The European race in Lecco
1964 proved to be a year that lived up to our tradition, with us, as always, the stars and dominators in the inboard racing classes, winning a world championship and three European titles. In Lecco, at the European KD 900 kg championship, only five Italian pilots took part: Giorgio and Flavio Guidotti, Nando Dell'Orto and Ermanno Marchisio with Timossi-Maserati boats and Gian Luigi Crivelli with a Celli-Maserati. The notable absence was that of Liborio Guidotti. The race was particularly interesting because of the uncertainty that hung over the winner of the competition until the end: in fact, each heat saw a different pilot win each time. The first heat was won by Flavio Guidotti who preceded Marchisio and Crivelli, while both Giorgio Guidotti and Dell'Orto were disqualified for early start. In the second heat, after having been in the lead, Flavio Guidotti left the scene definitively due to a broken gearbox and gears. Marchisio took advantage of this and won the heat ahead of Giorgio Guidotti and Dell'Orto. But bad luck was lurking for Marchisio: so for him too, in the third test, during the second lap, while he was leading the carousel of boats, the breakage of the transmission axle became a reason for surrender. Victory for Giorgio Guidotti, over Crivelli and Dell'Orto. In the last heat that found Giorgio Guidotti momentarily first in the provisional classification, with Crivelli and Dell'Orto following, the success smiled on Dell'Orto with Giorgio Guidotti second and Crivelli third.
Giorgio Guidotti, thus, three years later, regained the continental laurel and his performance was, among other things, embellished by the excellent management of his vehicle which complained, during the fourth heat, of the lack of oil in the gears of the transmission casing due to the blockage of a duct.
The final ranking of the European KD 900 kg racers championship sees: 1st Giorgio Guidotti, 2nd Nando Dell'Orto, 3rd Gian Luigi Crivelli, 4th Ermanno Marchisio, 5th Flavio Guidotti.

The KD 900 kg World Championship
From Lecco we move, always for the KD 900 kg, to Campione, for the classic appointment of the world championship. With prohibitive weather conditions, rain and strong wind, the same participants of the European championship in Lecco are seen in the water, with the addition of Liborio Guidotti. Nothing new even on the engines: all 6400 cc Maseratis. In this category, for now, we have to resign ourselves to the total absence of foreign competitors, but what is most striking is that, beyond the borders of Lombardy, there are no other truly interesting pilots in Italy.
In the world championship in Campione, Ermanno Marchisio, for the third consecutive time, imposes himself, proving, among the Italian pilots, to be the most holder of world titles. The champion from Cascina Costa wins the first two tests, leaving the success in the third and final heat to Flavio Guidotti. During the first leg, the latter, just as he was leading the race, was the victim of a mechanical failure (breakage of the accelerator rod). Marchisio, however, proved to be the fastest in this championship, offering a second leg worthy of applause for the way he drove his Timossi-Maserati to victory on the rather choppy waters of Lake Ceresio. But this world championship went down in the news above all for the unfortunate accident that occurred to the European champion Giorgio Guidotti. During a turn, Guidotti capsized and the driver remained with his right foot trapped between the control pedals. Very calmly and also thanks to the timely help of a rescue vessel, he managed to free himself, but unfortunately suffered a slight fracture of the fibula. In addition to the damage, then, the mockery of the loss of his racer which, sinking, ended up settling on a seabed estimated at around 80 meters. The curious fact is that the hull can no longer be recovered and even today, after more than 40 years, it still lies on the bottom of the lake. The final ranking of the KD 900 kg world championship sees, behind Marchisio, Nando Dell'Orto, in third place the returning Liborio Guidotti who is clearly in difficulty due to the after-effects of a previous injury. Then follow Flavio Guidotti, Crivelli, and Giorgio Guidotti.
With this umpteenth title won, Marchisio receives for 1964 the important recognition of the "Sportsman of the year" trophy which for the first time, unlike past editions, is not awarded to athletes who absolutely stand out among the various motor sports, but for each discipline.

The European title of the V 1300 cc class
In Lyon, our Giulio De Angelis confirms himself as European champion of the V 1300 cc class. De Angelis' success is built by winning the first two heats and then managing the advantage accumulated on his direct pursuers. The most dangerous opponents for De Angelis are his teammates Guido Caimi, second in all four heats, and Giancarlo Capucchio who, despite winning the third and fourth heats, does not total other significant scores in the initial heats. The supremacy of our national team is total, with Guido Caimi's second place overall, Capucchio's third and Bernocchi's fourth. An all- Made in Italy success, also with regards to the engines (Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint) and hulls (A. Molinari) used in the race by all our drivers. Modest French participation and only one Swiss driver present. The French conquered the fifth position with Charles Laurent (Molinari-Alfa Romeo), a sixth place with Gustave Chapron (Celli-Alfa Romeo), a seventh with Renè Millon (Molinari-Alfa Romeo); following, in eighth position, we find the Swiss Wyss (Molinari-Alfa Romeo) and the other French Andrè Salmona (S. Marco-Alfa Romeo) who closed the placings.

