SARASOTA, Fla. — The City of Sarasota and its residents are getting ready to welcome visitors coming into town for a fun weekend of high-speed boat racing.
The 39th annual Sarasota P1 Power Boat Race kicked off with a "Pit Party" near Centennial Park which will last until 10 p.m. Friday. The two-day event showcases colorful, high tech and very fast boats that will race along Lido Beach starting Saturday afternoon.
"We are one of the largest fleets racing this weekend," Sean Conner, a driver with CMR Roofing Team, said. "We usually have really competitive class and a lot of close racing. It's a good show."
On Friday, teams spent the day bringing in their boats and setting up in the racing pit in the parking lot of the Van Wezel Hall. More than 60 boats have signed up to compete in this edition of the Powerboat P1's 700th staged race so far.
"It's teams from Australia, all over Europe, Sweden, in the UK, it's truly a world championship," Thomas Covington of Powerboat P1 USA said.
Organizers said the "Pit Party" is a family-friendly event and an avenue for interaction.
"That's where you can check out all the teams in person," Covington said.
The 6-mile-long race begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday with the main category at 10 a.m. Sunday. Spectators can watch the high-speed thrill from Lido Beach, but only a few have the best and fastest seats.
"You don't have the wind, if it is a flat water race, the boat is pretty calm. If it is a rough water race, you are going to start getting beat up," Conner said.
Teams are also using technology to deal with conditions inside the boat.
"Once the capsule heats up, it's more like a convection oven in there so we opted for cool suits, which is like a shirt and it pumps ice water through the shirt in small little tubes," another driver, Chris Grant with 54 Graydel Team from Canada said.
Participants say they keep returning, not just because of the thrill, the fans and the friendships they build, but for passion and bragging rights.
"These guys are the best, we all get along," Grant said. "We all try to mess each other up."
"Everybody's working with the same tools and it really comes down to the driver, throttle man, set up, and who's going to be better on that particular day," Conner said.
Even though the weather will be great, keep in mind that it is expected to be very hot. Emergency management officials want to remind everyone to drink plenty of water and bring things to help keep you cool like a fan and shading.