On Friday, Nov. 7, the weather forecast was for weaker winds and smaller wave heights in the waters off the coast of Key West, Fla., where the 44th Annual Race World Offshore world championships are being held. The second of three race days appeared that it would bring easier conditions than the 98 teams had encountered during the opening day of competition.

Then the teams actually went out on the 4.4-mile course and made the run from Key West Harbor to turn No. 1.

On the second day of racing at the Key West Offshore World championships many teams’ eyes deceived them when it came to assessing the conditions. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

“I went a little long on propeller thinking it was going to be flat,” said Billy Moore, throttleman for the Pro Class 1 winner, DeFalco Construction. “It was not flat.”

Added Bill Pyburn, who throttled XINSURANCE South to third in Pro Class 1, “Turns one and two were weird, you couldn’t read the water.”

The misread of the conditions by the fleet was punctuated by two competitors in a Bracket class boat getting pitched out of their boat in turn one, a Super Cat rolling in the same spot and a Super Stock boat hitting another boat before going over in turn two.

After two accidents on day one and some mechanical issues for other teams, the overall fleet was reduced to 94 boats, still an incredible number.

Launch Control
After six boats were flagged for jumping the start in Pro Class 1 on Wednesday, RWO chief referee gathered the teams for a meeting on Friday morning to discuss how they could get the Friday race underway properly. The Pro Class 1 boats are supposed to line up the bows of their 44- to 48-foot catamarans off the transom of the pace boat at 50 mph. Then when they reach a chute marked by two green buoys in Key West Harbor, they start the race.

After breaking on Wednesday, the Pro Class 1 Defalco team came back to claim victory in yesterday’s contest.

When the eight boats in the class started on Friday, the 48-foot MTI, XINSURANCE North, with throttleman Nick Buis and driver J.J. Turk clearly left before everyone else and a couple of other boats were well back of the pack. By the time the Super V class, which was racing at the same time as the Pro Class 1 boats had started, the Pro Class 1 start had been red-flagged to try the start again.

The charge to turn one had already claimed one casualty when the 48-foot Victory, Mobile X, with driver Darren Nicholson and throttleman Giovanni Carpitella, broke a propeller shaft during the botched start. They were out of the race.

After Mobile X was secured by a tow boat, the race was re-started cleanly and Moore and owner/driver Mike Falco took the lead in DeFalco Construction. They were chased by owner/throttleman Tyler Miller and drive Myrick Coil in the 43-foot Skater, Monster Energy/M CON. After the restart, the lap count was reduced to six tours of the 4.4-mile counter-clockwise course.

For the first four laps of the race, XINSURANCE North ran strong, holding third place after finishing in the final podium spot on Wednesday. With a new rudder on their boat after the steering appendage broke off the boat on Wednesday, Pyburn and driver Brit Lilly held fourth in XINSURANCE South. Finding some speed, throttleman John Tomlinson and Carlos De Quesada ran fifth in the 45-foot Victory, Pothole Heroes.

While DeFalco held the point and Monster was comfortable in second, shuffling took place behind them. XINSURANCE North had issues and dropped back to sixth. This moved XINSURANCE South up to third and Pothole Heroes took fourth. With double points at stake on Sunday, you don’t want Tomlinson and crew chief Gary Stray gaining momentum. For the second-straight race, the 48-foot MTI, GC Racing/Marine Technology, with throttleman Grant Bruggemann and driver Willie Cabeza, finished fifth.

With a first on Wednesday and a second on Friday, Monster Energy/M CON, has a solid points lead heading into the final day of racing on Sunday. “It’s ours to screw up no,” said Miller, whose team is among the most unlikely to screw up. As for Friday’s race, he said, “We had a second place boat today. We were looking for bigger speeds and didn’t expect to see three-footers in turn one.”

Pyburn said he didn’t even think about the new rudder on his boat. “I just hold the throttles down,” he said. Regarding the new tunnel tab that was installed before the Key West event, he added, “it’s helping but it’s a learning curve.”