The European title in the 2500 cc
The continental title of the 2500 cc racers (LZ) is awarded in the September meeting organized by the Venetian motorboat club which no longer takes place in the San Niccolò basin, but in the lagoon at Lido a Punta Sabbioni di Lio Grando. The national team brings together the best names of the moment: Libanori, Pertrobelli, Castiglioni, Maderna and De Angelis; together with them, the Frenchman Gustave Chapron also participates. Taking a quick look at the vehicles in the water, it is worth noting that the Celli hulls are used by all the competitors except De Angelis; as regards the engines, the comparison between the Alfa Romeo 6-cylinder Raineri of Libanori, Petrobelli and De Angelis, the CR of Castiglioni and the BPMs of Maderna and the Frenchman Chapron is noteworthy.
Libanori immediately gave proof of his skill by winning the first of the four heats ahead of De Angelis, Petrobelli, Castiglioni and Maderna. Chapron was considerably behind, complaining of mechanical problems to the point of finishing the race outside the maximum time limit. After a fast start by De Angelis, Petrobelli and Libanori, in the second heat the decisive moment arrived when Libanori, once again in the lead of the race, collided with a wreck (a floating bottle) which, in the impact, caused a hole in the right boot of his Celli. This forced the driver to end up on a shoal to avoid seeing his hull sink. The heat, as it continued, experienced other twists: the retirements of Petrobelli and Castiglioni, due to problems with the electrical system, and of De Angelis due to the breakage of a propeller support, giving Maderna the victory and Chapron the second place; the latter, however, did not worry our drivers, given the poor competitiveness of the vehicle. Except Libanori, all the other retired competitors return to the race in the third heat. In fact, it is still possible, since by regulation each driver can count the three best results. The third heat records the good performance of Castiglioni who precedes Petrobelli, Maderna and Chapron. Too bad for De Angelis who, forced to retire again, definitively exits the competition. In the last and decisive fraction, yet another great performance by Castiglioni who takes the lead from the first to the last lap, distancing Maderna and Petrobelli: consequently, by winning the heat, he confirms himself, for the second consecutive year, as European champion of LZ 2500 cc racers. The final classification sees, behind Castiglioni, Maderna and Petrobelli.

Other competitions and curiosities
In 1964, among the ranks of competitors in the national championship of the LV 1300 cc, there were 15 boats. This tricolor title was won for the fourth consecutive time, with a minimum gap, by Giulio De Angelis ahead of the very talented Capucchio, Guido Caimi, Caramelli, Riola and Perziano. A championship, the Italian one of the LV 1300, not without discussions in which a little everyone intervened: from the pilots to the technical commission, to the organizers, to the sports commission and others. The image of this class that however continues to play a primary role among the three categories of Italian inboard sailing is, during this event, reviled by the disqualifications first confirmed and then suspended, with cancelled races and other similar unpleasant episodes.

The LZ 2500 cc racers found, in the new engine developed by the very talented preparer Raineri from the Alfa Romeo 2600, 6 cylinders in line, an excellent compromise between power and reliability: in fact Fortunato Libanori on his Celli hull managed to take back the Italian championship after the victory in 1962. It should be noted that for Raineri the only competitor in the motorsport field among the LZs was the previous CR: this engine was an upgrade of the Alfa Romeo 2000 4 cylinders developed by himself and as already mentioned, successfully raced in the European championship by Gian Franco Castiglioni. It was the latter who conquered second place in the final classification of the Italian championship ahead of the indomitable Petrobelli, De Angelis and Maderna.

In the KD 900 kg racing cars, Ermanno Marchisio achieved his first success, making him the Italian title. In second place Nando Dell'Orto then, in order, the three standard-bearers of the Guidotti stable: Flavio, Giorgio and his father Liborio (the latter not always present in the water due to some health problems). It's a shame that in addition to the above mentioned and the occasional return in some tests of Crivelli, there are no other members.

Records
In this 1964, it is worth noting the excellent result achieved by the MAM (Milan Motorboat Association) pilot Franco Gilberti who, in addition to the speed record in the Runabouts E.01 class with 33.93 km/h, on a monohull from the Milanese shipyard San Marco, with a 982 cc Abarth engine, also set the record for the KA class (250 kg racer) that he could already boast. For this record, our pilot has a light 3-pointer also from the San Marco shipyard, equipped with an Alfa Romeo Giulietta prepared by Luigi Raineri. This is the classic 4-cylinder engine from the Arese company normally used by pilots in the LV 1300 class; It is with this vehicle that on December 18, on the measured base of Sarnico, he adds to his rich palmares this speed record with km/h 148,760, improving his own record, achieved the previous year, of 147,550. It should be noted that this KA class, recognized by the UIM in record attempts, does not compete for the dispute of any international and national championship.

The Raid
After the resounding success achieved by Augusto Cometti the previous year in the Raid Pavia-Venezia, in the 1964 edition, surprisingly, we witnessed the unexpected first place overall of Leopoldo Casanova. On this occasion, the champion from Verona Cometti renounced participating in the competition, since, being in fact also the owner of BPM motori marini, his presence would have led to many discussions with his rivals and customers on the subject of preparing the racing engines.
In this competition, among the excellent performances shown in the race, those of Maderna and the Guidotti brothers were excellent. Flavio Guidotti, unfortunately, was forced to retire: despite this, he deserves the credit for having achieved the best average of 131.416 km/h in the timed section Pavia-Isola Serafini which earned him the assignment of the Coppa D'Oro Montelera.
The surprising Casanova, at his fifth participation in the Raid, for the first time finds himself driving a racer from the San Marco shipyard, with an Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1300 cc engine: the competitor can boast, over the entire route, a general average of about 110 km/h in almost three and a half hours of navigation. A performance, that of the driver from Parma, very respectable considering that the vehicle at his disposal is of little help on the waters of the Po river, clean for the initial 30 km, then invaded by more or less visible debris. Casanova, after winning the race, expresses all his emotions for having managed to keep the engine at a regime of 6500/7000 rpm, worrying more about the speed than about the opponents.