VICI GROUP had a longstanding involvement with the famous offshore powerboat 'Cigarette Racing Team' through their VICI MARINE division.

Initially VICI were asked to contribute their experience with advanced lightweight racing materials to the arena of powerboat racing, where speeds of up to 170 km/h are achieved. The project was quite wide ranging with two 38-foot hulls being constructed out of carbon fibre, and two out of Kevlar to test the materials properties in the sea. VICI's design team eventually settled on a Kevlar hull with the internal supporting structure being made in carbon fibre.

The result was a hull that allowed some flexibility without any structural damage, but was enormously stiff.

VICI MARINE then went on to convert the engines from carburetors to fuel injection, which improved idle characteristics and overall performance. Fuel consumption was improved by over 20%, a major saving in terms of weight and volume required keeping in mind that these boats consumed 400 litres of fuel per hour.

VICI RACING's aerodynamic experts successfully cross-pollinated principles from the race track to offshore application. In fact the invovlement was to come full circle, as VICI's exposure to the leading edge of powerboat racing, unearthed synergies that were able to be successfully adapted and used by the motor racing division.