Tit for Tat
After missing the setup call during Wednesday’s Super V race, owner/driver Ed Smith and throttleman Jay Wohltman nailed the combination in their 40-foot Fountain, Knucklehead Racing. When the green flag went up, they took off and were gone. Wednesday’s winners, throttleman Anthony Smith and driver Elijah Kingery in the 40-foot Fountain, Team Farnsworth/Hancock Claims, ran second for two laps before succumbing to mechanical gremlins. Owner/throttleman Rob Lockyer and driver Kirk Britto continued their improvement in the 40-foot Fountain, Cortez Cove Marine.

For the race that was shortened by a lap after the Pro Clas 1 restart, Knucklehead was untouchable. Cortez Cove Fountain held second place and the rookie team of throttleman Mike Howe and driver Tim Lipton continued to smartly play the attrition game in their 39-foot Outerlimits, DSK Racing. With a fourth on Wednesday and a third on Friday, the duo is looking at a strong podium opportunity on Sunday. Speedonthewater.com tried to get a word with Smith regarding his victory on Friday, but he was in the middle of swapping out one of his boat’s engines.

Continued Dominance and a Sigh of Relief
While he and Lilly are still learning their Pro Class 1 boat, their 38-foot Skater Super Cat, Dirty Money, must feel like a comfortable pair of shoes to the duo. After dominating the class race on Wednesday, they picked where the left off on Friday after mayhem ensued at turn one, causing a restart.

After starting in lane four in the 39-foot Outerlimits, Rollin’ Transport, owner/throttleman Vinnie Diorio and driver Sean Conner ran into turn one. Things always get tight there for boats in the middle lanes and the bright red catamaran rolled. The in-boat crew escaped without injury.

Dirty Money returned to dominant form yesterday. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.

When the reduced six-boat fleet re-started for a six-lap race, Dirty Money rolled out to the lead with owner/driver Chris Grant and throttleman Jay Muller and their freshly repaired 38-foot Skater, C.J. Grant/Graydel, giving chase in second. Not far behind in third were owner/driver Rob Unnerstall and throttleman Casey Boaz in the 38-foot Skater, CR Racing/Southeast Services. After a strong Wednesday performance, Anthony Smith and driver Christian McCauley held fourth in the 40-foot MTI, Team Farnsworth/Hancock Claims and driver Kelly Kraiss and throttleman Ron Gibbs continued their consistency in the 36-foot Skater, EWB Racing.

For the balance of the Super Cat race, the order remained the same with Dirty Money claiming the checkers followed by Graydel and C.R. Racing.

“We didn’t push the boat real hard today,” said Pyburn. Once he and Lilly were in a rhythm, they ran what they felt was a comfortable speed and didn’t take any risks.

Perhaps the happiest Super Cat team was the third-place finishers who have faced an uphill climb this year getting used to a new boat and a new engine program.

“We’re figuring out the boat and what it likes,” said Boaz. “We wanted to finish a race and the podium is a bonus.”

Added Unnerstall, “It’s a monkey off everybody’s back. We have high expectations and now we can start moving forward.

The Extreme class boats were on the course with the Super Cats and the 54-foot MTI, Spirit of Qatar, with throttleman Steve Curtis and driver Sheik Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani, put on another impressive display taking the win. Owner/throttleman Mike Knoblock and driver Jeff McCann finished second in their 42-foot Foutain, American Custom Marine.

Refusing to Lose
Friday’s Factory Stock lanes were assigned based on the finishing order from Wednesday. That put owner/driver Chad Rudesil and throttleman Rusty Williams in lane one in the 39-foot MTI, Say Less, and owner/driver Willie Cabeza and throttleman Grant Bruggemann in their 39-foot MTI, GC Racing, in lane two. Driver Robert Lo Piano and throttleman Alfredo Amato had the third slot in their 38-foot Doug Wright, Al & Al.

GC Racing methodically worked its way through the fleet to the lead on the sixth lap and take a hard-fought win.

The pole sitters used their advantage to hold the lead for three laps. The boat that showed some serious speed on Wednesday, the 38-foot Doug Wright, Montlick Injury Attorneys, with driver Logan Adan and throttleman Carpitella, took the point on lap four of seven. GC Racing had a rough start, falling back to sixth and working its way up to fourth by lap three, third by the next circuit and second by the fifth.

Owner/driver Reese Langheim and throttleman Julian Maldonado had a much better run on Friday in their 38-foot Valor, Jackhammer/Manatee Marine Unlimited. They started in third and held the position for most of the race.

