Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen will take time out from the defence of their Australian Offshore Superboat title to compete in the final two races of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship in Dubai, and will showcase the newest Class 1 ‘spec’ raceboat, designed and built by Australia’s premiere manufacturer of long-range luxury motoryachts, Maritimo.

The young Australian-Norwegian partnership made their Class 1 debut in Athens in 2007, ending the season with four top-six finishes and then headed down under to compete in the Australian Championship, where they proved to be the best, winning five out of six races to lift the Australian Offshore Superboat title.  They returned to race in Class 1 in Arendal, Norway earlier this year, finishing sixth, before starting the defence of their Australian title with a win.

Designed by Bill Barry-Cotter, the new Maritimo catamaran, built in line with the rule changes that will come into effect in January 2009 regarding the eligibility of new builds being allowed into the championship based on the same power-to-weight ratio as existing boats, is 13.35m long, 3.495m wide with a minimum weight of 4100kgs and will be powered by two Mercury 790hp V8s.