Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix brings international talent and audience to Lido Beach

SARASOTA, Fla. - The 39th annual Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix brought thousands of fans and international competitors out for the weekend. Some of the biggest and fastest vessels imaginable competed in Lido Beach waters. 

"If you don't feel absolutely horrified in the best possible way you probably shouldn't be out there," said motorsport competitor and UIM Class 1 offshore champion Travis Pastrana. "It's the unknown, and you're trying to go as fast as you can and get the boat as light as you can just barely teetering, barely touching the water -literally taking off like an airplane, but we don't have wings." 

More than 60 teams from three continents made their way to town to race around P1 Offshore’s 5.5 mile course. Despite racing in waters around the globe, they all say there's just something special about the Gulf of Mexico.

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"Sarasota is very unique," said Monster Energy throttleman Tyler Miller. "During testing and our time trials, we went out and started testing about 9:30-10 a.m., and it was glass smooth, just like an asphalt track." 

As one of the county’s most anticipated events, the Powerboat Grand Prix draws crowds from near and far, capturing the attention of visitors and residents alike.

"We've calculated over the last few years that it ranges between 10 and 20 million as a specific economic impact that this brings into the county," said President of Powerboat P1 Azam Rangoonwala. "That's a combination of how many people are coming in, and how much they're spending. These are big, expensive boats and the owners are wealthy individuals, so they all come with, say, five people, but some of them come with 40 so that's a lot of people to bring into town."