Capping off a disheartening year for powerboat racing, the Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA) announced that its season-ending World Championship races in Englewood, FL, have been canceled.

The group managed to stage one event, in Morehead City, NC, last weekend, and plans to gather racers in the Lake of the Ozarks in October. But the long-standing World Championship venue, Englewood Beach Waterfest, was forced to cancel the 2020 event. “We are all deeply saddened by the news, as the venue has served as OPA’s finale for a long time,” said Nick Smith of the OPA.

“With that being said, we are pleased to announce Jeff McCann confirmed today that they will be beginning plans to host the World Championships in November in lieu of Englewood,” Smith said. “Having raced in Morehead City, NC, this past weekend, the operation is still fresh in everyone’s mind. OPA is confident that we will be able to capture lightning in bottle for the second time this season at the Crystal Coast. Running a race twice in one season is unprecedented in offshore racing, but drastic times call for drastic measures.”

The official date of the race is unknown at this time, but will be in November, and an announcement will be made official later this week. “Please bear with us as we work through this,” Smith said. “We are more than excited to have the opportunity. We will be updating the details of this regularly in the coming weeks, and look forward to returning to Morehead City.”

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