Video clip - World 0-350, Milan, Italy 1988

[corin_huke]

The first part of this video clip is from the 0-350 Worlds in 1988 (Idroscalo in Milan)

http://www.dailymotion.com/jackus173...and-crash-boat

Not the best quality but still very watchable

Now, how many Americans can you spot? - there are at least 3 in the video and possibly more

Here's a snippet of info about the race:-

1st 19 Maurizio Jemmi (Italy)
2nd 10 Alexej Ischutin (USSR)
3rd 50 Chengtao Zheng (China)

29 Entries!!

And a snippet of history too. Although used for racing and rowing these days, I was once told that the Idroscalo was built by Benito Mussolini to land his flying boats upon. Not sure if this is true, but it sounds very feasable as it's a) very long, b) not very wide, and c) very close to Milan

Thanks David 98 for the link on Formulaseries.net site

[tthibodaux]

First of all thanks for the video Are there hydro races like that with all those boats on such a big coarse still going on these days or is that a thing of the past? The most I have ever seen run at once is 12. Looks like fun.

[David Weaver]

I spot Gary Pugh and maybe Mark Borges in Harry's boat.

[jackus173]

i think is a 500cc hydro !!!! i find this part of video on a duke videotape!!!,krash king powerboat,at this years the hull in 350cc is a popoli?,and in 500cc,the hull is a kergaterer,yamato,renwood,schullz,with havas attila chesman andy,giuliano landini,noone paul hareza tadeusz,trombeta tiziano etc...etc.........but may be not !!!! i dont no !!!

[corin_huke]

Sorry to disappoint you jackus173 - it's definitely 0-350 and is 1988. The 0-500 Worlds were held at the same venue in 1989, so that's probably where the confusion arose. I have to confess that I thought it was 0-500, but then someone pointed out my error

I'm sure Eric Pugh and Ralph Donald will post some comments (damm, let the cat out of the bag) to confirm the year and class

Tim - to answer your question. We still run hydros on big courses like this. It's not so common place, we mostly use river and lake courses, but even last year we used a regatta rowing course in Germany. You'll find the video here:

http://www.motorbootrennen-dessau.de/Bilder/bilder.html

First one on the list - Motorbootrennen Brandenburg

Fields of 20 - 30 boats are not unheard of in Europe, especially in one off World championship events. Looking at the UIM site the numbers in 2006 for the Worlds were:-

0-125 = 20 boats
0-250 = 24 boats
0-350 = 11 boats
0-500 (see F500 below)
0-700 = 10 boats
OSY = 20 boats

As for the multi race (European) series:-

Formula 125 = 14 boats
Formula 250 = 16 boats
Formula 350 = 15 boats
Formula 500 = 12 boats (World Series)

The halcyon days of the 80s and 90s have gone, but the classes are establishing themselves again, especially the lower cc classes

PS - I can remember the 1989 0-500 Worlds.....44 boats!! How about 1993 in Lakeland, there was plenty of boats there too!

[tthibodaux]

Thanks Corin, thats cool stuff. Did you say Lakeland? I used to go to Lakekand as a teenager and watch stock outboard with my dad but never a pro race. Thats good stuff man thanks..