14th Annual Great Lakes Grand Prix Offshore Race

The international 222 Offshore/Navy with Australian owner/driver Darren Nicholson and Italian throttleman Giovanni Carpitella scored their third consecutive victory at the 14th Annual Great Lakes Grand Prix Offshore Race on August 6, 2023, in Michigan City, Indiana.

The 47-foot Victory catamaran hull was powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 1100 twin turbo inboard engines producing a total of 2,200 hp. The winds blowing out of the northeast churned up 5- to 6-foot waves on the fog-ridden 4.4-mile course.

The first-place finish in ClassONE of the P1 Powerboat Series was the fourth stop on the seven-race schedule for the 2023 season.

“Lake Michigan was some of the roughest water that I have ever raced on,” Nicholson says.

The event was sanctioned by the OPA (Offshore Powerboat Association) and Powerboat P1 governing bodies, and was presented by XInsurance.

—Photo and story by Paul Kemiel