clearwater is a heavy police state anymore, but it's way less gay than KW.... and the racers wont have to constantly wipe lip marks off their exhaust pipes...lol

i use a stunt liver in Key West :drink:

Well, your beaches are nice......Did I redeem myself?

With that edgy comment you sure did boy wonder.

you guys crack me up....dave your funny....hope to see you all there

should be good run with 8 boats in the class

oh and i understand the poker run side ...love going over there to see the serious hardware

Clearwater isn't that bad of a place... no its not key west but I think it would get a pretty good turn out... It does just for the regular race...let alone the worlds...do I want it to happen no....But I think it would still be a big event... And there isn't that many old people around here if you want old people go to west palm of Naples... I moved here from cape coral and there is a lot more younger people around here.

2 airports,wow,cant ever remember in 16 years having an issue getting in and out of the one and only key west airport.am I missing something?so basically beachside view for the public means free view ?? it takes big money to put on these venues,as far as accommodations no one to my knowledge has had a problem with rooms,in key west,and you sure cant beat the atmosphere on duvall street,why do we have to change things up?look what its done for the government,
MY 2 CENTS!!!

I would think the racers would love Key west. There are a few venues that have so little spectator attendance.Key west is the one race with thousands of spectators and true fans,
Not just a few locals standing on the beach asking "is there a race or something"?

Key West only has thousands and Clearwater just has a "few locals" ???


Think again....

“In just five years, the race has become one of the elite events in the State of Florida and the favorite stop on the Super Boat International circuit, surpassing many events that have been in existence for years,” Aungst stated.

Chivas said that by 11:30 a.m. race day U.S. Coast Guard officials estimated that more than 3,800 boats had moored in the 'safe zone' area to watch the race and “more and more boaters continued coming out for the race.”

The spectator boat fleet remains the largest on the Super Boat International circuit, Aungst said, topping out at over 5,500 boats along the length of the course, with over 40,000 people enjoying the action from the Gulf.

Early estimates also indicate that the Sunday race event drew a record crowd of up to 75,000 people on the beach, Pier 60 and in the hotels and condos, said Aungst.

“The two and a half day attendance totaled upwards of a record shattering 170,000 attendees.”

http://clearwatergazette.com/article...131009999/1603

Dave

Well someone had a problem last year.....so much that they paid a small aircraft to fly an "American Airlines Sucks" banner all weekend :D

A month ago flights from NY to KW for that weekend we $1100 each

Prime hotels for the races in Sunset bay will run you $3-10k for 5 days, huge money mainly due to lack of competition. Sure there are tons of inland rooms, hotels, B&B, and houses for rent....but what fun is staying inland if you could find a venue with hotels up and down the entire beach front?

I agree with you that there is something special about KW, and it gives you that Caribbean feel while still being drivable from the states. However you can't deny that the crowd may in fact grow if the flights, beach side hotels, and general entertainment was more affordable. Where ever it ends up I m sure there will still be upscale hot spots for the ones that choose to drop big coin and be exclusive to stay. However for the rest they can still get a true ocean vacation experience for less dough

Booked my flights and room back on June 10th. Got two round trip tickets for less than what one costs now. As of about two weeks ago I think the Casa de Marina resort was sold out too.

Rooms are hard to come by in KW for this races and if you do find one it will cost you or be in a very out of the way area. Also yes there is 2 airports and the reason that is a plus is cause from almost any city there is a direct flight in for a fair cost unlike KW airport that only runs a few airlines.

While yes the beach is "free view" and it does take money to do this sport. The guy who has a wife and kids but loves racing can bring his family, not spend thousands, and grab a few shirts or more to help support. Why do you think the Clearwater race has grown so much?

KW leaves behind the casual fan...plan and simple. If you want to hang there for thurs-sun/mon for the race.....it's going to cost a fair amount.

Is KW more of a fun setting....yes

Does KW have more history.......by far

Being a Clearwater local do I want that race here nad not KW.....Nope....I say keep it in KW.

