David Selley and Steven Bridges are gunning for an impressive double at the 2026 Offshore World Championship, which gets under way today in Key West, Florida.

Having already sewn up the Super Stock National Championship, the local pair have now set their sights on claiming world supremacy to cap a phenomenal season in their 32ft twin-engined catamaran Team Bermuda.

Boat owner and throttle man Bridges is looking forward to the exciting challenge.

“We’re going for the double and it’s a whole new ball game now, so that’s done and dusted and we look forward to this one,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“This is the World Championship and they got a record sign-up here of 100 boats, so it’s pretty cool. We look forward to it and it’s always a good time down here; always exciting and a lot of fun.”

Bridges and Selley took their boat out for a test run yesterday to iron out any kinks and were generally pleased with the way it handled in the choppy conditions.

“The test went good and the main thing was just to make sure everything was working properly,” Bridges said.

“We only did two laps, took our time and didn’t really push the boat too hard. It was actually a little rougher out there than what we thought it was, so we didn’t want to break up the boat or do anything stupid so everything is working good.”

Team Bermuda clinched a maiden Super Stock National Championship title in Clearwater, Florida, last month.

“That was kind of surreal and I’m proud and pretty honoured to be in that position,” driver Selley said.

Selley and Bridges produced their best showing after finishing fourth at last year’s event and also secured their best finish of third in the penultimate race.

Also flying Bermuda's flag during the parade was Nuff Said comprising driver Luis Martins and throttle man Nick Imprescia, who are up for the challenge.

“This is the mother of mothers of offshore powerboat racing and winning this is elite. When you win Key West, you’re at the top level,” he said.

“This is a three-day event with points accumulated and double points on Sunday, so winning this means a lot.”

Martins is also pleased with the way the team’s boat performed during a test run yesterday.

“We went out and did some testing and did some prop changes, got a feel of the boat and get our comfort zone back in for race day tomorrow,” he said.

Martins and American colleague Imprescia are high on confidence after claiming their second win of the season last time out in Clearwater, Florida, last month.

“The confidence is great and it’s nice to come off a good finish into a next race. It boosts your level up and just like coming into any other race you try to compete and do well. We hope we are set up for the conditions and try and get a good finish,” Martins said.

Martins and Imprescia are hoping to go one better this year after finishing second last year.

“This is our second time at Key West together, so we ‘re looking to improve, and that’s going to be real hard because last year we got second,” Imprescia said.

Martins and Imprescia also enjoyed a highly successful campaign during the regular season after finishing runner-up in the Super Stock National Championship.

“This is our first full season together as a team and we are beyond happy with our results,” Imprescia said.

“Ending second place in the national championship was a really big deal for us, especially in our first go around.”

Team Nautical Ventures are the defending Key West World Championship Super Stock class champions.

Racing will also take place Friday and Sunday at Truman Waterfront Park.