Seagull Chaudron retain top spot

Supersport class leaders Seagull Chaudron consolidated their lead at the top of the standings yesterday with a second placing in Round Eight of the Scandinavian Grand Prix of the Sea in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Endurance Race was won by Team SW1 Capital, the UK entry making it a double over the weekend at the Langedrag course, lined up with several thousands of spectators on both days.

The Ukraine entry of Aaron Ciantar, Angelo Tedeschi and team owner Viktor Shemcuk were promoted to the second place on the podium after direct contenders Baia Attolini were handed a penalty for overspeeding, relegating them to third place.

Baia Attolini, of Italy, are now trailing the Ukrainian Spirit boat by 28 points having started the weekend 19 behind. They will now require to win the remaining two rounds in Sicily next month and hope Seagull Chaudron to misfire badly to take the championship away from the no.43 blue and yellow boat.

The day had started brightly for Seagull Chaudron after their protest over the result of the Sprint Race on Saturday was upheld.

Shemcuk's team had complained that on the initial lap they were forced to slow down as a police boat was crossing the start run, finishing fourth as a consequence of the mishap.

The Race Jury accepted the protest and decided that Seagull Chaudron be given the third position along with Baia Attolini. Both teams were awarded 81 points.

Meanwhile, the Iko Casa team, of Shelley Jory and Audrien Ciantar, again failed to make the start yesterday due to engine problems.

High drama

In a race temporarily stopped on lap 10 after a dramatic spin out by one of the front runners, Hannes Bohinc and Giancarlo Cangiano secured a third Evolution Grand Prix win of the season for OSG Racing yesterday.

They followed Saturday's win with a second place in the 74-nautical mile Endurance Race to cut further into Silverline's lead at the top.

After a thrilling three-boat battle for the lead, Furnibo, of the Belgian 2B1 Racing team, led into the first turn, closely followed by the US entry, Lucas Oil Outerlimits, and SNAV OSG.

As the laps unfolded and SNAV OSG battled to stay in contention, the Belgians looked good value for a win when the incident occurred.

As the Outerlimits powerboat of Joe Sgro and Nigel Hook closed on the race leaders, the boat hit wash while turning, flipped onto its roof and started to sink.

The race was immediately stopped while Sgro and Hook were rescued, both suffering no more than shock and bruising.

The restart saw the Mercury-powered Fountain of the Belgians, Frank Hemelaer and Pierre Colpin, continue where it had left off before the stop, leading the way with SNAV OSG in second place and Cigarette Smash Poker third.

The teams now head to Sicily for the final two rounds of the season, taking place over the weekend of September 12 and 13.

Standings (Round Eight)

Evolution: 1. Silverline 646; 2. SNAV OSG 571; 3. Cigarette Smash Poker 542; 4. Lucas Oil Budweiser 418; 5. Furnibo 370; 6. Cranefields Wine 205; 7. Metamarine 202.

Supersport: 1. Seagull Chaudron 764; 2. Baia Attolini 736; 3. MasForce 646; 4. Team SW1 Capital 533; 5. Iko Casa 451; 6. Blue Shaft 362; 7. Big Sergio 280.