Considerations by Carlo Chiti
In the winter preceding the 1979 motorboat season, Eng. Carlo Chiti, General Manager and Advisor to the Autodelta Board of Directors, openly declared during the awards ceremony held by Alfa Romeo Corse that in his opinion the current 2000 cc engine used in the R3N class boats is to be considered outdated and that it would be advisable, in the future, to try to improve performance by also resorting to specific modifications.
The intervention of Eng. Chiti, a volcanic and evolutionary man, does not fail to raise some doubts precisely on the subject of modifications in the motorboat field.
The FIM, through its President Giorgio De Bartolomeis, replies by observing that the success achieved to date by the R3N 2000 cc is certainly attributable to the fact that it is a restricted class, whose aim remains to safeguard its drivers from further and burdensome burdens regarding the tuning of the engines. On the contrary, the R3, whose free engines have always required high costs, both for purchase and maintenance, does not enjoy this success. Eng. Chiti maintains that in motorsport the so-called "restricted" classes each year manage to obtain small liberalizations that allow the tuners to revive the intent to obtain some improvement in performance, avoiding over time the probable risk that the technical interest lapses. In fact, already in 1978, many had wondered if the Portello company had seriously considered the European R3 2000 cc Championship dominated by a Lancia Stratos ahead of the entire group of Alfa Romeo-powered opponents.
In reality, although a World Title always brings prestige in terms of image, it is equally understandable that such limited sales on the nautical market and the consequent low return, do not push the motor company to take a serious interest.

I started from these considerations to introduce the 1979 sporting year which sees for the first time the presence, in the national calendar, of races reserved for the R3 2000 cc class. Given the small number of participants, the Federation does not award the National Title, but the FIM Plate.

Francesco Manfredini's R3 class record
There is certainly no shortage of news. Francesco Manfredini brings to the race a new three-pointer from the Popoli shipyard and with this hull, powered by a 220 HP Alfa Romeo GTAM, he establishes, on the measured base of Lake Paola in Sabaudia, the new world speed record for the flying kilometre for the R3 class with 189.985 km/h.
After this excellent performance, the driver from Cremona, among other things one of the most convinced supporters of the R3, also wins the FIM Plate, prevailing over Prospero, Mora, Cantando, Virgilio Molinari and Caramelli.


Amleto Ruggeri's International Titles
The real maltster of the season, however, turns out to be Amleto Ruggeri who, with his three-pointer Lucini and Frigerio-Alfa Romeo, wins both the European and World Titles.

In the European Championship held in Boretto, Ruggeri arrives first without winning any of the four scheduled races, but still managing to total the highest score with two seconds and a third place. The final classification sees Caramelli in second place and Manfredini in third; the latter, among other things, realizes that the night before the start of the championship, his vehicle has been sabotaged (he finds sand in the carburetor and the connection wires to the battery disconnected) and only thanks to the timely intervention of the Alfa Romeo Racing Team that replaces the engine, he manages to line up at the start of the race.
The other members of the blue team, Prospero and Cantando, also with three points powered by Alfa Romeo, complain of continuous mechanical problems and both exit the scene right from the start.
It's a shame that in this championship there is not even a shadow of a foreign driver, nor the much-desired presence of the reigning champion Renato Molinari and his catamaran.

