Powerboat P1 Metamarine Team OK After Accident
 

During today's official testing session before the Powerboat P1 World Championship season opening round in Malta, an unfortunate accident involving team Metamarine Pignolo 53 occurred, resulting in both team's pilots being taken to hospital where they remain in a comfortable and stable physical condition.

Pilots Massimiliano 'Max' Ferrari and Marco Pennesi were completing their testing session in preparation for the day's qualifying PowerPole session, when their Italian-built, diesel engine-Metamarine hull appeared to rock from side to side. As they turned starboard outside of the harbor wall, for reasons currently unclear, the hull rolled 360 degrees before making slight impact with the break-water. Powerboat P1's safety crews rushed to the scene within seconds and pulled both pilots to safety.

Asif Rangoonwala, Powerboat P1's Chairman and CEO said "Unfortunately, during a world class sporting championship such as this, where high speeds combine with the unpredictable nature of the sea, accidents can happen. However, I would like to commend the safety operation of the medical and rescue teams whose expert handling of the situation resulted in both pilots being safely brought to shore within moments of the incident. I have spoken with the hospital and both Marco and Max who are in good spirits, with Marco more interested in the outcome of the PowerPole session than the extent of his injuries."

(Photo shown is 2008 Metamarine Evolution Class entry)

glad to hear the PILOTS are OK!
 

Glad to hear those guys appear to be stable and OK!
I am noticing that some of these hull designs with very high freeboard required for the rougher conditions of some P-1 event locales and the apperance of their very narrow beams at the waterline coupled with the extra weight of the diesel engines and running gear may be making these boats more susceptible to rolling which may have been a contributor to this accident.
Not sure as I have not seen these hulls up close and personal but from some of the shots I've seen they seem to be pushing the limits of waterline length versus beam in an attempt to increase speeds?? The Bat boats are very successfull with this engineering but they use wing tips to stop the roll and they have lesser internal centerline weights. Just a thought, anybody have expierence here?

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

GFN is 55 feet LOA so I would think the engine room is long enough for a full stagger which of course lowers the CG. Don't know what the beam is but probly 9 feet at least. You may be right though Ray, maybe that's not wide enough for Med waters which are notoriously rough.

GFN is my favorite P1 boat. There was a pic in Powerboat mag with Gibellato and Evolution Champion Fountain side by side. Gibellato made the Fountain look like an rc boat lol. Sucker is HUGE!!

You are right, 55 feet is getting long and from the picture of the those two in the cockpit I don't think 9 feet is the beam let alone the waterline beam might be as narrow as 7 feet or such and with a 55 foot length that boat is gonna be fast in big water, but its also going to be like riding a rolling pin at 70 -80mph in big water! Those Italians love the edge though! Hope they can get back on their feet and keep it upright during their challange!

Best Regardfs,
Ray @ Raylar

55'? it's less than 48' LOA, 43' at the surface.... 9'2 beam

its a TNT 46 Corsa.

Glad to hear they are all right.
Ed

I am not talking about the beam at the gunnel, I was interested to know the beam at the waterline? It's very easy to have a 9 foot beam at the gunnel and a 7 foot beam or less at the waterline. All that overhang can contribute to roll. Yes if its 43 foot water line and not 55 feet, that is a big difference in length. This is one way a lot of performance powerboats have achieved better speeds, narrow waterline beams with less wetted surface, however some times it can come at the expense of stability. As I said originally, we would need a closeup of the hull with all dimensions to really make this discussion meaningful. I will shut up now.
Hope these guys are back in the SEAT soon!
Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Well we still haven't been told what caused the accident...