Super Boat Iinternational Key West Worlds Preview

A great preview of the SBI Worlds from Matt Trulio, writer for Offshore Only

Look for Miss GEICO to repeat as the SBI Unlimited class World Champion in Key West in November. (Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.)

A month after the Super Boat International National Champions are crowned in the organization’s various classes—and that happened two days ago in Clearwater, Fla.—an entire “mini season” called the SBI Key West Offshore World Championships begins. Three days of racing off the fabled Florida city produce the world-title holders, and it doesn’t matter who won what during the regular season.

Or does it? In terms of points carried over or anything like that, no. In the SBI Key West Worlds, everyone starts from scratch. World titles are determined by the results in races Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. But when it comes to handicapping and picking favorites in each class, yes, it makes sense to look at what happened during the season.

So here’s my take on how it will play out in five classes in this year’s brand-new mini season.

Read more;

Thunder on Cocoa Beach - A First Class Event

It was obvious this past weekend that the race organizers and Port Canaveral truly knows how to have a first class event.  The 5^th annual Thunder on Cocoa Beach part of the Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix was just that.

The new venue area for the dry pits around Port Canaveral’s Exploration Tower provided a perfect location for the event and created a festival type of atmosphere where race enthusiast could walk among the race boats, chat with the drivers and crew, watch a bikini contest or listen to a band as they nibble on some food or had a cold drink.

The 5^th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix on Sunday in Cocoa Beach was even more exciting as Miss GEICO won the Superboat Unlimited class.  Winners in other classes included Instigator - Superboat Extreme, STIHL - Superboat, Sun Print - Superboat Vee, SOS Venezuela - Superboat Stock, Black Pearl - Manufacturer Prod P3, and Dare Devil - Manufacturer Prod P4.

Racers, spectators, vendors, port restaurants and businesses all applauded Thunder on Cocoa Beach and look forward to its return next year as well as more festival and events of this magnitude.  If you did not make it out this year for the races, please join us next year in Port Canaveral for Thunder on Cocoa Beach.

Unofficial Ressults: SBI Thunder on Cocoa Beach Offshore Powerboat Race

Photo: Official Miss GEICO Racing

It was exciting racing in rough water this weekend for the Superboat International Thunder on Cocoa Beach, Superboat Grand Prix with racing action on beautiful Cocoa Beach.  Miss GEICO took 1st place  overall today.

If you missed this race, we to see you at the next SBI event for the 30th Annual Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix Festival July 4-6  in Sarasota, FL.  Complete unofficial results by class are listed below. (Click on results image)

Complete race day photos coming soon from Watermen News and Dave Crago Photography.

 

 

Thunder on Cocoa Beach - 5th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix

Thunder on Cocoa Beach - 5th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix is the loudest, fastest power boat race in Florida - www.ThunderOnCocoaBeach.com

This year's race features more world class race teams than ever before. No where else in Florida can you witness the thunder of unlimited power boat racing up close and at the beach. The party gets started on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 6pm. Join us for a night you'll always remember as we celebrate the Grand Re-Opening on the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Hotel and the invitation only Official Thunder on Cocoa Beach VIP, Sponsor & Media Reception. Enjoy an open bar, live music and a fabulous buffet.

Team Warpaint Rebuilt and Ready for Space Coast Grand Prix | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

After crashing its 42 MTI in Key West, Fla., last November, Team Warpaint Offshore Racing is excited to have its boat back in time for next week’s race in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Photo by Lucididee Fast Boats.

Six months after wrecking its boat in the second race of the Super Boat International Key West Offshore World Championships, Team Warpaint Offshore Racing is ready to return to action, starting with next week’s fifth annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

“We got the boat back from MTI right after Easter,” said Bob Vesper, owner and driver of the 42-foot Marine Technology Inc. (MTI) catamaran that he runs with throttleman Danny Crank in the competitive Superboat class. “They did a beautiful job on the boat. The damage was enough that we really needed to let the manufacturer do the work, and I’m glad we did—she looks great. Now it’s time to get her back on the water.” More; Team Warpaint Rebuilt and Ready for Space Coast Grand Prix | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

2014 Consolidated Offshore Powerboat Racing Season Schedule - Update

A quick update to the consolidated 2014 U.S. offshore powerboat racing season with races from organizers such as Super Boat International (SBI) and Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA) and P1 Superstock USA.  Also, we cannot forget the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, where you can you see a boat like My Way run 224 mph.  

