Stock Fleet Big for SBI Season Opener

With the first race of the 2014 Super Boat International season just two days away, Superboat Stock class is likely to have the largest number of boats of any class in the raceboat fleet when the green flag drops on Sunday in Charlotte Harbor, Fla. At present, six Stock-class teams reportedly are registered for the event.

Captured here during the 2013 Key West Offshore World Championships, the Stock class likely will boast the largest fleet in this weekend’s SBI season-opener in Charlotte Harbor. Photo courtesy/copyright Andy Newman/Monroe County Tourism Development Council.

“We haven’t had six boats at a regular-season event in years,” said Ryan Beckley, the owner of the Double Edge Motorsports team that typically campaigns two boats in the outboard-powered, canopied catamaran class, during his drive south from Sarasota to Charlotte Harbor. “We only had six boats in Key West (during the 2013 SBI World Championships) last year.”

What’s more, three more Stock-class cats should be ready to join the fleet in time for the early July SBI race in Sarasota, Fla.

“We could end up with nine boats in Key West,” said Beckley. “We haven’t had that many boats in Stock for at least 10 years.”