Pennesi aims to stick with winning package

Wednesday 01 October 2008

The #60 GFN Gibellato Evolution team scored crucial points in Vigo, Spain

#60 GFN Gibellato team boss and throttleman Marco Pennesi has said he’s not going to rush to change any elements of his Seatek-powered Metamarine boat after finishing second in the Evolution-class title chase this year. The Italian outfit narrowly pipped the #88 Kiton Outerlimits team after receiving 50 end-of-season reliability points.

The #60 GFN Gibellato boat is the top diesel entry in the series, and also one of the biggest, heaviest boats thanks to the power-to-weight regulations that mandate heavier base weight for higher-horsepower boats. Although the #60 GFN Gibellato boat has sometimes struggled for speed at the start of races, and on tight courses, towards the end of the race and in rough seas, it has been described as “unbeatable” by more than one team boss thanks to its high speed.

“Second place is the prize for all the hard work we did all year long,” Pennesi said. “As we’re aiming to develop pleasure boats [from racing experience], diesel is the future for us. The performance in certain conditions is also very much better than petrol. But the most important thing for us is its reliability.

“I’m very satisfied with the performance level of the boat this year. We had good power control. It’s too early to say if we’ll make a new boat. If we decide to, it should still be very much like this one. We have to find at least 10 or 15 per cent extra potential from this hull.”

For a definitive team-by-team rundown of how the rest of the Evolution class performed in 2008, click here.