But I get why they are looking and how you can bring in the average Joe back into the sport or the fan fair up front and close by with having it here in Clearwater. Also like was said....I don't see Stu ever changing the poker run and he shouldn't. If that was left the same and for some reason the races did leave. I don't think there would be that drastic of a change down there during that time of the year.

So maybe clearwater would be a better spectator venue due to lower costs for the racers/owners. I'd think the spectators could create a good time wherever they are, you all do brag about your partying capabilities !

Some of these anti-Clearwater posts are so filled with fiction it's amusing. CW is part of the Tampa/St Pete metropolitan area. A much richer and more diverse environment than a little beach town like KW. Nothing to do in CW compared to KW? Are you kidding me? Within 30 minutes of CW there are world famous theme parks (Busch Gardens, Adventure Island), museums, go kart racing, NFL, MLB, NHL, Theater and Arts, shopping galore, two cities and tons of night life in both Tampa and St Pete. Also less expensive and more plentiful accommodations, and a much broader segment of things to do for both families and individuals than KW. KW has two things: beaches and bars. CW has that and the local metro attractions completely obliterates KW in the other metrics. And for the race, you can’t even see the races in KW as good as you would in CW.

And as for all these purported ‘old ppl’…where exactly are you people seeing that?? I visit CW at least once a year and I see far a higher percentage of beautiful young college aged people there than most other places in Fl.

Someone also mentioned KW is only for the true racers, not for the general public. Are you kidding? This sport needs as much public support and injection of new fans and blood that it can get. No people = niche interest in the sport = no advertisers/sponsors = no boats! Advertisers and sponsors go and spend money where the PUBLIC en-masse will see their names and buy their products. They don’t give a bleep bleep about a small contingent of ‘true racers.’

We need more feet in the sand and in the pits getting involved. CW has a higher probability of this taking place in the future, KW only has the advantage in retaining what’s already there. Case in point: bunch of guys here at work were thinking about going to KW, some with families, and after looking up travel and hotels we all decided to abstain. Why? Too expensive to spend more than a night or two there. As JDBYRIDER noted – it’s about money. On all sides, for the fans, sponsors, and for the racers.

Uh-huh. Because they are on spring break visiting their grandparents.

If the bars, resturants, and hotels suppoted the races more you might see more teams in KW. All they want to do is reap the benfits from racers and fan and give nothing back to Offshore Racing. The racers and PR boats are the show and we pay dearly for it. When the boats r on the street that we have to pay for and every bar and resturant is packed you tell me Gino how does that help us.

Most of the of the people *****ing about blue hairs arnt too far off from being blue haired them self behind all that dye.

well, uhhhmm, geee..... last time i checked, spring break was not in the end of september.

I was referring to some of the current race venues that have very low spectator counts. Not Clearwater.

Key west is expensive for the 1,000+ poker runners coming from all around the country as well.

I have a hard time believing it's the cost keeping racers out of Key west? I was under the impression that Key west had the biggest boat turn out from all the SBI venues but maybe I'm wrong.

As for Key west not supporting the racers, I was under the impression that Key West pays SBI a pretty penny to bring the race to Key west but again, maybe I'm misinformed. As for parking the boat on Duval, Does Key west charge or is it Carbonell???

Maybe things are different now. We use to call a bunch of the hotels weeks prior and get our own deals on rooms and food and in turn we would park the boat in front of their place and guarantee them 7 days of occupying the hotel. It wasn't 5 star hotels because the best hotels rarely give deals on busy weekends anywhere. But we had to get our own deals.

As for the cost keeping racers away, I remember dragging my boat, crew and tons of crap to Jersey city for the NY race every year. It cost me a fortune and the turn out from the spectators was pitiful. The pits were empty and the award ceremony was only attended by the racers and crew. I spent thousands to race against 2 or 3 other boats with no one watching the race. To me, that was a waste of money. We had a t-shirt tent and didn't sell 2 dozen shirts all weekend. We went to Key west and sold $5k worth of shirts and hats to help fund the weekend.

Stus Poker run brings a few hundred of the baddest boats the same weekend. I would think most of those people are also there for the race.

To me Key west is what offshore is about.

