Records are made to be broken. We all know that! Enter Nigel Hook, the owner that has recently announced his team’s bid to break not one but two powerboat world records this. Take a look below at the official press release that details the challenges of the records as well as the impressive technology that will be implemented in the record attempts.
Read the Original Press Release Below!
77 Lucas Oil SilverHook :: Nigel Hook Announces World Record Attempt
Lucas Oil Ocean Cup – Key West to Cuba Round-trip June 2017
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, March 26, 2017 – At the 2017 IBM Interconnect Conference session, “Driving Intelligence to the Edge in Powerboat Racing with Watson IoT Edge Analytics” presented by IBM’s Tom Sarasin and DataSkill’s CEO Nigel Hook, Hook switched hats by putting on his [virtual] crash helmet and announcing that this June, his offshore powerboat team and driver, Jay Johnson, will challenge the current endurance world record from Key West to Cuba and that they will also set a new, round trip world record in Hook’s #77 Lucas Oil SilverHook. This record, the Lucas Oil Ocean Cup – Key West to Cuba, will be the second Ocean Cup presented by Lucas Oil, the first established in 2013 as the Lucas Oil Ocean Cup – Golden Gate to Queen Mary.
Pioneering data-driven, artificial intelligence systems and racing offshore powerboats have been Nigel Hook’s passions since he was a teenager (not in that order). Hook states “We are merging artificial intelligence and augmented reality into ocean racing because with this technology, we will transform our sport. And this time in international waters!”
The technology developed by DataSkill with IBM Watson IoT (Internet of Things) and Cisco, runs predictive analytics onboard the boat turning Hook’s offshore boat into a flying data center.
This Lucas Oil Ocean Cup – Key West to Cuba record, scheduled for the week of
June 19-23, will be an internationally approved record sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association (APBA), governed by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) with race management by Powerboat P1. Another element of this event will be to support the kids from the Key West Community Sailing Center, a non-profit organization.
When asked why Cuba, Hook said “A Cuba record always been in my mind since my first race in Key West and, for many reasons, the time is right now. During our recent meeting with the Commodore of the Hemingway International Yacht Club (Havana, Cuba), it became obvious that Commodore Escrich and I share a similar passion for ocean sports. Commodore Escrich and I have started a special friendship and with his support, we plan for this to become an annual event! There is a strong history of offshore racing between Cuba and the US dating back to 1922.”
The speed record will begin in Mallory Square (Key West) and the start timer will be triggered just south of Sunset Key. The timer stops at the channel marker in front of El Morro Castle Havana, Cuba (Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro).
Hook says “After crossing the line and setting that one-way record, Jay and I will run up the Malecón coastline which is Cuba’s most famous sea-side avenue, to do a flyby of the US Embassy before circling back around and touching land in Havana Harbor for a brief interlude with our friends in Cuba!” The return leg will be straight back to Key West setting the reverse, round trip world record from Cuba to Key West.
Event Director, Karen Angle, joined Hook and Johnson on their recent reconnaissance mission where she introduced them to Commander Derek Cromwell, Coast Guard Liaison to the United States Embassy La Habana, Cuba. The meeting with Commander Cromwell provided important insight into the logistical planning of this event
