Bblades Wades Into The Waters Of Powerboat P1

Team SW1 Capital is company's first boat in international offshore V-bottom series

No strangers to the international market or boat racing of any stripe, BBLADES Professional Propellers has taken its first foray into the Powerboat P1 World Championship, through a sponsorship agreement with England-based Team SW1 Capital, with an impressive win at the Scandinavian Grand Prix of the Sea.

While BBLADES propellers can be found on race and pleasure boats around the world, in just about every race series that exists, this is the Wisconsin company's first partnering with a Powerboat P1 team.

Team SW1 Capital, which is making its first full-season run at the Powerboat P1 World Championship title this year, has experienced a number of setbacks including several serious propeller issues, which essentially cost them a shot at the overall 2009 title, but team owner and driver Daniel J. Cramphorn is crediting the skilled craftsmanship of BBLADES with contributing to back-to-back victories at the Scandinavian Gran Prix, which took place in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Cramphorn explains that the team was forced to purchase a pair of used propellers that "could be described as 'battered' at best," to race in Turkey, and had to rely on the beat-up blades again in Italy when a pair of new props arrived with serious defects. A contact in the U.S. put him in touch with Brett Anderson at BBLADES, but the English team leader says he did not have much hope, "Every blade tip had been taken off and some were bent," according to Cramphorn.

In the three weeks between Italy and Sweden, BBLADES' Bob Lucht was able to rehabilitate the damaged props, much to the Brits' surprise. "What we received back I could not even believe, they were simply better than new," Cramphorn exclaims. "I asked Brett if these were now only suitable for recreational use, and he told me 'absolutely not, they are ready to race,' and that's exactly what we did with them," Cramphorn continues, "with substantial wins in both races in Sweden. I just wish we had been using BBLADES for all of our propeller requirements since the start of the season. If we had, I truly believe we would be winning the Championship overall right now."

Anderson and Lucht have decades of experience working with teams from outboard drag racers and tunnel boats to the largest offshore powerboats and even professional speed water ski racers. "We understand the pressures on a race team," Anderson says, "from tight budgets to extremely short turnaround times, and we do what we can to accommodate them. You can't win sitting on the beach," he adds. While the company works with race teams around the world, "We are very selective about the teams we enter into sponsorship agreements with. We want to make sure they are serious in their efforts to not just race, but to win," Anderson says. "Team SW1 Capital came very highly recommended and has performed well as wild card entries at the end of last season and again this year. We believe they are the team to beat for the 2010 Powerboat P1 Championship."

Mathematically eliminated through points from the P1 Championship SuperSport class title this year, Cramphorn has vowed to finish the season in Sicily September 11 - 13 with the most single race wins and are poised to do just that. "Team SW1 Capital has the greatest appreciation for all of the help and assistance we received from BBLADES," he says.

Based in Princeton, Wisconsin, BBLADES Professional Propellers is a full service propeller company offering consultation, inspection and repair of any aluminum, stainless steel, nibral and brass propellers; "Lab-Finishing" or "Blueprinting" of stainless steel propellers; competitive pricing on new props from Mercury, Hering, Hydromotive, Acme and Turbo; and the most comprehensive propeller testing program in the marine industry.