St Pete Race Articles
11-04-2005, 06:08 PM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
Originally Posted by Xtremeracing
Hum what do u make of that ...
They are great guy's!
Last edited by mbowers; 11-04-2005 at 09:59 PM.
11-04-2005, 09:56 PM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
Originally Posted by Xtremeracing
Any word on the race course yet ??
Ben
11-05-2005, 04:57 AM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
In the first article, I was surprised to see that liberal rag, The Times, actually not take the tree hugger side. Big thumbs up to Terry Tomalin for pointing out that a manatee has never been hurt at a race in St Pete. He's been writing outdoor columns for the SPT for years.
11-16-2005, 06:54 AM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
Dunk test a lifesaver for powerboat crews
By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoors Editor
Published November 16, 2005
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Flying around a turn in Key West Harbor at 85 miles per hour, Rick Turmel's offshore race boat caught a wave the wrong way and rolled.
"The first thing you ask yourself is what just happened," explained the throttleman for Team Extreme. "Then the training kicks in. After you go through the dunk test enough times, getting out of an upside down boat becomes second nature."
Before the offshore powerboat racing begins this week off St. Pete Beach, every driver and throttleman must demonstrate a successful escape from the Offshore Super Series Soaker.
"We have never had anything like this before," said David DiPetrillo, safety director for the powerboat tour. "This is the first fully-canopied dunker tester in offshore racing. It is made from the canopy of an actual race boat. It even has escape hatches."
Flipping over in a race boat is no picnic. Even though a racer is strapped in and wearing a helmet, at best you will emerge dazed and confused.
"That is why we put so much effort into this," said DiPetrillo, who also works as the special operations chief for the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department. "This needs to be an intuitive reaction."
Dominic Visconsi Jr. and Jim Dyke, teammates in the OSS Cat Popeye, have had their share of rollovers.
"You'll need a long sheet of paper, because I have had a few," Dyke said. "But each time it is a new experience."
The two were the first to test the Soaker on Tuesday. They had rave reviews.
"It's fun," Dyke said.
"Great," Visconsi added. "Why don't you give it a try?"
Joey Gratton, who has been racing since bell bottoms first came into fashion, insisted. "I'll hold your hand," he said. "There is nothing to it."
Gratton from Sarasota also has rolled several times over the years. "You are good for one every five years," he said. "I've flipped twice recently so I figure I'm good for the next 10 years."
DiPetrillo led Gratton and me to the crash simulator. He told me to remember BRACE: B means brace for impact, R means reach for exit, A means grab the air supply, C means calm down, E means exit.
"Got it?" DiPetrillo asked. I nodded. "Good. Here's your helmet."
Gratton and I climbed into the cockpit and strapped ourselves in. My harness was a little tight.
"Let me loosen that up," Gratton said.
"Pasta and beer," I confessed.
Then, unceremoniously, the contraption was rolled over into the water. My first reaction was to panic. Then I remembered DiPetrillo's advice: Stay calm.
But talk is cheap when hanging upside down, staring at the bottom of a pool. I knew I should have taken a deep breath before I went over. But instead, I was fiddling with the seat belt that was digging into my gut.
Starved for oxygen, I looked for my air supply. I found the scuba regulator where they said it would be and took a deep breath.
Satisfied that I was not going to die, I began to work on the three-point harness. I got one side unclipped and then gravity took hold and I slid down, banging my head on the steering wheel. Good thing I was wearing a helmet.
Meanwhile, Gratton, the old pro, was unfastening the escape hatches. He stood up, stuck his head out the floor hatch, which was now above us, signaled that we were okay, then we both swam out the roof hatch, which was now at our feet.
Back on the surface, DiPetrillo asked how it went.
"No problem," Gratton said.
I tried to sound confident.
"Nothing to it," I lied.
"Wanna go again?" Gratton asked.
"No thanks," I replied.
[Last modified November 16, 2005, 01:10:16]
By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoors Editor
Published November 16, 2005
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Flying around a turn in Key West Harbor at 85 miles per hour, Rick Turmel's offshore race boat caught a wave the wrong way and rolled.
"The first thing you ask yourself is what just happened," explained the throttleman for Team Extreme. "Then the training kicks in. After you go through the dunk test enough times, getting out of an upside down boat becomes second nature."
