Sequence Of The Week: Sheriff Lobo Takes A Quick Spin
When it came to spectacular spin-outs during last week’s offshore powerboat racing world championships in Key West, Fla., the V-bottom classes delivered immediately, starting Friday when the Mod V-class Sheriff Lobo raceboat piloted by Shameel Mohammed and Pete Riviero swapped ends in turn No. 1 on the first lap. Running inside of Steve and Stephen Kildahl in Boatfloater.com, the 30-foot Sheriff Lobo Phantom raceboat spun hard and connected with the transom of the Kildahl’s 29-foot Extreme.
Sheriff Lobo’s spin-out left the door wide open for the Boatfloater.com team to take the checkered flag. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“It caused some damage to the back of the boat but we were lucky it didn’t rip steering hoses and stuff off the back,” said Stephen Kildahl, who drives the 29-footer alongside his throttleman-father. “We kept on going as the hit didn’t feel too bad.”
But the Boatfloater.com team’s good fortune in the spin-out department would end during Sunday’s race, as the Kildahls had one of their own that left them upside, though fortunately uninjured.
Though the spin knocked Sheriff Lobo out of Friday’s Mod V-class race, Boatfloater.com was able to continue.
“It all happened quickly, but once we knew we were upside down everything happened like it should inside the cockpit,” said the younger Kildahl. “My dad and I got our regulators in and waited for the pressure to equalize so the hatch would open.
“Then we got out and the divers were right there, which was comforting,” he added.
Though the Boatfloater.com spin-out on Sunday knocked the team out of the race, its driver and co-pilot emerged unscathed.
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