Last Sunday morning, Mark Small, the owner of the Superboat-class Cleveland Construction team, officially “withdrew his application to participate” in the Super Boat International National Championships in Clearwater, Fla. At issue was SBI’s refusal to crane in a pair of his own non-medical safety boats equipped with fire suppression, de-watering pump, air-bag floatation and environmental containment systems that he had rented to the Fast Response Marine Towing and Salvage crew.
A top Superboat-class team will be missing from Super Boat International’s premiere event this year. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
According to Small, SBI head John Carbonell told him, “We have it covered.”
Small disagreed. The rest is history.
And so, too, are the Cleveland Construction team’s plans to compete in the SBI Offshore World Championships Nov. 5-11 in Key West, Fla. The team likely will compete, however, at the Offshore Powerboat Association World Championships the following weekend in Englewood Beach, Fla.
“We are not going to Key West,” said Small. “We will not compete in another SBI event. I probably spent $10,000 bringing equipment to Clearwater—we wanted to race.”
and then