Key West Worlds Coming Into Focus With ‘Pent-Up’ Demand
That the last two races of the American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship Series were canceled for the same two reasons—back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton—is beyond unusual. Add the Helene-scrubbed Offshore Powerboat Association National and World Championships in Englewood Beach, Fla., to the equation and the cancelation total rises to three events.
Multiply three times zero and you get the number of times that has happened before this season.
With six teams currently committed, Class 1 will have its biggest fleet of the 2024 season next month at the Race World Offshore Key West World Championship. Photos from the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
Speedonthewater.com offshore correspondent Eric Colby has covered the sport since 1983. He has never seen anything like it.
“But then again, when was the last time two major hurricanes hit the same region in a two-week window?” Colby said. “I was thinking yesterday that there are going to be a lot of twitchy throttling hands on day one in Key West.”
An even longer-time observer involved with the sport, former Mercury Racing head Fred Kiekhaefer also can’t recall a situation where the final two races of the regular season were canceled.
The pent-up demand to go racing likely won’t have a significant effect, beyond adding a few Bracket-class teams that had hoped to run in Englewood Beach, on the turnout for the Race World Offshore Key West World Championship set for November 3-10.
“I think we’ll pick up some Bracket-class teams, but other than that it will be business as usual,” said Larry Bleil, the head of Race World Offshore. “The teams that always come to Key West, always come to Key West.”
Pent-up demand also hasn’t sped up registration, though Race World Offshore’s Rodrick Cox expects the push to begin in the next week or so. So far, just 30 teams have registered and almost one-third of them belong to the Super Stock class.
Most Super Stock teams have already registered.
“I am expecting 15 teams,” said Ryan Beckley, the Super Stock-class owner’s group representative.
Only the 222 Offshore team from Australia, Morpheus 8 and XINSURANCE have registered so far for Class 1. That will change soon according to Tyler Miller, the owner and throttleman of the 2024 Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 World Champion Monster Energy/M CON team. Miller is expecting six Class 1 outfits in Key West with the addition of his own and the Defalco and df Young/Good Boy Vodka teams.
“It’s going to be a great time,” Miller said. “I was on the Tuesday Class 1 conference call and everyone was excited about it. And there were eight teams on the call, the MTI team and one other. So 2025 is shaping up to be amazing.”
Asked for specifics about the “other” Class 1 team, Miller declined to comment. “I’ll let them tell you,” he said, then chuckled.
After a ferocious regular season, the Super Cat class is headed for an equally ferocious three-race postseason in Key West.
Just two Super Cat teams, Dirty Money and CR Racing are signed up so far. That number is sure to grow as well.
“We’re absolutely looking forward to it,” said Beau Renfroe, the owner of the Dirty Money team. “After the last two races being canceled, we are looking forward to ending the season on top in Key West.”
Three 450R Factory Stock teams—151 Express, GC Racing and TS Motorsports—have signed up. Driver Taylor Scism of the TS Motorsports team expects that number to double before the first green flag flies.
A half-dozen teams are expected to compete in the Key West Worlds. Photo from Shootout Offshore by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos
“I think we will have a really great turnout,” Scism said.
The Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix-winning Speed Marine team is the only Mod V outfit signed up for Key West at present. Mod V driver Stephen Kildahl, the “son” in the father-and-son Boatfloater.com team, anticipates a big turnout for the class.
“I would think we would have at least eight and possibly as many as 11 teams,” Kildahl said.
But there’s a catch—for all classes. Under APBA rules, teams are required to have competed in no less than two events to qualify for world-championship points. The loss of the Clearwater and St. Pete events means some teams are not be able to meet that requirement.
The strong showing for the Mod V class during with the regular season will continue in Key West.
“It just depends if everyone goes since some teams aren’t qualified cause of the last two cancelations,” Kildahl explained. “And the rulebook states that for a canceled race to allow you to be eligible you must have had the boat at the race site.”
That, of course, was not an option for the Clearwater and St. Petersburg races, which were called off ahead of the storms that forced their cancelations.
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