Image of the Week: Key West Light Show

As anyone who’s been there can attest, offshore racing powerboats are just one part of the action during the annual Super Boat International Key West Offshore World Championships, which will kick off again in a few weeks. Thanks to the Florida Powerboat Club’s annual Key West Poker Run that happens concurrently with the SBI event, a whole lot of serious go-fast pleasure boat hardware can be found in front of the Conch Republic Seafood Company restaurant and FPC Poker Run Village.

Spectacular as it is during the day, the FPC Key West Poker Run fleet is even better at night. (Photo courtesy/copyright Tim Sharkey/Sharkey Images)

Thanks to the still-booming popularity of LEDs in the high-performance powerboat world, it all looks even better at night. With an almost unlimited color palette, LED cockpit and engine compartment blend lighting with under-the-swim-platform lighting to put on an after-dark show that’s worth a look at least once during the weeklong celebration of speed on the water.

Although photographer Tim Sharkey snagged this vibrant image of a small portion of the FPC fleet during the SBI Key West Worlds a few years ago, visitors to this year’s event can count on much of the same light show from a whole bunch of new and older catamarans and V-bottoms at the docks. But regardless of which boats show up, their light show is guaranteed to be spectacular.

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