Photo Gallery: Key West Worlds Practice Highlights
With 46 teams currently registered, the American Power Boat Association/Union Internationale Motonautique Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla., are scheduled to roar to life today at 11 a.m. with Bracket-class competition. It will be the first of four races today followed by the same format on Friday and Sunday, which is a longer double-points contest.
Though they didn’t have much time, the new Play Tradez Super Stock team of Randy Sweers and Bryan Marquardt made the most of yesterday’s practice session. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
In preparation for this week’s competition produced by Key West-headquartered Race World Offshore, teams across all classes practiced yesterday on the 4.48-mile course and even delivered at least one dramatic moment. But for the most part, it was business as usual and the competitors were delighted to be back on the water in the sport’s most iconic venue.
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Among the 12 Super Stock-class teams slated to take the green flag in third race of the day at 1:30 p.m. is a brand-new, fresh-out-of-rigging from Shaun Torrente Racing 32-foot Doug Wright catamaran. The boat—as previously reported on speedonthewater.com—is owned and will be throttled by Randy Sweers, the managing partner of South Florida-headquartered FB Marine Group, and driven by his longtime friend, Bryan Marquardt of Beaumont, Texas, who shared the cockpit with Sweers during the 2018 Super Stock-class season.
Enjoy more images from yesterday’s practice session in the slideshow above.
Sweers and Marquardt had their first—albeit brief—test session yesterday in the all-carbon-fiber cat dubbed Play Tradez, which was wrapped in its livery by fellow Super Stock-class racer Ryan Beckley of Kinetic Animation in Bradenton, Fla.
“We had some issues but made it in the water by 4:20 p.m.,” said Sweers, an offshore racing veteran. “We had 10 minutes to test.
“We will run conservatively, get some seat time and prepare for Sunday,” he added.
Sweers (above right) and company beat the clock to make it to Key West with their new raceboat. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright speedonthewater.com.
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