Fabio Buzzi knows a thing or two about designing race-winning powerboats. Considered the Enzo Ferrari of powerboating, his creations dominated endurance racing during the 90's, winning almost everything there was to win and usually in record time. In 1994, Austrian powerboat racer and successful entrepreneur Hannes Bohinc from Vienna, Austria, bought an FB-designed racing boat with a winning pedigree and the relationship between owner and builder began to flourish. From 1994 until 2001, the Buzzi-Bohinc combination competed at the highest level across Europe and The States, in an assortment of craft, winning race after race and smashing records, some of which remain in place today.

In 2005, the credentials of the now legendary 1989 FB 46' and skipper were further underlined when, against the odds and facing strong competition from latest-spec Italian muscle machines, the two racing thoroughbreds took the Powerboat P1 World Championship Evolution Class title. A fitting swansong for the boat and another title for the owner/throttleman.

Now this formidable partnership are back and with a brand new boat, they have only one thing on their mind... winning. "Mr Buzzi and myself both want to win the P1 World title," explains Hannes Bohinc, "and we know from our most recent experiences that our best way of doing this is by working together. We do not enter into major projects to finish anywhere other than first. Second place is the first of the last! That is the way I run my business and that is the way I go racing. Of course, with a brand new boat it may take two or even three years to be at its best and racing with diesel engines within the current P1 rules set-up may give us a disadvantage over petrol but, having said that, there are a lot more factors involved in winning a championship.
 

"A top class racing boat, reliable engines, thorough preparation, good seamanship, a skilled and totally committed race team and engineers are the starting point. Add to that a large slice of good fortune, which is an essential ingredient when man and machine take on the elements. Tough competition is one thing but the elements are the unknown. They increase the edge and multiply the risk and danger. In other words, to win at the top level of offshore endurance racing is a challenge far greater than the sum of the competition. We take delivery of our new boat, Wettpunkt.com, in March and intend to test on Lake Como throughout April in readiness for the Maltese Grand Prix of the Sea. The engine supplier will be announced shortly," concludes Bohnic.

FB Design is a company established in 1971 by Fabio Buzzi with the purpose of studying and building high performance motor boats as well as marine transmissions known as Trimax drives, now produced in partnership with the German ZF Corporation. After 30 years in business the boatyard and its R&D department have grown together and the firm continues to develop more and more sophisticated new products.

Nowadays the company occupies a 12000 sq m site, complete with modern workshops for all phases of production where 40 technicians look after the production of prototypes, racing, and high performance patrol crafts. FB Design develops new crafts and submits them to the stress cycle of offshore racing and winning without charging experimental design costs to the customer. All the hulls, drives and fittings are always tested in the top racing and endurance contests, which are a demanding proving ground that ensures the highest quality.

FB Design is the only boatyard in the world whose craft have set world endurance and speed records in every existing class, with all types of hulls. At present the main thrust of FB Design’s activity is devoted to the construction of high speed patrol boats on behalf of many naval organisations all over the world, such as the British Ministry of Defence, the Italian "Guardia di Finanza", the USA and Italian Coast Guard, as well as the South African and Greek special forces and the Hong Kong anti terrorism Police and Custom units.