His father also shaped Roger Klüh's enthusiasm for boating very early on. He quickly developed a strong passion, so that he spent most of his time on the Florida coast (USA) at a young age. As a result, over the decades he acquired the ability to operate one of the most dangerous motor racing sports in the world.
After Klüh acquired the former world champion speedboat "Apache Heritage" in early 2012, he had it extensively upgraded to 2,700 hp and a top speed of 200 km/h in Florida over a period of two years and renamed it the "Apache Star". Roger Klüh planned a crossing from the USA to Cuba in order to figuratively connect the two states, whose relationship has been strained since the 1959 embargo. To this end, he applied for a permit for the crossing on the American side and contacted Cuba through his lawyers.
Finally, due to positive developments with Cuba, his second application was personally approved by US President Barack Obama in December 2014
The world record started on August 1, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. despite difficult weather conditions. Roger Klüh had to contend with 3 meter high waves and wind speeds of up to 35 knots. In addition, the second drive was damaged after a short time due to flotsam, so that the journey had to be interrupted for 15 minutes. Russian jammers off the Cuban coast also posed a particular challenge for Klüh, as they blocked the Apache Star's navigation system. Despite the complications, Roger Klüh reached the port of Havana after a record-breaking 90 minutes and was greeted by over 20,000 cheering Cubans.
His world record went down in the history of international understanding for the USA and especially for Cuba.
According to the conditions for the world record, Roger Klüh would have had to transport the "Apache Star" away from the port of Havana immediately afterwards. Due to the severe damage, however, the transfer to the USA turned out to be very complicated. Nevertheless, the American authorities accused Klüh of violating the embargo and threatened him with a prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of millions. Due to more difficult logistics regulations, he was finally able to comply with this request in January 2017 and the warning remained.
