SBI Inks Five-Year Deal With Key West For Worlds

The board of commissioners of Key West, Fla., reportedly reached a unanimous agreement to keep the Super Boat International Key West Offshore World Championships in the city for at least the next five years, according to a press release from SBI. The agreement was reached earlier this month.

“The city of Key West has committed to work with us to keep SBI and offshore racing here for at least the next five years,” said John Carbonell, the president of SBI, in the release. “The economic impact is very significant for our community here and I’m proud to see how everyone is working together.”

According to SBI, the agreement calls for the city to be responsible for approximately 55 percent of costs for security, police, emergency personnel, cleanup and other services. SBI would reimburse the city for the remaining 45 percent of those costs.

“If you look at the statistics, there are two large events in Key West, one being the Super Boat World Championship,” said Larry Bleil, the president of the Conch Republic Powerboat Racing Association, in the release. “We bring in, documented, over $30 million from this event, which, if you add in the taxes and revenue that’s brought in, it’s huge.”

Key West Craig Cates said he, too, supports the event, and construction and Truman Waterfront will not hamper SBI’s activities.

“It sells out all the hotel rooms, the charter boats,” he said in the release. “We’re going to begin construction on that park [at the Truman Waterfront where the race boats are staged] and they wanted to make sure that we would accommodate them. We want them back, and we will make the accommodations they need.”

Photo courtesy/copyright Andy Newman/Monroe County Tourism Development Council