August 20-22, 2010 was the date of the Inaugural Super Boat Grand Prix held just off the the shoreline in Cocoa Beach. I've been a big fan of Offshore Powerboat racing for many years and was there some 20 years ago when they last raced off the Canaveral Pier. Nothing compares to the time I went to Key West for the 1994 Offshore Powerboat World Championships. I spent one day watching the races from a yacht parked near the finish line and another in a Bell Ranger Helicopter flying along side these awesome boats with the best view of all. Its hard to describe the feeling you get when your flying so close and hearing the engines in full song. It was definitely one of the highlights of my photography career. I took lots of pictures that weekend in Key West and some great video as well. I've put together a short teaser video from the 1994 race and will be adding several galleries of pictures and a one hour DVD in the future. I also went to many other races like at venues like Ft. Myers, Miami Beach, Jacksonville and Marathon.

Having done that for a few years I'd pretty much seen and done it all and moved on to NASCAR. I'm always happy to hit a race so there wasn't a chance of me missing the 2010 race off Cocoa Beach. Because it was a new venue on the circuit there wasn't as large a turnout as I had hoped but plenty of boats still showed up to compete. I got there early to wander the dry pits at the Port of Canaveral and then watch them launch. The boat ramps were filled with people putting their boats in the water to go out and spectate which was fun to watch as well. Every thing from luxury speed boats to rusty dinghy idled by and I just snapped away. Once all the boats were in the water I jumped in my car and headed over to the Canaveral Pier for a great vantage point. It was also where one of the turns on the course was located and that made for some great pictures as well. I was a little uneasy as to how close the boats were coming in and how far out the swimmers were. Only a few feet separated them and an out of control boat would've been a disaster. It ended up a great and safe race and they will be back for 2011. Check out the pictures below of the Super Boat grand Prix and the video of the 1994 championship.