BOTNIA TARGA 42

f you’d seen the 2008 Round Britain Powerboat Race start, you’d have been forgiven for thinking a nearby spectator boat had wandered onto the course. In amongst the low sleek race boats and serious high performance RIBs floated a lone upright cruiser – a Botnia Targa 42. The only giveaways that it wasn’t there by mistake were on the vertical wheelhouse sides and roof – the race number 15. Helmed by Belgian Peter Vanhauter, the only upgrade from stock standard fitout was a change of props from G5s to G7s to give an extra couple of knots at the top end. But the fact that this boxy, practical cruiser (referred to by the manufacturers as ‘the 4x4 of the sea’ and less kindly by some pundits as a ‘flying potting shed’) had the audacity to line up next to purpose-built race boats turned out not to be