Have a race event you want listed, send it to us and we will add it to the list!

	April
Apr 11-13	SBI - Charlotte Harbor Super Boat Grand Prix	Charlotte Harbor, FL
Apr 25-27	OPA - Biloxi's Smokin' the Sound – Divisional	Biloxi, MS
Apr 26-27	P1 -  Daytona Beach, FL	Daytona Beach, FL
	May
May 2-4	OPA - Lake Hopatcong Grand Prix	Lake Hopatcong, NJ
May 16-18	SBI - 5th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix	Cocoa Beach, FL
May 17-18	P1 – Stuart Florida	Stuart, FL
	June
June 5-8	OPA – Lake Race, Lake of the Ozarks, MO NEW	Lake of the Ozarks
June 7-8	P1 – Jacksonville, FL	Jacksonville, FL
June 20-22	OPA - Atlantic City Offshore Grand Prix	Atlantic City, NJ
	July
July 4-6	SBI - 30th Annual Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix Festival	Sarasota, FL
July 12-13	P1 – Tampa, FL	Tampa, FL
July 25-27	OPA - St Clair River Classic Offshore Powerboat Race	St Clair, MI
	August
Aug 1-3	SBI - 6th Annual Super Boat Great Lakes Grand Prix	Michigan City, IN
Aug 8-10	OPA - International Offshore Powerboat Race	Port Huron, MI
Aug 16-24	Lake of the Ozarks Shootout	Lake of the Ozarks
Aug 20-24	SBI - 11th Annual Thunder on the Gulf	Orange Beach, AL
Aug 20-24	SBI - 1st Annual Pensacola Grand Prix	Pensacola, FL
Aug 22-24	OPA - Great Race on the Sea	TBA Long Island, NY​​
Aug 23-24	P1 – Cocoa Beach, FL	Cocoa Beach, FL
	September
Sept 5-7	24th Annual New York Grand Prix – Tribute to 911	New York, NY
Sept 12-14	OPA Nationals  - Solomons Offshore Grand Prix	Solomons, MD
Sept 20-21	P1 – St Cloud, FL	St Cloud, FL
Sept 26-28	6th Annual Clearwater Super Boat National Championship	Clearwater, FL
	October
October 3-5	OPA World Championships	Ocean City, MD
	November
Nov 2-9	34th Annual Key West World Championship	Key West, FL

Thunder on Cocoa Beach has huge impact on Brevard / Florida Today

COCOA BEACH – The Thunder on Cocoa Beach boat races next month promises to be faster and and more furious than last year.

And if attendance levels grow to expectations, it also should be more lucrative for the local tourism industry.

Last year, organizers estimated the four-day event attracted 80,000 spectators and had a $16 million economic impact.

This year they think the spectator number for the off-shore super boat race should be in the 85,000 to 90,000 range with a corresponding economic uptick. 

Activities for the race begin May 14 with a welcome VIP party, followed by a bikini contest and a street party in Port Canaveral's Cove area. The actual race is Sunday, May 18.

Read more; Thunder on Cocoa Beach has huge impact on Brevard

TEAM GASSE WINS CHARLOTTE HARBOR SUPER BOAT GRAND PRIX -SBI

By SBI on April 15, 2014 

Englewood Beach, Fla. (April 16th, 2014) The Super Boat International (SBI) season kicked off in high gear with the first race taking place on the Gulf Coast of Florida at Englewood Beach with Team Gasse winning the Superboat Unlimited Class. With 30 boats competing in the inaugural Charlotte Harbor Super Boat Grand Prix event, the fans and teams were wowed by the turn out and excitement of offshore racing.

