', a name that alludes to Riccardo and Mario, co-designers and co-drivers, etymology defined by a newspaper of the time "an unpronounceable goliardic definition". The Neapolitan race was beyond 200 nautical miles long and in some parts of the route the sea came in force 4. These were more than five really hard hours, given the limited length of the hull: barely 22 feet! But the boat was always stuffed with of all the equipment on board, just like the ones the yard provided to their customers for leisure boats! A curiosity: hydraulic servo and Power Trims had not been invented yet and, for safety, the outboards’ shafts were tied with hemp ropes to prevent engine knocks against the transom, falling back in the water after a jump.