Dubai’s Victory Team capped a successful trans-Atlantic debut with an overall podium finish as the 38th Annual Key West World Championships concluded in Florida on Monday.

Moving into the North American powerboating scene for the first time, Victory 33 with Salem Al Adidi and John Tomlinson on board took their third successive podium to conclude their campaign with their first-ever top-3 finish in North America.

Victory Team’s second boat with Eisa Al Ali and Steve Curtis on board rolled over and flipped on Turn 1 of the fourth lap to bring a premature end to their American campaign.

The two Victory Team boats had created quite a stir in the penultimate race on Friday by snatching the top two positions to throw the chase for overall honours wide open.

But, on Monday it was a totally different situation with front-runners Team CRC and Wake Effects rebounding in strong fashion.

Ron and Jeff Harris (Wake Effects) took the checkered flag to be crowned world champions after finishing with a three-race total of 883 points, nipping Team CRC in second place by just half a point, while Victory 33 followed in third overall with 812 points.

“This is the world of powerboat racing. It is tough out there and for us to come here and land with an overall placing is a huge motivation,” said Huraiz Bin Huraiz, chairman of board of directors at Victory Team after the race.

“We have done some good ground work in our first year in North America and I am sure we can build on this performance in due course.

“We have made a start into a new territory and that is the important part of our team synergy. It is now just a matter of time when we build up on this success.”