For the past 15 years, offshore racers have come to South Florida to compete at the iconic Thunder On Cocoa Beach race. This year, the two-day event acted as the season opener for many classes in the American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship.
Saturday featured test sessions and bracket boats taking to the waves, but the main event was the super-stock race.
The Raymarine team took the win, followed by TFR Motorsports in second and The Firm in third.
“It’s been awesome,” said owner and driver Cole Liebel. “On any given day in our class anyone can win.”
Sunday saw Mod-V, a class consisting of single engine V-bottoms, starting off strong. But as the race progressed, it turned into a battle of endurance. Several boats could not complete the course.
The result was a first win for driver Kirk Hanna in his all-red Mod-V machine.
“This sport for me is about family, friends and the relationships we’ve created,” said Hanna. “My crew is my wife and my children, so there’s a lot of hard work that goes into that.”
The final race of the day was the super-cat class, the premiere series of powerboats. It started out tight, with reigning world champions Dirty Money starting towards the back of the pack, but then clawing through to take a decisive victory.
The series will return to South Florida in September for an event in Clearwater. The world championships will be held in Key West this November.