GC Racing methodically worked its way through the fleet, moving to the lead on the sixth lap and taking a hard-fought win. Second went to Say Less MF and Jackhammer took third. Taking a smart approach and running consistently, the rookie team of driver Joe Spoloric and throttleman Garrett Coonrod took fourth in the 38-foot Doug Wright, LWR.

“We just had a bad start,” said Bruggemann. “The officials warned us so many times about penalties for jumping the start and we were overly cautious about it.”

Knowing they had a good boat, he and Cabeza cinched down their five-point harnesses

and went to work. “We just kept doing our thing out there and picking them off one by one,” he said. “Willie said, let’s just settle in and do our job like we’ve done in many hours of testing.”

Maldonado and Langheim started with the larger gearcases on the Mercury Racing 500Rs on Jackhammer, but switched to the smaller ones from the 450Rs at Clearwater. On Wednesday, they broke a set of propellers and had to buy a set from another team on Friday. “We bought a set from Heritage-Canados yesterday and they were too big,” said Maldonado.

Montlick Injury Attorneys team driver Adan said the boat was acting like it was having guardian issues on Friday, but even after Carpitella turned off the engines and turned them back on, the problem wasn’t solved so they headed to the cranes. After DNFs in the first two races of the week, the team will decide if it is going to run on Sunday.

Accurate Prediction — Kind Of
After winning Wednesday’s Super Stock race, Shaun Torrente, the owner/throttleman of Team Nautical Ventures, predicted that Friday’s race would end with the 32-foot Victory, Raymarine, and owner/driver Cole Leibel and throttleman Gary Ballough, taking the win. Torrente and driver Matt Jamniczky were starting from the outermost lane in their 32-foot STR hull and his plan was to try to run as close to Raymarine as possible to set up a showdown on Sunday.

Raymarine’s Cole Leibel and Gary Ballough earned the checkered flag in the Factory Stock ranks.

That pretty much played out on Friday. First the race was red-flagged when the 32-foot Fazza, Mikalyzed, hitting the 32-foot Doug Wright, Nuff Said, on turn two. Then the next re-start was held up because of a spectator boat wandering onto the course and the spotting of a turtle entering the course that is part of a wildlife sanctuary.

When the fleet did get to race for more than half a lap, Raymarine took the lead, followed by A.J. and Pete Bogino in the 32-foot Doug Wright, CoCo’s Monkey. The 32-foot Doug Wright, GL Construction, with driver David Selley and throttleman Steven Bridges, ran third followed by Team Bermuda mates, throttleman Joe Imprescia and driver Luis Martens in Nuff Said.

The Factory Stock fleet put on an excellent show yesterday for fans in Key West this week.

In four laps, Team Nautical Ventures worked its way up from eighth to fourth to third to second but it was for naught because the team missed a buoy, resulting in a penalty. When the spray settled, Raymarine took the win followed by CoCo’s Monkey, GL Construction and Nuff Said.

The class voted to set the lanes based on reversing Wednesday’s start order and after the win, Leibel said it was a good decision.

“I’m happy we did it the way we did because I didn’t just win it because I had the inside lane,” he said. “I’m happy my boat stayed together, my throttleman picked the right prop, we had a good, clean start and we won the race.”

When asked what he likes about the Key West course, second place driver A.J. Bogino said, “It’s a more technical course. It’s more about driving than an oval or a course with no doglegs.” He also admitted that the conditions were rougher than he and his dad had expected.

Don’t Mess With the Family
The conditions played a role early in the Mod V race. After starting in lane four, Steve and Stephen Kildahl moved to the lead in their 29-foot Extreme, Boatfloater.com. Throttleman Wohltman and driver Kyle Miller gave chase in their 29-foot Extreme, Speed Marine, as did owner/driver Charlie McCarthy and throttleman Tony Silveira in the 29-foot Spartan, Punisher.

When the boats rounded turn one and were heading towards two, Speed Marine took a big flyer and came down hard. They were done for the day.

With two checkered flag so far this week, Boatfloater.com comes into tomorrow’s grand finale in dominant position.

