To his impressive list offshore racing credentials that include going undefeated to claim an American Power Boat Association world crown in 1996 and following it up with a Union International Motonautique Class 1 world title in 1997, throttleman John Tomlinson added back-to-back Super Boat International Superboat-class world championships with the Performance Boat Center team in 2016 and 2017. As soft-spoken as he is fiercely competitive, Tomlinson and Performance Boat Center team driver Myrick Coil are working hard to complete a trifecta with another title at the SBI Offshore World Championships Nov. 5-11 in Key West, Fla.
One of the greatest throttlemen of all time, John Tomlinson will run two races for the Dubai-based offshore racing powerhouse this year.
But this time around in Key West, Tomlinson, who co-owns Miami-based TNT Custom Marine with Mike Thomas, his longtime business partner, will have something else on his plate. He’ll be throttling one of two 40-foot catamarans for the Dubai-based Victory team, which formerly dominated U.I.M. Class 1 competition, in SBI’s Superboat Unlimited class.
The Class 1 series is, by all accounts, long gone and not coming back. But with the relatively recent plan in the SBI Unlimited-class ranks in the SBI Unlimited-class ranks to downsize power next season with twin 1,100-hp turbocharged engines as the maximum allowed, the Victory team sees a new opportunity to compete.
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