Even in 1969, the long series of victories in the international arena continued for our racers, proving how our inboard school has always played a leading role.

The latest KD 900 kg championships
This year the European and World Championships of the KD 900 kg are taking place for the last time. The race for the assignment of the continental title is taking place in Sesto Calende: for the occasion, six pilots are present. Ermanno Marchisio is taking part in the race with a brand new hull from the Celi shipyard, powered not by the usual Maserati engine, but by a seven-litre BPM Vulcano Special; once again, he is the one who gets the better of Luigi Crivelli's Timossi-Maserati, a hull, also this, of new construction. For both, two successes each in the four heats carried out, but, for the assignment of the title, the fastest test must be used; this mechanism rewards the pilot Marchisio. In the final classification, behind Marchisio and Crivelli, in third place we find the Swiss Joseph Ulrich (Molivio-BPM), the only foreigner present who, however, has a vehicle slower than the first two classified. Behind Ulrich is our Gian Pio Ottone, registered in the KD with his small LZ 2500 cc racer, specially ballasted. Last in the general classification is the Cremona driver Gino Lupi, debuting in the KD class: he races with a new Timossi-BPM hull, but, after two third places in the initial heats, he complains, in addition to a poor and hasty set-up of the boat, also of a structural failure of the boat with the inevitable withdrawal from the competition.
In the continental race of Sesto Calende, the absence of both Flavio and Giorgio Guidotti is noted: consequently, the only one to line up in the water is his father, Liborio, however with little luck. The driver, due to a mechanical failure of his BPM, is forced to abandon the race during the first heat.

In the world championship, a title that has been awarded continuously since 1956 in the only venue of Campione d'Italia, seven Italians line up at the start, in addition to the Swiss Ulrich, the only remaining foreign driver of this KD 900 kg: Crivelli and Marchisio with their Maserati-powered boats (the latter, for the occasion, dusts off the old Timossi-Maserati that had already won many times), Gino Lupi, Liborio Guidotti and Agostino Battaglini, all with Timossi-BPM Vulcanos that, however, prove inferior to the Maseratis. These true KDs are also joined by Gian Pio Ottone and Ercole Aliani, with their Celli-Alfa Romeo boats, respectively with 2500 and 3000 cc displacement, appropriately ballasted to fit within the weight established for this category.
Liborio Guidotti takes part in the world championship in Campione as the title holder, even though, following in the footsteps of his two sons, he is already on the verge of retiring from the scene.
The race immediately revolves around the Marchisio-Crivelli duel: the forecast, however, is in favor of Marchisio not only because in the past he has won the world championship six times in a row, but because, apparently, his Timossi-Maserati has a decidedly more aggressive Maserati engine installed. Unfortunately, however, as in the previous edition, luck is not on his side: in fact, the clear breakage of the transmission shaft, which occurred in the first heat, decrees the end of Marchisio's world championship despite having increased his advantage over Crivelli to about half a minute.
At this point, the title cannot escape Crivelli: the driver from Varese manages to win the first two heats, finishing second in the last behind the surprising Gino Lupi who obtains, in the final standings, the place of honor. This world title rewards, in addition to the value, also the professionalism of Luigi Crivelli, who, like Marchisio and Libanori, competes thanks to the support of the Agusta brothers and Giovanni Borghi (Ignis). In third place overall we find the former champion Liborio Guidotti, in fourth place is Aliani, author of a beautiful performance with his Celli-Alfa Romeo 3000 cc, a very fast complex, but clearly inferior if compared to those of the first three classified. Aliani, however, manages to precede Ulrich, Battaglini and Ottone, the other driver who, like Aliani, is on loan to KD.

The 500 kg racers competitions
The continental championship of the KC 500 kg racers is held on the waters of the Po river, in Boretto: Giuseppe Colnaghi triumphs in this race. The Milanese rider wins the title by default because, at the end of the race, the winner Giulio De Angelis is excluded from the final classification because he was found with an underweight hull (only 334 kg instead of the regulatory minimum of 350 kg) during the usual checks. Colnaghi uses the same forward-drive hull from the Eugenio Molinari shipyard with an Alfa Romeo 3000 cc engine with which he had won the title the previous year. This time in the final classification he precedes Aliani and Neri. Of little importance is the participation of the Swiss Pierre Ulrich, the only foreign rider registered. Behind the winner Colnaghi, completing the all-Italian podium, we find Aliani and Neri. Colnaghi's continental success is further strengthened a month later, on the waters of the Venetian lagoon, in Malamocco during the world championship.
Giulio De Angelis was absent from the competition due to the well-known disqualification decreed by the sports commission after the Boretto incident. The long list of participants in this race included thirteen riders: Casanova, Libanori (who competed in the 500 kg for the first time, but with little luck), Casinghini, Castiglioni, Colnaghi (this time in the water with a 3000 cc Celli-Alfa Romeo Raineri), Perziano, Aliani, Giuseppe and Aurelio Dotti, Franco Lupi, Brunelli, Invernizzi and Ulrich.
After Casanova's clear victory over Aliani and Conaghi in the first heat, a real massacre of withdrawals occurred in the second. Among the victims was Casanova, forced to surrender due to the breakage of an ignition cable. Colnaghi took advantage of this and jumped to the lead, winning the remaining two heats and winning the title with a time faster than Giuseppe and Aurelio Dotti, who were respectively second and third.