At the end of lap one, Boatfloater.com led followed by Punisher and throttleman Travis Pastrana and driver Jim York in the 29-foot Extreme, Channel199/Dixxon Flannel. After starting in fifth place, owner/driver Kirk Hana and throttleman Mark Rinda began moving forward in their 29-foot Extreme, nmbrvresort.com.

Punisher and nmbrvresort.com exchanged some gelcoat on the racecourse, on lap three of six, and Hana and Rinda moved into second place. When the checkers waved, the Kildahls had gone two for two for the week with nmbrvresort.com in second and Punisher in third. Results are unofficial and as of Wednesday evening, no penalties had been assessed.

Drawing lane three on Wednesday and the fourth slot on Sunday meant the Kildahls didn’t change much setup-wise. “We just did the same thing we did Wednesday,” said Stephen. We had a good start and had clean water. It still comes down to Sunday with the full points.”

Extreme sports professionals Travis Pastrana and Jim York had a strong outing in the Mod V-class contest.

Hana said he and Rinda tried a slightly different setup Friday as a test to see if the team could put it to use in Sunday’s finale. “It was a good run,” he said. “We’ve been working on our rough-water setup.”

McCarthy designed and built his new boat and was pleased with the progress the team has made. “We’ve got the boat balanced and now we can start focusing on setup,” he said.

Bracket Battles
In Bracket 200, the only boat to complete the required laps on Friday was the 39-foot Phantom, OC Racing, with owner/driver Joey Olieveri and throttleman Billy Glueck. In the points chase, the 36-foot Spectre,H2O Performance/Two Conchs, was second followed by Justice League.

In Bracket 300, a pair of Fountains battled for Friday supremacy and when the spray settled, the Herbotts, Cade and Keith, came out ahead in their 38-foot Fountain over driver Billy Shipley and throttleman Robert Bryant in the 35-foot Fountain, Team Woody. After two solid runs, Michael Ogden and Nick Fanelle ran third in the 38-foot Bad Boy, Wehaulboats.com.

The Bracket 200-class OC Racing team now has two checkered flags in Key West this week to its credit.

The song remained the same for the father-son guitarists who also race boats, throttleman Jason Saris and driver Johnny Saris in the 33-foot Cobra, Saris Racing Engines. Along with navigator Verne French, they took top honors in Bracket 400. Second went to throttleman Chris Colson and driver Ray Evans in the 37-foot 2-inch Fountain, Shocker Offshore, while owner/throttleman Michael Flammia and driver John Jeniec, Jr., took third in the 29-foot Extreme, Nauti Beach Rum/Hogs Breath Saloon.

Arguably the most dominant performance in the Bracket classes was waged by owner/throttleman Fran Vellutato and driver Tom Crowley in the 26-foot Scarab, Rum Runners. For the second straight day, they led flag to flag in Bracket 500 class. Second went to the father-son team of Vincent and Rob Winoski in the 30-foot Phantom, Marker 1 Marine/Bronx Phantom, while the team of throttleman Gavin Jaffarian and driver Matt Resca took third in the 30-foot Superboat, Tuff Noogies. Another 30-foot Superboat, Agoura Day Spa, appeared to run third for the second straight race, but it broke out of the class’ 75-mph speed limit.

Bracket 600 class saw the first red flag of the day in the first race of the day when throttleman Scott McCormick and driver Bob Spitulski were thrown out of the 26-foot Velocity, Team Ride Legal, in turn one. They were transported to a local medical facility where the duo was checked out and released.

When racing resumed in Class 600 and 700, Jason Govatos and driver Mike McColgan took the lead in their 26-foot Protecter MDG Racing. Throttleman Johnny Saris and owner/driver Mike Lange took second in the 26-foot Modern Marine, Moderation. After breaking out of the class’ speed limit on Wednesday, the 24-foot Magnum, Logan’s Heroes, with Pat Marlow and Steve Lapinta took third.

In Bracket 700, the team of Connor Langheim and Brad Christopher in the 22-foot Velocity, Dirt Legal Velocity Factory Race Team, continued its winning ways. Second went to the 22-foot Activator, Pist’n Broke, with Jeff Pritchard and Scottie Young. Driver Anthony Cruz and throttleman Bobby Barneschi took third in the 22-foot Progression, Redrum. All results are unofficial until posted on the Race World Offshore website.