About Tim
You are here: Home > About TIm
About your skipper Tim...
Tim Grimshaw the owner and skipper, a former powerboat champion.
Tim holds a skipper's licence for vessels up to 200 tons, also a ship engineer's certificate for engines up to 2000bhp. He is also legally required to hold a Sea Survival Certificate, a First Aid Certificate, a Ship's Radio Licence and must undergo a rigorous medical each year.
Tim first got interested in boats at a very young age when taken by his father on a "speed boat" ride off Bournemouth pier. His first boat was a 16ft ski-boat with an outboard when he was 18 and he started racing off-shore at 26 years old. In 1983 and 1984 Tim raced 4-litre class in a 25ft Phantom monohull with two V6 Mercury outboards, he was proud to finish every race and usually in the first three.
In 1989 Tim bought the sailing yacht "Halycon" whilst it was anchored at West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. He sailed her back to the UK via Bermuda and the Azores.
Over the following years, in between building a business, Tim delivered boats to and from the Mediterranean.
In 2008 Tim found the famous vintage raceboat "Cinzano Bianco 558" languishing in a field in the South of France; he dragged the old lady out of retirement and with a total makeover turned her back into the beautiful classic she is today.
There was great success for the “Cinzano Bianco” race team in the UK marathon powerboat racing world championships. The rejuvenated boat was first raced in 2008 in the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes powerboat race with the Ilmor MV10-625 engine. With skipper Tim Grimshaw and crew Eric Smillie and Nik Keyser. It came fifth overall and second in marathon class B. It was then raced again in 2009 in the marathon class B series and came first in class and first overall for the class and the whole of the marathon powerboat series, including an overall 1st place in the prestigious Cowes-Torquay-Cowes
With skipper Tim Grimshaw and crew Eric Smillie and Marcus Hendricks in 2010 it was re-rigged with the new range of MV10-725 engines. Shortly after the re-rig the boat was raced in the gruelling Around Ireland 2010 powerboat race, came in first on every leg and won the overall race, crossing the finish line at a blistering 94mph; not bad for a 35 year old race boat and a 56 year old skipper! See Wikipedia for more on this.
