The final day of the races went much better than the first two days. There were no fatalities. That being said, there was still an accident with serious injuries that marred the final day. Warpaint, a 38 foot boat powered with twin 750-HP motors, slammed into a wave; both drivers were taken to the hospital but they are both expected to be released.
Many of the racers on this last day posted numbers of Big Thunder and Page Motorsports on the sides of their boats in memory of the dead. And two teams, Stihl and Motley Crew, both in the Super Cat class, honored their fallen colleagues by completing only three laps of the ten-lap course; one lap for each of the dead.
With three deaths in this one event, the 2011 Superboat Races will go down in history as the deadliest week in the history of this event in sixteen years. The racers know that they are putting their lives on the line, and nobody was forcing them to go out there and race in poor conditions, as this week was significantly windier than in years past. But at the same time nobody wants to drop out of the race because they are scared. There was a lot of talk, however, by the racers about coming up with better safety standards for this type of racing.
Sunday Results:
Superboat Unlimited – Cintron
Superboat Vee Extreme – Lucan Oil
Turbine – Miss Geico
Superboat 750 – Warpaint
Superboat 850 – Team CRC
Super Cat – Stihl
Superboat Vee Limited – Watch Your Back
Superboat Stock – Peters and May
Manufactured Prod 1 – Ukranian Spirit
Manufactured Prod 2 – Hawaiian Tropic
Manufactured Prod P3 – Seagull
Manufactured Prod P4 – Reinforcer
For more information about things to do and see in our island city, go to our Key West Web Site. You can also visit our Key West Events Calendar to see upcoming special events.
And for more restaurant reviews check out our restaurant review section of this blog as well as our restaurant reviews at www.gotothekeys.com.
