Pro Vee

[Ben Mazur]

Does anyone know if the class will return. According to the ProVee website, there was no racing in 06 due to lack of participants. It's a shame as it was a good series while it lasted.

Pics are from the Pro Vee site.

[Ben Mazur]

The last couple of pics here are from a race that was held at midnight in Bodoe, Norway which is in the arctic circle.

[POO !!!]

Man !!! You guys have such one off boats . They are so cool .
Over here they all look pretty much the same .I like it that you all inovate so much .


More Pic's Please !!!:)

[Ben Mazur]

Here ya go.

[Rupert Munro]

I'm sure Ben recognises this one...

In its later guise is it Thunder Coast of Finland?

[Ben Mazur]

Yep. Here's a pic of 'The Reefer' G5 along with it's stablemate 'Thunderbird'.

Recognize the nice looking fella sitting on the stern of 'The Reefer'? :)

[RumRunner]

Does anyone know if the class will return. According to the ProVee website, there was no racing in 06 due to lack of participants. It's a shame as it was a good series while it lasted.

Pics are from the Pro Vee site.

I bet Fabio would know.

[Ben Mazur]

Welcome to Proprider

I bet Fabio would know.

Buzzi?

[RumRunner]

Welcome to Proprider



Buzzi?

Yup. He was pushing P1 on his website pretty hard.

[Ben Mazur]

Buzzi designed/built a number of boats that competed in ProVee. Ceramica Panaria, Spirit of Arendal, Patriot Wave, Hog Vee, Welmax to name a few.

The Sony sponsored FB 55 became P1 champion in 05.

[Dragon]

Chris Witty is racing in P1 in 2007 and he lost his promoter rights to Pro Vee in 2006 after the UIM took it away for not running enough races as I understand it. Don't know if he ever appealed that decision.

I have not heard anything about a new promoter

If you go to the UIM site, there in nothing in the 2007 calendar for Pro Vee and if you check the promoter status for Pro Vee "the page no longer exists" :D

Sadly, based on that, I have to assume nothing is happening in 2007

[Chris Witty]

Being a new member of Proprider, I've got some catching up to do but I though letting everyone know about the state of ProVee, as it's former promoter, might be useful.

By the end of 2005 we'd formed a well balanced management group (comprising UK and Norwegian interests) and looked forward to 2006 in a positive frame of mind, despite the mutiny in Blankenberg.

I had arranged to have ProVee supporting the P1 fixture in Travemunde, the Class 1 race in Arendal, a one-off event in Finland and the final round at Oregrund, Sweden supporting the 2-litre Worlds. Not a bad schedule. All we needed, at the request of the event organisers themselves, was a commitment from the teams guarenteeing us 8 entries at each venue.

We asked for a small registeration fee from the teams, just as Class 1, Formula 1 (tunnel boats) and P1 does. We got just two teams who were prepared to do so even though this would be returned at the end of the season.

We elected from the outset not to offer prize money but give every team some form of equal benefit for attending the event. This was a pre-agreed number of hotel rooms, free race fuel and free TV programming.

You'd think that would have been enough to keep the series going. It wasn't. It died due to lack of commitment. I believe the interest is still there as the class concept (developed from Class 2) is proven but the time, effort and money we poured into the class looks to have been a total waste.

I sincerely hope that the P1 series doesn't fall into the same trap. It's vital that the competing teams are 'looked after' but, at the same time, the teams mustn't take P1 for granted just because it has a wealthy benefactor.

That said I then decided to put together my own ingredients and form a P1 Evo team which is managed under the ProVee Offshore banner. So ProVee is still alive, it's just that I'm now using two Ilmor Viper engines in a monohull to achieve the same power output!

As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

[Ben Mazur]

Welcome to Proprider Chris. Very good to have you here.

It's nice to know that the Provee Offshore name has not been relegated to history and that it's attached to a winning boat.

[ciao]

Being a new member of Proprider, I've got some catching up to do but I though letting everyone know about the state of ProVee, as it's former promoter, might be useful.

By the end of 2005 we'd formed a well balanced management group (comprising UK and Norwegian interests) and looked forward to 2006 in a positive frame of mind, despite the mutiny in Blankenberg.

I had arranged to have ProVee supporting the P1 fixture in Travemunde, the Class 1 race in Arendal, a one-off event in Finland and the final round at Oregrund, Sweden supporting the 2-litre Worlds. Not a bad schedule. All we needed, at the request of the event organisers themselves, was a commitment from the teams guarenteeing us 8 entries at each venue.

We asked for a small registeration fee from the teams, just as Class 1, Formula 1 (tunnel boats) and P1 does. We got just two teams who were prepared to do so even though this would be returned at the end of the season.

We elected from the outset not to offer prize money but give every team some form of equal benefit for attending the event. This was a pre-agreed number of hotel rooms, free race fuel and free TV programming.

You'd think that would have been enough to keep the series going. It wasn't. It died due to lack of commitment. I believe the interest is still there as the class concept (developed from Class 2) is proven but the time, effort and money we poured into the class looks to have been a total waste.

I sincerely hope that the P1 series doesn't fall into the same trap. It's vital that the competing teams are 'looked after' but, at the same time, the teams mustn't take P1 for granted just because it has a wealthy benefactor.

That said I then decided to put together my own ingredients and form a P1 Evo team which is managed under the ProVee Offshore banner. So ProVee is still alive, it's just that I'm now using two Ilmor Viper engines in a monohull to achieve the same power output!

As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Is it true that you were in the film "The Railway Children"? an old acquaintance of yours, Chris Moss told me that last year.

[Chris Witty]

The Railway Children you say? A nice family film if I recall. Made the same year in which Tommy Sopwith, Charles de Selincourt and Don Shead won the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes in Miss Enfield II. But who crewed the winning boat the year before? And it wasn't Jenny Agutter.

[ciao]

The Railway Children you say? A nice family film if I recall. Made the same year in which Tommy Sopwith, Charles de Selincourt and Don Shead won the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes in Miss Enfield II. But who crewed the winning boat the year before? And it wasn't Jenny Agutter.

Not a clue! I may be the webmaster to the classic site but all the words are copied and pasted (Mike James is the historian).

Lets have a pic of you in your famous movie days Chris!

P.S. bumped into Bernard Cribbins years ago on Bournemouth Pier watching a Powerboat Race!

[Cookee]

P.S. bumped into Bernard Cribbins years ago on Bournemouth Pier watching a Powerboat Race!

Worked with Bernard Cribbins on "Down to Earth" a Sunday night drama - great bloke!

[ciao]

Did he tell you he was an offshore powerboat racing fan?

[Cookee]

He was in a rowing boat on the river Dart with "nurse Gladice" from "open all hours" and Ricky Tomlinson at the time and I was more concerned with thier safety to be honest, but he was a real pro!

[ciao]

I bumped into him again last month signing stuff at a sci fi convention held in the shopping mall in Milton Keynes didn't rate as highly as bumping into you in the English pub in South Africa!