Buby Bertels climbed into a closed-cockpit tunnel hull for the first time this weekend, racing boat 91 at Lake Alūksne in Latvia, where the UIM F4 European Championship shared the water with the wider international “Alūksne Cup” meeting on July 4 and 5, 2026.
Bertels has built his career in UIM Pleasure Navigation, most often alongside Nico de Stoop in Bernico-built boats carrying the B91 race number. The pairing won the B300 class at the 2022 UIM Pleasure Navigation World Championship, taking rounds in both Benalmádena and Baiona that year.
The move into a capsule-hulled circuit boat is a different discipline entirely. Pleasure Navigation racing runs open ribs and production boats on point-to-point and closed courses. The boat carrying Bertels at Alūksne is a single-seat, closed-cockpit tunnel hull, part of the same broad design family as UIM F2 and F4 machinery, built for circuit racing rather than navigation-style events.
Bertels’ boat carries backing from Campine, the Belgian battery recycling group, and races under the Red Mist Racing banner. The Belgian flag sits alongside his name on the hull, a fixture of his Pleasure Navigation campaigns now carried over into circuit racing.
Powerboat News has not yet had sight of an official entry list or result confirming the exact class Bertels raced in at Alūksne, or the full round of Pleasure Navigation titles behind him. Both are being checked, and this piece will be updated, or a fuller report filed, once confirmed.
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.