Super Boat’s season opener normally starts in May but it came early this year as the teams were out in full support of the new event and venue. Team Gasse Racing came back strong this year with owner, Tor Staubo and throttleman, Johnny Tomlinson maintaining second place most of the day, then as team CMS ran out of fuel, Team Gasse surged ahead for first place and victory in the first race of the year. “What a great day. I am so excited and proud of our team for what we accomplished here today. This race site and all the local people are just so awesome,” comments Staubo.

Team STIHL took top honors in the Superboat Class with team Broadco, WHM, Cleveland Construction, and Auto Nation Racing For Cancer rounding out the field in finishing order. JR Noble of Team STIHL remarked, “we are very excited with our win and, what is even more exciting was, racing next to Broadco deck to deck. That was so much fun! I am really looking forward to the next race. I think all the Superboats are excited about the season.”

One Month Until the Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix In Cocoa Beach,Florida

We are less than a month away from the  5th annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix, better known as Thunder On Cocoa Beach, May 14-18, 2014.  Come on out and enjoy the festival like atmosphere, meet the race teams, watch the bikini contest and enjoy all the racing action taking place beachside between Cocoa Beach Pier & Lori Wilson Park.  See the complete schedule http://superboat.com/2014-cocoa-beach-schedule

More information; http://thunderoncocoabeach.com

A photo from last years Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix. 

Photo: Dave Crago

SBI-Season-Opener Wrap-Up: Strong Showing In Great Venue / Speed on the Water

While yesterday's Super Boat International season-opener technically happened off Englewood Beach, Fla., its inaugural Charlotte Harbor Grand Prix attracted a solid 30-boat field to the new venue, which drew rave reviews among the competitors. Considering that last year's SBI season-opener in Biloxi, Miss., pulled in just 12 boats, it's fair to say that the 2014 SBI offshore racing season is off to a good start with what was for all intents and purposes a "flat-water" event.  More; SBI-Season-Opener Wrap-Up: Strong Showing In Great Venue

Stihl bested a five-boat fleet to take the Superboat-class win in yesterday's SBI Charlotte Harbor season-opener. Photos courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Inaugural Charlotte Harbor Super Boat Grand Prix - Unofficial Results

A great season opener on Sunday for Super Boat International racing in beautiful Charlotte Harbor, Florida. Unofficial results by class are listed below:

Production P3: 1 - Black Pearl, 2 - 2nd Amendment, 3 - The Developer

Production P4: 1 - Rum Runners, 2 - In Tone Crazy Chicken, 3 - Two Cruel, 4 - Dare Devil, 5 - Knot Crazy, 6 - Team Raven

Superboat Stock: 1- The Hulk / Redline Oil, 2 - Top Starz Energy Drinks, 3 - Porta Products, 4 - WSM Parts, 5 - SOS Venezuela, 6 - Rollin Vengeance

Superboat Vee: 1- Smoky Mountain Brewery, 2- Sun Print, 3 - Phantom, 4 - Scott Free Racing, 5 - Absolutely Not

Superboat: 1- Stihl, 2- Broadco, 3- Cleveland Construction, 4 - WHM, 5 - Autonation Racing For Cancer

Superboat Extreme: 1- Instigator

Superboat Unlimited: 1- Gasse, 2- CMS, 3- Lucas Oil Silverhook, 4- Miss Geico

 

Watch all the racing action at; http://new.livestream.com/sbi/charlotteharbor2014

Official results will be posted as soon as they become available. 

We will see you at the next SBI race for Thunder On Cocoa Beach in Cocoa Beach, Florida. http://thunderoncocoabeach.com

Lucas Oil/Silverhook Testing ‘Fabulous’ Today / Speed on the Water

To get ready for this Sunday's SBI race, the Lucas Oil/Silverhook team tested on Lake Monroe earlier today. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thril Pix

 

In preparation for this weekend's season-opening Super Boat International offshore race in Charlotte Harbor, Fla., Nigel Hook and his crew ran their 44-foot, Mystic-built Lucas Oil/Silverhook V-bottom earlier today on Lake Monroe near Sanford, Fla. Powered by twin recently refreshed Mercury Racing 1075 SCi engines, the boat reportedly ran "perfectly" according to Hook, who throttles the boat with driver Michael Silfverberg.  More; Lucas Oil/Silverhook Testing ‘Fabulous’ Today

Offshore Racer Ed | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

Captured here in XCAT racing, Gary Ballough will mentor 18-year-old Taylor Chastelet on the SBI circuit this season.

