Contacted in Hammamet immediately after the podium presentation Aaron Cinatar was overwhelmed “I am really happy that we managed a one – two here in Tunisia. Today’s race was completely different from the one of yesterday. Whilst in Saturday’s race we spent seven laps trying to get the lead from Voom Voom and Saho respectively, today we led as from the first lap. We still did not have a perfect start since in the opening straight thousand meters we were second but managed to overtake Voom Voom as we turned with the first buoy” added Ciantar. 

The VoomVoom.com squad – currently Conam Yachts closest challenges – were the only team to stay within touching distance of the Italian reigning champions at the start of the race, but Tedeschi and Ciantar once again quickly pulled out a comfortable lead that proved impossible to beat. A second place of the weekend for the VoomVoom.com squad, thanks to a strong recovery driver after pausing for a broken hatch, gave them runner-up spoils in the Grand Prix of the Sea trophy chase.

Phoenix TV took the final podium spoils of the Sprint race, while fourth place was a superb result for the returning Team Sunseeker. After a two-race sabbatical following the sinking of their boat in Marseilles, France, this was a fantastic comeback weekend by the British squad.

The Team Tullio Abbate Wild Card entry edged the Silverline Buzzi Bullet boat and the Big Sergio crew in the final race finishers to take the final Grand Prix of the Sea podium spot. It was double jeopardy for the Donzi crews, though, as the Baia High Performance OSG team failed to complete the first lap and the Saho boat failed to start with a transmission problem.

The Powerboat P1 teams that pick up the mid-season 50-point bonus for completing the first half of 2008 without changing their engines have been confirmed. The addition (or not) of the bonus – effectively worth half a race win – has subtly changed the balance of play at the top of the Evolution and SuperSport championship title fights.

The VoomVoom.com team missing out on the 50-point bonus in the SuperSport class has allowed the third-place Baia High Performance OSG team to close within striking distance of second place in the standings. In the Evolution class, engine changes for the Kiton Outerlimits and GFN Gibellato teams mean that they lose 50 points to the championship-leading Fountain Worldwide 1st4boats.com team.

The teams that were granted the 50 point bonus were Conam Yachts, Baia High Performance, Saho, Phoenix TV, Sunseeker Challenger, Big Sergio, and Chaudron Spirit of Portomaso. In the meantime Aaron Ciantar, his father Charles Ciantar and all the Chaudron crew are expected to return back to Malta on Monday morning. More information can be accessed from the portal www.chaudronpowerboats.com