Fabio Buzzi (76), Italy's speed boat champion, and two passengers were killed yesterday as their powerboat crashed crashed into an artificial reef while attempting to set a new offshore speed record from Monte Carlo to Venice.

They were approaching the finish line, after racing for 18 hours and 32 minutes at the Lido di Venezia when the accident occured.  Organisers of the Assonautica race told Venezia Today that the boat was travelling at around 80 knots (148km/h, 92mph) when it hit the manmade dam known as Mose - a spit of large boulders lowered to the seabed to protect the dam, which serves as a flood barrier to protect Venice.

The other two men who died in the incident include a Dutch mechanic who has not been named, and Itslian Luca Nicolini.  A fourth man Mario Invernizzi is being treated in hospital for injuries after being thrown overboard.