At the Idroscalo in Milan, in September, the Italian Grand Prix is ​​held, which, among other races, also includes the R3 World Championship.
For the first time, this title, as already happened for the European one, is awarded by competing in four races in a single location and with a final points classification obtained by adding the three best results. Amleto Ruggeri, on board his Lucini and Frigerio-Alfa Romeo 4-valve 240 HP boat, appears to be the most prepared, but still has to work hard to get the better of the indomitable Ermes Prospero.
The Milanese driver wins the first and third heats, with Prospero always in his slipstream; he leaves the victory in the fourth heat to the latter, settling for second place.
Third in the final classification is Franco Cantando, winner of the second heat in a solitary finish, as both Ruggeri and Prospero are downgraded for early departure.
It should be noted that Cantando was put in the team at the last moment to replace Francesco Manfredini, forced to miss due to physical problems. Renato Molinari, on the other hand, had an unlucky test, taking to the water with a new catamaran powered by the powerful Lancia Stratos.
The champion from Como was demoted for having lost part of his race number during the first heat and suffered another demotion in the second for an early start. In the remaining two heats, rather annoyed, he even gave up competing.
Nicola Mora also took part in the championship, re-entering his Molinari-Alfa Romeo catamaran, but unfortunately it was not his day. Due to a continuous succession of mechanical problems, he was also forced to retire in the second and only heat in which he managed to start.
Returning to the new World Champion Ruggeri, his class is now evident. This driver, in the space of three years, achieved results that certainly place him among the greatest Italian "racers". For the year 1979, he was the winner of the coveted "Sportsman of the Year" award together with the builder of his hull, the Lucini and Frigerio shipyard, and Alfa Romeo.
Of the three foreigners present at the start, there is very little to say; both the French Jean Francois Riondet and Jean Vital Deguisne, with their Cormorant-Renault catamarans with characteristics more suited to a Sport than Racing class, and the Italian-Swiss Luciano Belladelli offer a colorless performance given the poor competitiveness of their boats. In the end, the only one to be classified in fourth position is Belladelli.


The National Championships
As regards the Italian Championship of the Inboard Racing R3N class, after three years, Ermes Prospero returns to victory, winning the Tricolor, finding his toughest opponent in Nicola Mora.
In this class I want to remember the occasional return to competition of Franco Caimi, who, driving his son Guido's racer, competed in the two heats of the Italian Championship during the Cadore Grand Prix in Auronzo.
To conclude the discussion on 2000 cc inboards, it should be noted that the credit for the victories obtained by Ruggeri and Prospero is also partly to be attributed to the Racing Team of Pavia Franco Migliavacca, to which they both belong, and above all to the preparer Carlo Papetti, nicknamed "Pinci" in the environment.

Coming to the Inboard Corsa Fiat 128 1300 cc class, surprisingly but deservedly, we find the winner of the National Title the former outboard driver from Ferrara Edmondo Bergamini. In his first year of racing in this class, he manages to get the better of the various Zarantonello, Telasio, Muggiati, Testa, Contento, Cornacchione, etc.: all opponents of undoubted quality in what can certainly be defined as a successful promotional formula. Also for this category I also remember the national speed record that the Taranto driver Paolo Ferrarese achieves on the measured base of Sabaudia with 122.450 Km/h.

In the long-distance races, the only results achieved by pilots of inboard boats are those obtained in the Giro del Lario by Eugenio Molinari who brings his three-pointer Sport S°° class powered by a BPM 8000 cc back to victory and by Giuseppe Colnaghi in the Centomiglia del Lario.
The latter brings to the debut a new catamaran built by Renato Molinari registered in the R°° class and powered by a Montepilli engine.

Among the other innovations in the motor field seen in competition in 1979 is the Ferrari Dino 2500 cc engine prepared by Zoni and Speroni for Guido Caimi who initially uses it on his racer and later on a Molinari catamaran in some national cross-country races such as the Pavia-Venezia and the Trofeo Due Ponti di Boretto.
Although this engine has power to spare, the project, in its complexity, encounters various problems and the less than exciting results convince Caimi to desist.

Unfortunately, 1979 also saw some very serious accidents. In Omegna, on Lake Orta, during a competition reserved for R3N 2000 cc racers, Maurizio Caramelli from Pavia was seriously injured. The damage he suffered in the accident forced him to abandon competition for several years.
Worse luck befell Antonio Massoni, another driver from Pavia who, having come to prominence with the Formula Fiat 128, switched to the more important and demanding R3N this year. During the Trofeo Due Ponti a tragic fatal accident put an end to his promising motorboat career.