I'm all for supporting the racers! We are having a couple of parties, At Burgerfi . We are about 5 doors down from Sloppy Joes, come by and I will hook you up!

Kw charges SBI for clean up after the St party and SBI had to pass the cost to the racers. Yes KW does give SBI money but not a fraction of what it cost to put a race like this on. They get the money back 3 fold with city service . Police, Fire rescue, Fire dept.and Sanitation just to mention a few.
If you think cost isnt an issue for the teams that arent coming to KW you are seriously mistaken not some but all of the smaller teams that would love to race KW cant afford it.

As a racer in a smaller boat I can only speak for what my fellow racers have discussed with me. Its ALL about the cost of the event that keeps most away. Its in most cases 1/2 of the years budget to due. If you never have done it I highly recommend you do it. Depending on how many boats in your class actually are going also has something to do with if its worth it or not. It is after all called the Word Championship and if there are only a fraction of the boats that have raced all year there then there is a problem with winning a world Championship title IMO. Imagine a World Championship race where everyone could be at OMG !!!! To be fair you have to consider the cost to race there is for a week and no matter where you race a week off work, hotels, travel ,food, drinks and mechanical expenses is expensive. If you cut the time too 4-5 days it may be more palatable for most.
Just a thought, Make KW a regular race (long weekend) and make the Worlds at Clear Water??

Faced with the possibility that the annual Super Boat World Championship races could be held elsewhere, the Key West City Commission on Wednesday directed city staff to work out a five-year deal with the event's producers.

The 33rd running of the Key West 'Worlds' is set for Nov. 3 through 10 in waters off the Southernmost City.

For years, the event put on by Key West native John Carbonell has garnered $120,000 in funding from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

But a reduction in that to $100,000 prompted Carbonell to consider alternative host cities, including Sarasota and Clearwater, which also hosts the Super Boat National Championship.

"I've been approached over the last few years by cities that want the world championship race," Carbonell said, "and I have to look at that."

"The main thing that's happening in Key West, it's not only the TDC, it's all of the businesses. When you go and ask them for a sponsorship or an ad in the program, the answer we get is, 'Why should we? [The event] is gonna happen anyway.' "

Smith Travel Research, a voluntary reporting group, said that using average hotel occupancy and daily rates for the 2012 races, running Nov. 4-11, Key West lodging revenue was $7,247,069 according to a report provided by the TDC.

But Carbonell estimates that, based on hotel occupancy and room rates, ticket sales and things visitors buy such as meals, the draw is 80,000 people generating local revenue of around $30 million.

According a permit application filed with the city, last year, Carbonell's outfit spent $437,870.69, including the TDC money and other sponsorships, on the 2012 races compared to receiving $440,661.72 in revenue.

That's a profit of $2,791.03. If expenses stay the same and the $20,000 reduction in TDC funding is factored in, the 2014 event would cost Carbonell around $18,000.

"It's just a bad situation," he continued. "My intent has been to try to keep it here."

Commissioner Tony Yaniz called the boat races a "clean event. We don't have a problem with nudity; we don't have a lot of problems with public drunkenness" in contrast with Fantasy Fest.


interesting article...all about money...It would br nice for local sponsorship help for the smaller clases to get them there...Ive been approached many times about increasing boat count at various events especially during the tough economy...You would think the answer is pretty sinmple


If it was me ide do the first city that "ponys up" to help the racers.....just my 2 cents
.

How is the bum population in Clearwater? The true attraction of race week is the FPC event anyway. Let the races go to Clearwater. 90% of the time we don't watch the races anyway. We usually see the last lap or two anyway & rarely have a clue as to who won.
The neatest thing about the races in KW is the street party. It is amazing how a trashcan can be stacked with beer bottles & drink cups in 4 hours. It is quite the engineering accomplishment given it was erected by drunks.

There is no bum problem in Clearwater.

Downtown St. Pete has a small one but really it's Tampa. It's illegal to panhandle in Pinellas county and cops strickly enforce that on them.

