Thursday, 10 August, HARBIN (China): Take a look down the line of the 20 boats in this years’ UIM F1H2O Championship and one stands out immediately, the newest generation Blaze Performance Hull, designed and built by Francesco Cantando at his facility in Milan, Italy and unveiled at the UIM F1H2O Grand prix of France in Evian in July.

This weekend’s UIM F1H2O Grand Prix of Harbin in China gives Cantando just his second opportunity to run his next generation Blaze in anger. It is strikingly different and despite a minor problem with the steering and an enforced engine change in qualifying and starting with a load of questions unanswered from 19th in Evian , it was a case of out of the box, onto the water and a very safe drive by the Italian to a top ten point finish on its debut. “I must say that the feeling with the new boat is right. I am very comfortable inside. It has very good acceleration which is one area we focussed on because today qualifying is so important. I am happy with the top speed but now we need more time on the water to really work on set-ups, which propeller works better and to move forward and improve further in a good way.”

The project has been a long time coming for Cantando as he balances the tougher commercial side of running a race team and competing at the top level. “I am very happy to have realised and completed this project to deliver a new model of boat that has evolved with the latest technology using complete computer analysis in design and understanding critical air flow criteria. All the boat's moulds were realised by CNC machining with the latest technologies available.

The close partnership with Team Germany Racing allows RAVENOL to test products under the most extreme racing conditions, and to manufacture lubricants that far exceed the latest requirements of modern marine engines.

Link: Team Germany Racing