KEY WEST -- From the southern part of the Persian Gulf to the Southernmost City, that is the trip the Spirit of Qatar team made nearly halfway across the globe to compete in the 29th annual Key West World Championships. With a two-boat fleet, both racing in the Super Boat 850 Class, it is the team's first American race after competing on the European circuits and the team hopes this is the start of a new era.

"We used to run with the Class 1 series in Europe, but decided to call it quits for the reason to come and join the American series," said Hassan Al Thani, the driver of the 96 boat. "Unfortunately this is the first and last race of the season, but it could be a start for next season and beyond."

Located at the latitude 25° 30' North, Qatar is a peninsula that is surrounded by the Persian Gulf and bordered to the south by Saudi Arabia. The total area of the country is slightly smaller than that of Connecticut and is eight hours ahead of Key West. But after winning a championship on in the European Class 1 series in 2008, the team is ready to go for the World Championship this week.

However, it has been a lot of work to reach the level the team is now at. Beginning in 2003, with the 96 boat, the Spirit of Qatar team has continued to grow since. Adding the 95 boat in 2005 with the addition of driver Abdulla Al-Sulaiti, who was a Class 2 series driver in Europe, the team now continues to carry two boats to all its events.

Yet before the team was even together it was Al Thani's passion for racing that began the adventure. Beginning with jet skis and slowly moving up in boat size, Al Thani, a graduate of Barry University in Miami Shores, said he was always fond of watching the powerboats run.

"I've always been following the big boats series," said Al Thani, who is a Sheikh of Qatar. "When the boats came into Florida I was always there, talking to the guys and getting familiar with the boats. I guess that's where my love of fast boats come in and it has just continued from there."

In order to reach the level he and his team are at, the No. 96 driver said he began with jet skis,competed on the European front, and began the team nearly a decade later.

"Jet skis in the early 90s we were doing 60, 65 miles per hour," said Al Thani. "We would tune them up a little bit and reach up into the 70s, but that was just too fast on a jet ski. I just graduated gradually from jet skis to marine racing in Qatar in 2000 and eventually reached our target which was powerboat racing."

Now the journey has brought him to Key West and so far the transition has gone in the team's favor. After a first day racing in the Spirit of Qatar's first American World Championship on Wednesday, the rough seas that were brought on by morning storms helped to set the team's goal in motion as it took a one-two finish in the SuperBoat 850 class. However, Al Thani said he knows if the conditions change and the seas flatten, things could be more difficult for the Spirits of Qatar to go home with the championship.

"With the water being choppy we knew it was our chance to push harder than all the boats," said Al Thani. "I think we would rather stay where we are and have the other guys step up a little bit, but we know in the flat conditions it will be tough for us to compete."

Since both boats ran in the same Class 1 series in Europe, Al Thani said it made sense not to make any major modifications on the vessels -- one running an eight-valve engine and the other running a 10-valve engine along with a few other noticeable differenece in each boat -- thus the reason they are still competing against each other.

"The two boats have been in the running in Class 1 under the same rules anyways," said Al Thani. "When we decided to come to the U.S., we decided to keep to the same rules and not do anything on the boats and join the 850 class."

No matter the outcome of the week, Al Thani said his passion for racing powerboats will not change and despite being a somewhat unknown, he hopes the Spirit of Qatar can gain a few new fans.

"It has always been with me for a really long time so quitting racing for me would be something really complicated," said Al Thani. "I guess you can call us the new kids on the block coming in from other parts of the world. We just want to come in race hard, enjoy the race and go back home with a bit of respect."

jwcooke@keysnews.com