Ready for a Repeat?
Before the end of the day, Rusty Rahm—the owner of the 48-foot MTI catamaran Wake Effects—will have a better idea of where his team sits in its quest to repeat as Superboat Unlimited champions at this year’s Super Boat International Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla.
Wake Effects teammates Rusty Rahm (left) and Jeff Harris are hoping to repeat as world champions in SBI’s Superboat Unlimited class in Key West, Fla. Photo courtesy Wake Effects Offshore Racing
Last season, Rahm, who owns the Osage Beach, Mo.-based Wake Effects dealership, and his teammate/throttleman Jeff Harris raced under the Wake Effects moniker as part of the two-boat CMS Offshore Racing team, and earned the Superboat Unlimited championship in Rahm’s rookie season in a down-to-the-wire finish.
This year, the team was on its own as CMS owner Bob Bull and his longtime throttleman Randy Scism—the founder of MTI—decided to sit out the season. Well at least until Key West, as the CMS team is back on the entry list with Bull’s orange and black 52-foot MTI powered by twin Mercury Racing 1650 engines, the same engines in Rahm’s red and black 48-footer.
Not only do the defending world champs have some high expectations to live up to following last year’s performance in Key West as well as their 2017 SBI national championship, they also have a sizable class standing in their way in their quest to bring home another world title.
and then