RACE IN PEACE

One of the world’s most colourful powerboat racing legends – Italian Fabio Buzzi – died in a September accident doing what he loved best: racing over the water as quickly as possible. He was 76.

Buzzi was attempting to break the offshore speed record between Monte Carlo and Venice when his boat hit an artificial reef at 80 knots. Two other crew members were also killed, while a fourth person was treated in hospital for injuries.

Widely regarded as the man who transformed offshore powerboat racing, Boating New Zealand featured him in our June 2018 issue. His name appears on 10 offshore world speedboat championships titles, as well as 45 world titles established in vessels designed by him. And there are more than 50 other speed and endurance records.

His latest record (in March 2018) was aboard a ‘three-point’ hull on Italy’s Lake Como. At the age of 75 he set the world speed record for a dieselpowered motorboat: 277, 515km/h (149.84 knots). He also established a record as the world’s oldest marine speedster!

Fabio Buzzi founded his Italy-based FB Design Group in 1971 and it subsequently became one the world’s leading manufacturers of high-speed powerboats.