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Top left: The famous
Gateway of lndia in
Mumbai.
A birds eye view of the
staft from the top of our
high rise hotel.
Comparato
Singha
Left: Podium positions for
Francesco Cantando - 1st,
Guido Cappellini - 2nd,
and Laith Pharaon - 3rd.
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ust a few short years ago, you
would not have imagined
powerboat races being hosted
by India or Saudi Arabia. but in
March the throaty exhausts of F1 were
heard as a 24 strong fleet of the
world's fastest tunnel boats took to the
waters of Mumbai and then Saudia
Arabia for the first two rounds of the
2004 season.
For most of us, this was our first visit
to India, a land of paradoxes having
been home to some of the most
ancient civilisations in the world yet it
only gained its independence from
Britain in 1947. lndia is a land of
extremes in terms of climate from the
tropics in the south and permanent
snow in the north which can be attrib-
uted to the Himalayas, a vast mountain
range exceeding 20,000 feet which
also features a lushness of vegetation
at lower levels. The slopes around
Darjeeling is one of the world's finest
tea-growing areas boasting an almost
tropical climate with an abundance of
water thanks to the monsoons and
rivers together with a liberal helping of
sunsntne.
Being the 7th largest country in the
world with the 2nd highest population
after China, lndia's main cities Mumbai
(previously known as Bombay),
Calcutta and Delhi rank among the
biggest cities in the world.
You have to travel far back in time to
discover how Mumbai first got its name
and how it has since developed. Early
volcanic activity caused a large area of
land to separate from the mainland on
the west coast of the Indian peninsula.
This land mass, together with seven
smaller sections, landed in the Arabian
Sea in close proximity to the mainland.
The largest and most southerly of these
islands is a narrow strip of rock which
today is known as Mumbai and, togeth-
er with the triangular Old Woman's
lsland, formed the modern Colaba.
Across the strait, to the south-east is
an 'H'shaped island called the Fort by
early Koli residents after their goddess.
With the passing of time many hills
were levelled or quarried to breach the
channels between the seven islands
and over the centuries this area has
become Greater Mumbai.
Among the buildings in Mumbai is
the Mumbadevi Temple, dedicated to
the patron goddess of the Kolis, the
crty's original settlers. Before the arrival
of the Portuguese, it is believed that
Mumbadevi had a shrine on the pre-
sent day Victoria Railway Terminus.
now known as Chatrapati Shivaji
Terminus. (This station is a 'must see'
on every tourist's itinerary just to wit-
ness the millions of travellers arriving
and departing from the terminus daily
creating total mayhem).
When the Portuguese had to give
the city in dowry to the English (as part
of a marriage contract between
Princess Catherine and Charles 11)in
1665, l\4umbadevi Temple was situated
on a vast stretch of green known as the
Esplanade. The original temple was
demolished in the 18th century and
rebuilt soon afterwards at its present
site in South Mumbai.
In the days of the East India
Company, English residents were
called Bombay Ducks, the last word
being a corruption of the Latin 'duces'
or leaders. The expression later came
to be applied to the local sun-dried fish
'bombil'.
Our residence in Mumbai for the
duration of the UIM World Fl meeting
was the Oberoi Towers, a superb 30
floor hotel with magnificent views over
the City and race circuit off Marine
Drive, Nariman Point. The Indian Grand
Prix was sponsored by the Government
of Maharashtra, Maharashtra Tourism
and Development Corporation and sev-
WORLD OF POWERBOATS - 29

30 - WORLD OF POWERBOATS
eral prominent privately owned local
businesses.
Prior to practice several drivers
and officials voiced their reservations
regarding the race circuit as basically
the event was being staged on the
Arabian Sea which is very tidal.
After discussions with drivers, UIM
Commissioner Gordon Sutherland
decided to shorten the course and
remove a turn buoy resulting in a
very short circuit indeed.
After further debate, the start time
of the race was then brought forward
from mid-afternoon to mid-day
because water conditions had deteriorated
in the afternoon.
Four new drivers were out for the
first race of the season:- Cedric
Deguisne joined forces with Fabio
Comparato' s Nautica Comparato
Team; Marcello Menegatto was
alongside Guido Cappellini in the
Tamoil-Zepter line-up; Renato
Marcandalli was the other half of
Above: 'Hellow Sailors'- F1
T.V. presenter Steve Michael
and 5 times World Champion
Jonathan Jones taking in the
sights of Mumbai between
races.
