Luis Martins and Nick Imprescia were left to rue what might have been after a costly penalty denied them victory in the opening race of the 2026 Key West World Championship in Florida on Wednesday.

The pair were in second and on the heels of the leader, multiple world champion Shaun Torrente, when they collided with a course buoy approaching turn one on the second lap and picked up a 30 second penalty for the infraction.

They managed to pass Torrente on the next lap and began extending their lead before racing was halted when rivals Cameron Turk and Owen Bois flipped their boat on the fifth lap approaching the final turn on the backstretch, which brought racing to a grinding halt for good.

Martins put the blame for the mishap down to being too aggressive.

“We had a good jump at the start, got into second by the second turn, fought the first place boat for a little bit and then we started to get a little bit aggressive going into turn one,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“I had a bit of bow steer on the boat that took me to my port side a bit more than I wanted to and it was too late. Hit a buoy so you get a 30-second penalty for that.

“Even though we won the race we still pick up 30 seconds, so you fall into the race 30 seconds behind.

“At least we finished with that mishap, just got to stop being so aggressive and should’ve held up a little bit.

“That was the second or third lap so we still had five more laps of running. Your adrenalin is rushing and you see a hole, a spot that it might fit. I went for it, got a bit of bow steering in the boat so the boat hooked to the left and by the time I corrected it was still too late. Caught the buoy and paid the penalty.”

Martins and Imprescia suffered another setback when the race was red flagged after rivals Turk and Bois rolled over, which prevented them from distancing themselves from the chasing pack to help reduce their penalty.

“If we had completed the seven laps we would have probably been 15 seconds, so we might have finished sixth, but it’s racing and all part of it,” Martins said.

Despite the team’s misfortune in their 32ft catamaran Nuff Said, Martins insists there are still positives to take away from the opening race of the three-race series.

“We finally got around Shaun Torrente, the first-place boat. We took the lead and kept it after that,” he said.

“We were just learning track and trying different lines and then a boat flipped and they red flagged the race.”

Also competing in the race was national Super Stock champions David Selley and Steven Bridges, who endured their share of drama after experiencing engine problems.

“That was a tough run,” driver Selley said.

“We actually ended up in guardian mode early in that weird 40 to 60mph range trying to get all lined up and the boat is set for fast pace.

“We had to correct that and once we got running we came up the field pretty decent. We could be in a worse position so we take it and we move on.”

Selley also felt there were positives to take away from the race.

“I feel we had a top three or four lap time, even in the mess,” he said. “It was really difficult to see and Steven did an awesome job.

Also flying Bermuda’s flag was Shawn Butterfield competing with American Corey Shantry in class 7 with Sarasota-based team Irish Kevin’s in their 22ft Velocity.

Butterfield did not compete with cousin Jermal Woolridge, who was poised to make his debut at the championship in the race.