Powerboat racing legend and multiple World Offshore Champion Fabio Buzzi, 76-year-old, his co-pilot and friend Luca Nicolini and a Dutch mechanic Eric Hoorn, died on Tuesday, 17 September 2019 night after their FB Design offshore hit the submerged San Nicoletto dam, between Punta Sabbioni and Lido, in Venice harbor.
The accident occurred around 21h15, near the finish line of an attempt to break the offshore speed record from Monte Carlo to Venice.
Sanctioned by the Assonautica Italiana, the 2,220 kilometers (about 1,380 miles) speed record attempt started from Monte Carlo at 03h00 o'clock. Buzzi who had traveled the same route in the past, and his crew were expected to arrive in Venice near 21h00. The Fiat-powered boat was traveling at around 148 km/h (92 mi/h) when it crashed into the artificial reef, known as Mose flood barrier, running into a spit of large boulders which propelled the craft over the manmade dam and back into the sea on the other side.
The 39 feet boat hit the water on its stern and the three victims died on impact. The rescuers found them still in the cabin underwater. A fourth occupant of the craft, the Italian Mario Invernizzi from Lecco, who was thrown from the vessel, was treated in a local hospital for serious chest injuries.
R.I.P
