Qatar Going With Two-Boat Attack In Cocoa Beach

Despite that Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and British throttleman Steve Curtis, who run the turbine-power Al Adaa’am 96 Mystic 50-foot Mystic catamaran won’t have the boat ready in time for the  Super Boat International offshore race in Cocoa Beach, Fla. May 16-1, there will be two Spirit of Qatar teams in the field.

The Qatar Marine Sport Federation, which is the umbrella organization for all Spirit of Qatar teams, will be represented by Qatar’s Ali Al-Neama and American throttleman Billy Moore and well known Qatari rally driver and Olympic skeet shooter Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah with his Italian racing partner Matteo Nicolini.

“We are planning to do four or five races this season including the finale to the year in Key West,” said Sheikh Hassan in press release from the QMSF. “Steve and I will be running turbines in Al Adaa’am 96, but it seems we will not be ready for Cocoa Beach. We will continue to run the three Spirit of Qatar Team boats later in the season. Nasser has got the new (Mercury Racing) 1650 engines in his boat now (Spirit of Qatar 613) and should be very fast this year.

(From left) Billy Moore, Steve Curtis, Sheik Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani, Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, Matteo Niccollini, Al-Attiyah

“Ali and Billy will race in Spirit of Qatar 20 and they have an upgraded boat and should also be very competitive in the Superboat category. The plan is to run in the same three classes as last year. The guys have already tested the 613 and 20 boats during the close season and all reports were very positive. It’s now time to carry out the real test, which is racing! The target is victory in all three classes and, of course, Marc Granet (Miss GEICO) is the most wanted of them all.”

Sheikh Hassan also confirmed the QMSF’s new luxury Cigarette VIP 38′ Top Gun V-bottom that was displayed at the Miami boat show is now ready and will appear as the team’s support vessel in Cocoa Beach.