{"id":213963,"date":"2026-04-01T02:30:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T02:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/213963\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T02:30:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T02:30:35","slug":"david-selley-this-is-probably-the-best-day-of-my-life-the-royal-gazette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/213963\/","title":{"rendered":"David Selley: This is probably the best day of my life – The Royal Gazette"},"content":{"rendered":"

Created: Mar 31, 2026 07:49 AM (Updated: Mar 31, 2026 08:04 AM)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Team Bermuda driver David Selley proudly displays the coveted checkered flag after the team\u2019s victory in Florida at the weekend (Photograph by Loren Morrissey)<\/p>\n

Claiming a maiden victory in professional powerboat racing at the St Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix in Florida at the weekend proved to be much more than a career highlight for David Selley.<\/p>\n

Along with colleague Steven Bridges, the experienced driver steered the team\u2019s 32ft twin-engined catamaran, Team Bermuda, to the top of the Super Stock class podium<\/a> after competing against some of the world\u2019s elite powerboat racers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably the best day of my life,\u201d Selley told The Royal Gazette. \u201cI am still excited and it\u2019s kind of unreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a huge weight has been lifted and if we get another win from here it would be great, but I think this one would be the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we could do it and with the improvements we made to the boat we were both able to showcase what we can do. I feel I have one of the best throttle men in the world in Steven. He was able to do his thing with good equipment and we showcased what we can do.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Steven Bridges, left, and David Selley celebrate after claiming a maiden win in professional powerboat racing in Florida at the weekend (Photograph courtesy of Team Bermuda)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is not one thing on the whole team that isn\u2019t important and every little piece of the puzzle is all ingredients and it\u2019s finally come together. It took a little too long but we always knew we could do it and now we are in better equipment and I just can\u2019t thank the sponsors and everybody else enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is huge for everyone. We win or lose as a team and guys have stuck with us from day one, so I am just super impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The local team ventured into uncharted waters on their season debut having not spent much time in the boat after making modifications in the lead-up to the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to go out and hopefully get at least a top-five finish but we weren\u2019t quite sure how we would run with the modifications as we did not have much testing time between the competition and the race,\u201d Bridges said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

David Selley and Steven Bridges in action at the St Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix in Florida at the weekend (Photograph by Loren Morrissey)<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting the bottom of the boat fixed has made a huge difference in the performance of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team Bermuda achieved two milestones at the event after securingd pole position for the first time during qualifying with a fastest time of 10min 49sec.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a shock to all of us but it was the plan and a huge shoutout to Scott Porta for improving an old boat,\u201d Selley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just got so much experience and knowledge in his head. He\u2019s just a mad scientist and I can\u2019t thank him enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just super happy with how the boat ran. Conditions were so calm when we qualified and the weather turned on us yesterday, so it was not like it was a fluke. We had two totally different conditions and we capitalised on both with whatever was thrown at us.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

David Selley and Steven Bridges celebrate on the 32-foot twin engined catamaran, Team Bermuda, after winning the Super Stock class at the St Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix (Photograph supplied)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were confident after the pole but the next day there was some uncertainty. We questioned the set-up, what we were going to change and things start spiralling as that\u2019s a moving target.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s the same for everybody and it\u2019s who makes the best money call in the pits. Once you got what you got on the track that\u2019s it, you got to make it work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really rough but the boat just went through and handled the conditions perfect. It was a pleasure to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridges added: \u201cBeing able to get the pole in the calm and a win in the rough gives us a huge confidence boost to the start of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal every season is more podiums and of course to be national champions, but we are taking it one race at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selley feels the experience of competing at this level over the past two years is beginning to bear fruit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience is paying off and you learn as you go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou make things up as you go and try different things so the experience definitely helps for sure. Everybody steps their game up constantly so you can\u2019t stand still.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also flying the island\u2019s banner at the event was the team of Luis Martins and Nick Imprescia who placed sixth in their 32ft twin-engined catamaran, Nuff Said, in 13min 01sec.<\/p>\n

Bermuda Powerboat Association commodore Jermal Woolridge was delighted to see the local teams do themselves and the island proud at the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all wanted to see them do well and they both did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two teams represented themselves and the island very well in only their first race of the season and to do so in stormy conditions is a testament to their determination, ability and skillset as boat racers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Created: Mar 31, 2026 07:49 AM (Updated: Mar 31, 2026 08:04 AM) Team Bermuda driver David Selley proudly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[96395,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-213963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-bermudians-abroad","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}