Miami Superboat Grand Prix

Daily Update

Watson Island, Miami- Saturday June 8,1996 - Round Three of the 1996 SBR Race is less than 24 hours away and Biscayne Bay is alive with the sound of thunderboats. La Gran Argentina, the winner of the La Plata Race that opened the season, is sporting a new stabilizer fin midships on the port side to assist in making better turns. Alcone Motorsports, the 1995 World Champion, and Offshore Ocean Racing's Nuff Respect, the winner of round two in Key West are poised to continue their duel for 1996 honors in Superboat. Airborne's Art Girad from Portland Maine was telling me how much he must love the sport to take him away from the beautiful Maine coast this time of year. He's right about that. The lupine is blooming on the Maine coast and there is no more beautiful time to be there than right now. Good luck Art!

I spoke briefly with Laith Pharaon owner of ZeroDefect, the sleek 45' Skater Open Class boat, who was telling me of his plans, "We now have an Internet site under construction www.zerodefect.com and also are looking into the possibility of a real time Webcam on the boat!" The Webcam would allow Internet fans to see the driver's point of view in real time during the race and would be way cool. It would tap into the IMRSAT satellite for the uplink. Good Luck with that one Laith! It sure beats month delayed ESPN. A great idea. Also Laith Pharaon mentioned that we all can expect a new improved ZeroDefect in Sarasota next month as he has learned much from the VICTORY TEAM in Dubai and hopes to have 960 horsepower per engine by then and break the 140mph mark! Keep your eyes on this boat.

All racers I spoke with complained about sea conditions today and indications are strong for a bumpy ride when the race begins here in Miami at 1:00 P.M. Sunday as the Superboats streak down the beautiful American Rivera past the neon trimmed Art Deco hotels of Ocean Drive and wake up the leggy fashion models lounging like minks on South Beach... It's almost time to rock and roll race fans. Lock and load those Web browsers for all the latest updates from Miami Beach right here!


Carl Hunt Hays III
Offshore Powerboat Racing Correspondent