All eyes on Ciantar as Malta hosts GP of the Sea

Round three of the Powerboat P1 championship will be held this weekend in Malta following the Grands Prix of San Benedetto del Tronto and Marseille last month.

For the first time this year, there is no Maltese team in the entry registration as the Portomaso Chaudron owners, after four years of 'adventures on the water', decided to concentrate their efforts on boat manufacturing for the time being.

However, local interest is still very much alive as Aaron Ciantar, formerly of Chaudron, is now pilot at SuperSport Class champions Conam Yachts, of Italy.

After two races, Conam Yachts are leading the standings with 300 points following sound and impressive showings in Italy and France. VoomVoom.com are second, 260, and Baia High Performance third, 190.

Conam Yachts started with a third and first place in San Benedetto del Tronto and two first-place finishes in Marseille. In Italy, Ciantar and throttleman Angelo Tedeschi were handed a two-minute penalty for a jump start.

This is the fifth consecutive time that the Powerboat P1 organisers are holding a racing series in Malta. The championship this year consists of seven offshore races and comes to a close in October.

Holding one of the championship rounds is a big economic boost for host countries as organisers estimate that last year there were 500,000 spectators following the action from the shoreline and a global TV audience in excess of 100 million viewers.

This year, there are 20 teams in SuperSport and Evolution and as in previous editions, all grands prix will include sprint and endurance races.

After the races in Malta, the P1 wagon crosses the continent for Tunisia and the Hammamet GP between July 11 and 13. The championship returns to Europe for the legs in the UK, Spain and Portugal before the finale in Manama, Bahrain (October 23-25).

A welcome sight in the Grand Harbour should be the Outerlimits boat in the Evolution Class.

The Mercury-powered entry, belonging to the Centaurian Yachts team, was badly damaged after a collision in France last month.