Key West setting for World Superboat Offshore titles

by Bob Wonders on 4 Nov 2009
The azure waters off Florida’s Key West, southernmost tip of the continental United States, will be churned up this weekend with the staging of the final round in the 29th World Offshore Superboat championships, organised by Super Boat International.

Astonishingly, by Australian standards, the race involves 14 classes!

They comprise Superboat Unlimited, Super Vee Unlimited, Super Vee Extreme, Superboat 850, Superboat 750, Turbine, Super Cat, Super Vee, Superboat Stock and Manufacture Production 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

One interesting entry is the Spirit of Qatar team, which will campaign two boats in the Superboat 850 and 750 classes.
For His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, this will be his first appearance at Key West, long considered the ancestral home of US offshore powerboat racing.

However, Sheikh Hassan will have some very good company; he will team up with legendary throttleman and multiple world champion Steve Curtis.

This will be the fifth occasion Curtis has competed at Key West and he has twice won his class at four previous meetings.

Super Boat International was established nearly 20-years ago by prominent powerboat racing identity (and former racer) John Carbonell.

Over the years, the event has attracted many celebrity competitors, including macho movie stars Don Johnson, Chuck Norris and Kurt Russell.

Sponsorship plays a major role in assisting the various teams, as can be seen in the names of many competing boats; Rockstar Energy Drink, Panasonic Racing and Team Amsoil among them.

Nice races will be staged over the week-long championships, beginning on Sunday (Nov 8) and ending on Sunday (Nov 15).

Racing takes place on a six-mile (9.65 kilometres) course which offers spectators excellent viewing of the action.

When the series began, racing was staged over far longer courses, some up to 160 kilometres, but it was of little use to race fas on shore.

'Since we shortened the course to its present six miles, the fans have really taken to it,' Carbonell said.

He expects some highly competitive clashes in this year’s event.

'The Turbine class, with Miss Geico and Aqua-Mania G3 Racing will deliver some very hot action, while the announcement that The Spirit of Qatar will field a two-boat team is sure to add excitement to the racing,' he added.

A spectacular parade of the competing boats will be held along Key West’s famous Duval Street on Sunday, site of an equally spectacular ‘block party’ after the racing the
following Friday.

On non race days, the boats will be on show at the race village, on the Truman Waterfront, allowing fans to see the awesome craft up close and mingle with the crews.

It will be here that waterfront grandstands will be erected with some spectators so close to the action, according to one source, that 'they’ll feel the salt spray as the boats thunder past.'

Other popular areas for spectators will, of course, include Key West’s many waterfront hotels and the city’s popular Mallory Square.

It sounds very much like a week of racing to remember.

For further information visit www.superboat.com

For information on the City of Key West, visit www.fla-keys.com