Doctor Raffaele Chiulli secured a fifth term as UIM President at the 98th General Assembly in Shanghai on Saturday, standing unopposed in the election for the 2025-2029 mandate.
The Italian sports executive’s candidature, submitted by the Italian Federation, received approval from delegates gathered at Baoshan District for powerboating’s most significant institutional event of the year.
Alec Weckström claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory to seize the championship lead after Jonas Andersson’s calamitous afternoon saw the defending champion spin from pole position at the start before retiring with technical issues.
The Victory Team driver controlled the 36-lap race in challenging conditions to head team-mate Shaun Torrente by 3.
Auckland’s Gulf Harbour delivered the opening salvo of the 2026 New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship season on Saturday, with Grant Henry’s Nakita claiming the Nominated Speed victory alongside consistent performances across the Sports 140HP division.
Alec Weckström claimed his maiden sprint race victory after holding off a relentless late charge from Rusty Wyatt, the Victory Team driver withstanding intense pressure over the closing laps to win by just over two seconds.
Jonas Andersson extended his remarkable unbeaten sprint race record to 11 consecutive victories with a commanding performance in the opening sprint race, the Swede dominating from pole position to win by nearly 13 seconds.
Jonas Andersson stormed to pole position for the Grand Prix of Zhengzhou with a commanding 43.
951-second lap to head an all-Scandinavian front row after Alec Weckström produced a sensational performance to claim second.
UKOPRA regulars James Norvill and Andy Foster head to Englewood Beach, Florida this weekend for crucial practice ahead of November’s Key West World Championships.
Alec Weckström produced a stunning late surge to snatch second place in final practice, the Victory Team driver finding nearly three seconds of improvement to post a 45.
848-second lap and transform his qualifying prospects.
Rusty Wyatt snatched top spot in the closing stages of second practice, posting a 45.
366-second lap to edge Shaun Torrente by two tenths as lap times tumbled across the field on the Yellow River circuit.
Jonas Andersson set the pace in opening practice for the Grand Prix of Zhengzhou, lapping the Yellow River circuit in 45.
527 seconds to head Erik Stark by just under half a second as the F1H2O World Championship began its third round weekend.
Portugal secured three UIM international events for 2026 during this week’s General Assembly in Shanghai, with the Portuguese federation landing the Aquabike European Championship alongside two Formula 2 World Championship rounds including the season finale.
Paulo Ferreira, President of FPM (Federação Portuguesa de Motonautica), confirmed the successful bid package delivers major championship racing across three Portuguese venues between July and September.
Team Brady E1, owned by 7-times Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady, faces intensifying competition in the series’ second season.
COMINSPORT will propose establishing UIM teams titled events tomorrow, introducing a format combining three to five racing categories per team in single-weekend competitions designed to popularise powerboat racing and encourage nations to revive dormant classes.
The structure requires all team members to hold valid racing licences from the same nationality, with one driver per team per category competing across circuit, aquabike, motosurf or offshore disciplines.
The 98th UIM General Assembly is underway in Shanghai this week, marking the federation’s return to China six years after the 2019 Qingdao gathering, with delegates in Baoshan District through 12th October for the sport’s most significant institutional event of the year.
F4 crash boxes will become mandatory for all boats built after 1st January 2026 under proposals facing a UIM Council vote tomorrow, with detailed homologation specifications demanding multi-layer foam construction capable of absorbing 1.
2 kilojoules during drop tests to reduce driver injuries in lateral collisions.
HydroGP financial rules face a fundamental overhaul tomorrow with two competing proposals before the UIM Council, as Czech Republic seeks to eliminate travel money entirely whilst Poland proposes equalising Formula 500 payments to attract organisers struggling with current cost requirements.
Seven proposed amendments to UIM F2 rules will face a council vote on Friday 10 October 2025, with approved changes scheduled to take effect from 1 January 2026.
