Each race lasts approximately 45 minutes following a circuit marked out in a selected stretch of water, usually a lake, river, dock, or sheltered bay.

The concept of a single unified championship for inshore powerboats had been conceived three years previously in 1978 when David Parkinson, an experienced PR manager, was offered the support of Mercury Marine, one of his clients, if he could establish such a series.

Matters came to a head when, in an attempt to extract an even greater advantage, Renato Molinari turned up with two engines on the back of his boat at the Italian Grand Prix.

By bringing together the financial support and marketing ability of John Player Special, as well as the clarity and consistency of a championship with an established event structure, one which focused on sprint races rather than a mixture that included endurance races in previous years, the category allowed for a relatively stable environment in which the top powerboat teams and drivers could compete.

[5] Cees van der Velden pulled his three-boat Benson & Hedges-backed team from the final three races of the season,[6] and Carlsberg cancelled their partnership with Roger Jenkins, having told the 1982 champion, "another death or serious injury, and they were out".

On the outside, it appeared as if Formula 1 was set for a new period of growth, until OMC uncovered the level of spending that Pro One had undertaken to raise the profile of the championship.

[10] OMC called time on the whole European operation at the end of 1985 and in 1986, based solely in North America, the F1 World Series was wound down before it was completely assimilated into the domestic US championship.

The FONDA World Grand Prix Series continued to operate with title sponsorship from Budweiser and benefitted from F1's demise in Europe as drivers moved back over.

In the United States, Formula 1 lived on, but as far as the world stage was concerned, the powerboat community once again turned to David Parkinson, who having established the Canon Trophy back in 1978, was still at the helm of the FONDA series into which it had evolved.

Di San Germano has overseen a period of continued improvements in driver safety, managed the championship through multiple economic downturns and seen a shift in focus for the series away from Europe towards the Middle East and Asia, driven by a need for financial stability.

The cost has been a heavy one in the eyes of many traditional fans based in Europe as calendars and grid sizes have shrunk but the attraction remains – the series will return to Portugal and France in 2015 and there is a focus on four-stroke technology to finally overhaul the decades-old two-stroke engines that have dominated the sport since the very start.

[11] F1 boats are powered by a Mercury Marine [citation needed] V6 two stroke that burns 100LL Avgas at a rate of 120 liters (32 gallons) per hour, generating over 400 horsepower at 10,500 rpm.

In the early 1990s F1 boat builder Dave Burgess introduced a canopy that fully enclosed the cockpit to protect the driver from the full force of water in a nose-dive, similar to the system used in Unlimited hydroplanes a decade earlier.

These specific changes in safety features were also accompanied by a progression of lighter and stronger composite hulls that also reduced the hazards of racing.

[citation needed] Before obtaining a Super License to drive an F1 boat, drivers undergo a stringent medical and also an immersion test.