The last of the weight classes is the KB 350 kg which, in Sesto Calende, competes in the European championship won by the Roman Giulio De Angelis aboard a Molivio.-Alfa Romeo Raineri. The very poor participation, reduced to only four drivers, Italians at that, sees Guido Caimi obtain the victory over De Angelis in the opening heat. At the start of the second test a mechanical failure forces Guido Caimi to retire: consequently De Angelis, who also appeared faster, has no difficulty in winning the remaining heats. The final classification of the KB 350 kg continental championship reports, behind the winner Giulio De Angelis, Franco Caimi, Giuseppe Perziano and the unfortunate Guido Caimi.

In the KB 350 kg world championship held in Sabaudia, Giuseppe Perziano's performance was incredible, with two second places and a third (De Angelis won in the first heat and Guido Caimi in the other two), confirming himself as world champion for 1969 thanks to the best sum of times. In the final ranking, he was followed by the regular Franco Caimi, twenty seconds behind; following him we find Guido Caimi, De Angelis, Cantù and Casanova, the latter in serious difficulty from the very first stages of the championship.

The titles awarded for the inboard displacement classes
After the disappointing continental championship of 1968 for the 91" APBA racers category, the competition, for the second consecutive year, is run on the Lignano circuit, this time for the assignment of the world title. This championship really acquires the right connotation thanks to the presence of two overseas drivers: the Americans Bert Davidson, on a Nomenade-Alfa Romeo hull and Jack Sellers, with a Lotus-Lauterbach. It therefore seems that the UIM has partially succeeded in its objective of involving, in the 91" APBA, American motorboats. To complete the list of foreign competitors we also find the Italian-American Philip Rolla with his A.Molinari-Alfa Romeo hull with forward guidance and engine installed behind the driver's seat.
Our drivers lined up are De Angelis, Caramelli, Casanova and Perziano. The first heat was won by Caramelli while the second and third were won by De Angelis with his Molivio-Alfa Romeo hull. At the end of the three scheduled tests, by the sum of the times, Giulio De Angelis won the championship.
It was a negative day, however, for Casanova who was still very fast: this time the driver competed with an official experimental engine supplied by Alfa Romeo Autodelta. It is interesting to note how the Autodelta racing department, in the person of Eng. Carlo Chiti, was developing this collaboration with Casanova, directly supplying him with its own engines. The initiative was to test the performance of these engines, as well as their reliability in the motorboat field, and then transfer their subsequent use to the automotive sector.
Returning to the 91" APBA world championship, we also report the withdrawals of Perziano and Rolla. It is clear that the Americans do not have the means to match those of our pilots; however, they obtain the podium with the second place of Sellers and the third of Davidson, even if considerably detached from De Angelis. In fourth place we find our Caramelli classified.

In the LZ 2500 cc inboard racing class, Fortunato Libanori confirms himself as European champion. This competition is run on the Po River, in Sacco di Colorno at the beginning of the season and unfortunately sees only four Italian competitors competing. Libanori clearly wins the title with his Celli-Alfa Romeo Raineri hull and behind him, in order, we find Neri, Brunelli and Colnaghi.

In the waters of Peschiera del Garda the world title of the same class is awarded. Eleven Italian pilots participate in the competition, together with the Swiss Pierre Ulrich. After a victory each obtained by Petrobelli and Libanori in the two initial heats, the third heat is decisive, given the only fifteen seconds difference that favors the Paduan pilot. In this last test, despite the worsening of the lake waters, increasingly choppy, the unleashed Petrobelli with his Celli-Alfa Romeo Raineri manages to win, increasing his advantage over Libanori and securing, for the second time in his career, the world title. Behind the winner Petrobelli we find, in the final classification, Libanori, Colombo (a true revelation, having given a hard time to the first two arrivals), Aliani and finally Neri. The other Italians present were De Angelis, Colnaghi, Ottone, Franco Lupi, Casinghini, Dotti Giuseppe, Dotti Aurelio and the Swiss Ulrich who, however, had little luck due to a long series of mechanical breakdowns.

Let's now turn to the LV 1300 cc racers that see our Guido Caimi take a plein of international titles. On the French circuit of Saint Cloud, located on the Seine on the outskirts of Paris, he obtains a beautiful victory in the world championship by winning all three heats. A curious detail is represented by the fact that, in the final classification, the eight Italian pilots present occupy the first eight positions: first Giuido Caimi, second Orfeo Maltinti, third Aldo Ajelli and then, in order, Leopoldo Casanova, Giorgio Cantù, Franco Caimi, Antonio De Crescenzo and Alessandro Nosè. The less competitive French pilots are classified next.

