Sequence of the Week: WHM’s Power Spin

Friday’s contest during the recent Super Boat International Offshore World Championships was—as you’d expect from a flat-water powerboat race—seriously fast. The top two Superboat-class teams, Stihl and Broadco, averaged slightly more than 100 mph during the 41.5-mile race, while the new WHM Motorsports Skater catamaran piloted by Billy Mauff and Jay Muller, averaged slightly less 100 mph 99.3 mph. And that wasn’t too shabby, considering Mauff and Muller spun their new 40-footer, which finished third that day, in the Mallory Square turn.

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Bryner on the WHM Motorsports spin sequence he captured in the slideshow above: “Once the boat settled down, they powered back up and got going again.” Photos courtesy/copyright Erick Byner/Firedrill Productions.

Onboard the ubiquitous Fury catamaran, a Key West staple loaded with photographers and fans during the annual SBI Worlds, that day was Erick Bryner, a 45-year-old shooter who runs his own photography and graphics arts firm called Firedrill Productions in Aliso, Viejo, Calif. While freelance commercial photography and graphic design are Bryner’s bread and butter, shooting high-performance powerboats in action is his passion.

“They spun 180 degrees,” said Bryner, recalling the WHM Motorsports mishap. “But once the boat settled down, they powered back up and got going again.

“I always try to keep my lens up even if there’s nothing happening, because you never know,” he said. “I saw them (WHM Motorsports) get loose, held down the shutter and hoped for the best.”

Editor’s note: Speedonthewater.com is pleased to welcome Erick Bryner/Firedrill Productions as a contributor to the site, as well as Speed On The Water digital magazine. To download the latest issue at no charge, click here.