Super Boat International conquers the Space Coast

by Bob Wonders on 27 Aug 2010
Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral are used to the roar of engines, usually associated with giant rockets employed in the United States space program, but last weekend (August 21/22) it was the thunder of offshore race boat engines that attracted the crowds.

It was the inaugural Super Boats International (SBI) Grand Prix for the area and according to all involved it proved a success beyond all expectations.

Veteran throttleman and owner of Instigator Motorsports, Peter Meyer, triumphed with a clear cut victory in Super Boat Vee class, but declared the event so successful that ‘everyone went home a winner.'

'Cocoa Beach has set the stage to become a marquee event for us, and I'm sure all my fellow competitors would embrace that sentiment,' he added.

Meyer said many spectators watching the action from the Cocoa Beach Pier told him they ‘felt the spray' from the rooster tails as the boat roared by.

'I guess you can't get any closer to the action than that,' he declared.

Michael Stancomb, at the wheel of Lucas Oil in Super Cat class, was delighted to have teamed with veteran throttleman Stan Ware to win the class.

'I grew up reading about Stan Ware, he was one of my heroes and to team up with him was a dream come true,' Stancomb explained.

'The entire weekend was great, the crowd was awesome and to take home a chequered flag in Super Cat made it a perfect day,' he added.

Another to give Cocoa Beach full marks was Gary Ballough, aboard the Super Stock Cat Outboard rig, Mapei.

'When we came out of the inlet and headed past the pier we were looking at what seemed like 5000 spectator boats and 80,000 people on the beach,' Ballough said.

'To be hitting 100mph (160km/hr) along the beach front and actually see the faces of people waving at us was a memory we'll take away with us,' he added.

SBI president John Carbonell declared the weekend of racing ‘positive on all fronts'.

Carbonell admitted inaugural events were always difficult when it came ‘getting the bugs out.'

'Nevertheless, this was a fantastic weekend,' he declared.

Carbonell paid tribute to the event's producers Josh Blakely and Kerry Bartlett, together with the committee and local volunteers who all ‘did a great job.'

'To bring this together in such a short period of time was quite a feat; we'll be coming back earlier next year and have already begun initial planning,' he said.

It was the crowd attendance that really impressed Carbonell and has seemingly assured that Cocoa Beach will become a permanent stop on the SBI calendar.

'I ran the circuit to ensure that everything was right and I started the first wave for the race,' Carbonell explained.

'When we came out for the second heat, I just couldn't believe how much the spectator fleet had grown and how packed with spectators the beach was.

'There must have been 2000 boats lined up for several kilometres along the beach front and the local community really came out and showed interest and appreciation towards offshore racing,' he added.

The Cocoa Beach event was the fifth stop on the Super Boat International National Championship Series tour.

Next race is scheduled for the circuit on the Hudson River when the super boats ‘go to war' in the New York Super Boat Grand Prix for the 20th staging of the event over the weekend of September 10 and 12.

The field races over a course between lower Manhattan and the world famous Statue of Liberty, making it one of the most spectacular events on the SBI calendar.