The package includes the introduction of long lap penalties, clarified championship rules, a penalties overhaul, European Championship proposals and technical updates to SST200 engine cowlings.
Ieva Millere-Hagin delivered a dominant performance alongside Timmy Hansen to claim victory at the Lagos Grand Prix, as Africa hosted its first E1 Powerboat World Championship round.
The Latvian racer, competing for Team Brazil by Claure Group, topped every session across the weekend.
Following a challenging end to his UIM F2 season with Team Sharjah, Norwegian driver André Solvang embarked on an unexpected adventure to Lagos, Nigeria—one of the world’s fastest-growing cities—to compete in the revolutionary E1 World Championship.
The F1H2O Zhengzhou Grand Prix promises a thrilling weekend of racing as the F1H2O World Championship arrives on the historic Yellow River for the third round of the 2025 season.
After two dramatic rounds in Indonesia and Shanghai, just eight points separate the top six drivers in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive championship battles in recent years.
Fletcher Donnelly will make his Formula 4 debut this season with Team HSR, contesting the full Australian Formula Powerboat Grand Prix championship after progressing through J3 Formula Future.
Donnelly’s racing career began in 2020 when he built a timber boat from plans during COVID lockdown—a project that sparked a passion leading him into competitive powerboat racing.
Auckland’s Gulf Harbour will host the opening round of the 2026 New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship on Saturday, 11 October 2025, marking the start of what promises to be an action-packed season of offshore racing.
Team Brazil by Claure Group took their first ever series win when Millere-Hagin and Hanson ‘s combined effort resulted in the pair standing on the top step of the podium at the inaugural E1 Lagos GP presented by FirstBank.
Following the Final race Millere-Hagin said ‘The team is now ready to fight for the podium at the last race next month in Miami.
The racing at Boretto was cancelled today due to strong winds, however, the UIM has named the 2025 F-125, F-250, F-500 World Champions.
With only one heat run yesterday the organisers are awarding full event points on those heat results.
Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province, is renowned as one of the eight historical capitals of China.
With a rich culture, long history, and a significant contribution to Chinese culture it is known as the cradle of Chinese civilisation.
Due to strong winds, all racing at Boretto has been suspended.
The organisers will be briefing competitors at !
F.
125 Heat Results Pos No Driver Nat Heat 1 Heat 2 Heat 3 Total 122Joonas LemberEST2020 239Luca FinottiITA1515 326Andrea OngariITA1212 461Gabriele RossiITA99 598Petar StoyanovBUL77 651Nicolae DaraiITA55 791Tomas WahlstenSWE44 810Henryk SynorackiPOL33 92Ladislav HerbanskySVK22 1030Thomas TrabitzschGER11 1121Mattia CalzolariITA00 1227Domenico GhiraldiITA00 1331Simona Emilia FittavoliniITA00 1446Aleksander DolacinskiPOL00 F.
Following the free practice sessions, competitors took to the water for qualifying to determine their grid positions for the main races at the 63rd Boretto International Motorboat GP.
Grant Trask delivered the performance of his F1H2O career with third place at the Shanghai Grand Prix, securing his first-ever World Championship podium on his debut for Team Sweden alongside reigning champion Jonas Andersson.
The Australian, who races without his prosthetic leg after losing his right leg at age five in a truck accident, celebrated in style – fulfilling a long-standing promise to perform a “leggie” (showing his prosthetic) when he reached the F1H2O podium.
The 63rd edition of the prestigious Boretto International Motorboat GP kicked off with free practice sessions on October 3-4, 2025.
Competitors across three categories—F.
Bartek Marszalek has been awarded 10th place in the Shanghai Grand Prix following a post-race review of restart procedures after a yellow flag period, moving the Polish driver into the points and demoting Cédric Deguisne to 11th.
The Strømøy Racing driver completed 37 laps of the chaotic Shanghai race, finishing two laps down on winner Jonas Andersson, but initially appeared to have missed out on scoring his first championship point of the weekend after finishing outside the top 10.
