Key West Power Boat Races - Key West Power Boat Races
Key West Power Boat Races are held in mid-November each year, after the haze of Fantasy Fest has faded away. Big cigarette boats painted up with sponsors' logos arrive in town for the big races. They practice their runs starting mid-week, racing their huge jet engines which can be heard all across the island and especially over the water. The powerboats race with helicopters, who act as the navigation system, alerting boat drivers to obstacles or their position in the course. There are fishing boats, dive boats and all sorts of water traffic out there while the Power Boats are testing their engines and doing practice runs. It's good they have that extra bird's-eye navigator! Key West power boat races span 5 days, and for that period of time the water in front of the island is pretty much alive with huge boats and helicopters.
Powerboat Races are held every other day of the week, with the final on Sunday. On non-race days, they practice and prepare and register. Registration is done at the waterfront at Truman Annex. The power boats race a loop that starts in Key West harbor then heads out in a southerly direction towards Sand Key. In the past, the Key West Power Boat Races took boats across the south edge of Key West but no longer. It was pretty exciting in the past to watch the powerboats come around the corner of Key West in
front of Fort Taylor State Park, making a sharp turn into Key West harbor. Depending on the weather and the
choppiness of the ocean, power boats would sometimes flip while making this curve.
If you want to watch the Key West power boat races from the shoreline and you also want to sit down, it costs $15 to get into the bleachers area near the entrance to Fort Taylor State Park. If you prefer not to pay and you don't need bleachers, turn left into Fort Zachary rather than going straight through the paid area. You can go into Fort Zachary Taylor and pay their regular daily fee, about $3 for someone riding a bicycle, or head over to Mallory Square and watch the races from the water's edge over there.
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