The 50 foot Cat from Statement Marine caught fire this afternoon during the Florida Powerboat Club’s Key West Poker Run. The boat is powered by a T-53 turbine engine. Nick Buis and Todd Werner of Statement and two guests were on the boat. Thankfully, Buis and Werner and their friends were able to get off the boat escaping the flames, taking refuge on a nearby boat that came to their rescue.
The US Coast Guard was on the scene and as of yet has prevented Buis and Werner from getting anywhere near the boat as it continued to burn as the day faded.
Buis isn’t sure what the cause is of yet but has gone on the record with these comments: “We were running, and we felt a vibration and slowed down to make sure we hadn’t thrown a prop blade or something,” “We think it might have started with a broken drive line, but by the time we stopped and looked in the engine compartment it was really burned and we couldn’t stop it. So we moved to another boat.”