 

In August, Taylor Chastelet, the 18-year-old son of noted former offshore racer Gerry Chastelet of St. Charles, Mo.—not far from the Lake of the Ozarks—will start his freshman year at the University of Alabama. While he’ll enter the school as one of many students majoring in business management and entrepreneurship, the odds are good he’ll be the only one in his class with six offshore races under his belt by the time he gets there.

Starting this coming weekend with the Super Boat International season-opener in Charlotte Harbor, Fla., Chastelet will be sharing the cockpit of a 32-foot Doug Wright catamaran in the Superboat Stock class with the boat’s owner and throttleman, Stock- and XCAT-class veteran Gary Ballough. The current plan has Chastelet running with Ballough, a 12-time National and World champion, in the GB Racing cat for the entire season on the SBI circuit, and with well-known Stock-class throttleman Ryan Beckley at the Smokin’ The Sound race in Biloxi, Miss., and the Lake Race event on Lake of the Ozarks. Earlier this year, he logged seat time with Beckley in his Stock-class Skater catamaran during a Fort Myers Offshore fun run event. More; Offshore Racer Ed | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

Victory Team To Race Stock Class In U.S. /Speed on the Water

XCAT world champions Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi will run the Victory's team's Fazza cat in SBI's Superboat Stock class this season.

Long dominant in Union Internationale Motonautique Class I and Class III offshore racing—now called XCAT—the Dubai-based Victory team will campaign its Fazza XCAT raceboat in Super Boat International's Superboat Stock class this season. According to renowned Stock- and XCAT-class throttleman Gary Ballough, who leaves this evening on a flight to the Middle East, the Victory-built, 28-foot-long catamaran powered by twin Mercury 2.5-litre outboard engines currently is on a cargo ship headed for the United States.  More; Victory Team To Race Stock Class In U.S.

The Quest for the Perfect Season | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

The cliché “you can’t win ‘em all” is used in countless post-race discussions, but it doesn’t ring true for a certain few who know better.  In fact, a couple of South Florida throttle-aces – Gary Ballough and John Tomlinson – rendered the statement null and void years ago.  These multi-titled competitors have set a benchmark for perfection and possess an elite membership to the club of racers that have scored an undefeated season.

The year was 1996 when Open Class contenders Laith Pharaon and John Tomlinson raced their way to a perfect season. Their 46’ Skater with twin Sterling 900-hp engines, appropriately emblazoned Zero Defect, won 10 consecutive races during what Tomlinson described as “a year of experimenting with dry sump drives and three speed gear boxes from Pat Weismann. Running the boat in Open Class for a full season was a first. Everything was new for us in 1996…it was one of the first boats I ever put a tunnel flap on. We did a lot of testing and a lot of learning was going on.”

With each stop along the circuit, it was obvious that their “experimental season” was perfectly dialed in. Tomlinson remembers the rough waters at Galveston, Texas, followed by a “no problem” race in Ft. Myers, Fla., and “running the three speed transmission for the first time at the Sarasota race.” He said their most challenging race was at the legendary World Championship venue of Key West, Fla., where the team campaigned as Nomad. More; The Quest for the Perfect Season | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

Miss Geico Flawless in First Pre-Season Test / Speed on the Water

 

Earlier today throttleman Scott Begovich and driver Marc Granet ran their Miss GEICO offshore racing catamaran for the first time since they claimed a Superboat Unlimited-class world title in the 44-footer during the 2013 Super Boat International Key West Offshore World Championships. While the cat was repainted earlier this by Jay Pilini of Pilini Marine Technologies, its twin Mercury Racing 1650 engines have not yet been refreshed. They had, however, been pulled from the boat, which was completely torn down and reassembled at the team's shop in Riviera Beach, Fla. More: Miss Geico