Warpaint crashes on final day of the 2011 Key West World Championship – Boating News
The current speedboat event contested in Florida, the Key West World Championship, marred by the deaths of three racers in the last week, got another shocker when two racers were injured on Sunday, November 13, 2011.
Spectators and organizers were not back to their normal senses when another uneventful incident hit them when offshore racers sustained injuries on Sunday, November 13, 2011.
The accident occurred on the final day of the competition when Robert Vesper and Danny Crank could not control their speedboat.
Vesper, who owned the boat and was the driver of his thirty-eight foot long Warpaint, got out of control and crashed, leaving the two racers injured but out of danger.
Both injured racers were immediately taken to the hospital for check up for any internal or injuries in the head. The tests were performed and Vesper was discharged. His partner, Crank went under more tests just in case.
Vesper and Crank were participating in the races, which were the last three of the day when the accident occurred. The high-speed race came to a thunderous halt as their speedboat, named Warpaint, slammed on the cruel waves.
As the speedboat of Vesper and Crank stopped, the spectators feared another terrible incident. Rescue workers rushed to the scene, taking out the two racers to give them first aid.
They were taken to the hospital for further medical checkups where their reports were positive.
The 2011 Key West World Championships are one of the most tragic editions of the event in over sixteen years.
This year, three deaths have raised concern to the security issues pertaining to speedboat racing where speeds reach to more than hundred miles per hour, and the chances are high for the high speed vehicle to crash after going
airborne.
Bob Morgan and Jeffrey Tillman lost their lives on November 9, 2011 followed by the death of Joey Gratton on November 11, 2011. These deaths were tragic incidents that made the entire event gloomy.
On the last day of the championships on Sunday, people did come to witness the three races but lacked the energy that they showed before the tragic deaths occurred. Paying a tribute to the lost racers, a plane flew over the event
venue with a banner reading “In Memory Of Three Great Racers”.
John Carbonell, president of the Super Boat International Productions (SBIP), certainly shaken by the deaths, insisted that the event must continue as planned.
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