Sharjah: Firming up a bigger race calendar for 2012, the UIM powerboating promoter has insisted that Class One will maintain its position as the blue ribbon event on the sport's agenda.

"We need to maintain the exclusivity of Class One powerboat racing and that is why we are deliberately keeping the number of races down to six for the 2012 season," Nicolo di San Germano, UIM Class One promoter, told Gulf News during the course of the Sharjah Grand Prix - the final round on the 2011 UIM F1 H20 World Championship that concluded here on Friday.

"We are very clear in what course we need to take while promoting our events, be it the Aquabikes or the F1 powerboat or the Class One for that matter," he added.

F1 and Class One powerboat racing came under the umbrella of a common promoter for the first time - San Germano's H20 Racing Powerboat Promotion - at the beginning of the 2011 season.

While F1 saw action at seven venues around the world, Class One had just four races - two of which were held in the UAE, the season-opener in Abu Dhabi and the final round in Dubai earlier this month.

"When we started the Class One season we had just six boats, but by the fourth and final round we were up to ten boats," San Germano said. "The target for the new season is six races and a minimum of 12 boats."

After spending several years under the UIM umbrella, Class One moved off to a new promoter in the form of the new World Professional Powerboat Association (WPPA), backed by Saeed Hareb, CEO, Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC).

However, after sealing an understanding brokered by UIM President Rafaello Chiulli, the promotion of Class One races was handed over to the experienced San Germano from January this year.

"And for us Class One still remains a fantastic brand. It is synonymous with glamour and show and that is how we want to continue projecting Class One. We want to treat it differently and continue developing it over a period of time so that we have a fine balance between the number of races and its position on the UIM calendar," San Germano said.

One of the major hurdles for Class One was the logistics of running such a high-profile event. "Logistically, it is a huge challenge to move 10,000 cubic metres of boats and equipment from one venue to another. For example, shifting to China alone costs a million Euros," San Germano said.

"But we are getting to our ultimate goal and that is to have 12 boats doing eight races around the world. And we can slowly see Class One moving to this mark in the near future," he added.