A Super Year for the Superboat
Parity and popularity promise big things in this thriving offshore racing class for 2014.
April 13, 2014
This isn’t a good time to be an offshore powerboat racing fan in the United States—it’s a great time. I’ve been waiting to write that sentence since 2004, when American Powerboat Association (APBA) Offshore LLC toppled and shattered.
It’s been an off-season of musical chairs for the throttleman seat for Superboat teams such as Stihl. Photo by Jay Nichols.
As it tends to do every decade or so, the sport began a downward spiral fed by internal politics and splinter groups, but this one was accelerated by the imploding U.S. economy. Offshore powerboat racing is fueled by discretionary income—and lots of it. Tough economic times tend to decimate race fleets.
But that was then. Thanks to better economic times and the retooling of its technical rules in late 2012, the Superboat class of Super Boat International (SBI) is absolutely rocking heading into the 2014 season, which kicks off with the season opener in Charlotte Harbor, FL. While not all the Superboat teams (which field catamarans from 36 to 44 feet with twin 750-horsepower naturally aspirated engines), will be ready for the first race, by early to mid-season there could be as many as 12 Superboat cats in the field.
Not since the days of Factory II-class V-bottom racing from 2001 to 2003 has any offshore racing class seen a fleet of that size. Last year, the Superboat class averaged four to five entries per race. My guess for this season, based on the teams I’ve spoken with, is that the class will average six to seven entries per race with full or close-to-full fleets at SBI’s marquee events (all in Florida), including the Sarasota Offshore Grand Prix, the Clearwater National Championships, and the Key West World Championships.
In their 41-foot catamaran, Spirit of Qatar teammates Billy Moore and Ali Al Neama could surprise a few of their fellow Superboat-class competitors.
So who’s looking strong in the Superboat class as the season begins? Certainly the WHM Motorsports team of owner/driver Billy Mauff and Jay Mueller, who took the 2013 SBI world title in the class in their 40-foot Skater catamaran, comes into 2014 as the team to beat. The WHM team is building a new 40-foot Skater cat for 2014, and while the new boat likely won’t be ready for the Charlotte Harbor gathering, it should be on the course one or two events into the season. (Mauff and Mueller reportedly will run their older Skater in the season opener.)
You know an offshore racing class is healthy when there’s pre-season “movement” within the class, and there’s been plenty of that in the Superboat ranks. Think “musical chairs” for throttlemen and you’re on the right track.
In January, Grant Bruggemann, the longtime throttleman and crew chief for the Stihl team, left to join the Broadco team owned by the boat’s driver, Chuck Broaddus. A couple of months later, J.R. Noble, the owner and driver of the Stihl team, signed Mark Kowalski, the longtime throttleman for the J.D. Byrider team, to handle throttling chores for Stihl. (Stihl will use the famed TNT Custom Marine shop, which is owned by world champion throttleman John Tomlinson and Mike Thomas, to handle major repair work and storage for the boat.)
Kowalski’s departure left Tony Marcantonio, the owner and driver of the 38-foot J.D Byrider Skater cat, in search of a throttleman less than a month before the upcoming season opener. Though Marcantonio’s search is ongoing, the list of qualified throttleman who have offered their services reportedly is impressive.
"There's a long list," says Marcantonio, who along with Mauff was one of the primary architects of the retooled Superboat class. "Some old names, some new names."
The Superboat class could have as many as 12 boats in the field at its marquee events this year. Photo by Andy Newman.
Of course, there are other teams to watch, and thanks to the parity created by the changes in the technical rules, just about any team could take the checkered flag on any given day. (Even in the more “reliable” classes such as Superboat, attrition caused by mechanical failures takes its toll in every race, which means “slower” teams always have a chance.) Randy Sweers and Tony Fiorillo are sure to provide fierce competition in their 41-foot Fastboats Marine cat from Marine Technology Inc., and the veteran Warpaint team of Robert Vesper and Danny Crank can never be counted out in their 41-foot MTI.
My “dark horse” pick for a team that could—and should—throw a scare into the rest of the players in the Superboat class? That’s an easy one. With Billy Moore, the son of legendary throttleman Bobby Moore (the guy who invented the throttleman position in offshore racing) on the throttles and Qatar’s rally car racing champion Ali Al Neama as the driver of a 41-foot MTI, the Spirit of Qatar team has unlimited potential. The more time in the cockpit Moore and Al Neama spend together, the better they will get and the more formidable they will become.
Chances are good that the Superboat class turnout for SBI’s first race of the season will be light compared to subsequent races. That’s just the way things work in offshore racing—despite the long off-season after the annual SBI Key West Worlds in November, most teams are still scrambling to get their boats and overall programs together when the season-opener rolls around. But regardless of how many Superboat teams show up for the Charlotte Harbor race, offshore racing fans will want to follow this class because it’s as good as it’s been—and maybe even better—in more than 10 years. As I said, it’s a great time to be an offshore racing fan.
