Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor clinches 2012 Key West World

Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani and throttleman Steve Curtis claimed a sensational victory in race three at the 32nd Annual Key West World Championships in Florida last night and that was sufficient for the Spirit of Qatar 96 team to clinch the Key West title and victory in the Superboat Unlimited class on a decider. Needing to finish in front of Norwegian Tor Staubo and American John Tomlinson in Gasse 8 to have any chance of taking the title, Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis saved their best performance to the last and longest of the three offshore races and that was enough to tie the crew on points with Gasse 8. Sheikh Hassan later confirmed that the Spirit of Qatar team was awarded the World Championship title courtesy of having a higher average race speed. “This is a fantastic result for the Qatar Team and sets us up nicely for our programme of events in 2013,” said a delighted Sheikh Hassan, the president of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and driver of the underpowered Spirit of Qatar 96. “We tested our boat on Sunday morning in quite rough conditions with some big waves and all went well and then it was a case of running a good race and getting the job done.” Spirit of Qatar 96 completed the entire 79-mile race distance and all 13 laps to trounce both Gasse 8 and Miss Geico in Sunday’s race. Gasse only completed three of the race laps at full speed before pulling out with technical issues and Miss Geico was never able to challenge and succumbed on the second lap of the race to ultimately take third in the Superboat Unlimited class. Instigator took victory in the third of the Superboat Extreme class races, Aqua Mania won the turbine class and Maritimo pipped Stihl to success in the Superboat category. Shipping partner Peters & May has handled the logistics of transporting the Spirit of Qatar hull and equipment from Doha to Key West. 32nd Key West World Championships – points after race 3 of 3: 1. Spirit of Qatar 96 950 pts 2. Gasse 8 950 pts 3. Miss Geico 113 810 pts