Nobody’s Business Coming To OPA Worlds With New Cockpit Safety Setup

After finishing second overall in their debut cockpit pairing at the 2019 Offshore Powerboat Association World Championships in Englewood Beach, Fla., the Pro-Stock V Nobody’s Business team of owner/driver Chris Uzzolina and throttleman Rob Hartmann were fired up to run a full season this year in their 30-foot Phantom. Instead, like their fellow racers they ended up with more time to work on their boat thanks to the string of COVID-19-forced race cancellations.

The Nobody’s Business team will face tough competition in the Pro Stock V class this weekend. Photo from Thunder On Cocoa Beach 2019 by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Sometime today, they’ll head for Morehead City, N.C., to test and practice in their single-engine 30-footer, which now boasts an enhanced cockpit safety system, for this weekend’s two-race OPA Crystal Coast World Championships. They are expecting eight to nine teams to show up in the Pro Stock V ranks.

“We were not planning on racing this year,” said Uzzolina. “The boat wasn’t’ ready in time for the Crystal Coast Grand Prix last month.

“We basically cut out the whole interior and installed a two-seat safety system with a roll cage,” he added.

Manufactured by ISP, which supplies much of the drag racing and race/exhibition truck worlds, the seats feature integrated Simpson harness systems. The team handled the work, which involved building a chromoly roll-cage in the canopied 30-footer, with Chad Shutter at Boat Repairs Plus and BRP Marine Custom in Denver, N.C.—their de facto home shop. (Longtime friends, Uzzolina and Shutter both live in North Carolina.)

The ISP/Simpson seating system in Nobody’s Business is a significant safety upgrade.

The protective roll-cage had to be engineered so that it would in no way hinder the driver or throttleman exiting the boat in the event of a roll-over.

“It is designed for self-extrication,” said Uzzolina. “And the new seats have improved our view from the cockpit.”

Asked about the team’s goal for the upcoming event, Hartmann, who lives in Connecticut, put it simply. “A checkered flag,” he said.

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