After two seasons learning XCAT racing, Francis Notschaele has partnered with one of offshore racing’s most decorated champions. The approach came over breakfast in Saudi Arabia.
Francis Notschaele was sitting alone at breakfast in Daman before the race, taking his usual quiet time to think through the day ahead. Arif Al Zaffain approached his table.
“Sir, can I have a word with you?”
Notschaele’s first thought: “What have I done wrong?”
Al Zaffain sat down. “Francis, I was looking at you the whole year. Would you be able to race with me next year?”
Notschaele laughed. “Mister Arif, I think you’re joking.”
He wasn’t. At the season finale gala in Dubai, Al Zaffain returned with a revised offer: race together and become 50 per cent owner of the racing team.
Notschaele took five seconds to consider. “Arif, we’ll do that.”
The partnership pairs two racers looking to bounce back. Notschaele finished sixth overall in 2024 racing for Tessilmare with Jan-Cees Korteland and Giampaolo Montavoci. Al Zaffain, holder of at least 15 world titles across XCAT, Class 1 and Class 3S, managed just 41 points with Konstantin Ustinov after his longtime partner Nadir Bin Hendi was medically unable to race.
Victory Team Legend
Al Zaffain built his reputation racing for Victory Team, Dubai’s legendary powerboat outfit with over 30 years of history. Between 2007 and 2016, he claimed eight Class 1 World Championships, dominating offshore racing’s premier category alongside various partners including Nadir Bin Hendi.
His championship record spans three disciplines: eight Class 1 titles, five XCAT world championships between 2012 and 2021, and two Class 3S crowns in 2009 and 2011. His 2021 XCAT title came racing for Dubai Police with Bin Hendi in a dramatic season finale.
The Props Incident
The moment that caught Al Zaffain’s attention came in Palermo. Notschaele’s boat sat on the grid next to Victory Team. Two minutes before the start, Al Zaffain walked over.
“Francis, can we use these props?”
Notschaele looked at Korteland. “Yanques, we cannot win. And they want our props. They are the best in the world.”
He handed them over. “Arif, take the props.”
These were guys that I even dare not speak to them because for me, they were the legends, they’re gods. I always stayed aside.
But Al Zaffain was watching. He noticed Notschaele arrived early in the pits, stayed late, cleaned the boat, worked alongside his crew.
Three World Titles Before XCAT
Notschaele’s racing career began as chief scrutineer in the P1 series before driving for the Fernebo team. He won two world championships in UIM Class S1 with Alain Coppens, racing open boats with twin 300-horsepower engines. A third world title came in 2021 with Nico Bertels.
He moved to Class 3D closed-cockpit catamarans with Montavoci’s Venetian team, running twin 200-horsepower two-stroke engines. “Very competitive class, all the same engines, but a lot slower than XCAT,” he said.
His first XCAT race came at the end of 2023. Alfredo Amato invited him to Fujairah to throttle for Roberto Lo Piano in an old Victory-design boat adapted from Class 3D.
It was really very rough water and I’m quite used to racing in rough water conditions. The boat was almost falling apart. We took a fourth place and that was really good.
For 2024, he drove the full season in boat 88. The year brought technical problems. “We almost broke the boat in two, actually here in Dubai,” he said. At one point they finished a race at Basilicata after losing the downside hatch on the first lap.
We took a lot of water into the boat, because if you corner and the safety hatch is gone, you take in a lot of water. I think we still did fifth.
Despite the issues, consistent finishes pushed them to fourth in the championship at one stage before technical breakdowns dropped them back.
Role Reversal
The partnership with Al Zaffain required a fundamental change. Notschaele had throttled his entire career. Now he drives while Al Zaffain manages the engines.
He is very careful with me. He explains me a lot. There are no words in the boat. He is correcting me slightly and he gives me a lot of tips.
Only with Montavoci had he experienced similar unspoken communication. “I needed no words to understand each other. And also with Arif, there are no words.”
Kuwait Performance
The partnership showed promise at Kuwait two weeks ago. They took pole position both days, losing it only in the final minutes. Shaun Torrente and the Sharjah Team beat them by one-tenth of a second on Saturday, four-tenths on Sunday.
In Saturday’s race, Notschaele and Al Zaffain took the lead from second on the grid and led for five laps before an engine oil pressure problem forced them out.
We were five laps in the front, which was for me the first time in my life.
Torrente’s post-race assessment carried weight. “When a guy like Shaun Torrente says to me, ‘Francis, you are an arsehole,’ that means a lot. That’s unusual for Sean.”
Dubai Goals
Fujairah and Kuwait technical problems mean they’ve completed just one race this season. But strong pole position performances have them chasing an unofficial championship within the championship.
We can still take the unofficial world championship title in pole positions. We are only four points behind the first one, which is Victory Team number seven.
Sharjah sits second, Notschaele and Al Zaffain third, with HPI Fujairah Racing Team fourth.
For the races, the target is clear: “We would like to end at least top three. Get on the podium, absolutely.”
The 50 per cent team ownership cements his commitment. “I’m part of the team now, so we continue together.”
Balancing Business and Racing
Notschaele runs his own company in the chemical industry, work that has taken him around the world throughout his career. Racing requires using all his annual holiday allocation.
I’m not entitled to take more holidays or days off than our co-workers. The XCAT, the racing is for me my exhaust of my stress in my professional life.
Someone at breakfast called it an expensive hobby. Notschaele disagreed with the terminology.
If you use the name hobby for this sport, it’s wrong. It needs to be a passion. If it isn’t a passion, you cannot do it. This is just like a bucket of water where you put a hole in it and you keep on throwing money in it.
Calendar Concerns
The season was scheduled for five races but delivered three after promotership changed from the Italian organisers to the UIM. Palermo and Basilicata were lost.
Without having less than five races, it will be difficult, also for sponsorship.
The series also faces an engine transition. The current Verado 400 R engines are being phased out, requiring teams to move to new V8 engines at 350 or 360 horsepower.
This series needs to have a future in terms of calendar, because otherwise it will no longer have existence, which would be really sad because it’s the fastest series that we have in Europe. Class 1 doesn’t exist anymore. This is the top class that UIM has, apart from F1H2O.
The Dubai finale runs from 12 to 14 December. For Notschaele, racing on Al Zaffain’s home waters with a chance at the pole position championship represents the culmination of an unlikely journey.
Racing with, let’s face it, one of the best offshore pilots ever, it’s a big honour. I always remind myself that this is an honour and I stay humble. I always put my two feet on the ground and I am very thankful to him.
John Moore’s 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 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
