P1: Lucas Oil SOC 2010 preview

Lucas Oil Scandinavian Offshore Challenge Announces 2010 Powerboat P1 World Champion Plans

Swedish driver Michael Silfverberg and Nigel Hook are announcing their 2010 Powerboat P1 World Championship plans by unveiling the new Vector 40 race boat. Featured on the front cover of Powerboat Magazine, this pleasure boat version is the first of its kind and to date only has ten hours on the water. The hull is designed by Swedish naval architect Ocke Mannerfelt and the exterior design by his son, Ted Mannerfelt.

Hook has been a long time fan of Ocke's designs. "Ever since I got passed by a B28 Mannerfelt in a Pacific Offshore race in 1994, I've been fascinated by the simplicity of this design." "The Vector 40 may be the first of its kind", added Hook, "but it has a true racing lineage. In fact, another newly designed Mannerfelt race boat premiered this year in the X-Cat World Championships where his boats won every race in the UIM World Championship. That is very impressive especially since that class has 25 race boats in it!"

In addition to his nationalistic pride in racing a Swedish designed race boat, Michael Silfverberg commented on the unrivaled elegance of the Vector 40, which was matched by the experience in testing in Canada. "The Vector 40 excels in the way it moves through the water and its willingness to respond to power. That combined with the beautiful design and the excellent building quality of Vector Powerboats will make it a real thrill to race. The Scandinavian Offshore Challenge is entering the quest to be the Powerboat P1 World Champion in 2010 together with main sponsor Lucas Oil as the entry #77 Lucas Oil Scandinavian Offshore Challenge."

The new Vector 40 is manufactured by Vector Powerboats of Kelowna, Canada. Company Founder and President, Rex Jardine carries 25 years of experience in the boat building industry and the heritage goes even deeper with his father being the founder of Campion Boats, a major international producer of boats. "All of us at Vector Powerboats are very proud to be involved with such a high-quality group as the Lucas Oil Scandinavian Offshore Challenge Team" said Rex. "We have no doubt that the combination of talent and experience in Nigel Hook and Michael Silfverberg, combined with our extraordinary team and revolutionary Mannerfelt design will be a dominating force in P1."

-credit: lo soc