Poltu Quatu in Sardinia is a typical successful destination which gains prestigious promotion through innovative sponsorships of major events that provide the distinctive platform as a tourism promotional tool.

The Rudolph Valentino Awards for the best movie stars, the Loro Piana Superyacht, where 24-metre boats and above compete for "The Silver Jubilee Cup", the Poltu Quatu golf tournament, held at the Pevero Club, the Sardinia Rally Classic, an international event for vintage cars, and the Powerboats Grand Prix of the Sea are all high-profile events which put the place in the limelight with different sectors of international audiences maintaining a constant promotion presence.

Well, the marketing strategy of Poltu Quatu is not my objective but I simply made reference on the way to my subject - the third Powerboats Grand Prix of the Sea in the 2010 World Championship - focusing mainly on the fortunes and performance of Ukrainian Spirit.

This has been a season which started with great aspirations and enthusiasm for the Ukrainian-Maltese partnership with a new Chaudron-built boat where owner/throttle-man Viktor Shemchuk and driver Aaron Ciantar, proven world champions, were determined to move to the Evolution Class and maintain the realms of victory.

"In the opening event of the season in Yalta we started at seventh place but by the fourth lap we were leading the fleet, a position we held for five laps. Then, half-a-lap before the finish line, the engines blew," related Ciantar.

The Yalta meeting was held over the weekend of May 7-9.

The Malta Grand Prix was scheduled for less than five weeks later (June 11-13) right on the opening days of the 2010 World Cup - definitely reckless planning from the organisers' side which was a miss-out on the championships' distinctive promotion platform.

Furthermore, following the Yalta misfortune to Ukrainian Spirit, there was no chance that Malta's golden boy on the circuit, Ciantar, could make the 'home' debut with the new boat.

"After the Yalta meeting we immediately ordered new custom-made engines from the US. These were received just three days before the start of the Malta Grand Prix where the demanding task of dismantling and installation practically involving all parts of the boat. That made our participation in the local meeting impossible," Ciantar explained.

Considering that Sardinia was the first outing for Ukrainian Spirit with the new engines, where the speed and weight balance assessment of the boat were not yet tested under race condition, it turned out a most satisfactory performance - twice in third place and second overall.

Are the new engines more powerful than the ones that broke down at Yalta?

"Yes and they have a stronger acceleration. However, there is room for further improvement with the new engines given they are supercharged engines," stated Charles Ciantar, the technical manager of Ukrainian Spirit.

Sardinia was the second outing for the new boat. Are you pleased with its performance and, structurewise, do you foresee the need of implementing any adjustments?

"The new boat is definitely better than the one we raced with in SuperSport. It is much better to manoeuvre. We are adjusting the weight in contrast to the engines to improve the speed of the boat," Aaron said.

After three outings this season, where you unfortunately missed one event, what are your objectives for the rest of the campaign?

"We want to fine-tune the boat for the last two grands prix and try to win the remaining races. Winning the championship is most difficult after having missed one meeting but our full input at this stage would be the right preparation for next season," Ciantar said.

What makes competing in Evolution so different from that of the SuperSport Class?

"Initially, the boat is a close canopy which makes a big difference," the Maltese pilot replied.

"Given the compulsory use of the harness it is safer to drive. The fact that the Evolution Class does not have any speed limits, unlike SuperSport that is restricted to a top speed of 90mph, makes competition more difficult and one has to give more attention. Our current top speed is 105mph but we would like to take that up to 110."

August features no meetings on the World Championship calendar which makes the chosen dates for the Malta and Sardinia meetings even more controversial.

While the race in Malta meeting clashed with the opening matches from the South Africa World Cup, the Sardinia event was held on the same days of the play-off for third place and that of the Holland-Spain final itself.

Well, humans are humans whether it's football or powerboating and it is evident that not just Capello or Maradona make strategic blunders!

Meanwhile, good luck to Aaron, Victor and the rest of the Ukrainian Spirit team... and yes, you'll will rise, fight and win again!

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