MTI At 25—The Highs And Lows Of Broadco
In the two years Broadco team owner/driver Chuck Broaddus teamed up with throttleman Grant Bruggemann, the cockpit duo experienced the best and worst of what offshore powerboat racing has to offer. That was in 2014 and 2015 when the team was running in Super Boat International’s Super Boat class, and it was a wild couple of seasons for Broaddus and Bruggemann in the team’s 40-foot MTI catamaran.
In 2019, the Broadco team won the first race at the Race World Offshore Key West World Championships but didn’t leave with the Super Cat title. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
In 2014, the team earned a Superboat-class world championship in Key West, Fla. Broaddus and Bruggemann were off to a great start.
“After a lot of testing and seat time, we had what it takes to win,” Bruggemann, the owner of Grant’s Signature Racing in Bradenton, Fla., and the current throttleman for the Super Cat-class Valder Yachts/Pro Floors Racing team. “We put a lot of time into figuring out what the boat wanted, and it paid off.”
The Broadco team broke through with its first and only world championship in 2014.
Broaddus and Bruggemann entered the 2015 season ready to defend their 2014 title. But they rolled during the season-opener in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
“We got the lead then took a big flyer on the back stretch, tripped and rolled two-and-a-half times,” Bruggemann said.
The Cocoa Beach roll did significant structural damage to the 40-foot catamaran.
The damage was enough to sideline the 40-footer for much of the rest of the season and Broaddus put it up for sale the following year. He returned to competition in 2019 with throttleman Chris Hanley in the Broadco MTI cat to compete in the Race World Offshore Key West World Championships. The Super Cat-class team finished first in race No. 1 and second in race No. 2, but WHM Motorsports went on to take the world title.
In 2022, Broaddus sold the boat to Florida couple that planned to campaign it. But the boat never returned to an active racecourse.
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