Before the offshore powerboat racing begins this week off St. Pete Beach, every driver and throttleman must demonstrate a successful escape from the Offshore Super Series Soaker.
"We have never had anything like this before," said David DiPetrillo, safety director for the powerboat tour. "This is the first fully-canopied dunker tester in offshore racing. It is made from the canopy of an actual race boat. It even has escape hatches."
Flipping over in a race boat is no picnic. Even though a racer is strapped in and wearing a helmet, at best you will emerge dazed and confused.
"That is why we put so much effort into this," said DiPetrillo, who also works as the special operations chief for the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department. "This needs to be an intuitive reaction."
Dominic Visconsi Jr. and Jim Dyke, teammates in the OSS Cat Popeye, have had their share of rollovers.
"You'll need a long sheet of paper, because I have had a few," Dyke said. "But each time it is a new experience."
The two were the first to test the Soaker on Tuesday. They had rave reviews.
"It's fun," Dyke said.
"Great," Visconsi added. "Why don't you give it a try?"
Joey Gratton, who has been racing since bell bottoms first came into fashion, insisted. "I'll hold your hand," he said. "There is nothing to it."
Gratton from Sarasota also has rolled several times over the years. "You are good for one every five years," he said. "I've flipped twice recently so I figure I'm good for the next 10 years."
DiPetrillo led Gratton and me to the crash simulator. He told me to remember BRACE: B means brace for impact, R means reach for exit, A means grab the air supply, C means calm down, E means exit.
"Got it?" DiPetrillo asked. I nodded. "Good. Here's your helmet."
Gratton and I climbed into the cockpit and strapped ourselves in. My harness was a little tight.
"Let me loosen that up," Gratton said.
"Pasta and beer," I confessed.
Then, unceremoniously, the contraption was rolled over into the water. My first reaction was to panic. Then I remembered DiPetrillo's advice: Stay calm.
But talk is cheap when hanging upside down, staring at the bottom of a pool. I knew I should have taken a deep breath before I went over. But instead, I was fiddling with the seat belt that was digging into my gut.
Starved for oxygen, I looked for my air supply. I found the scuba regulator where they said it would be and took a deep breath.
Satisfied that I was not going to die, I began to work on the three-point harness. I got one side unclipped and then gravity took hold and I slid down, banging my head on the steering wheel. Good thing I was wearing a helmet.
Meanwhile, Gratton, the old pro, was unfastening the escape hatches. He stood up, stuck his head out the floor hatch, which was now above us, signaled that we were okay, then we both swam out the roof hatch, which was now at our feet.
Back on the surface, DiPetrillo asked how it went.
"No problem," Gratton said.
I tried to sound confident.
"Nothing to it," I lied.
"Wanna go again?" Gratton asked.
"No thanks," I replied.
[Last modified November 16, 2005, 01:10:16]
11-17-2005, 06:06 PM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
I spent the day at the St Pete beach watching the races today, I must say I was disappointed -it is way too far away to enjoy from the beach, I had a better time at the wet pits...The wind today makes it impossible to hear the thunder or appreciate the driving skills of the boaters...Though I can understand racing in the bays might be difficult for the area habitat. It seems the OCC could find a better venue around St Pete, or Clearwater with better water depths...IMHO. Had fun otherwise, thanks for all the "cats" for opening up entering the bay, It made my Day 
11-20-2005, 08:59 AM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
A blue collar under the race helmet
A St. Petersburg boat dealer competes against big money for a world title.
By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoors Editor
Published November 20, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST. PETERSBURG - In a high-dollar sport dominated by the independently wealthy, Mike Flanigan is a blue-collar guy trying to get by.
"Me, a millionaire?" laughed Flanigan of St. Petersburg. "I wish."
Like many boat racers, Flanigan, pilot for the Offshore Super Series vee-bottom boat Lightning Strikes, started his career in the pits.
"My father, John Flanigan, raced in the APBA and U.S. Offshore back in the early '90s," said Mike Flanigan, 34. "I worked for him until I got a chance to get in my own boat."
That was 10 years ago. Today, Flanigan is one of the young turks battling for acceptance in a premiere class dominated by veterans.
When the OSS World Championships continue today off St. Pete Beach, Flanigan and teammate Bob Teague hope to parlay their third-place finish Thursday into a shot at the title.
To do that, their Lighting Strikes Donzi will have to take down the Spiderman Skater, a boat that has achieved nearly superhero status this season.
