Offshoreonly.com - Key West Wednesday

Posted on Thu, Nov. 17, 2005

Lots of power, no shocks

At the opener for the Key West World Championship offshore powerboat races, Budweiser Select dominated from the start.

BY SUE COCKING

Wednesday's opener of the Key West World Championship offshore powerboat races held some fast times, but few surprises.

Budweiser Select, formerly called Bacardi Silver, dominated the four-boat Superboat Unlimited class from the start, averaging 101.32 mph over the 46.2-mile course. Defending world champions, driver Dave Scott of Edwardsville, Ill., and throttleman John Tomlinson of Aventura, finished in 27:23, 34 seconds ahead of longtime rival Big Thunder Marine. The Bacardi-turned-Budweiser is a 46-foot Skater with twin 1,500-horsepower engines.

Budweiser Select's smaller sister boat with the same name won the Superboat class, averaging 92.22 mph with Missourians Myrick Coil driving and Alvin Heathman on throttles.

''A great day for Budweiser Select,'' said Scott, whose company Nauti-Marine, Inc. owns both boats. ``It's really, really rough out there. I'm just amazed the boats make it back to the dock -- and I'm not exaggerating. When I'm in that boat, I think it's just going to break up on us at any time.''

LAST-MINUTE CHANGE

Tomlinson credited a last-minute propeller change in the win, worth 250 points. The second race is Saturday, which will be the same distance and earn the same points. Sunday's final will double the laps and double the points.

Big Thunder owner/throttleman Bob Morgan said he and driver Dennis Hillhouse held back a bit to save their boat for the next two races, averaging 99.26 mph. Opening-day daring cost Big Thunder -- a 46-foot Skater with four 1,200-horsepower engines -- last year's world championships. The boat caught fire and didn't run well after repairs.

''We didn't want to tear stuff up in the first race,'' Morgan, of Gravois Mills, Mo., said. ``We were right there. We just weren't trying to cut corners fast, and weren't trying to really [go fast] when we could have. When we realized we were going to get second anyway, unless they broke, there wasn't any need to try to tear us up.''

Perhaps the most exciting contest was in the 12-boat Super Vee class.

Taboo, with driver Bill Mazzoni of Delray Beach and Craig Wilson of Palm City, led the first four laps before breaking down and limping to a 10th-place finish. Rodriguez Group Fountain, a 42-footer raced by Frenchmen Michel Karsenti and Serge Allegre for the first time, surged in the second-to-last lap to win in 32:42, 14 seconds ahead of runner-up Wazzup II. Karsenti said it took them 3 ½ laps to get used to handling their new boat.

''The first two laps, we were 8-9 miles per hour slower than the rest of the race,'' he said. 'When I understand exactly how it works, I say, `now we're gonna go.' I told him, 'we're gonna smoke them one by one.' ''

Printed on the bow of Rodriguez Group Fountain: ``Sorry we're French. Nobody's perfect.''

Explained Karsenti, laughing: ``We excuse ourself that sometimes we show that Frenchmen can be good.''

EASY VICTORY

The Hulk, with driver Robert Nunziato of Dania Beach and throttleman Doug Kelly of Boca Raton, handily won the four-boat Stock class, averaging 80.62 mph to complete the 32 ½-mile course in 24:13. Nunziato said it was an easy victory since their archrivals, the national champion team on Mapei, skipped the race.

''We've raced each other this year 12 or 13 times,'' Nunziato said of Mapei's Gary Ballough and Mike Majhess. ``He's very good; I think we're very good, and we've brought it to a level that it's taken the fun out of it a little bit. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but we've had to run at the very highest level that we can and it's stressful. [Today] was easy. We hung out for the first lap until we got a pretty good lead and then we took it easy from there. We wanted to preserve the equipment for the next two races.''

Wednesday's race served as a laboratory of sorts for more than 100 invited guests -- students studying to be marine technicians at Key West, Coral Shores and Marathon high schools. The kids went to the drivers' meeting and inspected some of the boats before watching the races from the Truman Annex.

''A big thrill ride,'' Marathon High junior Eric Pedersen said after inspecting Big Thunder and the Budweiser Select Superboat Unlimited. ``The labor that went into the boats -- I think they're both fascinating.''
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