World Champions are crowned, Team Miss Geico wins Superboat Unlimited

by Super Boat International on 14 Nov 2013 The 33rd Super Boat International Key West World Championship event was one of epic proportion this year. Team Miss Geico won first overall and was crowned Superboat Unlimited World Champion. With three days of exciting racing and perfect weather conditions, teams were able to enjoy everything Key West and Monroe County had to offer.


There were many different individual race winners, lap leaders, and different points leaders over the course of the three days that made it almost anyone’s championship to win. It came down to the final day [Sunday] to determine the ultimate winners. Only two teams won all three individual races while earning championship titles, Superboat Vee Snowy Mountain Brewery and P-3 Team Black Pearl.

'We were very pleased with the outcome of all three races. Our team did a great job preparing the boat for the different race day conditions,' comments Dr. Mike Janssen, owner / driver of the Snowy Mountain Brewery race team. Janssen was also the proud recipient of The Golden Eagle Award presented during the awards ceremony.

In the Superboat class, Team STIHL appeared to be the clear winner, with wins the first two days and the lead on the final day, until the boat encountered mechanical problems. WHM motorsports, who took second place all three days, then became the World Champion. The winner on Sunday’s race was a very impressive looking Qatar #20 that overtook WHM and captured the win for the day and a third place finish overall. This was a great finish for the international entry. Team CRC flipped during the first day of testing and was unable to compete in the championship event.

Another team earning a title was Twisted Metal Motorsports, crowned World Champion of the Superboat Extreme class, after they took a third place and two first place finishes. The #96 Spirit of Qatar 50’ Mystic earned the World Champion Title in the turbine class, which was at the price of one of their turbines catching fire and causing significant damage.

The #3 CMS 52’ MTI, seeing an early victory, took first place in race number one. Bob Bull and Randy Scism made it look effortless on day one. After mechanical problems plagued them on day two and day three, they still earned a third place podium finish.

Talbot Excavating S-29 took the World Title in, the always competitive, Stock Class. They competed head to head with The Hulk and, after two firsts and a second, they achieved the World Title. Unfortunately for Steve Quick Jewelers, who stuffed their stock boat, and five Brothers Grocery, who rolled over in turn three on Sunday, they both saw very different outcomes. This twin hull cat outboard Class always proves to be very exciting.

While it was very exciting and some might say crazy, eight teams did not make it to the start of Sunday’s race. Attrition always plays a role in the Key West Event. The final Key West World Champion crowned was Team Crazy Chicken, who took the title in the P4 Manufacturer Production Class.

The first day of racing successfully tested the experience of Super Boat International to manage and adjust the racecourse for varying conditions. The event encountered high winds and rough water conditions causing Super Boat International to bring the course closer into shore and reduce the overall course length to 4.3 miles. This also became the racecourse for the second and final day of racing. With the shortened course, the fans could see all the way to the first buoy, watch the teams make the turn towards turn two and then return to the harbor.

President of Super Boat International, John Carbonell believed it was one of the best races the people of Key West and race fans have ever seen. 'We shortened the course to stay out of the big swells offshore and, as an added plus, it made the race much more fan friendly. It was a great week of action as the fans got to see some unbelievable racing and lead changes. The competition was unbelievable in many of the classes. Fans unable to attend the race in person this year got to watch it on television as it was carried on cable throughout Monroe County. This was something we were able to offer with the support of WEYW19. Next year, if the races stay in Key West, there may be an opportunity to expand our coverage.' Carbonell went on to say, ' we worked very hard to promote our sport and the City of Key West. I’m proud to say we gave it our best effort and it showed as seen through the television coverage and the live streaming shown around the world.'

The Super Boat International live streaming for this year’s event saw record numbers over the previous year. The online video coverage at Livestream alone saw over 30,000 visits from 103 countries. Belgium, Malta, Qatar, Netherlands, Australia, Italy and Puerto Rico each had over 100 visits. Bermuda, Trinidad, German, Sweden and Norway had over 300 visits each; Canada had over 700 visits; and the United Kingdom exceeded 1000 visits just to name a few. Television coverage this year was seen in 50,000 homes on Comcast and U-verse. Super Boat International proudly boasts that over 250,000 people saw the event live.

If you missed the race you can still watch it at livestream keywest2013. The Super Boat season begins in April 2014 and runs through the second week of November. Visit Superboat Website for next year’s offshore racing schedule.