Race World Offshore (RWO) has been busy organizing its two major offshore races for 2022. First up is the 13th Annual Baystar Clearwater Offshore Nationals, set for Sept. 23-25 in Southwest Florida. This race will set the stage for the Race World Offshore World Championships, held in Key West—the Southernmost city in the USA—Nov. 6-13.

"I think we're going to have the largest boat count that we've ever had in Clearwater before," says RWO President Larry Bleil. "It's all coming together very smoothly. Frank Chivas [founder and promoter of the Clearwater event] has outdone himself this year. In previous years, the pier has looked sort of incognito, but this year, it will feature sponsored flags. We're going to make it look like a race site this year." For more information on the Clearwater races, please click here.

Meanwhile, the week-long Key West extravaganza will feature what RWO says is the extensive lineup of parties, concerts, and events ever in the history of the Offshore World Championships. The festivities commence on Sunday, Nov. 6, with the RWO World’s Fastest Boat Parade and end the weeklong action at the RWO World Championship Awards Ceremony. The actual races will be held Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

"We're going to have events going on every day and every night of the week, all week long, starting from the parade on Sunday, and culminating with the awards ceremony at the amphitheater," Bleil says. "We've got the amphitheater for the week. We're going to have three events there—a concert on Thursday night, a major concert on Saturday night, and then the awards on Sunday. We'll also have a band playing before the awards are given out."

The Saturday night concert is shaping up to be a major event. XInsurance and Good Boy Vodka (owners of the XInsurance offshore race boat running in Class 1) will be presenting Boats & Boots, a concert featuring country performers John Daly, Eddie Montgomery and Brian Kelley at the Key West Amphitheater, located at the new Truman Waterfront, on Nov. 12 from 5 to 10 p.m. (the day before Sunday's championship race). Tickets may be purchased here.

The full Key West schedule may be viewed here.

RWO thanks the Tourist Development Council (TDC) in their support in bringing the event to Key West. RWO works to bring tourists from around the world for the epic week-long event, which results in a substantial economic impact to the City of Key West and Lower Keys. Bleil also sends special thanks to Performance Boat Center, the presenting sponsor of the Key West Offshore World Championships. "PBC comes to RWO with a high level of performance boating industry knowledge and offshore racing experience," he says. "RWO looks forward to this partnership now and in the future."

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