Better than Key West...LOL

"WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO ABOUT KEY WEST’S HOMELESS POPULATION " http://thebluepaper.com/article/sloa...rbut-homeless/

"Are homeless people part of Key West’s One Human Family?" http://goodmorningkeywest.com/?p=16408

"Key West cracks down on homeless population" http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/trave...homeless_n.htm

"Homeless in Paradise" http://www.keywesting.com/key-west-i...ts-in-key-west

"Key West Warnings and Dangers" http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...st-TG-C-1.html

That sucks! Some of my best blurry memories of KW include bums. If you've never went booze shopping with a bum or given one a hundie & stipulated it must be used to buy booze, not food. You my friend haven't experienced Conch life!

I promise you'd go to jail in Clearwater for having 9 people in a GEM car driving drunk with open containers & the "trunk" full of ice & booze. In KW I was told I, the driver, needed to have my seatbelt on if I was going to drive on their streets.
Also, I'm 1000% sure I would have went to jail in Clearwater for fighting a bum. Not so in KW. The cops understood the issue & even though I was in the wrong I didn't get hooked up.
Bottom line is you can't run a redline in KW.

I have been going to the keys 2 times a year for the last 10+ years. Definitely have lived the counch life and had my fun with bums.

They can keep them down there for everyday life though.

No offence but I am 31 and party rather hard still cause I have no kids and refuse to grow up. That said I hope to god those actions would get you arrested and there is no bragging about the dumb actions you just posted about.

"The main thing that's happening in Key West, it's not only the TDC, it's all of the businesses. When you go and ask them for a sponsorship or an ad in the program, the answer we get is, 'Why should we? [The event] is gonna happen anyway.' ".

You would think that the pizza joint would fork up some money for sponsorship, so they can sell,pies at $100 a clip on Friday night for no wait, and $50 on Saturday night. Yes that what we paid last year for a pie when your hungry and drunk.

Huh? No bragging. Just the truth.
A bum looked up a friend's skirt & got his ass whipped on the courthouse lawn for it. Cops came, said looking up a skirt wasn't illegal. Cops said he deserved it & that we should go to jail for it but because the dude was a degenerate they would introduce him to the island's homeless person relocation officer. They all laughed about it & once they ran us they kicked us loose to go have more fun.
As for the GEM car story. That is all true too.

BUMP: Any updates? i see rumors. Has an announcement been made???

As it happens, I spoke with two different offshore racers today, as well as two other reliable "inside" sources, and despite the rumors that have been posted as fact elsewhere no "official" announcement has been made. However, I expect there will be some kind official announcement within the next two weeks. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Well even if it does come here I can say next year I am doing the FPC run anyway.

Leaving KW would be a shame. I just got back from four days there had an absolute blast. Sure hope SBI wakes up and realizes that KW is the perfect venue.

It is but only for those that can afford it.

If you are trying to reach out to the masses and famiies to gain new fans....it might be one of the worst places for it

Things change. As racers you learn to accept and adapt, everyone else will do the same.. Most Poker runners have some "racer" in them anyways (Some have a lot). The Poker run boats will come where the races are. We go hand in hand with each other. Plain and simple.

It would be a shame to split us apart for the World Championships if they move. We love seeing all the performance boaters and offshore boats (big and small) .

I think you are wrong.......While it is nice to have a "speed week" with all types of go fast boats I don't think you have as much of a following as you think since the overlap is what boosts your attendance. I can remember groups of poker runners leaving on Sunday morning before the races to get back to Miami and missing ever race on Sunday on purpose!
Just as a point......other than Key West: How many races feature a poker run of significant size around the race dates? I can't think of one, so that would negate your "poker runs will come where the races are" idea.

Move that event to Clearwater and I would bet Key West is still the Poker Run destination! Remember that poker run is the finale for many up north boaters before they put the boat up for the winter and Key West is simply a better boating vacation destination than Clearwater. I understand the racers want the most bang for the buck and KW is not it but the PR crowd is of a different mentality since it is also a vacation for them. Just looking at the pics of the Boca Grande sand bar party it looked like a lot more fun than standing 3 deep at the sea wall and watching boats break.

Congrats on your win......You guys deserved it after all your troubles last season!

KW is KW and that will never change ^^^^ well said +1