Guido Cappellini is recognized as a legend of motorboat racing in the Hall of Fame, but he is also considered the great innovator of the Inshore. Thanks to him, this sport has completely changed, becoming more spectacular and safer at the same time.
Until the end of the 90s the powerboating was a sadly famous world due to the many fatal accidents recorded in the races. When a boat was looping or colliding with another hull, there were not many chances of safety for the drivers.
Guido Cappellini decided to change the situation: in fact, a series of life-saving innovations that have become worldwide mandatory in the Inshore derive from his ideas and have been elaborated together with his team of loyalists.
With his push, the transition from wooden hulls to composite ones took place; while the F1 automotive had already passed from aluminum to composite, the nautical world in general and the Italian one in particular, was lagging behind. Cappellini understood it was time to stop believing wood was the best material to build racing boats, as he could learn from the British shipyards where Burgess winning hulls were born.
He thus discovered the new technological materials: composite, kevlar, carbon fiber. He decided he wanted to build the hulls himself. Dac Racing was born and with it one of the most incredible adventures in the nautical world. Cappellini and the Dac hulls will win everything, but they will also introduce all the news that will save many lives. Cappellini is the first to introduce the deformable “horns”, special devices absorbing the impact in the accidents between hulls and preventing the cockpit to be penetrated; this has become the first “metamorphosis” from wooden boats into today’s hulls composed of avant-garde materials.
Over the years, there have been many other innovative modifications, studied also in the wind tunnel, for better aerodynamics and a better set-up of the hull. The Dac Racing also introduced the Air-bag, in a short time made mandatory for all. Furthermore, the most innovative contribution is definitely the safety capsule, equipped with a fairing (first the drivers ran with the helmet out of the hull) and 15 cm side panels with shock absorption. The capsule includes the driver’s position but also the whole “soul” of the hull, up to the engine.
The same Cappellini, in the “crash” of Bristol was saved by one of the first security capsules created by the British and from this event it all started and up to its perfection. Attention to detail and continuous commitment to improvement are the skills of the Cappellini working group: the Dac Racing hulls are considered the best of the Inshore circus, beautiful to see (even the lines have been perfected over time) and ultra-performing in the race.
