Handicapping The SBI Key West Worlds

About midway through the Superboat Vee-class battle during the Super Boat International National Championships in Clearwater, Fla., earlier this month, I switched off the Livestream figuring the new Marker 17 Marine team of rookie throttleman Vinnie Diorio and veteran competitor/owner/driver Brian Forehand had victory in hand. I had a baseball game to get to, the last one of the San Francisco Giants miserable season, which they lost 15-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and speedonthewater.com co-publisher Jason Johnson had it covered.

Which teams will prevail next month in Super Boat International’s season finale? Photos courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Not so, I later learned. Leading from the start, Diorio and Forehand developed an engine problem in their Outerlimits SV 29 raceboat near the end of the contest. Never to be counted out, defending world champions Brit Lilly and Ron Umlandt in LSB Sportboats/Hurricane of Awesomeness took first place and claimed the national championship.

I’m going to dispense with the “To finish first, first you must finish” cliché and say yes, OK, of course keeping your vehicle running plays a huge role in all motorsports. But I really thought Diorio and Forehand would take the checkered flag, which goes to show you—if nothing else—the folly of trying to pick the winners in an offshore race.

Now, multiply that task times three with races Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as all the different points, lap times/speeds and laps finished scenarios you have for the SBI Offshore World Championships next month in Key West, Fla, and the handicapping job gets really silly.

Here’s a sneak peek at the author’s picks for next month’s 2018 SBI Key West Offshore World Championships.

Of course, that’s never stopped me before—I’m always up for a little public humiliation. So here are my picks for the 2018 SBI Worlds.

Read More: Handicapping The Worlds

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