Team Witty

[Ben Mazur]

Just looking at the totally re-vamped P1 website (looks good Jim) and say Team Witty listed as an Evolution entrant.

What can you tell us about the boat and team Chris?

[jim o'toole]

I'll leave the wittymeister to reveal all when he's ready....

Jim

[Chris Witty]

Team Witty isn't actually Team Witty at all. It's ProVee Offshore, a name once associated with a much loved(!) race series series that fell into a deep coma a few years back but which has now emerged as a race team in its own right. Those familiar with the Powerboat P1 series will be aware that I pulled together the componants which created last year's Evo championship team. I ran it under the ProVee Offshore banner even though the boat was entered as 'Fountain Worldwide' and named after James Sheppard's long time sponsor 'King of Shaves'.

I decided after the World Championships in Key West last November that I wanted to develop my own ideas and chose to set up my own team for 2008 in partnership with my old mate of 28 years Steve Curtis. Basically he's in charge of all technical side (when he's not racing Class 1, performing in the USA(!) and running the Honda series) while I find the money, do the deals and cope with all the politics.

I've entered into a 'relationship' with Michel Karsenti, the US-domiciled Frenchman who's won numerous US SuperVee titles, but it's unlikely that he'll race this year due to business commitments. Mind you things change so you never know. Steve may well appear in the boat but where and when hasn't been decided as yet. He does fancy winning the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes though, a feat achived by his father, Clive, back in 1969 as a crew member on board 'The Cigarette' with the legendary Don Aronow.

A new Fountain has been ordered and is nearly built. It will be fitted with Ilmor Viper V10 motors and will look similar to the existing 'Fountain Worldwide' entry. But we have some tweaks which should give us the edge when push comes to shove. We won't be ready to race in P1 until mid-season but will do whatever we can to make sure a Fountain-Ilmor wins the Evo series, providing the reigning champions are happy to keep finishing 2nd!!

No drivers have been signed up to race the boat as yet but we are in talks with SpongeBob Square Pants and Patrick and both are due at the Andark facility next week for their dunk test ....

[Ben Mazur]

Great news Chris and sounds like you are putting together another championship winning team. Sounds like Mr. Curtis is going to be a very busy man.

Please keep us updated on the progress.

[Boatless]

Can this boat can be raced in the states as I heard SBI and OSS are rumored to be making a class for the P1 boats. So race in Europe and then race in Key West for the end of the season.

[Chris Witty]

We could race these boats in Key West, as we did last year with 'King of Shaves', but our final end-of-season Powerboat P1 finale in Bahrain is a week before so that makes competing at both events with the same boat a non-starter. Far better for P1 to make Key West a qualifying round of the series along with Sarasota and New York which it may do in years to come. Who knows!

[Boatless]

So yours will be the new "KOS"?

[ciao]

No drivers have been signed up to race the boat as yet but we are in talks with SpongeBob Square Pants and Patrick and both are due at the Andark facility next week for their dunk test ....

Jenny Agutter and Bernard Cribbins are also in the line.

[Chris Witty]

So yours will be the new "KOS"?

Yes but better, faster and sexier!

[Chris Witty]

Jenny Agutter and Bernard Cribbins are also in the line.

'The Railway Children' remains a delightful film doesn't it?

[jim o'toole]

'The Railway Children' remains a delightful film doesn't it?

not a touch on the outstanding Emergency Ward 10......

[Ben Mazur]

Meanwhile, I still have this strange sentimental attachment to 'Genevieve'.

[Cookee]

No drivers have been signed up to race the boat as yet but we are in talks with SpongeBob Square Pants and Patrick and both are due at the Andark facility next week for their dunk test ....

Where do I send my CV to? :D :D

[ForTwo]

Cookee, where is you loyalty to rib's? :-)

[Cookee]

Cookee, where is you loyalty to rib's? :-)

I'll tell you what place an order for a P1 RIB - either Supersport or Evolution, and ask me to drive it for you and I will do just that - but if a drive in a hard boat came along it wouldn't be the first time as you know!

[Chris Witty]

I'll tell you what place an order for a P1 RIB - either Supersport or Evolution, and ask me to drive it for you and I will do just that - but if a drive in a hard boat came along it wouldn't be the first time as you know!

I think you'll find that RIBs are now outlawed in P1 ..... although after the bumping and banging that went on last weekend in Marseilles, maybe they should be encouraged to make a return?!

[Cookee]

I think you'll find that RIBs are now outlawed in P1 ..... although after the bumping and banging that went on last weekend in Marseilles, maybe they should be encouraged to make a return?!

