For those that haven’t had the pleasure of watching Stefan Arand race a boat in the rough before today – and that probably includes F1H2O commentator Jonathan Jones – it came as no surprise to those of us that have watched the young Estonian battle through all sorts of water conditions coming through the ranks from GT15.
He can do things with fast boats in unpleasant conditions that most can’t.
Perhaps his first F1H2O win at Sharjah last December under a winter UAE sun was fortunate.
Under a late spring sun in Italy today he showed those that didn’t know who was the new star of the UIM’s flagship championship.
As a very good friend of mine said to me last Friday when we were laying bets on who would win the 2026 UIM F1H2O World Championship:
Stefan is a good bet but those motors are notoriously unreliable.
That caveat aside, the evidence is hard to argue with.
Arand is 23.
He has made ten Grand Prix starts. He has won two of them.
At Sharjah in December the water was relatively benign by F1H2O standards, and his victory there had the fingerprints of a team that understood his talent and built a boat to suit it. Today in Cagliari, with 15 knots of westerly wind pushing rollers across the far end of the circuit, the talent was unambiguous.
His route to the F1H2O paddock was built over a decade. World titles at GT15 in 2014 and 2015, still a junior. The UIM F4 World Championship in 2022. A step up through F2 and into F1H2O for his top-flight debut in 2024. In 2025 he put the Sharjah Team boat on pole at Shanghai – the youngest qualifying winner in the history of the series – and an engine failure converted the promise into frustration.
Setting the race’s fastest lap of 47.001 seconds on lap 27.
Untroubled, at least until a rogue wave put the boat several feet into the air and he simply brought it back down and continued.
Grant Trask finished 0.754 seconds behind him after 40 laps, which tells you something about the quality of the drive in front. The Aussie wanted it.
Seven world titles and nine European titles across GT15, GT30 and F4 before he ever sat in an F1H2O cockpit. First Estonian to compete at this level. Championship leader after round one.
The motor question will not go away.
It never does in F1H2O.
But if the Sharjah Team can keep their machinery together for the rest of the season, the other teams may have a problem.
John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
