SOUTHAMPTON ace Steve Curtis made the perfect start in his bid for a fifth world speedboat championship.

The 38-year-old, who won the Class 1 world title again last year, triumphed in the season-curtain raising Portuguese Powerboat Grand Prix I in Lisbon.

That was after a dramatic two days of racing in which the Victory Team, who Curtis had expected to provide a strong challenge, destroyed both boats in two huge crashes.

In the final Curtis and Norwegian driver Bjorn Gjelsten stalked leader Highlander for the opening three laps before powering their new Lamborghini-engined 42ft catamaran Spirit of Norway into the lead on lap four of the 18-lap, 110Nm race.

The Anglo-Norwegian pairing was in a class of their own and went on to record a comfortable win, completing the course in just over an hour at an average speed of 113.02mph/181.89kmh.

"It's a great way to start the season. I really didn't feel comfortable after so little testing and didn't have much of a feel for the boat," insisted Curtis. "We have learned a lot about her, but there is a lot of work to do to get the set-up right.

"We knew we had the speed but where we had the advantage was in the turns."

Curtis' only real challenge came in the opening laps from Edoardo Polli and Lamberto Leoni (Highlander), who finished second.

But the drama came on lap six when Victory 77 barrel-rolled out of the race, ending a dismal weekend for the Dubai-based Victory Team who crashed their other boat in testing.

In 2002 Curtis and Gjelsten dominated the championship, winning four races, taking six pole positions and rounding off the season as Pole Position, European and World Champions.

This season five of the nine boats competing for the title are making their competitive debuts. Six times world champions Victory are running two boats with new boys Maritmo Offshore and Ugland Offshore Racing one each.

Before the opening event Curtis, who described his pre-race emotions as "pretty nervous", had said: "This season is as open as it has been for years.

"Three of the boats, including ours, are built and designed by Victory and all boats are running Lamborghini engines."