They were thinking about banning me from Class III until they saw the boat - did some World and European races with it and got on the podium in more than one race! I think bigger windows might help - are you sure they aren't wearing blinkers in those canopy boats? :D

[Dragon]

From what I saw, blinkers and defective GPSs :p
What was so hard about the first turn?

[Ben Mazur]

I've heard that first turns are incredibly difficult. Just ask any Honda racer.

Then again you could always do what we did with Mr. Noisy. Get a notoriously bad start, be dead last at the first turn mark and have it all to yourself.

[Boatless]

Yes but better, faster and sexier!

Will your boat have MK6 ir Arensons?

[Chris Witty]

Will your boat have MK6 ir Arensons?

We'll start off with Mercury Mk.VIs but may switch to the brand new Ilmor stern drive unit for 2009. It's certainly an option for us to consider. I like the way Ilmor go about things which, from a company that pretty much created the Mercedes F1 engine for McLaren and the Honda V8 for the Indy Racing League, makes them a rather special 'partner' to work with. There are arguments for and against the surface drive versus the stern drive set up and, if you look at the current performance of FWW, running an Arneson unit (with the SCS drop boxes) looks to be the way to go at the moment. We'll see. The ever active Fountain race shop wanted us to try the Mk.VI set up as they believed they could make the boat faster than FWW. I think it's called 'development' so I asked Steve Curtis for his opinion and bowed to his superior judgement. So sixes it will be!

[Boatless]

Wow, after the success of FWW I would have thought it would be the ideal package to have.

[Chris Witty]

;) Wow, after the success of FWW I would have thought it would be the ideal package to have.

We'll just have to wait and see. We're not chasing the P1 Evo championship (that belongs to FWW) so we can afford to experiment a little, just a little.

[Cookee]

It's funny I was talking about engines and drives to a customer today for a project which has nothing to do with P1 and Ilmor engines came up - I think they have certainly proved they have got speed and reliability over the Merc in P1 this season and would be my choice of engine for P1 or a number of other applications - does anyone fit them as a standard package that you could use in Supersport?

[Boatless]

;)

We'll just have to wait and see. We're not chasing the P1 Evo championship (that belongs to FWW) so we can afford to experiment a little, just a little.

Just remarking as I see the FWW seems to corner and accelerate faster than the boats with the MK6.

[Chris Witty]

Just remarking as I see the FWW seems to corner and accelerate faster than the boats with the MK6.

Certainly the FWW boat corners well for a surface drive boat but then James Sheppard learnt well in the cut and thrust world of Honda and it shows. The corner speed of the FWW boat is far superior to anything else out there. It's the complete package ... for the forseeable future!

[Chris Witty]

It's funny I was talking about engines and drives to a customer today for a project which has nothing to do with P1 and Ilmor engines came up - I think they have certainly proved they have got speed and reliability over the Merc in P1 this season and would be my choice of engine for P1 or a number of other applications - does anyone fit them as a standard package that you could use in Supersport?

Ilmor Marine are an OE supplier to most of the American boat manufacturers. There had been talk of installing some Ilmors into a Hustler for Shelley Jory pre-Christmas but that never materialised. Currently the engine doesn't have its EU certification but all that should change later this summer/autumn when the latest 'Generation 4' Viper V10 comes on stream in the new Dodge Viper sports car. Then you'll be able to buy a pleasure boat with a Viper V10 meeting all the EU criteria outside of the USA. Currently the V10 can only be used for racing in Europe.

[Cookee]

Currently the V10 can only be used for racing in Europe.

Under the P1 rules if the engine is supplied as a package (anywhere) then it's eligible for the Supersport class, and I think that would be interesting in the right hull ........... :D

[Chris Witty]

Under the P1 rules if the engine is supplied as a package (anywhere) then it's eligible for the Supersport class, and I think that would be interesting in the right hull ........... :D

Correct. I believe for this year Ilmor offered a subsidised three engine deal purchase to interested P1 teams for less than £60K and no one took them up! Okay so you can probably find a couple of pre-owned Merc 525 EFis for £20K or less but that wouldn't come with a warranty and on-event support. I don't think people realised what an opportunity may have been missed. An Ilmor powered Donzi ZR38 would have been my choice for SuperSport last year and there's no reason to change my opinion for this. Problem is that Ilmor aren't making the 550 HP V10 in much quantity anymore as the US market demands bigger power outputs. That said one can always de-tune a 625 version. Visit www.ilmor.com. It's a comprehensive site and worth a visit.