The third title won by our pilots is the continental one in the Entrobordo Corsa R3 2000 cc class.
The race, which takes place in Lignano on the mouth of the Tagliamento, sees only five pilots competing: the World Champion Ermes Prospero, Francesco Manfredini, Luigi Preda, Erino Facchini and Franco Cantando. Also in this circumstance, the defection of the 1973 European Champion Leopoldo Casanova is noted, who, it seems, seems to have now abandoned circuit races to dedicate himself only to cross-country races.
It is sad to note that also in this race there are no foreign competitors (probably disappointed by the debacle of 1972 and 1973).
What you see in Lignano is without a doubt a thrilling duel between the Veronese Prospero who for the occasion competes with the three-points belonging to Franco Gilberti (a complex that allowed the Milanese driver to establish several world records) and the Cremonese Manfredini, who, towards the end of the race, risks a lot and offers a few too many emotions.
After three heats we find Prospero, Manfredini and Facchini with one win each; the fourth heat is therefore decisive and it is in this last one that Manfredini, driving his Molivio-Alfa Romeo, in the attempt to overtake Prospero, pushes him towards the shore and forces him to perform a risky maneuver that makes his Popoli rear up. The boat falls perfectly in line but in the jump a piece of the grille comes off.
For Manfredini the victory on the field is a done deal, but the episode will generate a long controversy, rightly started by Prospero who disputes the Cremonese's maneuver.
However, the jury does not make any decisions on this matter, also because, for some technical details, the inspectors contest the regularity of both Manfredini's and Prospero's hulls and decide to award the European Title to the third-placed, the regular Erino Facchini.
On the podium, behind the winner, Franco Cantando climbs to second place and Luigi Preda to third. On this occasion it is really a case of saying: "when two argue, the third one enjoys"; the satisfaction of Facchini, a pilot who is not new to international victories (in the space of three years he wins the European R3 Title for the second time), is truly great.

After the events of the R3, let's take a look at those of the national R3N 2000 cc class whose championship, now in its second edition, has the talented Luigi Preda as the star.
This pilot debuts an innovative three-pointer from the Lucini and Frigerio shipyard, characterized by a particular bow with two protruding horns. This solution, already tested by some catamarans of the outboard classes, has the characteristic of reducing the lift and consequently the possibility of making a possible take-off.
While the success of the R3N continues to grow, for the Lancia Flaminia class the fate seems to be sealed. The passage of many pilots to the new national category and the lack of a serious renewal sanction its definitive exit from the federal programs.

Long distance races
In 1973 the most important long distance races were won by outboard motor boats. I remember, for example, the first place overall of the champion Renato Molinari in the Raid Pavia-Venezia obtained with a catamaran of his own construction powered by a Mercury 2000 cc outboard. On that occasion he managed to beat the Timossi-BPM 8000 cc Entrobordo Corsa R°° class of Gino Lupi. In 1974, however, we witnessed, in this race, the revenge of the racer. For the first time in his career the multi-titled Antonio Petrobelli won the Raid exceeding by 2 Km/h the previous limit recorded in 1971 by Roberto Brunelli from Parma.
By taking this victory in the most prestigious and longest inline race in the world, Petrobelli, who for the occasion is using a glorious racer (ex KD) that once belonged to the Guidotti clan and is powered by a brand new BPM 8000 cc, further enriches his already considerable roll of honour. Behind the winner who obtains a general average of 166.331 Km/h and also wins the Coppa d'Oro Theo Rossi di Montelera (Isola Serafini-Revere section at an average of 174.028 Km/h), we find Giuseppe Mattioli, Gino Lupi and Giuseppe Colnaghi, all at the helm of Entrobordo Corsa boats; it is a clear predominance of these boats that occupy ten positions in the first fifteen absolute places of the final ranking.
Focusing on this edition of the Raid I cannot leave out, among the novelties, the participation of Carlo Rasini who for the occasion abandons the outboard classes and experiments with a new inboard-outboard catamaran built by the Angelo Molinari shipyard and powered by a Mercruiser 6000 cc entered in the prototype category.
With this complex Rasini competes with the winner and obtains the second time overall; this performance of great importance is not recognized due to the experimental nature of the hull.

After the victory at the Raid, for Petrobelli and his Timossi-BPM comes another important success in the 6th Trofeo Motonautico Due Ponti, run on the Po in Boretto; this long-distance race, initially reserved only for outboards, has been expanding its participation to inboards for a couple of editions and the results, as you can see, are not long in coming.
Organized by MBP (Motonautica Boretto Po) it takes place on a 20 km circuit, located between the Boretto bridge and the Guastalla bridge, to be repeated five times, for a total of 100 km; over the years it will become an important classic of the calendar, not only national, and for its formula and spectacular nature it will also be the most loved by other motorboat clubs located along the Po river. Another recently established long-distance race is the Cremona-Ferrara-Cremona; it is a long marathon on the Po conceived and organized thanks to the commitment and enthusiasm of the two local clubs; MAC (Motonautica Associazione Cremona) and the Società Canottieri Ferrara of Pontelagoscuro.
This competition, open to all UIM inboard and outboard, Racing and Sport classes, already in the first edition in 1973 saw the winner, despite the powerful racers, Giovanni Pellolio from Como on an A.Molinari-Mercury catamaran of the Fuoribordo Corsa ON 2000 cc class.
To be fair, it is fair to say that the victory was facilitated by the withdrawal, just before the finish line, of the unfortunate Cremonese driver Gino Lupi, racing with a Timossi-BPM 8000 cc. In the second edition (in 1974) the victory went to Giuseppe Mattioli from Mantua who achieved this important success after the brilliant second place overall achieved, again with the same Celli-Alfa Romeo hull of the R4 2500 cc class, at the Raid Pavia-Venezia; These results are a fair reward for the undoubted qualities of the pilot as an inboard-driver, now specialized in in-line competitions.

After the cross-country races held on the Po River, we move on to those held on the lakes, starting to talk about the "4th Giro del Lario" where Eugenio Molinari wins again in record time with the exceptional average of 184.312 km/h; Tullio Abbate is ranked second at just under two minutes of distance. Eugenio Molinari who, as in 1973, relies on his winning three-pointer powered by BPM entered in the Entrobordo Sport over 7000 cc, also wins the "Giro del Garda".

In the Centomiglia del Lario we witness the revenge of Tullio Abbate in a race certainly more to be remembered for the long series of excellent retirements (Eugenio Molinari, Annibale Beltrami, Bruno Abbate). For Tullio Abbate and his four-pointer powered by BPM 8000 cc, this is the fifth overall victory in the Como classic.

At the end of the 1974 sports year, it is right to remember that at the Genoa International Boat Show, at the FIM stand, the new Entrobordo Corsa of the much-desired promotional class was presented. It is a hull 4 meters and 50 centimeters long, built in marine plywood by the Lucini and Frigerio shipyard. Specifically, the model seen at the show, powered by a Fiat 128 1300 cc prepared by Franco Migliavacca and probably intended for the driver Edmondo Pontremoli, will never be used in a race.