Super Boat International has released its offshore competition schedule for the 2017 season. The venues and dates for next year’s races are:

•Cocoa Beach, Fla.—May 19-21
•Mentor, Ohio—July 21-23
•Michigan City, Ind.—Aug. 4-6
•Clearwater, Fla. (National Championships)—Sept. 29-Oct. 1
•Key West, Fla. (World Championships)—Nov. 5-12.

There are five SBI events including the annual Key West Offshore World Championships set for the 2017 season. Photo courtesy Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Gone from the schedule is the event in Marathon, Fla., which was lightly attended since its addition a couple of years ago.

“With the low turn-out of race teams during the July 4 holiday week, not enough spectator viewing locations and insufficient economics, making Marathon a profitable or even break-even race location was challenging,” said a source within SBI. “It was decided to remove it from the schedule and entertain other viable locations for the 2017 race season.”

New in 2016, the Mentor event, which proved immediately popular with fans and race teams, is scheduled ahead of the Michigan City contest in 2017. The return of the Mentor race is particularly good news for SBI competitors based in the Midwest, as they will have two local races on their schedule.

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