David Selley is honoured to follow in the footsteps of those who inspired him as he fulfilled his ambition to compete in offshore powerboat racing in the United States.

The 32-year-old did the island proud alongside compatriot Steven Bridges at the Baystar Clearwater Offshore Nationals in Florida last Sunday, when he finished fourth in the Super Stock class aboard Bridge’s 32-foot twin engined Doug Wright catamaran Team Bermuda.

Both drivers had harboured the ambition of competing overseas after being inspired by a previous generation of racers who put Bermuda firmly on the world map.

“I always looked up to guys like Chris Marshall, Derek Simons and Morris Correia,” Selley told The Royal Gazette. “These are guys who have raced powerboats overseas and I grew up watching them carry the flag and representing Bermuda.

“Chris has won three world championships and has actually given us insight and some of his knowledge and wisdom. These guys paved the way and set the standard. They did it before us and did it so well.

“It has always been a dream of ours to compete overseas but I always wondered if I would get the chance. It is all so surreal right now and we are just so happy and proud to be a part of it.”

Selley and Bridges made a seamless transition to the boat despite having no previous racing experience in the class and with limited time to acclimatise.

“We probably had an hour testing the boat a couple of weeks ago on a lake, which is totally different from offshore racing,” Selley explained. “It was basically to get familiar with all the switches in the boat and the mechanics. But for actual practice it was not a whole lot at all.

“We wanted to do a bit more obviously, and so our testing was actually the race and the practice the day before.

“We tried out two sets of propellers that we brought up from Bermuda that were on the 28 skater, and was just lucky that actually worked pretty good with the wind.

“The wind was up Saturday and then dropped right out for race day. We would have been better off with some bigger propellers but we just did what we could.”

Selley was at the wheel while boat owner Bridges tended to the throttles throughout the race.

“Steven is a magician on the stick; he’s a top throttle man and should have been racing out here last year,” Selley added. “But all the stars need to line up to do it and we are in a prime position right now.”

Selley reckons the best is yet to come for Team Bermuda in the Race World Offshore Racing Series.

“We are going up against major corporations and against the best of the best out here. We feel the only way is up from here,” he said.

Before last weekend’s event Bridges had leased his boat to two-times Formula 1 powerboat world champion, Shaun Torrente.

“They wrecked their boat in Sarasota this year so we leased them the boat,” Selley said.

“They had been racing it the last couple of race days and actually won in St Petersburg, which put a lot of pressure on us.

“But we are not Shaun Torrente, who is on a whole different level, and we are also new to the boat.”

Florida -based team, Jackhammer, clinched the Super Stock title in Clearwater last Sunday.

The class is the fastest growing in offshore racing with the boats reaching speeds close to 110mph.