In the European Championship of the same class, held on Lake Auronzo, foreigners are absent and for Guido Caimi the victories in the first three heats are enough to secure the title. In his wake we find De Angelis, Casanova, Maltinti and de Crescenzo. For both titles won Guido Caimi uses on his hull from the Molivio shipyard with an Alfa Romeo engine Giulia Raineri.

In the smallest of the engine sizes of the inboard racing, the LX 1000 cc, at the world championship held on the Elbe river in Germany, the holder of this title, the Italian Carlo Casalini (the only Italian present), does not obtain a result worthy of his skill. After the three heats disputed, in the final standings, we find our driver classified only in ninth position, rather slowed down by a series of mechanical problems. Too strong, in this circumstance, the presence of the German national team that places its drivers in the first seven places. Thus, Rudolf Königer succeeds our Casalini in the roll of honor of this world championship. Among the many curiosities, we point out that all the German drivers have Danisch three-point hulls, powered by Wartburg engines: likewise the two Czechoslovakians and the Dutchman present use the same type of complexes. Casalini, on the other hand, takes his Celli-Ford Branca to the race. Interesting is the participation of the boats of two Swiss competitors: Rudolf Werz uses a Carav powered by a Renault R8, while Fritz Steiger participates with a Molinari-Ford Cosworth.

Still in Germany and still on the Elbe River in Dessau, the continental championship for the LX 1000 cc was also awarded. This title, which had not been contested in 1968, saw the German Rudolf Königer also obtain this laurel, after having conquered the world championship. For the record, no Italian rider took part in the competition.

National competitions
Leaving aside the long examination of international titles, let's move on to the Italian championships where we record the victory of Giulio De Angelis in the LZ 2500 cc inboard racing class. It is the first time that the Roman champion has won this title in this category; in fact, he manages to get the better of his eternally unyielding adversaries, Libanori and Petrobelli. Among the 1300cc class pilots - as the pilots of the LV 1300 cc class are called - a few days before the start of the first race of the Italian championship on the Po, in Sacca di Colorno, a strong protest erupts due to the introduction, by the FIM technical commission, of some innovations regarding the engines. In fact, over the years, the various changes in the regulation have led the engines to reach levels of power that seriously endanger the safety of these boats, as well as the pilots. At the birth of the category, in the 1950s, the pilots had 70-80 HP Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce engines; in 1966 the same engine reached the power of 120 HP and already in 1967 the Alfa Romeo GT Junior engines with double ignition developed by Raineri with 130-140 HP began to be used. What remained unchanged over the years was the weight of these boats which, according to the regulations, had to reach at least 300 kg.
This polemical attitude of the pilots found an outlet in a strike which, however, was not activated in Sacca, where it could have been more justified, but in Peschiera del Garda where, taking advantage of the rough waters of the lake, the pilots (except for the exceptional Orfeo Maltinti) refused to race.
After this event, however, the national championship continued its regular course, with the victory of Leopoldo Casanova who added, to his already rich roll of honour, also the tricolour of the 91" APBA.

In the KD 900 kg class, Gian Luigi Crivelli, breaking a long hegemony of previous victories by Marchisio and the Guidotti clan who had always monopolized the category, boasts the tricolor title.

At the end of the sporting year, Leopoldo Casanova sets the world record for the 500 kg inboard racing class, on the measured base of Lake Paola in Sabaudia. Casanova, an official Autodelta driver, takes to the water with a three-point hull specially built by the Popoli shipyard: to obtain this record, the hull is equipped with an Alfa Romeo Tasmania 2500 cc 8-cylinder V engine with a power of 330 HP, designed by the engineer Carlo Chiti. The same engine, designed and produced only for competitions, is then mounted on the Alfa Romeo cars involved in the world prototype championship. Our multiple champion records an exceptional speed of 225.145 km/h, with a passage at 233 kh/h; this is the new world record. With this feat Casanova breaks the previous limit obtained years before by Liborio Guidotti who had obtained 210.84 km/h on a Timossi-Maserati hull always in the 500 kg class. The collaboration between the engineer Chiti, great boss of Autodelta, and the champion Leopoldo Casanova had the double aim, moreover successful, of achieving prestigious results with the colors of Alfa Romeo Corse (especially in the speed record sector) and of testing these engines in the motorboat field, where they undergo a notable and greater stress, to use them later in car competitions.
For enthusiasts this racing car that belonged to Casanova is preserved at the Alfa Romeo Historical Museum in Arese.

1969 ended with a bang for Alfa Romeo: it was a memorable year for the remarkable number of championships won using its engines in the racing classes. The long list includes the conquest of five world titles, four European, three Italian, one French championship and Casanova's world speed record.