Luca Fendi Set For Ibiza Grand Prix

Words: Abigail Lowe

It’s apt that I’m meeting Luca Fendi in Marina Botafoch. We’re surrounded by the world’s finest super yachts and we’re looking out to the sea, where this weekend the World Powerboat Championships will be held for the first time ever in Spain. Fendi is the adrenalin-seeking pilot behind Fendi Racing, and by Sunday he’s hoping to have bagged his first World Championship title. These boats can travel at speeds of 250kph, they take hundreds of metres to stop, and the conditions in the cockpit are unlike anything any mere mortal could imagine. But for this man, it’s all par for the course, so when we meet he’s calm, he’s clear-headed and he’s ready for a fight. During our chat he talked about his biggest rivalry (the Victory Team, so keep your eyes peeled if you’re going to watch), his addiction to speed and just how exhilarating this sport can be. Playa d’en Bossa is in for a treat this weekend.

Ibiza Grand Prix

Buy tickets for the Ibiza Grand Prix Festival at Playa den Bossa from Essential Ibiza and enjoy great discounts and queue jump entry.

This is the first time the World Championships have been held in Spain; what can Ibiza look forward to seeing?
Ibiza is going to be the best venue in the world because it has everything – music, parties and a lot of people. The racecourse is in Playa d’en Bossa. And it’s almost four miles of racecourse around the bay, the beach and the clubs. There are a lot of gigs during the day plus Aquabike perfomances and acrobatic shows. The spectators are going to have a real show to see. I’m so excited. I love to be here in Ibiza. These are my people and we’ve built this race together. I’m so proud we’ve done it.

So how does it work?
There are eight teams, so there’ll be 16 or 17 raceboats on the course, which is a lot. We’ve never had that many altogether before. The start line is the most dangerous time because everybody goes in the same direction at the same time and you don’t have space to all turn together. It’s very dangerous with nine boats, but with 16, it’s impossible.

How many people are in each team?
Six or seven people. Everyone has a specific role. One is a truck driver, one’s a team manager, another is a radioman; you need a lot of people. When we win it’s a team effort. Before a race the team can work up to 24 hours a day, because you never know what’s going to happen on the day.

Can you tell me a bit about the boats themselves?
The boats are from 39 feet to 43 feet long. They have Lamborghini V12 cylinders. And they’re really loud because of the engines, especially in the open air. To get a Class-1 ready it costs no less than €1 million. The boat has no weak points because it’s all carbon fibre, and everything’s special – the suspension, the seat, the GPS, the radio, the steering, the rudder. Everything is the best of the best. They also have a double hull, which makes them dangerous because sometimes the boat can take off like a plane. I just lost one of my good friends two days ago because of an accident during take off.

So the risks when you’re racing are quite high?
It’s very dangerous. It’s the second sport for mortality.

Ibiza Grand Prix

Buy tickets for the Ibiza Grand Prix Festival at Playa den Bossa from Essential Ibiza and enjoy great discounts and queue jump entry.

It’s been suggested that Formula 1 drivers’ brains are wired differently to other people’s – they have a different response to risk. Would you say you’re fearless?
Well I have to say that every time I have a Grand Prix, in the race I’m quite relaxed. But half an hour before the race I’m always really nervous, there’s a lot of tension. I think it’s good because that way you don’t forget about the risk of driving. You have to always be responsible because for example, with Formula 1 there’s only one driver and the car, but in this sport we ride with two so we have to be super coordinated. And the conditions constantly change – sometimes the wind builds up or it’s rough, so you have to be ready. You have to have a lot of knowledge; I have to be responsible for my throttleman and he has to be responsible for me. We have to trust each other – it’s the only way.

The fact you can’t predict the sea must make it difficult to train. How do you do it?
Two ways – first of all, experience. The more you race the more you learn. And second, a couple of years ago I started to race in a different class of boat. Class-3 – so it’s the same boat but shorter and goes at 145mph. This year we’ve trained a lot in Class-3 and we’re going to be much more ready than the year before. For the past few months I’ve been driving round the island and Formentera – I was expecting to have more bumps because there are a lot of ferries and big boats.

People must be staring out the windows of ferries wondering what on earth you’re doing.
The other day, the captain of my boat and I were out and it was rough, the waves were almost 2m. So I asked him if he wanted to try something. We did 75 knots and we were almost 2m in the air. We were passing all the boats and the people were just staring. He said ‘well that was very nice but you are crazy’. One of my best friends races cars but he’s so scared on the boat. He won’t come on it because you don’t have the same control. In a car you have seconds to decide what to do, but not on a boat. You need time to stop a boat.

