Clearwater occupies a singular place on the Race World Offshore calendar, and the 16th Annual XINSURANCE Clearwater Offshore Nationals justified every bit of that reputation. Thousands of spectators lined the beach as a deep, competitive field took to the Gulf waters off the Florida coast across two days of racing that crackled with drama, incident, and genuine championship consequence. With Key West approaching, every point and every position carried extra meaning: this was the final round before the world championship.
Race World Offshore, known as RWO and headquartered in Key West, has built a reputation as one of offshore powerboat racing's foremost organisations. It functions as both promoter and sanctioning body, setting safety benchmarks and enforcing the rulebook using GPS tracking technology. This season it separated from the American Power Boat Association to run a fully independent campaign. The change has sharpened the competitive environment, delivering cleaner regulations and a four-event progression: Michigan City, Chicago, Clearwater, and then the season finale at Key West.
GC Racing strikes first on Saturday
The weekend's biggest surprise came in Pro Class 1, the showpiece division that had been thoroughly owned all season by XINSURANCE South, a 45-foot Victory catamaran out of Stuart, Florida. With Bill Pyburn driving and Brit Lilly on the throttle, the team had swept both Lake Michigan rounds and looked every bit as formidable heading into Florida.
Clearwater had other ideas. The circuit's long straights and rolling Gulf chop suited GC Racing's 48-foot MTI, the newest hull in the entire fleet. With Willy Cabeza at the wheel and Grant Bruggemann on the throttles, the team qualified on pole and then controlled the race from start to finish. XINSURANCE South's winning streak was broken decisively, with Monster Energy/M•CON crossing in second and XINSURANCE South having to settle for third.
The Bracket classes supplied their own share of high-octane moments. OC Racing claimed Bracket 200, Simmons Marine won Bracket 400, and Proven Marine/Fuel 1 Team edged ahead in Bracket 700. The smaller boats also produced the most alarming incident of the entire weekend, involving RedRum and Blind River Bar's Clouatre Cartel Racing during a congested corner.
Mid-race, the Blind River Bar boat caught a wake and was launched airborne, coming down directly over RedRum's transom and striking driver Anthony Cruz's helmet with enough force to crack it on impact. Cruz came through the ordeal shaken but without serious injury, joking afterwards that his "pants checked out OK" while acknowledging it had been "a hard hit to the coconut." At offshore racing speeds, things can turn bad in an instant, and the incident was a sharp reminder of how much depends on quality safety equipment and well-drilled rescue crews.
M•CON takes control on Sunday
Saturday's spoils had gone to GC Racing, but Sunday brought a different outcome. Monster Energy/M•CON, a 40-foot Skater with Myrick Coil driving and Tyler Miller on the throttles, put together a clean, dominant performance to take the second race. XINSURANCE South came home second, and GC Racing dropped back to third. When points from both days were totalled, M•CON emerged as Clearwater's overall winner on 104 points, ahead of XINSURANCE South and GC Racing.
The Super Cat class returned to action with real intent. Graydel, a 38-foot Skater driven by C.J. Grant, proved the class of the field and held off Dirty Money, who had swept the Chicago round but found Florida less accommodating. The win gave Graydel useful momentum as the season heads toward its climax.
Super Stock, currently the fastest-growing class in offshore racing, delivered the close, grinding competition its near-identical 32-foot Mercury-powered hulls are known for. Team Nautical Ventures found the decisive edge when the pressure was greatest, finishing ahead of Wozencraft and Demon Bikini.
Factory Stock, the newest officially recognised category in the RWO fleet, continued to feature showroom-specification MTI machinery. GC Racing's MTI backed up its Pro Class 1 victory with a commanding Factory Stock win, giving the team a double across Clearwater's two classes.
The Modified Vee division saw El Bandido Tequila show both speed and consistency to claim the class. Sunday's Bracket racing introduced new divisions, with Tuff Noogies winning Bracket 500, MDG/Fuel 1 Team topping Bracket 600, and Proven Marine/Fuel 1 Team sealing a second straight Bracket 700 victory across both days.
The road to Key West
By Sunday evening the results were settled, but the storylines heading toward Key West were anything but. Pro Class 1 now has three genuine title contenders: XINSURANCE South still carries the season's strongest overall narrative, GC Racing has shown the pace to beat them on the right circuit, and M•CON departs Clearwater as the form team after taking the weekend honours. Super Cat has developed into a two-boat battle between Graydel and Dirty Money that looks set to go down to the wire. Super Stock remains wide open, with Nautical Ventures, Wozencraft, Hi-Tech Deck, and Coco's Monkey all carrying enough speed to win.
For Race World Offshore, Clearwater was a confident statement about what its independent structure can produce. The programme ran cleanly, crowds turned out in force, and the racing delivered across every category from the grassroots Bracket divisions to the headline Pro Class 1 machinery. The incident during Bracket racing was a sobering counterpoint, a sharp illustration of how fine the line is between spectacle and genuine danger in this sport.
Key West awaits, and the Florida Straits offer a stern examination of any crew's preparation. The tides, shifting winds, and currents of that stretch of water have a way of reshuffling the order regardless of what came before. Whether M•CON can sustain their Clearwater form, whether Graydel can finally put Dirty Money away, and whether Super Stock can produce a clear favourite are questions that offshore racing's signature venue will answer in its own unforgiving way.
