After starting the 2014 Super Boat International (SBI) season with a pair of second-place finishes and one fourth-place result, Broadco took its first Superboat-class SBI victories of the year over Stihl in Michigan City, Ind., today. While Broadco prevailed last weekend at the Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA) Super Cat race in St. Clair, Mich., the 38-foot Stihl catamaran came into Michigan City with podium-topping finishes in the first three races of the SBI season.

Broadco won both Superboat-class races today in Michigan City. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

As stop No. 4 on the 2014 SBI circuit, the double-points Michigan City event saw flat conditions for both races today. Broadco team owner/driver Chuck Broaddus and throttleman/team manager Grant Bruggemann reportedly led both races wire to wire in their 40-foot Marine Technology Inc., catamaran with twin 750-hp Ilmor/Scorpion engines.

“We called our setup right for both races,” Broaddus said. “Testing yesterday was invaluable because we learned what we didn’t want. We had something we thought was the right call but changed after yesterday’s test session, and it worked perfectly.

“The whole ‘Skater Nation’ thing is history,” he added—in reference to his Stihl team rivals—and laughed. “It’s an ‘MTI Mecca’ now.”

Broaddus said he is not sure what the current Superboat-class points differential is between Broadco and Stihl, but “it’s really close in either direction—within one race of us taking the points lead if we win.”

With 13 boats in the field, Michigan City had the lightest turnout to date for any SBI event this season. Of those boats, nine were divided evenly across three classes—Superboat (Billy Mauff and Jay Muller rounded out the class taking third in WHM Motorsports), Stock (where Chris Schoenbohm and Isaiah Blount prevailed in SOS Venezuela) and Production 3 (which saw Gary Jones and Billy Glueck take the top honors in Black Pearl). Still, the turnout was an improvement from the nine boats the event reportedly attracted last year.

“The town was stoked,” said Ryan Beckley, of the boatfloater.com/DoublEdge Motor Sports Stock-class team. “There was a huge turnout for the parade and street party last night, and we had a ‘Chamber of Commerce’ day for the races.”

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