Image of the Week: Turbine Wars

While tight turbine-class offshore racing action has been hard to find during the entire history of the class, there have been a few fine moments. Published for the first time, this Jay Nichols image of Miss GEICO and JBS Racing battling hard and close in 2009 in Biloxi, Miss., captures one of them.

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Fierce rivals on and off the racecourse, the Miss GEICO and JBS Racing teams put on a show in 2009 in Biloxi, Miss. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

“Watching them come directly at me from nearly a mile away, it seemed like it was in slow motion,” says Nichols. “I knew at the time it would be a classic—those roostertails were billowing out behind the boats as if in slow motion. It was hypnotic to watch.”

With Miss GEICO and JBS Racing gone from the turbine scene, the class still faces an uphill struggle for legitimacy. The soon-to-be-finished Spirit of Qatar catamaran and the Semper Fi and Aqua Mania cats could provide some solid action if they all show up at the same race. But—historically speaking—getting all the turbine boats in one place at the same time has been the biggest challenge for the class.

But we can hope.