Countless others have challenged the Straits of Florida over the past 500 years, from Spanish, English and Portuguese explorers to pirates, smugglers and even endurance swimmers - but no boats have set speed records close to the 100mph mark. Even Rocky Aoki’s official Key West to Cuba and back record attempt nearly 40 years ago ended in disaster when his boat, “Benihana”, nearly sank getting to Cuba and had to return to Key West on the deck of a shrimp boat. Aoki averaged a record setting one-way run of 55.15mph which still stands today.
Other legends like Gar Wood established the first one-way speed record to Cuba nearly a century ago with his 50-foot, twin 425hp, “Gar Jr II”, at a then blistering speed of 27.6 mph. That was later shattered in 1958 by Forest Johnson’s 26’ Prowler, “Tooky”, which made the run averaging at 44mph. And in the mid-1950’s the iconic unofficial run made by Sam Griffith, for whom the UIM Class One Championship was named, made the crossing at a fraction over 50 mph. More recently, the ocean racer, “Apache Star”, completed the run on August 1st, 2015: www.apachepowerboats.com.
On August 17th, 2017 Nigel Hook, Captain of the SilverHook Race Team, will try to make history in their effort to set a new world record from Key West to Cuba and back. The 48-foot #77 Lucas Oil SilverHook monohull will be ducking through the waves as much as flying over the top at high speeds, making visibility very limited and from a safety standpoint rendering the state-of-the-art telemetry essential.
It is not only sheer speed that will make this crossing exceptional but, also the level of pioneering data-driven artificial intelligence on board the #77 Lucas Oil SilverHook race boat - making it one of the most technologically advanced offshore monohulls in existence. Enthusiasts, both locally and from around the globe, will be able to experience the race in real-time watching the gauges of the IoT data and listening to audio transmitted from the cockpit via the t3 Live dashboard: www.silverhook.com This is made possible using Globecomm, Inmarsat and Satcom Direct’s leading edge satellite technology keeping Nigel Hook and the SilverHook race team connected with their fans as they cross the Straits of Florida and head for Cuba.
Lucas Oil is the leading producer of high performance lubricants!
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IBM Watson IoT
Ingram Micro
Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa
Globecomm
Inmarsat
Satcom Direct
Express Engines
Parliament Motor Coach
Custom Marine Inc.
Livorsi Inc.
Optima Batteries
Mannerfelt Design Team
Kastelic Canvas
CP Performance
DuChancell Engineering Consulting
HydraSports Custom Boats/Plantation Boat Mart
Florida Keys Air
Contacts:
Thomas Merchant Stuart Rowlands
SilverHook / Ocean Cup PR Lucas Oil / MAVTV PR
T: 858 755-3800 T: 323 850-1088
C: 505 484-8195 C: 323 995-9969
E: thomas.merchant@oceancup.com E: srowlands@mavtv.com
About SilverHook® Powerboats SilverHook is the most exclusive and technically advanced offshore monohull in the world. With lines echoing the iconic XKE that Enzo Ferrari said was the most beautiful car ever made!
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