Yes baby… that’s a win in Michigan City. Wow, conditions were crazy out there and we’re just glad everyone finished the right way up. Well done to all the teams – everyone’s necks and kidneys will be hurting tonight. This is a team win – our crew bust their arses after long flights to get us on the water and give us a competitive boat. Thank you, boys.

At the drop of the green flag, Huski Racing and 222 Offshore commenced battle to the first turn buoy ahead of the new entry GBX Racing, and JBS Racing.

It was Nicholson and Carpitella in their 222 Offshore Victory catamaran that would prove to have the right boat setup for the day, as they out accelerated the Huski Racing crew of Steve Curtis and Travis Pastrana, opening a sizeable lead, and never looking back.

Huski Racing Technical Director, Gary Stray explained

It started out as an extremely competitive race with us battling with 222 Offshore, but on the third lap we had a turbo temperature sensor fail which put us into guardian mode for the rest of the race. We are glad that we manage to finish the race and pick up some more points towards the Class 1 championship.  We would like to congratulate 222 Offshore on their win and we look forward to St Pete in September.

GBX Racing’s Alex Pratt and Miles Jennings produced the heartstopper of the day, taking a massive jump and standing the boat straight up in the air and landing on its side.

The Anglo-American pairing would continue to finish third, despite considerable damage to their MTI catamaran.

Pratt commented:

There was some big water out there today which provided a steep learning curve for me in my debut race season. The team will need to carry out some repairs before the next race on Florida’s Gulf Coast and I can’t wait to get back into action next month.

Jeff Stevenson and Micheal Stancombe of JBS Racing did not finish the race, pulling out with a mechanical issue after seven laps.

With Huski Racing still leading the championship, the next round will be in St. Petersburg, Florida, on September 2-4.

Photo credit: Paul Kemiel

Throttleman Pratt competed along with driver Miles Jennings for the Cayman Islands-owned 345 Racing in the opening two rounds of the championship in Cocoa Beach and Sarasota. He has now acquired a 45-foot 2019 MTI catamaran from the Performance Boat Centre to race in the remaining four events this season.

Pratt will continue his relationships with Jennings and principal sponsor XINSURANCE. He will also add to the mix his own Good Boy Vodka brand so becoming joint team sponsor to create GBX Racing. The new team will be based out of southwest Michigan and Naples on Florida’s Gulf Coast and will race with twin Mercury Racing 1100 Competition engines.

PRW has been told that the 345 Racing’s Victory hull boat is currently undergoing repairs to the damage caused during pole position qualifying in Sarasota earlier this month. Once this has been carried out the team owner, Caymanian businessman Mario Rankin, will be announcing a new Driver/Throttleman line up ready for St.Petersburg P1 Offshore Grand Prix in early September.

Photo. James Gilbert

In an exclusive interview with PRW Rankin shared his plans for the UIM Class 1 World Championships and announced that following a successful meeting with The Hon. Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism & Transport of the Cayman Islands they are all set to host a round of the World Championship in September 2023 based at the world famous Seven Mile Beach corridor.

As a kid I lived my dreams through the pages of books at the book stand in the supermarket. Now I am at the heels of one of my dreams and in full control of its reality representing the Cayman Islands at one of the largest offshore power boat racing events in the world with some of the fastest boats on the planet.

Rankin’s love with powerboat racing came about through his friendship with Andreas Ove Ugland, the 64-year-old Norwegian shipping magnate and investment banker whose offshore racing exploits won him both the Beaverbrook and Needles trophies in a phenomenally successful career.

When Ugland retired from international racing he brought that passion to Cayman when he founded the ‘Million Dollar Poker Run,’ an event that Rankin actually won the last time it took place. Two years ago, Ugland died after a short illness, two days before his 65th birthday.

Although an extremely rich man, worth hundreds of millions, he contributed immensely to local charities and worthy causes. He was a patron of various charities and institutions in Cayman, including the National Gallery. He was also well renowned as a classic car collector, and creator of the Cayman Motor Museum in West Bay. Outside the museum sits a Buzzi built Pro Vee hull that was raced by Christian Zaborowski.

Just recently Uglands wife Natalie introduced Rankin to the Zabo Racing Team owner Jan Zaborowski, Christian’s father, who was looking sell his team along with the ex-Fazza boat from Dubai’s Victory Team that had been running in the colours of Zabo Racing.

Rankin together with Jason Butcher purchased the team. Butcher did not hesitate at the opportunity to invest in a boat racing team that would allow him the opportunity of placing the Cayman Islands on the sports tourism stage. Rankin spoke about future plans that they have for the team.

We chose to call the new team 345 Racing as it’s a cornerstone brand in the Cayman and for the 2023 season it will become a two-boat team competing at the world championships. We are now planning to train local drivers to race the boat. I have spoken to our driver Miles Jennings, and he has agreed to help teach them and literally get them up to speed.

When Powerboat P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala spoke about the prospect of racing in the Cayman Islands he said,

The opportunity to race internationally is extremely attractive to Powerboat P1. The heritage of UIM Class 1 is truly global and it has always been our intention to look further afield whilst maintaining a strong presence in the USA.

Round Two of the 2022 UIM Class 1 Offshore World Championships takes place at the P1 Offshore Sarasota Grand Prix over the July 4 weekend celebrations.

The new partnership brings together two of Pratt’s great loves – business and powerboats – in a deal that sees Good Boy Vodka become the Official Vodka of P1 Offshore powerboat racing.

Pratt describes vodka as,

The liquor we gravitate to when we want something light, clean, and easy.

Pratt continued by saying

We are excited to be partnering with P1 as we grow our brand across the nation. I founded the business with a mission to support animal charities and Veterans, and our slogan ‘Every pour helps a pup’ means a portion of the proceeds from every bottle purchased is donated to foundations supporting those causes.

 

I’ve been involved with motorsports for many years and this season I joined the 345 Racing powerboat team, sponsored by XINSURANCE, to compete in the UIM Class 1 World Championship, so this sponsorship is an ideal marriage.

 

He explained that Good Boy Vodka delivers an exceptional smoothness and distinctive taste because it starts with a blend of California’s finest corn and is then six times distilled and carbon filtered.

It will make its first appearance at the P1 Offshore Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix presented by Visit Sarasota when it will be available at the ‘meet and greet’ event on Friday evening and in the P1 Village across the weekend. It will also feature at the P1 Offshore St. Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix in September.

Powerboat P1 CEO, Azam Rangoonwala commented,

Partnerships are at the heart of our business, and we are looking forward to welcoming the Good Boy Vodka team to our two P1 Offshore events in Florida. We will be working closely with Alex to help him meet his business objectives and we wish him success in his new Class 1 racing career.

Good Boy Vodka and Powerboat P1 will cross-promote on all social and digital platforms, and the sponsorship will provide Good Boy Vodka with significant branding opportunities at the race events.

Pratt, who splits time between his hometown of Clearwater on Florida’s Gulf Coast and Southwest Michigan, is preparing for the national launch of ‘The John Daly Cocktail’ created through an exclusive partnership with the famous professional golfer.

Daly’s favourite mix of lemonade, iced tea and Good Boy Vodka will be available in a ready-to-drink cocktail for race fans to enjoy at the P1 Offshore Grand Prix events, where the brand’s new Seltzer and cocktail flavours will also be highlighted.