Motonautisme - Powerboating history

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Powerboating

Races between motorized vessels at sea, river or lake.

From the beginning of motoring, it came naturally to the idea of using in boats, the internal combustion engine, lightweight and compact.

The first motor boat races were held in 1898 in the basin-Courbevoie Asnières.

On the occasion of the Exposition Universelle of 1900, the Propeller Club organized racing motorboats which met 49 starters and had a great success. In 1901 races were held at Moulan, Nice, Cannes, Joinville (section of the Marne) on the Seine between Le Pecq and Conflans (championship 100 kilometers). The first Channel crossing was organized.

The sport is organized with the birth in 1902 of the

Marine Motoring Association in Great Britain and New York's Columbia Yacht Club in 1903 (now the American Power Boat Association).

Given the growing importance of sport speedboat, I'Automobile Club de France created in 1903, the Commission motor yacht, which establishes a national regulation of racing. The boats were

ized by racers (speed boats) and cruisers (cruise ships or passenger).

This federation was founded in 1922 under the name "French Federation of car navigation" (declaration date March 8, 1922) and became in 1943 the French Federation of Speedboat.

In 1908, the powerful International Association of yachting organizes car races in Europe.

The International motonautique (UIM), founded in 1922, codifies the rules in 1927 and publishes a calendar with official races.

The racing boats are classified into several categories, depending on engine size, the nature of the engine (race series, in-board) and hull form.

Formula 1 Queen is the test in the race. The maximum speed can reach 250 km / h with acceleration from 0 to 160 km / h in under 6 seconds.

Another category in the growing popularity is the number of ships off-shore. The first races were born in Florida rally powerful boats for the fishing. The American Sam Griffith in 1948, conceived the idea of the first competition, and this was the birth of the Miami-Nassau. The offshore race is run over boats from 6 to 12 m to the classes, with V-hulls or catamarans propelled by several outboard or inboard.

Currently, the IAJ has 60 member nations. It organizes since 1981 the world championship of Formula I motonautique.

The Italian Guido Cappellini (7-5-59),
nine times world champion and record holder for speed 256.256 km / h,

and the legendary Renato Molinari
Triple world champion, are among the best riders of the moment

and Briton Jonathan Jones (9-3-59), world champion in 1991 and 1998
and American Scott Gillman (25-4-49), world champion in 1997 and 2000.

Among the best are French Jean-Vital Desguisne,
Rene Pascal Chiodi won the world championship off-shore in 1999
and Philippe Dessertenne, 3rd in final standings of the 2001 World Championships (4th in 2002, 5th in 2005).

The absolute speed record on water is held since 1978 by Australian Ken Warby
hydroplane on his 'Spirit of Australia': 317.60 miles / h or 511.11 kilometers per hour

The 24 Hours of Rouen (established 1964)

Created in 1964, the 40th edition of the prestigious 24 Hours of Rouen motorboat (labeled "World Championship of Endurance") took place in 2003. Welcoming the world's best teams (forty competing in three categories, 3 000, 2 000 and 850 cm3), she runs around the island Lacroix on a circuit of about 3.6 kilometers.

- Record holder for victories: the Italian Renato Molinari who won here four times in 1976, 1979, 1980 and 1981.

- Record holder mileage: 3 182 km by André Larue FRA in 1993.