POWERBOAT RACES OFF MONACO 1990

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In 1990 Monaco issued one stamp for the World Offshore Powerboat Championship which would take place off Monaco waters in 1990.

The world title was not awarded in 1990, as a mark of respect for Stefano Casiraghi who died while defending his title in Monaco. He was at that time the husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
Casiraghi was killed in an offshore powerboat racing accident off the coast of Monaco near Cap Ferrat on 3 October 1990 while defending his world offshore title. He was 30 years old and had planned to retire after the race. Only weeks earlier, he had escaped death when his boat blew up off the coast of Guernsey.
There were three to four-foot wave conditions on the race course, which caused Casiraghi's 42-foot catamaran, PINOT DI PINOT, to flip. Traveling at plus-90 mph, it did not have a full canopy, and experts who studied the accident have said that Casiraghi would most likely have survived the accident had the boat been equipped with such a canopy. As a result of his death, safety laws became more stringent; a safety harness and closed hull became compulsory, as was a twin hull design for boats. Races nowadays take place close to the harbor where waves are gentler, which is policed off for safety reasons as boats are no longer allowed to drive near the course.
Casiraghi's copilot, Patrice Innocenti, survived the accident. He was pulled from the water and taken to Monaco's Princess Grace Hospital.
The funeral Mass was held in Monaco's Cathedral of St. Nicholas exactly eight years after Princess Grace's funeral in the same place.
Stefano Casiraghi is buried in the Chapelle de la Paix in Monaco, which is also the resting place of his wife's paternal grandfather, Prince Pierre of Monaco.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Casiraghi

The Boats
Weighing in at around 5 tonnes, each boat in the Class 1 fleet is approximately 12-14m in length, 3.5m wide, and constructed using composite materials.
Over the years, safety has become a key concern and today’s Class 1 boats are the safest they have ever been. The quest for speed has produced boats, engines and transmission systems which are inevitably more sophisticated, and the use of Fibre reinforced polymer(FRP) with advanced composites using kevlar and carbon fibre has made them safer.
Manufacturers Maritimo, MTI, Outerlimits, Tencara and Victory make up the fleet. All boats run petrol engines - Lamborghini-SKEMA or SCAM 8.2 liter V12s, Mercury or Outerlimits V8s, with the Victory Team running the Victory 8.2 liter V12.
Inside the cockpit, satellite GPS systems, trim indicators, engine data dashboards and instrument panels and warning lights keep the crew aware of the boat’s progress during a race.
The cockpit is reinforced to withstand enormous impacts that may occur if a boat crashes at speeds in excess of 150 mph, with an escape hatch in the hull as an added safety feature in the event of an accident.
The Crews
Each boat has a two-man crew; the driver who navigates and steers the boat and a throttleman who dictates the speed and attitude, controlling the throttles and the trim.
It is a combination that requires total trust – imagine driving a car and the person beside you has control of the accelerator – and a close working relationship. Spectators may imagine that the crew simply jump into the cockpit, and it’s the guys who drive quickest that can win. A simple enough theory, but one that doesn’t take into account the skills and professionalism of pilots who regularly hurtle across the waves at over 160 mph/250kmh.
Both pilots work closely with their pit crews to determine the race set-up: the type of propeller required for the conditions, gear ratio settings’, the amount of fuel needed and race tactics. Propeller choice is critical and can win or lose not only a race, but also a championship.

Monaco 1990 2f30 sg1993, scott1734.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_1_W ... ampionship