Since the 1960s, offshore racing teams from around the world have come to Key West to prove their powerboats are the world’s best. The area provides a unique track at the convergence of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, which leads to tough and occasionally treacherous conditions.
“You’ve got a rough side, you’ve got a calm side, you’ve got a crosswind, you’ve got a headwind,” said throttleman Nick Imprescia, who last weekend competed in a Stock 450 class boat, featuring a catamaran hull and twin 450R Mercury horsepower engines. “There’s a lot of variables, you have to be able to adjust and improve every lap.”
The 43rd Annual Offshore World Championship started Nov. 3 and ended Nov. 10. Teams rolled in on Sunday, prepared their boats on Monday and spent three days racing. Competitors of all different classes earned points. World championship titles in each class were given to those who had the most points at the end of this past Sunday.
This year, the Super Cat title, a class featuring twin inboard 850 horsepower engines inside a 38 to 44-foot catamaran hull, was won by the “Dirty Money” boat from Stuart, which was run by driver Bill Pyburn and throttleman Brit Lilly.
“This course today was honestly probably the toughest we’ve run,” said Pyburn. “It was tricky today to find what the balance of the boat should be.”
The world championships were preceded by a national points series with races in several states beginning in Marathon in April and ending early in September in Sarasota. October competitions in Clearwater and St. Petersburg were canceled after two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, struck the state of Florida. Other competitions were held in Missouri and Wisconsin.
Coming into this championship, there were clear favorites. The pro class one and super cat classes included the M-CON Monster Energy team from Kansas. And fans of the super stock class expected Cocoa Beach’s Jackhammer team to dominate as they did last year.
Another storyline coming into this event was that of driver Darren Nicholson and throttleman Giovanni Carpitella, who won the national and world championship in their deep blue Australian Navy-sponsored boat. But before the 2024 season even began, the team announced that they would not be competing in the United States due to a lack of funding but would still be racing in the Australian series. After missing out on the national series, the team returned to Key West with new sponsors to defend their title. Unfortunately, a win on Friday and a second place on Sunday were not enough to secure the title.
“There was a lot of enjoyment in that,” said Nicholson on his Friday win. “Everyone knows we’re still fast.”
After a successful day of testing on Tuesday, teams looked poised to take to the course on Wednesday for the first day of competition. However, a nearby tropical storm ended up canceling the first day of racing. After another successful test session on Thursday, it was clear that conditions would be rather tricky for the rescheduled first day of racing.
Friday saw some shock results like M-CON Monster Energy breaking down during the Super Cat race. The team’s Pro Class One boat did not fare much better, finishing last.
Another Friday shock was that the Jackhammer super stock team failed to make the podium. The contest instead was won by Team Allen Lawn Care & Landscaping, based in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. After some post-race penalties, Jackhammer found themselves third, but this would not be enough to win the championship. The highest superstock points earner was Team Allen Lawn Care & Landscaping.
In pro class one, the Defalco boat run by driver Mike Falco and throttleman Billy Moore didn’t win on Friday. But they did better on Sunday, beating defending world champions 222 Offshore and claiming the title.
“It makes you feel pretty good,” said Moore. “It’s exciting because everyone comes here to win, and none of the teams are slouches.”
Not everyone performed to their fullest potential, however. Despite winning the Mod V world championship in 2022, the now stock 450 team of 151 Express featuring driver Ian Morgan and throttleman Nick Imprescia retired from the course early Sunday.
“We didn’t drive the race we should’ve,” said Imprescia. “We thought we were a little more mentally prepared and we weren’t.”
With the world championships now concluded, all eyes look ahead to the 2025 national series opener in Marathon. So far, no date has been announced.
“The water here is challenging,” said Race World Offshore broadcaster Todd Swafford. “They weren’t just looking for someplace they could just run on a flat track they wanted to test their equipment. Now they wouldn’t finish their racing season anywhere but here.”
