Looking For The Best Places To Watch The Key West Worlds? Ask Fans Who Know
For dramatic and unobstructed viewing of next week’s Key West Offshore World Championships produced by Race World Offshore, Rick and Parker Lindsey, have the best seats in the house. The senior Lindsey pilots and owns the XINSURANCE A-Star helicopter, which is the video platform for coverage of the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday races. His son, Parker, is the airship’s talented videographer. Their view of the action is unmatched.
But those two seats are taken.
So where should you watch? What’s the best option? Where do in-the-know offshore racing fans go?
Though the best seats in the Key West house are already wrapped up, there are plenty of outstanding places to watch all the racing action. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
To find out, I reached out to several passionate offshore racing fans who rarely miss the Key West event. I asked all of them two simple questions: Where is your favorite place to watch the Key West races—and why?
Here’s what they had to say.
Kerry Bartlett – Thunder On Cocoa Beach organizer
Kerry Bartlett doesn’t exactly lack for opportunities to watch offshore racing. Bartlett, who lives in Cocoa Beach, Fla., with his wife Heidi, and son, Aidan, is the lead organizer of Thunder On Cocoa Beach. He spends a good portion of every day thinking about the sport and how to improve the experience at his home venue, but when it comes to watching the action in Key West he always heads for a suite at the Pier House booked each year by his friends and Cocoa Beach neighbors Rick and Katheryn Theisen.
“That’s where I usually watch the races,” he said. “But unfortunately, I am not going to make it down this year.”
Pete Boden – Speedonthewater.com chief photographer
Photographer Pete Boden has captured the Key West Worlds from every angle. Photo by Matt Trulio.
A United States Navy veteran, Pete Boden has captured the Key West Worlds from every conceivable vantage point during the years. For fresh perspectives, Boden shoots from a different spot on each racing day. But for watching the action as a fan, the Outer Mole (breakwater) next to the wet pits is his top choice.
“At the Outer Mole, the action is close,” he explained. “Plus while you’re out there, you can support the various military units raising money.”
Nolan Ferris – Speed On The Water Key West Bash auctioneer
For auctioneer Nolan Ferris (holding microphone), beating the heat and sun are paramount for any viewing perch. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.
On his own dime, Upstate New York’s Nolan Ferris travels to Key West each year to lead the Speed On The Water Key West Bash auction. Keeping cool while maintaining a great view of the course is his primary goal when it comes to enjoying the action. So his favorite sport is the Race World Offshore VIP section.
“After my early years in Key West not realizing how hot and burnt I was getting until the end of the race day, I started to search for a shaded place to watch. Shade in Key West is scarce unless you’re at one watering hole or another. But after last year when I watched the races from under a tent on the pier—with food and drink—I’ll never go any other way than the Race World Offshore VIP section. It’s sort of like having a heated/cooled seat in the truck, or a heated steering wheel. If you never had it, you never miss it. But once you do, you never go without.”
Daniel Garcia, III – Keys Island Runners founder
The offshore fan in this group who was born and raised in Key West and still lives, Daniel Garcia, III, has local knowledge. He’s watched the races from just about every spot there. So his favorite viewing area is specific.
“Growing up in Key West I’ve watched from multiple spots,” he said. “I’d say my favorite spot to watch the races is Fort Zachary Taylor Park, on the rocks right past turn No. 2.”
Don and Amanda Gardner – Offshore racing fans
Don and Amanda Gardner have a couple of favorite viewing spots, though one was formerly a secret.
Don and Amanda Gardner embrace the high-performance boating lifestyle. The duo owns a 36-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran they renovated and converted to outboard-engine power themselves, and they kept the boat on a lift at their waterfront Cape Coral, Fla., home. They make the early November trip to Key West for the world championships almost every year, and they have a few favorite viewing spots. They include the Outer Mole and, though Amanda Gardner was reluctant to reveal it for fear of overcrowding the favorite place, Lagerheads Beach Bar and Watersports.
“Don told me not to give away Lagerheads but obviously I don’t listen very well,” Amanda said, then laughed. “It has a small little beach and serves hamburger and hot dogs. And from there you can see the harbor turn pretty close.
“But there’s no better spot than the Outer Mole,” she continued. “You get a wide view of the course, and that thrilling straightaway along the seawall is a prime spot to watch as the boats go full throttle into the turn at Mallory Square. Plus, it’s super convenient there to grab a cold beverage to stay hydrated throughout the race and during intermissions.”
Sara Langheim – Jackhammer Racing
The Mallory Square viewing area is the ticket for the Jackhammer team’s Sara Langheim.
