We dug up Gilles Villeneuve’s motor boat.

There is an imaginary route that connects the speed of Maranello(Ferrari’s headquarters), the glamour of Monte Carlo and the fairy-tale peace of Tremezzina (where Tullio Abbate‘s construction site is based) . Along this thin thread, stretched between 1978 and 1982, flow the most powerful images in the history of Gilles Villeneuve, the late Canadian driver who broke many Ferrari hearts.

It was the summer of 1981, the summer of“Villeneuve Fever.” Between GPs, during what was supposed to be a vacation for Pironi and Tullio Abbate, the idea of the Rothmans Cup came up. A speedboat race, invented so on the spur of the moment, to be held in front of the waters of Villa d’Este and with the best drivers in the world. So on Sunday, September 6, 1981, some 20,000 people besieged the shores of Lake Como.

Gilles Villeneuve. From F1 to the waters of Villa d’Este

Drivers race in Sea Star speedboats created especially by Tullio Abbate and, to make it even more scenic, wear their F1 helmets. There are those who have never driven a boat (like Surer) and those who can’t even swim (see Bruno Giacomelli), but when the flag drops, competitive instincts take over. The finale is in pure Villeneuve style.

In the second heat, Gilles chases Pironi, who the weekend before, at the Imola circuit, “betrayed” him by denying him a victory that was destined for the Canadian. At that point it is not enough to stay behind him: he wants to pass. In a frenzy of crowds and engines, the Canadian launches his boat at his teammate’s, using it as a ramp and flying past him. Miraculously intact, Gilles wins ahead of his former French friend.

It was not just a race between friends and colleagues: for Gilles it was yet another proof that for him, on the track or in the water, there was only victory.

Strolling through the stands at the Milano Autoclassica event, we spotted that Sea Star, in the section dedicated to vintage boats. Finding it in front of us out of the blue, the boat with which Villeneuve won that famous goliard in epic fashion, gave us a jolt in the back, and we couldn’t resist asking Autoclass, who brought it to the show, for information. As they showed us, there is a statement from the yard that the one in front of us, with that exact hull number, is one of the 8 produced for the Rothmans Cup and is the one that was actually used by the Ferrari driver.

Gilles Villeneuve’s Tullio Abbate Sea Star

The Tullio Abbate Sea Star represents an authentic masterpiece of sport boating at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, an icon that perfectly embodied the spirit of the Larian“Dolce Vita.”

Conceived as a refined day-cruiser, this powerboat managed to blend the elegance of a pleasure craft with the competitive DNA typical of Abbate family boats. Its secret lay in its fiberglass hull equipped with a deep-V hull, a direct legacy of Tullio’s experience in offshore racing, which ensured exceptional stability and the ability to cleave waves even at high speeds.

Usually between 6 and 7 meters long, the Sea Star was an agile and snappy craft, often propelled by powerful Mercruiser V8 engines that gave scorching acceleration. It was precisely because of its nervous and responsive character that it became the favorite toy of Formula 1 drivers: not just a ride-on vehicle, but a real “Ferrari of the lake,” capable of returning the same emotions on the water as on the track.

Watch the video of the 1981 Rothmans Cup here:

Federico Lanfranchi