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A venue steeped in powerboat racing
history, the Norwegian city of Arendal hosted last week one of the major events
of the 2026 Offshore racing season.
Thirty teams, ten per class, lined
up in the coastal town of southeastern Norway for the Offshore 3B and 3J World
Championship single events and Round 2 of the Offshore 3D World Championship.
3D, the fastest category with
enclosed-cockpit catamarans powered either by twin Mercury Optimax 200XS or
twin Mercury Racing 200 ROS engines, was the only one to hold a pole position
session ahead of the races. The Foresti & Suardi team of Frenchman François
Pinelli and Italian Saul Bubacco dominated the session in front of the Gasbeton
and Tessilmare Racing teams.
Pinelli and Bubacco then confirmed
they had found the right setup with their new 200 ROS engines by winning both
races of the event, taking a solid grip on the top spot in the Championship
standings before the third and final Round in Trani, Italy. The podium in both
races had the same three teams: the Blu Banca boat of Italy's Serafino Barlesi
and Sweden's Joakim Kumlin finished second, while the Gröth Fyro Racing Team of
Swedes Fredrik Gröth Fyro and Filip Eriksson completed the podium in third.
The 2025 World Champions, Lovisa
Sahlén and Mattias Lind, returned to defend their title in the Offshore 3B
World Championship single event, scheduled to be contested over three heats in
Arendal harbour. The opening race saw another title contender suffer a racing
accident when the Smuggler Racing team of Swedes Rasmus Hamrén and Madeleine
Samuelsson, new European champions, crashed. Both drivers were transported to
hospital and later released, but their World Championship hopes were already
over after the opening race, which was won by fellow Swedes Max Samuelsson and
Joel Schönerberg of M5 Racing.
The pair went on to win Races 2 and
3, sealing a commanding overall victory to become the new World Champions.
Sahlén and her new teammate, Anton Modin, who stepped in to replace Lind after
Race 1, finished second overall after the three races, while Swedish
brother-and-sister duo Adam and Mathilda Wrenker claimed third.
Late entries in 3J meant the
category also featured a ten-boat starting field. Defending World Champion
Viveka "Vicky" Vapaavuori of Finland had a new teammate alongside her
in the VV Racing boat J-1, Germany's Jarno Frommann. The pair was successful in
its first outing in an UIM titled event, winning both races to secure the World
Championship title.
The 2024 World Champion in the category, Norway's Sigurd
Uppstad, racing with co-pilot Frida Uberg Sandvik, finished second in both
races, while this year's European Champions, Vegard Eriksen Malmgreen and
Celine Dalen of Norway, completed the overall podium in third.
Thousands of spectators once again
lined the shores of Arendal, perpetuating the town's rich Offshore racing
tradition, while also enjoying the Offshore 3C Norwegian National Championship
and an Aquabike International Ordinary event.
With only one titled event remaining
on the calendar, the Offshore 3D class will head to Trani, Italy, for the third
and final Round of the World Championship on 9–13 September, before concluding
the season at the European Championship in Como, Italy, on 9–11 October.
Photos: Elisabeth Edsberg
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