As the co-owner of 2024 American Power Boat Association Super Stock national champion Jackhammer team with her husband, Reese, Sara Langheim takes on the lead-role of spotter at every race. So she’s necessarily cagey about where she watches for fear of “giving up her favorite spotting spot,” she said, then laughed. But for general viewing, the Mallory Square area is her favorite go-to.
“Being that close to the action fills my adrenaline cup,” she said.
Kelly O’Hara and Kiran Pinisetti – Offshore racing fans
Kelly O’Hara and Kiran Pinisetti have their 2024 Key West Worlds viewing plans nailed down.
Though Kelly O’Hara of Upstate New York and Indiana’s Kiran Pinisetti will be running the DCB Performance Marine M37R catamaran they co-own together to Key West for the first time with the Florida Powerboat Club’s Wednesday fleet, they are no strangers to the races. Their top two choices for viewing are the Pier House Resort and Spa and the Race World Offshore VIP space on the Outer Mole.
“A lot of our friends watch from the RWO VIP area out there,” O’Hara explained. “It has shade, comfortable seating and great views of the course. And you can hear the race commentary though the public address system.”
Greg Harris and Yvonne Aleman – Offshore racing fans and Key West Bash hosts
Though they won’t be bringing their boat to Key West this year, Greg Harris and Yvonne Aleman know exactly where to go to watch the races.
Unlike their fellow DCB M37R catamaran-owning friends O’Hara and Pinisetti, South Florida’s Greg Harris and his longtime girlfriend, Yvonne Aleman, won’t be coming down to the races with the Florida Powerboat Club Key West Poker Run. They left their 37-footer in Arizona for the winter. But that won’t stop them from enjoying next week races, as well as co-hosting the 11th annual Speed On The Water Key West Bash. As always, the couple will set up camp—viewing and otherwise—at the Galleon Resort. But they’ve also been known to catch the action from Fort Zachary Taylor Park. And, this year they have yet another great race-viewing option.
“We usually watch from the Galleon because the harbor turn is so exciting,” Harris explained. “This year we have VIP tickets on the Outer Mole that I got as high bidder at the Super Cat Fest auction in August.
“But one of the best places also is Fort Zachary Taylor Park,” he added. “The park is outside the Outer Mole and has a beach view of 75 percent of the racecourse.”
Jeff Helmkamp – Speedonthewater.com contributing photographer
Photographer Jeff Helmkamp (left) will capture the Friday races from a boat this year.
Like Pete Boden, Jeff Helmkamp comes to Key West from Illinois each year to do a job. Also like Boden, who has been his mentor, he tries to find a different vantage point for the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday contests. Fort Zachary Taylor Park, however, is his favorite option.
“The afternoon races are rough tough to see from there because of the sunlight, but from all the places I’ve watched that is the best,” he said. “The park is a good place to watch because that is where the different ocean plates are located and usually there is some really good wave-action, and plenty of opportunities for ‘big-air’ photos.
“I’m supposed to be watching Friday’s races this year from Jim Lee’s yacht, so I will have a different view,” he added. “I know the lighting will be better, that’s for sure.”
Brian Hoar and Chris Fisher – Lake Champlain Poker Run organizers
Flanking Niki Carlson during the Lake Champlain Poker Run, Brian Hoar and Chris Fisher are big fans of Fort Zachary Taylor Park Pier. Photo by Tim Sharkey copyright Sharkey Images.
Asked to name their prime viewing spot for the Key West Worlds, Lake Champlain Poker Run organizing group members Brian Hoar and Chris Fisher immediately devolved into a Vermont-based comedy duo. “It has been so long, since Brian has been to Key West, they were racing row boats,” Fisher quipped.
But Hoar rose to the challenge and dubbed the Fort Zachary Taylor Park Pier as his top pick for catching the action.
“First, I love walking through the pit area and watching the drivers prepping their boats on the inside wall, where they are often tied up directly before the race, and you can interact with them,” he said. “Second, that area offers the best views of boats at high speeds and aired out. And third, there are great food and drink vendors set up.”
Ryan Wenk – Sunsation Powerboats national sales and marketing manager
Sunsation’s Ryan Wenk (right) and photographer Jeff Helmkamp likely will watch at least one Key West race from a boat this year.
As the national sales and marketing manager for Sunsation Powerboats in Algonac, Mich., Ryan Wenk almost always has the option of watching the Key West races on a Sunsation center console in the spectator fleet. But for land-based viewing, he heads for the Outer Mole.
“Watching from a boat is the coolest,” he said. “You actually get to feel the intensity of the racing when you’re that close. But watching from land is a more ‘realistic’ option for most fans. For that, we usually try to make our way into the pits when we can to see the teams racing in real time.”
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