Cintron claims the chequered flag in 21st Miami Offshore GP

by Bob Wonders on 16 Jun 2011 Marc Granet (driver) and Richard Wyatt (throttles) have piloted the big silver catamaran ‘Cintron’ to a convincing win off Miami and leapt to the top of the leader board in Superboat Unlimited.

It was a case of rough seas providing thousands of spectators thronging Miami’s beaches with spectacular action as the big boats battled the boisterous conditions.

According to competitors, Miami is notorious for providing rough water racing and the 21st staging of the event proved no different.

‘Cintron’ averaged nearly 96mph (154km/hr) over the rugged 53 nautical mile (85km) course.

Veterans of the race claim the ‘secret’ to wining at Miami is about having the correct engine/propeller set up and ensuring a race finish.

This is what most often determines the winner of Super Boat races off Miami.

Super Boat International president John Carbonell, said he ‘really respected’ the teams that took on Mother Nature.

'All the teams did a great job and for the fans it was a real winner with some spectacular racing and fine, sunny weather,' he said.

'However, the weather laid down a little more than we expected and there were some really big rollers and severe chip that teams had to work through,' he added.

This year’s race comprised nine laps with teams competing in various Super Cat and Vee Bottom classes.

One of the best battles of the day occurred in Super Cat class between ‘Loriblu’ and ‘Stihl’.

J.R.Noble, owner/driver of ‘Stihl’ eventually claimed victory.

'It was tough out there,' he declared, ' the boys aboard ‘Loriblu’ put up a great fight, but so did the conditions.

'Last race, at Cocoa Beach, we lost it at the wire and tis time we won by a mere eight seconds.

'Needless to say, I’m very happy with the win and give plenty of credit to throttleman Grant Bruggeman who did a great job as did all in the team’ He added.

‘Cintron’ throttleman Rich Wyatt summed up he racing as 'a perfect day all round.'

'The team did a great job getting the boat ready; we had an engine issue after the race, but I guess that’s the best time to have a problem,' he joked.

Other class winners off Miami included ‘Risk’ (Super Stock), ‘Twisted Metal Mortorsports’ (P1) and Velocity (P4).

Crews are now preparing for the next Super Boat International clash at Sarasota, Florida, and the 27th staging of the Suncoast Festival, June 29- July 3.

This event will include a grad parade down Main Street, Sarasota, kilo record attempts on the Friday (June 29), race boats testing on the Saturday and races at 11am and 1pm on the Sunday.

Current class leaders are;

‘Cintron’ (Superboat Unlimited), ‘Geico Caveman’ (Superboat Vee Extreme), ‘Miss Geico’ (Turbine), ‘Stihl’ (Super Cat), ‘Double Edge Motorsports’ (Superboat Stock), ‘Absolutely Not’ (Superboat Vee Limited), ‘Twisted Metal Motorsports’ (Production 1) and ‘Zipp Express’ (Production 2).