The diesel class records of Tullio Abbate and Fabio Buzzi
Leaving aside the news of circuit competitions, I would like to highlight how in 1979 the Fiat Aifo and VM engine manufacturers continued their enthralling "record-breaking" challenge to obtain the world speed record reserved for diesel-powered boats.
Tullio Abbate and Aifo are the first to return to the race to launch a new attack on Buzzi, more determined than ever to regain possession of the record.
The pilot, after having "studied" on a hull reproduced in 1:2 scale (with the support of the wind tunnel of the Fiat Experience Center), creates in his own shipyard a new four-point in Lario Belletti marine plywood and Kevlar 49 reinforcements, 6.21 long, 2.19 meters wide at the bow and 2.21 at the stern.
An obvious detail of this boat is the large aerodynamic lift wing inserted at the stern between the two fixed stabilizing fins, obtained from the sides of the hull.
The design of the two-bladed steel propeller was very well taken care of by the technical expert Phill Rolla, while from the engine point of view Aifo opted for a six-cylinder in-line derived from the series (Fiat 8061 SM) of 5500 cc with direct injection and supercharging.
This engine that originally delivered 165 HP at 3200 rpm and a specific power of 30 HP/litre, was developed in this circumstance by the Fiat Aifo technicians who doubled its power (340 HP) while maintaining excellent reliability.
It should also be remembered that this diesel is smaller than the one used by Abbate himself at the time of the first record, but much larger than the VM 3600 cc used by Buzzi; it is clear what efforts were made, both by Aifo and Abbate, in preparing a hull (unlike the one in 1977) that was technically advanced. With these premises we come to the actual record that took place on May 22nd on the measured base of Azzano (Lake Como). Tullio Abbate launched himself and recorded an average of averages (ascending and descending passage) of 172 Km/h, a new world record. The Como driver-builder, however, together with his Team and the Fiat Aifo team, was not satisfied, being more than ever convinced that he could improve this result; so after other attempts that did not end well, he decided to try again the following day, May 23rd.
By improving something in the trim of the boat and also having a lake with calmer waters on his side, Abbate, with a passage at 180.904 km/h and one at 183.673 km/h, surpasses himself by bringing the new limit (average of averages) to 182.280 km/h.
Abbate can finally share his joy with the over 400 spectators who came to witness the performance.
The new record encourages the Fiat Aifo staff to think that from a commercial perspective it would be a great calling card to exhibit the record-breaking hull at the next International Boat Show in Genoa in the fall. In fact, since this is an exceptional result in the field of diesel, the fact could lead to an increase in sales of engines for pleasure boats, which have always been almost exclusively equipped with petrol engines.

Shortly before the start of the Ligurian show, however, Fabio Buzzi and VM, after having recognized the merits of the rival friend's feat, announce their return to the water, confident, despite the very short time available, of beating the record.
This is not "digested" by Aifo who tries, through some of its managers, to put pressure on Buzzi to postpone the attempt to a date later than the duration of the Genoa show. Buzzi and VM, however, do not change their programs one iota, so on September 30, on the timed base of Sabaudia, we witness a new sensational performance.
After some less than optimal launches, due to some banal mechanical problem, the decisive ones arrive and Buzzi takes the new world speed record to 191.576 km/h, pulverizing the still fresh record of Tullio Abbate.
For the occasion Buzzi builds a new three-pointer, similar to the one of the previous year, but modified in some aerodynamic details (the central nose, the engine closed in its grille unlike the previous one left open, a special spoiler installed towards the stern) and, a fact of absolute importance, lighter by 70 kg. Furthermore, VM, for the occasion, increases the power of the 6-cylinder marked HR 692 HT/9 by 70 HP.
While Abbate and the Aifo contest the validity of Buzzi's record at the International Federation (without however obtaining any feedback) claiming that the timed base of Sabaudia was not suitable, they also ask, for the future, to homologate a single measured base for all records.

At the opening of the Genoa Boat Show, the three-point white-green VM makes a fine show of itself, distinguished by an ephemeral advertising billboard that reads a slogan that says it all...