#38 Baia and #59 Saho pleased to run Donzi hulls

Wednesday 27 August 2008

The #59 Saho SuperSport-class team race through the waves of Tunisia

The crews of the #38 Baia High Performance and #59 Saho boats have both said that they’ve appreciated the opportunity to run the former Evolution-class twin-canopy 38ZR hulls in the SuperSport class this year. The two teams currently lie third and seventh in the SuperSport championship standings respectively.

The Donzi 38ZR hull is ineligible for the Evolution class in 2008 as the series requires Evolution class boats to run with a closed canopy – something that would require a substantial re-design of the Donzi twin-canopy hull. Although the Donzi hull was previously ineligible for SuperSport, the rules have been adapted to allow it into the class for this year, encouraging teams to continue using the Italian-built boat.

The boat has proved one of the pace-setters of the SuperSport class, with the OSG Racing-run #38 Baia High Performance boat being a regular podium finisher. The Offshore Ranas team’s #59 Saho entry started off the season with strong results in Italy and France, but have since struggled to finish races.

“The Donzi is a hull I’ve known since I was a child,” said #38 Baia High Performance navigator Roy Capasso. “It’s a boat with very high performance that runs very, very well. It’s a simple boat that maneouvers well in all conditions.”

That was a sentiment echoed by #59 Saho throttleman Federico Terenziani. “The Donzi hull is innovative and is very fast on smooth seas,” he said. “But we’re even satisfied with its performance in rough conditions. It’s also good in the turns, especially on tracks with many corners. This boat is born to race, and you have the advantage of being able to run seated, which gives you more sensitivity to how the boat behaves.”