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.

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DOMINANT RACE 2 WINS FOR FENDI RACING AND AQUASPORT

Sunday, 19 October, TERRACINA (Italy): Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella produced a breath taking performance to take their first win together in C1 at the team’s home Grand Prix, with Aquasport’s Daniel Cramphorn and Nico Huybens producing a totally dominant performance to win in V1.

Lining up in first and second at the start, Victory and LFF10 delivered a sensational opening lap with Fendi and Carpitella stealing the advantage from the pole-sitters immediately and leading them to the first turn, then holding them off in a nail biting run to the start-finish line as the two closed on each other and just inches apart going into turn one of lap 2, LFF10 coming out in front.

WINS FOR VICTORY AND CHAUDRON – TEAM ABU DHABI CRASH OUT

Sunday, 7 September, IBIZA: Victory and Chaudron produced the stand-out performances of the afternoon and dominated race 2 of the Mediterranean Grand Prix, cruising to emphatic victories in their respective classes in a dramatic race that was red flagged after Abu Dhabi crashed out at the first corner, both Faleh AL Mansoori and Rashed Al Tayer emerging unscathed from the upturned boat.

It was a bitter blow for Al Mansoori and Al Tayer on their debut Grand Prix outing in their new boat, and after going second quickest in qualifying earlier in the day were running in second spot behind Victory at the first turn when they hooked and went over.

VICTORY CRUISE HOME TO WIN RACE 1 – TOMMY ONE WINS IN V1

Saturday, 6 September: Thirteen boats lined up for the first race in over two decades with Class 1 catamarans and V1 monohulls running side-by-side, with Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi carrying on from where they left off and last raced together in 2011, cruising to an easy victory in race 1 of the Mediterranean Grand Prix to win by a massive 49 second margin.

The Victory duo who earlier in the day shared the pole position spoils with LFF10, led from the start and were never challenged, going on to complete the 13 laps in 35:41.85s.

Despite matching the winners in qualifying Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella could not match the sustained pace of the leader’s, but looked comfortable in second spot when they suddenly hit trouble on lap 9 and stopped.

From third place at the end of lap 1 Guido Cappellini and C1 rookie Mikhail Kitashev held off an initial challenge from Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski in Relekta-Zabo-Isiklar before opening out a comfortable advantage to move into and take second spot following the exit of LFF10.

The Relekta-Zabo-Isiklar crew in turn faced a race long challenge from Faleh Al Mansoori and Rashed Al Tayer in Team Abu Dhabi’s new MTI, who passed them on the final lap to take the chequered flag in third, only to be hit with a 25-second post-race penalty for destroying a turn buoy, handing the podium spot back to Isiklar and Zaborowski, the Abu Dhabi duo dropping to fifth behind LFF8-Polimersan.

The performance of the day came in V1 from the Tommy One crew of Maurizio Schepici and Stefano Bonanno who powered their way through the field from a long way back in fourth spot, first passing Bernico-New Star, then the early race leader’s Chaudron before setting their sights on and overhauling the pole sitters Antonio and Giuseppe Schiano in Karelpiu, to take the win in 36:33.39s.

CLASS 1 AND V1 SET FOR MEDITERRANEAN GRAND PRIX IN IBIZA

Monday, 1 September: The Spanish Island of Ibiza is all set to host the heavyweights of world powerboat racing when they take to the waters off Playa D’en Bossa for the Mediterranean Grand Prix on 5-7 September.

For the first time in over two decades catamarans and monohulls will race alongside each other in the UIM Class 1 and V1 World Powerboat Championships, with an anticipated 14-boats lining up as the revised new-look Championships format debuts in Ibiza and Class 1 returns to Spanish waters for the first time since 2006.

Holding on to the King’s Cup Crown : 52 SUPER SERIES – Pure Performance

There was to be no succession at the 2014 Copa del Rey Mapfre. Rán Racing may have gone into the final day of the Mediterranean’s showcase regatta with designs on the King’s Cup, just three points behind reigning champions Quantum Racing, but the defending champions squashed the challenge from Niklas Zennström’s team on the start line of the final and rolled out overall winners in Palma for the second season in a row.

For Doug DeVos’ American flagged team which is lead by America’s Cup winner Ed Baird it was their second Barclays 52 SUPER SERIES event win in a row, adding to their victory in Porto Cervo, Sardinia.

Dock Talk: Dongfeng Race Team’s mid-Atlantic near miss with a whale

 

ALICANTE, Spain, June 5 (Volvo Ocean Race) – Dongfeng Race Team’s Chinese rookies came face to face in the mid-Atlantic with a whale in a taste of the kind of larger-than-life experience the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 will throw at them.

They have already sailed through a storm, faced up to 40 knots of wind and French skipper Charles Caudrelier says he has navigated “one of the darkest nights I’ve known with absolutely no moon at all and barely any visibility”.

He continued: “We had the scariest experience to date during the night when we came so close to hitting a whale, so close we could hear it breathing.

“You can smell whales in the air but in the pitch black you can’t tell where they are. You can’t sense them in the water because very often when whales are at the surface it’s because they’re sleeping so it’s a nasty surprise for both the whale and us!

“I just held my breath knowing how close we were to potential danger but, thankfully, we didn’t hit it – we just had a near miss.”