Year after year, The Superboat International (SBI) Key West World Championships proves to be one of the hottest tickets of the offshore season, where on any given race day teams can relish in victory or walk away in frustrating defeat.
At an offshore event where there’s an unsurpassed combined-amount of horsepower and fiberglass like no other on the planet, these races undoubtedly separate the best from the rest. Many questions, too, go unanswered until the final race day on Sunday. Whether a team is a point leader, a returning champion, or at the bottom of the class standings, Key West is pure racing, and in racing, anything can happen.
The heartbeat of race week, as it’s commonly known among competitors and sports fans, essentially takes place at two locations, The Truman Annex Waterfront and Key West’s active Duval St. By day, walk the dry pits, meet the race teams, and cheer from the waterfront or enjoy everything the area has to offer – and from November 8 to November 15, Key West has a lot to offer. The competition is intense and the nightlife is unbeatable.
“I think its going to be pretty exciting from the stand point that everyone gets ramped up in their own right that week,” said Rodrick Cox of the Cox Group, a public relations representative for SBI. “We are suspecting a boat turn-out as good as last year. Right now we are anticipating 35 to 40 boats.”
All teams will be rolling into Key West ready as early as Saturday as the event officially kicks off Sunday November 8. According to Cox, Team Broadco is expected to return to its class – after rebounding from their devastating roll-over earlier this year during the races in Cocoa Beach – and word has it that Australia’s Team Maritimo is also ready for its return.
“Everyone really tries to get their game right in Key West,” added Cox. “I think another exciting aspect of the races is it brings a whole bunch of different water conditions and from that standpoint, we should have another exciting world championship,” said Cox.
With two back-to-back Superboat Unlimited World Champion titles under its belt, all eyes may be on Team Miss Geico to see if they come back for its third consecutive Superboat Unlimited World Championship title.
“I think in the Superboat and Superboat Unlimited Class we will probably run with the same format as far as the number races as last year”, said Cox. “We had a really great National Championship in Clearwater so I think everyone is going to be pretty excited to get down to Key West for the worlds. I also think every class is going to be very competitive as we have the same number of classes. Everybody is getting honed in and ready to race.”
On a special note, which will once again raise the notoriety of SBI’s world-class offshore racing, will be the three hours of programming by NBC Sports (produced by JM Associates and presented by STIHL Inc.) that will air in early 2016, based around this year’s championships.
“We were pretty successful this past February when we ran the one-hour NBC Sports programming on the 2014 Key West races,” said Cox. “So, we will continue with that for this year and there will be a big production team down there to film the whole week.”
With the popular Street Parade Sunday November 8, the town of Key West will move into full gear as teams strut their stuff in the long succession of exotic boats, trailers and rigs, which slowly make their way along Duvall St.
Additional highlights throughout the week off the race course include the Welcome Party for the U.S. and International Teams at the Truman Waterfront November 9 (Racer Pass, Guest Credential or VIP pass are required); access to the dry pits (at select times to admire the offshore arsenal and meet the teams) throughout the week; plus the highly anticipated Duvall Street Party November 13.
When it comes to competition, race days are scheduled for Wednesday November 11, Friday November 13, and the final day, Sunday November 15. The start of the first race on each day is 10:00 a.m.
Also be sure not too miss the Poker Run Village, presented by the Florida Power Boat Club as part of their annual Key West Offshore Poker Run, which features exotic boat displays and exhibits from some of the top high-performance players, which display various products, engines, and accessories.
FOR ALL THE DETAILS AND CURRENT STANDINGS VISIT
WWW.SUPERBOAT.COM
