Super Stock Teammates Partnering To Produce S2 Power Boats
In an effort to build the ultimate raceboat for the competitive, twin-outboard, canopied catamaran class—known here in the United States as Super Stock—and meet the latest Union Internationale Motonautique standards for safety both in and out of the cockpit, offshore racing teammates Sean Conner and Shaun Torrente have partnered to form a new company, S2 Power Boats, with expectation to be racing their first 32-footer in Key West, Fla., later this year.
The first 32-foot catamaran from S2 Power Boats, a new raceboat company owned by racers Sean Conner and Shaun Torrente, is going to hit the water soon.
The teammates and now business partners can’t wait to showcase their no-compromise raceboat from S2, which has a double meaning thanks to their first initials and the class for which they are building the boats.
According to Conner, who has raced three different boat brands (Doug Wright, MTI and Victory) in the class during the past several seasons, his mind was made up while riding in the rescue boat back to the docks in Sarasota, Fla., in July 2022 after an incident in his CMR Construction and Roofing-backed 32-footer left him and his throttleman soaking wet, with a broken boat and in a state of disbelief just a couple of races into the 2022 season.
“That’s when I looked at Torrente and said, ‘You know we just we just need to build our own boat,’ because that was the only way we were going to get a boat that would meet our standards of what we were looking for and wanting to achieve,” said Conner, the Super Stock team’s owner and driver who specializes in the acquisition and representation of high-end yachts nationwide and also owns Salt Weapon, a biodegradable salt removal formula. “We started in on the idea right away with discussions between us and Ocke Mannerfelt Design in Sweden to assist with what we were looking for in a new design for today’s competition. By September 1, 2022, we moved forward with Mannerfelt and the detailed design work began.“
Conner said the design, first and foremost, exceeds all of the safety requirements for the boat’s capsule. It also incorporates an incredible amount of computational fluid dynamics data and testing, which Torrente added went through more than 40 different variations.
Conner also said the first 32-foot catamaran from S2 is in the rigging stage—news on it will be released next week—and the second one is on target to make its Super Stock-class debut with Conner and Torrente in the cockpit during the Race World Offshore-produced Key West Offshore World Championship in early November. With Allied Construction Management Services as their title sponsor at the moment, the two currently race the only boat MTI built to compete in the XCAT World Series overseas.
“We feel like we’ve designed and built something that will outperform everything else in the class,” said Torrente, who owns Shaun Torrente Racing in Southwest Florida. “Right now it’s the only boat designed for the current class rules with the current weights, the current engine package and the current safety standards. There’s nothing like it; we’ve tried to think of everything and build it with that in mind. Nothing in the boat is going to be an afterthought.”
A three-time F1H2O tunnel boat world champion, Torrente said that a lot of thought went into the cockpit layout from the perspectives of the driver and throttleman, which he said isn’t the case with most of the offshore boats he’s raced in his career.
“We tried to provide more room around the driver and throttleman, and design the flat, three-quarter-inch windshields to reduce any blind spots,” Torrente said. “Everything we did was in the best interest of safety. Whether we’re talking about the escape hatch details, the water deflectors, the mounts, the harnesses, the air system, you name it.”
Conner and Torrente both emphasized the “no compromise” aspect of S2 Power Boats.
“For my perspective, the best racing experiences start with the right equipment,” Conner said. “And that’s what we’re going to strive for with every boat built by S2 Power Boats.”
Torrente, who said the goal is to provide clients with a complete, turn-key raceboat, with or without engines, realizes that the boats could cost more than some teams are willing to spend.
“Not everybody will be able to buy a boat from us—we understand that—but we’re all about building the best possible product you can buy,” Torrente explained. “For me, there are no compromises when it comes to racing. In fact, and this has nothing to do with safety or performance, we just got a really nice trailer from CTS Custom Trailers so our boat will be riding in style. The thing is freaking bad ass.”
Editor’s note: Look for a follow-up story on the first S2 Power Boats model next week on speedonthewater.com.
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