‘Super Heat' wins Super Boat National Championship at Clearwater

by Bob Wonders on 8 Oct 2010 ‘Super Heat' brought the heat, the local authorities attended to the weather and Super Boat International saw to the boats, with more than 30 of the USA's top powerboats lining up for one of the best events staged.

Record crowds and a record number of spectator boats, estimated at more than 5200 vessels, lined the 2.5 mile beachfront course leaving little, if any, room to spare.

The teams attacked the course off Pier 60 and simply dazzled the big crowd, but it was ‘Super Heat' owner Chris Cox who was happiest of all after claiming victory in the Unlimited class.

'There's no place like Clearwater, so it was absolutely deliberate on our part to make sure we made it here this year,' he said.

‘Clearwater is a phenomenal venue and it's hats off to all for staging an awesome event, all the better for us with a fabulous win,' he added.

Even Frank Hibbard, Mayor of the city of Clearwater, was impressed.

'Another picture perfect day in Clearwater, we're like a fine wine, we just keep on getting better and we plan to keep on doing that,' he said.

'It's our sense of pride that we are so strongly committed to this event and what it brings to our
community.

'We have a new marina that proved to be an excellent location to showcase these amazing boats and we appreciate both the teams that come here to contest the event and the fans that follow them,' he added.

Conditions offshore were quite boisterous and that made for some exciting racing and kept the fans thoroughly entertained.

Many of the teams which successfully claimed victory in their relevant classes were proven performers, many of them very familiar with the sight of a chequered flag hoisted high at the finish line.

The hotly contested Superboat 750 Class was won by ‘Warpaint', which again proved its worth registering the top speed of the contest with an average of 87.17mph (140.28km/hr) over the tough course.

‘Super Heat' was not far off that pace, with an average of 84.66mph (136.24km/hr) over the 79.2 mile (127km) circuit.

‘Team Amsoil' took out the Super Cat Class while Super Vee Unlimited went to ‘Watch Your Back'.

Other proven performers, ‘Global Warmer', first past the post in Super Boat Vee Unlimited and ‘Fluid Sealing Products' proved itself too good for the opposition in Super Stock.

Even promoter Frank Chivas was full of praise for Super Boat International President John Carbonell, together with the race teams and their supporters.

'We are strongly committed to this event for the next 10-years, if John will have us,' he said.

Never one to miss a beat, Carbonell replied, 'Fine, see you for the next 10-years.'

The next race for Super Boat International is the always eagerly-awaited Key West World Championships, scheduled for November 6 to 14.

'Be there,' Carbonell said, 'Come and celebrate 30-years of offshore racing with us at the 30th in Key West,' he said.

'To be the best you have to win in Key West,' he added.

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For further information visit the website, www.superboat.com