St. Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix expected to draw 60,000 fans this weekend

St. Pete Powerboat Grand Prix coming this weekend

The St. Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix starts Friday and more than 60,000 people are expected to come to watch.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The St. Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix kicks off Friday, bringing some of the world's fastest powerboats to the Tampa Bay area.

Organizers expect a massive turnout of roughly 60,000 people. That’s nearly double the attendance of last year’s event.

"There's a lot of fast equipment moving around all weekend that fans are going to be blown away with," Dustin Farthing, a professional watercraft racer and Managing Director of the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), said.

By the numbers:

The weekend features more than 200 racers traveling from as far as Belgium, France and Japan. The fleet includes powerboats equipped with dual 1,000-horsepower engines capable of hitting 160 mph, as well as jet skis racing at speeds between 60 and 80 mph.

The IHRA took over as the new event organizer after purchasing the previous organizer, P1 Offshore, at the end of last year. Farthing noted that the IHRA’s larger scale, which includes experience in drag racing and bull riding events, allows for a more expansive production this year.

Beyond the sporting spectacle, the Powerboat Grand Prix has a major financial impact on the area. The weekend is projected to generate nearly $13 million for the local economy. It will also be broadcast on Speed Sport 1 and Speed Sport 2, YouTube and the IHRA’s website for possible millions of viewers, Farthing said.

"We have people coming from all over the world to stay in the city, eat at the restaurants, and visit the tourism attractions," Farthing said. "Not only are the revenue dollars coming back to the city, we're bringing new people to the city that have possibly never been to St. Petersburg."

The event races in 10 cities in the United States total.

What they're saying:

"There are a lot of great venues that we travel to, but St. Petersburg has always kind of been the home and what we feel is like a great start and finish place for the series. And I think it's really key for the fans that get to check it out, to see kind of where it left off last season and where the battles ended and where new battles started this year," Farthing said.

What's next:

Fans can get an up-close look at the boats and jet skis and meet the drivers for free on Friday night at Albert Whitted Park starting at six p.m.

The races themselves are free to watch from the downtown waterfront and the St. Pete Pier. 

VIP tickets are also available for purchase, offering exclusive seating at Pier Teaki located at the top of the Pier.

The event is sponsored by Monster Energy and Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, among others.