Team Bermuda and Nuff Said departed for the 45th Key West Championships in Florida this week in high spirits.

And rightly so, as the pair find themselves among the contenders in their class having finished first and second in the Super Stock National Championship series this year.

Team Bermuda, comprised of driver David Selley and throttle man Steven Bridges, won the championship in dominant fashion after winning four of the seven-race series and stood on the podium in every race.

Nuff Said driver Luis Martins and throttle man Nick Imprescia also enjoyed a highly successful campaign in which they won two races, competing together in their first full season on the circuit.

Having already stamped their authority this year after winning six races between them, and with morale soaring in their respective camps, both teams now hope to carry their sparkling form into next week’s Key West World Championships.

“The vibe is good and hoping for the best. As always it will be a hard week of racing with a lot of competition, but as always we put our all into it,” Bridges told The Royal Gazette.

“It will add a bit more pressure as a lot of Bermudians will be there watching and cheering us on, but we are up to the challenge.”

Martins and his fellow colleagues are approaching the event as they would any other.

“We go into every race to rig and prepare the boat to the best of our ability, hope for good weather and go racing. Everybody is in good spirits and we’ll go from there,” he said.

“We will travel down to Key West with the equipment and the boat, set up camp and prepare for race day on Wednesday. That’s pretty much it.”

Both teams have yet to do any testing in their 32ft twin-engined Doug Wright catamarans in the final build up to the championships.

“We haven’t done testing and no changes to the boat, just some maintenance and clean up prep for Key West,” Bridges said.

Martins added: “We haven’t time to do any testing. We will be testing on Tuesday morning before the first race on Wednesday morning.”

Martins and American colleague Imprescia are gunning for a second straight podium finish at the championships after securing second place honours last year.

Selley and Bridges produced their best showing after finishing fourth overall at last year’s event. The pair were third heading into the final race, a point ahead of Martins and Imprescia, after securing their best finish at the event coming third in the penultimate race.

Team Nautical Ventures are the defending champions in the Super Stock class heading into this year’s championships sanctioned by Race World Offshore.

The event will take place from tomorrow to November 8 at Truman Waterfront Park, with racing being held on November 4, 6 and 8.

It will again showcase elite offshore powerboat racing teams and offer a chance for spectators to experience one of Florida's biggest sporting events.

The championships will also include a World’s Fastest Boat Parade tomorrow, followed by registration, inspections and testing before the first race day on Wednesday. The races will run across multiple classes, with the course running a lap of just over four miles through Key West Harbor.