Dubai: Dubai’s Victory Team have vouched to build on the powerboating positives from the team’s debut at last week’s Super Boat International (SBI) held in Clearwater, USA.
Victory Team fielded two boats in the SBI race with Salem Al Adidi and John Tomlinson in one and Eisa Al Ali and Gary Ballough in the other. However, the race came to a premature end due to the intrusion of a swimmer on to the course.
The penultimate round in Clearwater was meant to be a dress rehearsal for Victory Team’s onslaught at the season-ending famed Key West World Championships in the United States from November 4-11.
“At the end of the day our participation was important to the sport and to us as well as we needed to know where exactly we stand as a world-class team. From the start we knew the race would be tough as some of the powerboats here (in Clearwater) had much more horse power than us. Our boats have between 2,000 and 2,200 horsepower whereas most of the other boats have close to 3500 horsepower, so it was always going to be an uneven competition,” noted Huraiz Bin Huraiz, Chairman of Board of Directors at Victory Team.
“Ultimately, this has been a great learning experience for all of us. We can only get better from here. We had to find out where we stand, and I think we were competitive today. The next one is the big one and I am sure our boats will fare much better as the conditions there (Key West) are better suited for the package we have,” he added.
Termed the 10th Annual Hooters Clearwater Super Boat National Championship presented by Visit St Pete, Clearwater, the SBI Championship is the leading North American professional powerboat organisation for Class One powerboats founded by John Carbonell.