Left: New paftner for Fabio
Comparato fhls season -
Cedric Deguisne.
Below: New to F1 - Marcello
Menegatto joins Guido
Cappellini in the Tamoil Team.
Cqntondo qnnounced he wqs 'quite noturally' delighted with his
win but it wqs too early to get'corried owoy'.
Andy Elliott's BaBa Team, and last
but not least was David Trask, broth-
er of Bob, owner of the colourful
SeaQuest Racing Team from
Australia. The mystery of whether
Pertti Leppalla would race was quick-
ly solved when the diminutive Frnn
stood in front of his marquee at the
Mumbai pits area with a large portrait
of himself emblazoned on the rear
wall. Apparently, Leppalla will race in
Gert Ladefoged s outfit this year at
times when the ltalian based Dane is
unable to participate. On this occasion
Ladefoged's business commif
ments prevented him from travelling
to India. Ladefoged has parted com-
pany with his 2003 partner Belgium's
Julius Leysen who is now part of
Samr Selio's team.
The line-up for the Mumbai Grand
Prix looked healthy with 23 pilots
representing 12 nations on the grid,
and not surprisingly Cappellini had
made light work of qualifying when
he clinched pole position with a time
of 36.74 seconds despite claiming
his boat was too short for the tight
circuit. The top six consisted of:- the
'Emirate' number one, American
Scott Gillman; Finland's Sami Selio;
Francesco Cantando from ltaly;
Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne,
and Portugal's Duarte Benavente.
The only casualty during qualifying
was Deguisne, who almost sank
when a sponson delaminated.
Thankfully, his shore crew managed
to retrieve the rig before it went
under, and Cedric was in the line-up
after the problem had been cured.
In temperatures nudging 90
degrees, silence descended over the
huge crowd as start time
approached. Conditions on the cir-
cuit were ideal and I had a magnifi-
cent view of proceedings from the
roof of our hotel, Oberoi Towers.
As the red lights went out,
Cappellini swept into the lead chased
by Gillman and within minutes
Cantando was snapping at their
heels. After several concerted efforts
to pass, Scott eventually hit the front
and looked comfortable. On such a
short tight circuit the leaders were
passing back markers by lap 4, how-
ever, at the front Cantando, in a
brave manoeuvre, swept past
Cappellini and then Gillman to lead
rne way.
Early retirements were Comparato
on lap 3, followed by Corona Extra's
Pierre Lundin a lap later, while both
Baba Racing's pilots, Elliott and
Marcandalli, departed on lap 5 and 9.
Leysen exited on lap 12, while
Leppalla added a bit of melodrama to
the race when his engine caught fire
on lap 18. Despite the yellow flag
being waved after three incidents,
including Leppalla's blaze, positions
remained the same at the front.
Selio made every effort to close on
Saudi pilot Laith Pharaon but was
hindered by a broken trim pump,
while Dessertenne could make little
impression on the top five.
Gillman s hope of a podium place
vanished on lap 35 of 60 when his
crankshaft broke leaving the reigning
world champion Cappellini to inherit
2nd place and Pharaon moving up
into 3rd spot. The top three posi-
tions remained the same until the
chequered flag while Guido's team
partner Menegatto was bitterly disap-
pointed to retire on lap 52 despite
completing more laps than last
placed Philippe Chiappe (46 laps)
and 12th placed Massimillan
Moreschi (50 laps).
SeaQuest Racing's Bob and Dave
Trask made World F1 history by
becoming the first brothers to finish
in the points in an F1 race as their
9th and 1Oth places earned them 2
and 1 points respectively.
After a colourful podium presenta-
tion in front of a huge crowd,
Cantando announced at the post
race press conference that he was
'quite naturally' delighted wrth his win
but it was too early to get 'carried
away'.
Cappellini still maintained that his
boat had been unsuitable for the
small circuit and conditions, while
Pharaon was 'over the moon'with
his 3rd place and hoped it was just
one of many in 2004.
The UIM World Class I fleet are
due to race in the waters off Mumbai
and, assuming the water conditions
are the same later in the season, the
'Muscle Men'will have a great event.