Searex looks at SuperSport entry in '09

Thursday 30 October 2008

The #66 Cranefields Wine consolidated their seventh place in the Evolution class in Spain

#66 Cranfields Wine throttleman Siegfried Grieve has said that his Searex-run team is gearing up for a dual-class Powerboat P1 assault in 2009. The German outfit ran its first full season with its new Mercury-powered Falcon 40 hull in the Evolution class this year, and is keen to add a SuperSport entry to the line-up next year.

Grieve has already confirmed that his Searex boat-building company is already building a new, longer Evolution-class boat that will be raced in 2009, and the company is now understood to be in the early stages of building a hull that could be suitable for the SuperSport class as well. It joins a growing list of teams that are planning two-boat assaults, either in one class or both.

“I personally find the SuperSport class quite interesting,” Grieve said. “The racing - unstrapped, with the open wind and the speed you feel in your face is a very big, exciting pleasure. 85mph can be a stronger feeling than 115mph in a closed cockpit.

“The marketing aspect of SuperSport is also very important. These boat designs are something which you can really buy and have for pleasure, and you can also race with a 100 mph engine. As a shipyard we hope to receive a huge feedback if the new-design race hull and a fully equipped pleasure boat are ready on the market.

“The new Evolution-class boat has been designed and will be built in the next three months – it will be nearly a metre longer than our current boat. We’ve proved the strength of our Searex hull this year, and we’re going to try and make it really unbreakable with a technique that is different to the American boats.

Grieve has also boosted his team’s line-up with the addition of an engine specialist to help the outfit catch the opposition in 2009. “We now have a very reliable engine specialist with Stefan Jambour joining the team of Searex Germany,” Grieve said. “He is one of the German top specialists for engines and surrounding technique. He can’t wait to deliver the best engines for rough Powerboat P1 races in 2009, and is also one of the best pilots, having race experience from many years.”

To read about how Siegfried Grieve has as much of a passion for wine as he does for powerboat racing, click here.