Key West: The Roar of Powerboats, The Sound of Music; Powerboat Racing World Championships Set Nov. 18-24; Nick and Aaron Carter to Star in Free Concert Saturday.

Sports Editors/Racing Writers & Columnists

KEY WEST, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2002

The roar of huge powerboats will be heard around Key West Harbor from Monday, Nov. 18 through Sunday, Nov. 24 as the APBA Key West Offshore World Championship racers go for glory.

Complementing the powerboats will be sound of another sort, as Nick and Aaron Carter and the "no secrets" singing group take the stage at the Truman Annex Outer Mole on Saturday night (Nov. 23) for a free concert--the first of its kind associated with an Offshore Powerboat Race.

"This is the 85th anniversary of powerboat racing in Key West," said Lee Mills, producer of the Key West World Championships.

"It all started in 1917," Mills said, "In 1917, Jack Manson won the Miami-Key West race in his 51-foot Raven powered by a pair of 400 horsepower Speedway engines. He averaged 31.1 miles per hour. Today, 85 years later, the Super Cats racing will develop 1,500 horsepower and hit 140 MPH on the straightaways."

Mills says he expects more than 100 boats to participate at the World Championships, about 20 more than ran in the Worlds held here a year ago.

Races are slated Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. There are to be three races on Wednesday, starting at 10 a.m., two races Saturday, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and two races Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. All will be run in APBA Offshore's new stadium-style racing format, which shortens the race course and brings the boats close into the shore where spectators can get an overview of the entire six-mile circuit.

"It lends more excitement to the race," Mills said, "Boats are jockeying for position on the turns, sometimes even trading paint, and pushing hard to pass on the straightaways."

Mills points out that Offshore Racing, like NASCAR and CART, are not inherently safe sports. "Accidents happen. They happen in Key West more than any where else on the Offshore circuit," he says. "Over the past 17 years, six racers have been killed here, several of them highly experienced national or world champions. These drivers," Mills adds, "both men and women, are tunnel-visioned on winning. Bringing stadium-style racing to Offshore is returning the sport to its roots: It proves the strength of hulls, engines and drivers--not necessarily in that order."

Key West will be full of parties during the World Championship week and it's one of the few professional sports venues where the participants mix freely with the general public. "It's one of the attractions of Offshore Powerboat racing," says Mills. "It starts with a boat parade into downtown Key West on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m."

The Saturday night (Nov. 23) free concert at 8 p.m. at the Outer Mole, headlined by Jive Label recording artist Nick Carter, was created by Mills to bring a new and younger audience to Key West for the Offshore World Championships. This is the first concert of a series called APBA Offshore Rocks.

Nick Carter is the sweet, blonde, blue-eyed member of the Backstreet Boys who knocked the socks off teenagers for the last seven years. Now this 22-year-old is getting up to his own thing and his debut album, Now or Never, is his chance to break out and share a more personal side of himself while still doing the thing he loves--music.

Nick, incidentally, owns an APBA Offshore race team, Nick Carter Racing, which ran away with the Super Vee class in 2002 and now holds the national championship.

Nick's younger brother, Aaron Carter, is also starring Saturday night. Now 14, he began singing and dancing at eight and his charm and energy has wowed crowds in Europe and the U.S.

The third major group on the bill is "no secrets;" five talented teen-aged girls who feature a dazzling blend of hot music, cool fashion sense and an intense quest for fun.

Ticket prices for the races include admission to the dry pits on race days and cost $20 a day Wednesday/Saturday. Sunday is $25. Non-race days are $5. A three-day race day pass is $35, children of 11-12 is $15 and kids 10 and under are free

Special tickets are available for the Offshore Club Premiere Viewing area, with a buffet and cash bar: $100 a day, $175 for two days, and $250 for three days. A special viewing site is set for the final races on Sunday at $150. Advance VIP tickets at all levels are available at Beachcomber Jewelers in Key West and Marathon.

For other information, check the sport's web site at http://www.ABPAOffshore.com . For tickets, call 305-295-2808 and for hotel information and reservations, call Jerry Reynolds at 305-296-7707. Ticket information is also available by E-Mail at [e-mail].

APBA Offshore is the national sanctioning body in the United States for offshore powerboat racing. It runs a national professional circuit of races in the northern hemisphere each year.