Countdown to Key West: SOS Venezuela Needs No Help
Reaffirming what his fellow Stock-class competitors Ryan Beckley, Dan Lawrence and others have said, team SOS Venezuela’s owner/driver Chris Schoenbohm said he’s expecting fierce battles next week during the Super Boat International Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla. Schoenbohm, who will be joined in the cockpit by veteran Stock-class throttleman Gary Ballough (who recently returned from his first Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 driving gig—read the story), added that he’s more ready than ever before to make a run at the overall Stock-class title.
With an ace throttleman and a wider tunnel, the Stock-class SOS Venezuela team’s owner/driver Schoenbohm is ready for what could be the hardest fought battles in any classs in next week’s SBI Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
With an ace throttleman and a wider tunnel, the Stock-class SOS Venezuela team’s owner/driver Schoenbohm is ready for what could be the hardest fought battles in any classs in next week’s SBI Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Before the SBI Nationals in Clearwater, Fla., Schoenbohm widened the tunnel of his 32-foot Doug Wright catamaran. (Read the story). And he was delighted with the results of the project.
“We were down on fuel pressure, which took us down on rpm in Clearwater,” Schoenbohm said. “And even with that issue, the boat was 4.7 mph faster than it was there last year in Clearwater, and it handled better than it ever has.”
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Schoenbohm and Ballough completed their testing for the SBI Key West Worlds last week. The team refreshed the 32-footer’s outboard engines and lower units. The cockpit duo will test again next Tuesday in Key West before the first race on Wednesday in the triple-race event.
“After we finished the last runs last week, Gary gave me a big thumbs-up, which gave all the confidence I need,” said Schoenbohm. “We are not going to Key West to break down and fix things. We are going there to race.”
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