We are not likely to see a more dramatic race in the Superboat class than the one witnessed today in the Gulf of Mexico. Three Superboats were entered for today's race and it came down to the wire. Jaws, Nuff Respect and Alcone Motorsports all came to the line and during lap one it became a battle between Alcone Motorsports and Nuff Respect for the top honors in Sarasota as Dennis Kaiser's 158MPH Kilo Record Holder Jaws dropped out with mechanical difficulties.

Five laps, each lap a lengthy 26 miles, make for quite an Offshore endurance test and the 1995 Superboat World Champion Alcone Motorsports set a blistering pace. Matt Alcone and Jerry Gilbreath stepped out front and remained there with Jim Robinson and Bobby Moore in hot pursuit running 15-20 seconds behind them for most of the race. The rolling surf in the Gulf battered the racers worse than seas of comparable height in the Atlantic according to Bobby Moore who is accustomed to throttling the four engine Superboat Nuff Respect at 130+ mph speeds through seas that few boats can penetrate. The twin 1200 horsepower Sterling engines which have propelled Alcone Motorsports to victory after victory screamed around the course with the deep thundering roar of the four 1000 horsepower Mercurys under Nuff Respect's hatches just seconds behind. Reports from helicopter pilots indicate that only the very fastest choppers can keep pace with these two boats. They routinely leave photographic crews behind as they outrun the helicopters. Race fans, very few boats can outrun the helicopters. This year, observers of the Superboat scene have watched Alcone Motorsports win in Argentina, Nuff Respect win in Key West, Alcone Motorsports win in Miami and with a burst of power in the last one half mile of a 130 mile race Nuff Respect wins "The Suncoast" by slingshotting past Alcone Motorsports to win by two seconds in Sarasota. This is shaping up to be quite a season and my hat is off to the true sportsmen Jim Robinson, Matt Alcone, Bobby Moore and Jerry Gilbreath who ran a race today that we will all long remember. Well done gentlemen. What a show.

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