• Key West 2011 - Super Vee Limited

    by Paul "Ratickle" Rose



    As many of you know, one of my favorite classes is SVL. There are a couple of reasons, including the camaraderie of the class and the competitiveness of the boats and teams. These teams will race to win during the day, and have dinner together at night. The part that amazes me is that during the dinner they will not only share the usual stories (fibs?), about how they happened to be better or worse than the other boats, they will also share items that may have helped them win or place on the podium. One of the best attributes of the class is that it’s currently the most reasonably priced Spec Class to run. That equates to more boats per class, per race and some of the best deck-to-deck action you’ll see The single Merc Racing 525 with the Bravo drive has proven to be almost indestructible in these canopied, roughly 30’, 4750 lb packages. Current speeds are approaching the low 90’s, (depending on who you talk to), and the rules are configured such to try and keep them in that range.

    Last year in Key West we had the opportunity to witness the build up to the World’s include a boat that couldn’t afford to make it, (and therefore put up or shut up on a challenge issued). But we also witnessed the boat racing community assist with donations to get them there to meet the challenge. It just so happened they made it and won the Key West World Championship by finishing second in all three races Plus it included the added bonus of the throttleman scaring the heck out of the driver. This once again proves that finishing every race over the three days of competition is priority one, being the fastest (legally) does not guarantee you the championship.

    Running on the edge is something these guys do on a continuing basis. There were four boats that entered last year, and the competition was edge of your seat. I cannot imagine what it is going to be like this year. As of this time, it appears there will be eight boats there for sure. That, as far as I can tell, will be the most in an SBI SVL race ever. The teams that currently appear to be racing are Absolutely Not, Black Phantom 9, IMCO, Octane, Tug It, Sun Print, Typhoon, and Watch Your Back.



    I cannot imagine what the first corner will be like with these 8 teams battling to get the lead after the long, almost two mile, run up to turn one!
    Absolutely Not is crewed by Mark Gibbons and Frank Sarro. This is their first year together in SVL and the improvements they have made to the boat are incredible. My hat goes off to them.



    Black Phantom 9 is crewed by Mark Nieman and Kurt Jagel. This is also their first year together. The boat was purchased from the Dunbar’s after their successful two year stint,
    IMCO is crewed by George Auriemma and Mike Fosse. This may be their first race together, but George won the 2009 OSS World Championship with this boat.
    Octane is crewed by Jim Simmons and Tommy Palafeiano. This will be their first race together, and it is the first year Jim has campaigned the boat since purchasing it from the Suttons, (another husband and wife team). Tommy has competed before with Mark from Absolutely Not, I believe.
    Sun Print is crewed by Steve Miklos and Gary DeCiucies. Not much you can say about this team. They were runner up last year at the event, but the only reason was a breakdown on the final day. They will probably go out as one of the favorites.
    Tug It will be crewed by Kevin Smith and Pat Donovan. Kevin ran with Randy in Orange Beach in the Class 5 boat, and had such a great time they came back and purchased the Progressive SVL from Bruce Seroff. They are gonna have a great time at their first race. Ironic it is the SBI World’s in Key West with 7 other boats.
    Typhoon is last year’s champion. This year it will have Louie The Rigger teaming up with Randy Schluess, but will still be among the favorites. With Randy on throttles, Louie should have a blast.
    Watch Your Back will be crewed by Michael “Doc” Janssen and Dan Davies. This is the first year they have campaigned together, but they have certainly performed well. Last year the boat ran strong with a different throttleman, but it was penalized for having an illegal engine.

    Currently, as far as I know, there are 4 other boats legal for SVL that will not make the race this year, too bad.
    The Key West World’s will be quite the spectacle in the SVL class. Hope everyone gets a chance to see it. If not, we will do our best to keep those not there up to speed.