1989 Drakkar Noir - Powerboat Archive

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JUNE 1989 e1.20
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QUARTZ WATCH
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WHO CARES WINS!!!
The beautiful Riviera backdrop
made a perfect setting for testing
the radical designed three-pointers.
Mariner UK s Editor prepares for a
harrowing experience, the French
driver appeared to have a suicidal
streak in him.
Powerboat crews will be smelling a lot sweeter this season
thanks to a major new sponsor entering the sport.
Drakkar Noir are putting their wholehearted support behind
the UKOBA championship series concluding with the
Drakkar Noir Challenge at Southampton during September
which also includes the prestigious World 1,3 ltr
championships and culminates a season of fundraising
for MON|TOR, a charity for the research 0f
Motor Neurone Disease,
hroughout the season at
UKOBA events, the black, white
and red Drakkar Noir banners
willbecome a familiar sight as the highprofile
company makes its presence
felt. Drakkar Noir is the male fragrance
of parfums by Guy Laroche a market
leader in gents toiletries. Offshore
Powerboat racing being very much a
visually spectacular sport attracting
the healthy macho type, Guy Laroche
feel it is a perfect environment to promote
their image of Drakkar Noir products.
Journalists from regional and specialist
publications were invited to an
exclusive preview of the three radical
race boats Drakkar Noir propose using
at various locations throughout Europe
to encourage non-racing enthusiasts
to get the feel of speed on water. I
was one of the lucky contingents who
set off to the French Riviera in April to
see and drive these unusual craft.
At first sight the three identicalboats
appeared like something out of aJames
Bond movie. The owner describes the
radical design as monocat, a name he
has patented, but to me they looked
more like three-pointers. Thirty foot in
length, the craft were powered by twin
4ltrJohnson outboards fitting into the
CU

Class 2 specification, yet there are no
plans to race them in this division.
Instead Drakkar Noir intend to run a
series of celebrity match races where
the three monocats will roar around an
inshore course enabling spectators to
enjoy close-up action.
Being identical, the comPetition
would presumably be close but with
various inexperienced drivers this may
not be the case. The course we were
shown at Cannes had several U turns
and at first glance I didn't see how on
earth these boats would make such a
tight turn. That was the first surprise,
they whipped round the buoys at incredibly
fast speeds, never feeling particularly
unsafe, in a straight line their
top speed approached 75-8Omph.
Discussions amongst the experls as to
why they stick to the water so well did
not arrive at any conclusion. The trio's
sleek black colour scheme and sporting
fighter aircraft canopies, give a low
mean look, but hand-throtties and lack
ofpadding around the cockpits reveal
these boats are more for fun than out
and out offshore combat.
All of us who ventured into the BaY
of Cannes enjoyed a liberal helping of
Mediterranean water. Monocats are
inclined to be a little wet, particularly
for the person in the port cockpit who
gets the lions share ofspray as the projectile
whirls round the right-handed
turn buoys.
I was mildly amused and at the
same time positively alarmed when the
seasoned powerboaters in our party
looked distinctly panic-stricken as they
stepped ashore after their hair-raising
demonstrations by two French pilots
and the owrrer of the boats, Pierre
Magnan. Offshore veterans Peter
Bloomfield and Ray Bulman had to be
guided to their seats as they frantically
tried to regain their composure. Maybe
itwas the absence of crash helmets and
life-jackets which bought about their
condition. It was a different story
however, when it was the turn of the
ladies and gentlemen who had never
seen a powerboat at close quarters.
They gamely leapt into the cockpit and
ordered the pilots to 'go faster'. A
perfect example of ignorance is bliss'.
When are we likely to see these craft
in England? They make their first and
only UK appearance at the Drakkar
Noir Challenge in Southampton between
the 26thSept - lst Oct. Not only
will the monocats feature in celebrity
races, Drakkar Noir are also organising
fund-raising events nationwide. Winners
of these regional social parties will
be invited to Southampton to drive the
craft and enjoy the power and thrills of
offshore powerboating.
Monocats owner Pierre Magnam (middle) and the two young French pilots.
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Drakkar Noir supports
MONITOR
At present the name Monitor might
not mean much to you but hopefully as
the months pass Monitor will be very
much to the forefront of peoples minds.
It is a charity launched by John Bevan,
an ex-offshore powerboat champion,
who until three years ago was an active
sportsman enjoying life to the full both
in business and leisure. A visit to his
doctor with what John thought was a
niggling trapped nerve turned into a
nightmare. It was diagnosed that John
was suffering from Motor Neurone
Disease. an illness that can claim the
lives of its victims within three years.
John had never even heard of MND
even though it had claimed the life of
actor David Niven.
Despite considerable medical research
since the disease was first identified
I30 years ago, little progress has
been achieved to discover what causes
the degeneration ofthe nerve cells which
control the body's muscles. Although
the brain functions normally the body
gradually becomes useless eventually
afl'ecting speech and leading to a com
plete breakdown of body functions. In
John Bevan's case doctors could offer
Seb Coe with long time friend John Bevan
no hope and little advice, he was basically
told to "go away and die".
The registered charity is aimed at
raising funds for a Database that will
collect inforrrration on MND victims. It
is believed several thousand people na
tionwide have the illness and Database
will collate each patient's case history
in the hope that a common cause can
be discovered thatwill enable researchers
to seek a cure.
When Drakkar Noir drew up their
sponsorship agreement with UKOBA,
Monitor had not figured in their plans
although UKOBA had already pledged
their support. After hearing of John
Bevan's charity, Drakkar Noir immedi
ately agreed to put their considerable
weight behind the project with special
promotional events at some of ihe
country's top night spots which will
raise funds through competitions etc.
Powerboating will be the central theme
and overall winners from these regional
fun-nights will be invited to compete in
a raceboat. The Drakkar Noir merchandise
unit will attend UKOBA's
meetings at: Mannheim Quay, Swansea
on I 1th June; Surrey Docks, London
to Brighton race on I6thJuly; New
Brighton Promenade, Wirral on 23rd
July and the finale at Ocean Village,
Southampton from 26th September to
lst October .
A slice of the profits frorn sales of
their perfume, T-Shirts, sweatshirts etc.
will go to Monitor, providing a major
contribution to theirtargetof€3OO,OOO.
Monitor's Patron, Olympic gold medallist
Seb Coe, will attend as many events
as possible but he is currenlly in serious
training for a last assault on the
International athletics scene he dominated
for so long. Seb, a long time
lriend of Johns, has already given
Monitor the perfect launch this charity
needed.
Photographs by Peler Phipp
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