New York City Super Boat Grand Prix Canceled

ByJason Johnson July 8, 2014March 21, 2020

Although the race was included on the 2014 Super Boat International (SBI) schedule, this year’s New York City Super Boat Grand Prix—slated for September 5-7—has been canceled according to the organization.

For the first time in decades, the Super Boat International teams won’t be racing in New York City this year. Photo courtesy SBI

“We have been going to NYC for more than 20 years and we raced the day before 9/11,” said John Carbonell, SBI founder and president. “The early years were very successful and well supported by the teams and the local municipalities. Over the recent years, we’ve received very little to no support from the state and local authorities and it doesn’t make sense for us to continue racing there until things change.”

While several teams are disappointed the race on the Hudson River will not happen for the first time in several decades, they understand why SBI opted to cancel it.

In a conversation about an unrelated story this morning with Patti Raffa, Team Warpaint Offshore Racing‘s manager, I asked her about the news and she said the team was saddened that the race would not take place this year.

“We get it—the New York Grand Prix is a hard race for the teams to make because most of the races are in Florida,” Raffa said. “It used to be in SBI that there was a circle we traveled, so hitting NYC wasn’t completely out of the way like it is now.

“I personally think the race could have been a showstopper,” she continued. “I often think of (Warpaint owner/driver) Bob Vesper saying how he always felt like Batman in Gotham City because the echo off the buildings was phenomenal and the boats are going so fast that the buildings are just flying by.”

Whether or not the New York race will return in 2015 has not been announced.

New York City Super Boat Grand Prix Canceled

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