Torrente Retires From Tunnel-Boat Racing

A three-time F1H2O tunnel-boat racing world champion, Floridian Shaun Torrente announced his retirement yesterday on social media. Torrente’s decision marked the end of his six-year run with the Abu Dhabi team and 13 years at the pinnacle of the sport.

“It has been an amazing journey that has exceeded every single expectation,” he wrote in a post of his Facebook page.

Shaun Torrente earned three F1H2O tunnel-boat racing world championship titles. Photo copyright Simon Palfrader courtesy F1H2O.

The co-publisher of speedonthewater.com and former editor of Powerboat magazine, Jason Johnson followed Torrente’s career from its early days. The two became friends during the years, and Torrente even contributed to the daily news site as a test driver.

“When I first met Shaun Torrente covering a F1 ChampBoat race in Augusta, Ga., almost 20 years ago while working for Powerboat, there’s no way I could have predicted or understood how impactful he would become to the sport of tunnel boat racing—and more—as he matured on and off the racecourse,” said Johnson. “But he did. He took on being an outsider chasing what few Americans had ever accomplished—winning an F1H2O world championship—and he did it three times. I know Shaun retiring from F1H2O racing is not the end of his storied career but it’s the end of an amazing chapter. A chapter that was incredibly enjoyable to watch and report on since his first race overseas with Team Sweden in 2011.”

Throughout his tunnel-boat racing career, Torrente has been a ferocious competitor. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.

Though Torrente is out of tunnel-boat competition, he is far from gone from the powerboat racing world. He will continue throttling in the Super Stock-class ranks with Sean Conner, the owner and driver of the Allied Construction Management Services team, which claimed the 2023 American Power Boat Association Super Stock National Championship. Torrente and Conner founded their own tunnel-boat company, S2 Power Boats, last year. The three-time F1H2O world champ also will reprise his role as the throttleman for the Mead Family Racing team, which competes in the 450R Factory Stock class.

Torrente, who founded Shaun Torrente Racing, which designs and fabricates parts for the high-performance marine industry, lives in Southwest Florida with his wife, Flavia. Their daughter, Isabella, is in her freshman year at Florida State University.

Flavia, Shaun and Isabella Torrente enjoy family time on the water. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

“It’s been an honor to follow his journey on speedonthewater.com and come to know him even better while testing boats, talking about raising daughters and following the rise of his business, Shaun Torrente Racing,” said Johnson. “As I said, Shaun’s career is far from over, but it’s nice to recognize someone’s achievements when the time comes to do just that. Congrats, Alien.”