Powerboat P1 has unveiled a subtly modified set of Sporting and Technical regulations for the 2009 season, with the target of building on a hugely successful revamp of the sport during the last 12 months, and the aim of making the racing and the championship fight even more closely contested in years to come.

The new rules were discussed and ratified in last week’s General Assembly meeting of the UIM – Powerboat P1’s governing body – in Surfers Paradise, Australia. The biggest changes are in the sporting rules, with shorter races, a revised championship points-scoring system, a ban on re-taking buoys in the Endurance race and revised penalties in the SuperSport class for exceeding the 85mph speed limit.

On the technical front, Powerboat P1 has maintained the bulk of regulations for the Evolution and SuperSport classes – particularly the power-to-weight ratio, boat dimensions and engine capacity regulations that ensures equality between the different styles of hulls in each class. Supercharged petrol engines are now allowed in the SuperSport class, although turbo engines remain banned.

The vast majority of Powerboat P1-specific technical rules have also been clarified and gathered into one document as part of the ongoing increase in clarity in the sport’s running.

2009 Powerboat P1 regulations – the key changes

• Shorter courses for the Sprint and Endurance races – 40Nm for the Sprint and 70Nm for the Endurance race, compared with 50Nm and 80Nm in 2008.
• Overall championship points breakdown has been changed. Teams will now be awarded the following depending on their finishing position in the races (subject to completing 70 per cent of the race distance):

• Mid-season and end-of-season engine reliability points breakdown has been changed. 50 points will be awarded to teams that complete each half of the season without changing their pair of engines but the 50-point bonus for completing the season without an engine change has been dropped.
• Boats now don’t have an option to try and re-take missed buoys in the Endurance race, and will receive a time penalty (as in the Sprint race). The time penalty has been set as a mandatory three minutes for every missed buoy.
• The maximum speed limit in the SuperSport class will continue to be 85mph, but the penalties for exceeding this limit have been changed. If teams exceed the 85mph limit for more than 10 seconds (rather than three seconds in 2008) they receive a penalty of 60 seconds added to their race time. A 90-second penalty is imposed for further offences, up to a maximum of five (at which point the team will be disqualified). Any boat being found to have exceeded the speed limit for more than 30 seconds at one time will automatically be excluded.