Donzi 38 ZRC

P1 newcomers Daniel Cramphorn and Kim Collins have abandoned their Velocity in favour of a Donzi 38 as they chase P1 Super Sport honours this year. I left the rather premature, and probably fl eeting Spring like weather of the United Kingdom in mid-February, and after a one hour fl ight, arrived in the bitter cold of Belgium to test an offshore powerboat on a canal that runs through the town of Klein Willebroek, 30 kilometres south of Brussels. Team 26, as they like to be known, are Daniel Cramphorn and Kim Collins with their 2009 steed, a Donzi 38 ZRC monohull powered by two 600hp supercharged Sterling V8 engines. They arrived on the Powerboat P1 scene halfway through the 2008 campaign in Cramphorn’s Velocity ‘Team Konrad’, and despite being the latest ‘offshore rookies’ they took the Super Sport class by storm. However, neither Dan nor Kim felt the Velocity was up to winning the championship, so they decided that they would convert Kim’s ultra fast pleasure boat, a Donzi ZRC, into a pukka race craft. Twin Sterling engines were installed in the leisure boat, but these units did not comply with Super Sport rules, so it was agreed Kim would supply the hull and Daniel would provide two new Sterling 600hp SC engines with transmission through BAM gearboxes and Arneson ASD7 surface drives. Daniel Cramphorn has been a keen water skier in the past, and this has brought him into contact with legendary ski-racer/boat builder Nico Bertels. Nico has a fully equipped fi tting shop in the town of Willebroek, and it was agreed to tow the outfi t from Kent, UK to Bertel International for its engine transplant and testing. In pleasure mode the Donzi had a side by side engine installation, but for racing the engines have been staggered. After removal of the pleasure powerplants, the engine room had been completely repainted and rewired, and both Arnesons had been reconditioned. While watching the Team 26 duo working frantically to get the engine bay ready to take the new engines, I enquired why they had abandoned the Velocity that served them so well, for the Donzi which, after all is a very old design. Dan explained, “We are both fans of Don Aronow, and his designs do not seem to date. Last year the Cigarette ‘Fantastic One’ was always in the thick of the action, and although the design is not 21st century, what brand new designs have come along in recent times and beaten Aronow’s famous names?” With the help of Nico and using the excellent facilities of his workshops, the engines were lowered into place midway through Saturday afternoon. As the layout was completely different from the previous installation I would have at least expected a few problems, but everything fi tted as it should, including the prop shaft between the forward engine and gearbox. Before the fi nal touches in the engine room, the Donzi was hauled outside where a mobile crane was waiting to weigh the whole outfi t. This seemed straight forward enough until the team realised that the scales were about 50 foot above the boat which was now hanging on its slings. It required a pair of binoculars to see the weight on the small LED screen between the crane’s hook and the slings to establish that the reading was about 4940 kilos, which seemed to please Dan and Kim. They were then left with the arduous task of sorting out the plumbing and electrics. Although this looked simple enough, it was all very time consuming, but by late Saturday evening the team were left with a few simple jobs to complete the outfit before Sunday morning’s launch. The engine hatch needed fitting and the helm had to be bled before fitting two five blade props. It was decided to fire up both engines before hitting the water, and much to everyone’s dismay a wiring problem occured, resulting in neither fuel pumps working. However, this was swiftly cured and eventually the still morning air was shattered by the roar of two throaty exhausts. After a quick run up on the trailer, the Donzi was lowered down the slipway for the real test. The Bertel’s marina runs into the tributary of a wider canal which caters for 4000 ton freighters, barges and tugs pushing dumb barges. Unlike anywhere else in the world the Willebroek Canal has no speed limit despite being no wider than a three lane motorway. Once out into the main canal, it was throttles wide open, and the 4.5 ton Donzi leapt onto the plane. Bearing in mind this was the first time the outfit was being run with its new engine configuration, a respectable 84 mph was reached with ease. However, it was obvious that larger propellers would have to be tried as the team’s target for racing is 100mph +, even though 85mph is the maximum speed permitted in Super Sport racing. There was also the issue of adding weight to the Donzi hull to comply with P1’s power to weight ruling. In terms of handling the rig turned with ease, bearing in mind the narrow canal, and returning to the marina Dan and Kim were quietly confident this craft will be a serious contender for honours particularly as they have more than enough time to dial the outfit in. Unlike many Super Sport craft the Donzi has a cockpit that can accommodate five people, so the chances are ‘Team 26’ have room to take sponsors along for the ride if they wish. The boat is expected to stay in the Bernico International yard for a few more weeks before moving down the coast for trials in true offshore waters, and then it’s back to the UK for a programme of PR events.