What’s it like in the cockpit? What can you see?
We don’t see much! The less glass you have in the cockpit, the less risk there is during an accident. The glass is the weak part, so if that breaks, that’s it. So we have glass like an aeroplane, but you still never know.

Given it’s such a dangerous sport, what started your love affair with it?
I was racing cars before. I always loved speed, so I bought a Cigarette because I like to go fast. And when it was delivered to me there was a test drive for new drivers. One of my friends, who’s a throttleman, said ‘come and see the show because you like racing so much.’ And since I was there I of course wanted to see. So when I took the boat out the guy who showed me how to use it said ‘wow, you’re good, why don’t you do a couple of laps with me?’ And I did better than any of the other drivers without any knowledge or experience. Two months later I was leading the first World Championship.

Ibiza Grand Prix

Buy tickets for the Ibiza Grand Prix Festival at Playa den Bossa from Essential Ibiza and enjoy great discounts and queue jump entry.

Is that your biggest achievement so far?
We were runners up in the World Championships two years ago. And last year we came third.

Does coming second frustrate you?
Yeah. The guys from the Victory team are really good and they have much more possibility to train. They have the biggest budget and they can spend 365 days on the water – it’s train, train, train. They don’t do anything else. We were already challenging them before, so with this year’s efforts I think we can beat them.

Do you think you’ll ever stop racing?
I’m 51 so I’m not young, but this year I’m much fitter than in previous years, I’m feeling good. The other guys are in their thirties, but for me, it’s different, you know. It’s 60 degrees inside the cockpit. One time in China, it was 67 degrees. Three drivers collapsed.

What?! How can you even think when it’s that hot?
It’s important to do cardio and to train because that helps with breathing. It’s strange because you don’t feel like you’re going to be sick because you’re concentrating so hard when you race, but afterwards you feel it right away. Here in Ibiza it’s going to be at least 50 degrees inside. There’s no air conditioning, it’s like being in a sauna. And you’re not naked!

So do you finish a race lighter?
In China I lost five kilos! If it’s 30 degrees outside, inside the cockpit it’s double. Your oxygen just gets less and less. It’s not so easy to breathe.

Ibiza Grand Prix

Buy tickets for the Ibiza Grand Prix Festival at Playa den Bossa from Essential Ibiza and enjoy great discounts and queue jump entry.

How long do you have to deal with those conditions for?
If it’s flat, it’s quicker because you can go full throttle, so it’s maximum speed the whole way. I prefer to go at medium speed when it’s a little bumpy because that’s when we’re better than everyone else. My throttleman has a lot of rhythm and skill so we like this pace. The race in Playa d’en Bossa is a little bit shorter – it’ll be 40-45 minutes on Saturday and 50 minutes on Sunday. If it’s rough we’ll be slower, so more like an hour.

Do you think you’ll always want to race?
I told myself that I’d race until I won the World Championship, and then I’d stop. I promised my family.

Do they worry?
Oh my god! My poor mother. She’s only been to a race once. It was on Lake Como and it’s a nice place so I told her to come. Everyone was there and I took off in the boat front of them. My mother just stood their paralysed. My wife started crying. My mother told me afterwards ‘don’t ever ask me to go ever again’. So that’s the only time she’s been.

Your desire to win must be off the chain. Coming from a successful family, do you think that’s something that was instilled in you from childhood?
I think the passion you have for something is in your DNA. When I was a kid I liked speed, I liked cars. I was always like it. And my older brother was the same; maybe I took it from him. But something comes from my inside; it’s nothing to do with my father or my mother. Nobody agrees with what I’m doing but they respect it. In the beginning it was a big shock – moving from cars to boats – they thought I was crazy. But I’m just going with what I like, they understand it’s something I want to do and they don’t stop me. For me, it’s not a passion but rather something I have to do. It’s like an addiction.

What’s the most dangerous experience you’ve had?
Years ago in Qatar we wanted to test the new engines the day before the Grand Prix. The organisers let us by they said we wouldn’t have a safety chaperone. We weren’t worried, so we took the boat out and came back after half an hour. An hour later we went out again to do the same tests. We were going full throttle and I was looking at the computer to see how fast we were going, and then before I knew it…we were on the sand. An hour before the tide had been up, but an hour later and we were on the beach! So we hit the sand at about 140mph and jumped to the other side of the beach. We were in the air for six or seven seconds. The rudder and the propeller disappeared and there was a big hole in the boat. When we finally landed we just looked at each other. If I’d seen the sand and tried to turn we would have been dead, so thank God I didn’t. Nobody said anything to warn us! Can you imagine? There are always surprises.

Ibiza Grand Prix

Buy tickets for the Ibiza Grand Prix Festival at Playa den Bossa from Essential Ibiza and enjoy great discounts and queue jump entry.

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