A power move, so to speak, may have been the key to Cintron’s victory in yesterday’s first round of the Superboat Unlimited class at the Super Boat International 2010 Key West Offshore World Championships. The 50-foot Mystic catamaran is powered by a pair of 1,500-hp Stotler engines built by the cat’s full-time driver Herb Stotler, who has stepped out of the cockpit for the SBI Worlds to focus on his power plants. (Another boat in the event also runs Stotler power.) Replacing him in the cockpit is Marc Granet, the full-time driver of another 50-foot Mystic, the turbine-powered Miss Geico.

“We went into the race with 1,300 hp per side,” said Granet. “We turned down the engines to make sure they were going to last.”

Based on Cintron’s average speed of 114.9 mph over seven laps, you’d have never known it. With a pair of 1,500-hp Sterling engines under its hatches, CMS 3, a 48-foot MTI piloted by Bob Bull and MTI principal Randy Scism, was just slightly faster with an average speed of 114.96 mph. Unfortunately for Bull and Scism, that average speed was over six laps—a mechanical issue knocked them out of the race before they finished the final lap.

“It was good old-fashioned, locking-horns, high-speed racing with no dirty play—it was just whoever had the best racing line,” said Granet regarding Cintron’s six-lap battle with CMS 3. “We were clawing back and forth. Rich performed unbelievably in the cockpit today. He did exactly what we needed to do.”

The failure of CMS to complete all seven laps left open the door to second place for the Superheat cat (the former Cintron boat) throttled by Joey Imprescia, which started strong with a 115.4-mph lap but quickly dropped off the pace with mechanical problems. Still, despite finishing roughly 3-1/2 minutes behind the leader, the boat completed all seven laps and is still in the hunt for the title—as is CMS.

That’s because like the rest of the fleet, the Supercat Unlimited class races tomorrow and Sunday.

“This is Key West, and you cannot let your guard down or you’ll go home disappointed,” said Granet. “Bob and Randy are fierce competitors, and I expect them to come out tomorrow with their guns loaded.”