Superboat races roar through Key West starting Wednesday
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Posted - Saturday, November 07, 2009 11:15 AM EST
By ANDY NEWMAN
There are three days of racing, with races starting at three different times each of those days.
The world's fastest boats gather this week for the ultimate challenge in offshore powerboat racing, the 29th annual Super Boat International Key West World Championship.
What makes the week so spectacular and difficult is the nine races packed into one week. Teams plan and prepare their boats for the combined days of racing while Super Boat International arranges for everything else.
"It's a lot of competition and excitement packed into the week," says Super Boat International founder John Carbonell. "This year, we have at least six international teams coming from different countries to compete."
Over the years, the course has changed.
"In the 1970s, races would be a couple hundred miles in length. We would race off toward the Dry Tortugas and then head back to Key West," Carbonell says. "In the 1980s, we shortened it closer to a 40-mile course. In the early '90s, it was 10-mile races and, this decade, we shorten it again to 6-mile race course so fans could be more involved and see the whole race course."
One team that always enjoys racing in the Southernmost City is the Seminole Hard Rock team and its owner, Peter Meyer.
"This place is a fun and very exciting place to race," Meyer says. "The past couple years, the waters have been pretty forgiving. This year, going out to turn one and around the course, I predict it's going to be a little tougher. We're due for some rougher seas."
There will be some great competition in all the classes this year.
Boats compete in 14 classes during the season-ending championship series, called by some the Indianapolis 500 of the offshore powerboat racing circuit. Chief among them is the Superboat Unlimited class, drawing large and impressive contenders that can achieve speeds of more than 170 mph.
The Key West World Championship is to kick off with a parade of race boats down Duval Street beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday. The action continues through the week with races Nov. 11, 13 and 15. All three days have start times of 10 a.m. and 12:30 and 2 p.m.