Ken Bowen and Scot Conrad started off the year in a Donzi, Adrenaline, and took over the big, red Spiderman boat when owner Todd Welling was injured in an accident unrelated to racing.
The Spiderman Skater was built by Peter Hledin's Douglas Marine, a Michigan-based performance-boat maker known for high-performance catamarans. There is no denying that Hledin's vee bottoms are fast, but Spiderman has had trouble finishing races. The 40-footer broke on the eighth of 12 laps in the final race of the regular season in Corpus Christi, Texas, but despite that fifth-place finish it had enough points to win the national championship.
But Flanigan said he thinks his Donzi is just what is needed in the rough waters off St. Pete Beach. On Thursday a brisk wind and 2- to 4-foot seas damaged many of the boats in the first race of the World Championships.
"This Donzi is definitely a rough-water boat," Flanigan said. "We don't have the top-end speed, but we can make it up by carrying speed into the turns."
And turns are exactly what the OSS, a second-year sanctioning body, hopes to be known for.
"All of our courses have six or seven turns," Flanigan said. "That makes it much more competitive. You just can't go out there and run around in circles."
The St. Pete Beach course has five lefts and one right, which forces drivers to maneuver and navigate.
"The first time out we ran the course real slow," Flanigan said. "We have a GPS and mark all the turn pins. You need to keep those numbers in your head, so when you come off a turn you set the right course to be ready for the next one."
Sound easy? Try picking out a small orange buoy in 4-foot seas through the tiny windshield of a boat going close to 100 mph.
"Navigation is critical in a boat like ours because we can't afford to go wide," Flanigan said. "We just don't have the speed. We have to keep our lines tight and run pin to pin."
Flanigan has run on all three race circuits - OSS, Super Boat International and the American Power Boat Association Offshore - but says he has opted to stick with OSS because of the competition.
"All the boats on this circuit have canopies," he said. "The safety factor is important to me."
Flanigan said he also likes the OSS's tight specifications and strict postrace inspections. "You don't hear about anybody cheating," he said.
The rival SBI/APBA tour, which combines those two sanctioning bodies, is hosting its world championships in Key West this weekend with a larger vee-bottom class. The SBI/APBA Web site lists 19 "Super Vees," but the typical race draws around 10 boats.
The SBI/APBA race courses are typical four-turn oval courses with long straightaways that are ideal for boats with high-end speed, such as those built by legendary racer Reggie Fountain in North Carolina.
Fountain, who has more than 100 wins as a driver or throttleman to his credit, doesn't like to lose. He is known as an innovator and has had some highly publicized disputes with race officials over rules and specifications in recent years. Fountain's boats excel in flat water and have dominated the SBI/APBA circuit this year.
But how the SBI/APBA Fountains would fare against the OSS fleet, which is more equally represented by all of the manufacturers - including Extreme boats and Phantom - has yet to be seen.
Last month at the OSS National Championships in Corpus Christi, two veteran SBI/APBA racers entered to go head to head with Spiderman.
"There was a lot of talk on the Internet about who would have the fastest vee-bottom, OSS or SBI," said Joe Sgro, who has driven and throttled the Super Vee Instigator to numerous wins and records. "I guess we had to see."
Instigator ended up winning the race, but only after Spiderman was forced out in the eighth lap. The Skater recorded an average lap speed of 94.74 mph compared to the Fountain's 92.17.
But Instigator didn't show up at St. Pete Beach for a rematch. A prior commitment sent the boat to Key West, which last year hosted a unified world championships, the first in a decade.
Hopes of another universal worlds championship, one that would truly determine the fastest boat in each class, were dashed when organizers from the rival tours could not agree to terms.
Flanigan, who with Teague won the world title in Key West last year, thinks his future lies with OSS and Donzi, which he sells from his dealership on Gandy Boulevard.
"I think you will see a much larger fleet next year," Flanigan said. "There will be some surprises."
A St. Petersburg boat dealer competes against big money for a world title.
By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoors Editor
Published November 20, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST. PETERSBURG - In a high-dollar sport dominated by the independently wealthy, Mike Flanigan is a blue-collar guy trying to get by.
"Me, a millionaire?" laughed Flanigan of St. Petersburg. "I wish."
Like many boat racers, Flanigan, pilot for the Offshore Super Series vee-bottom boat Lightning Strikes, started his career in the pits.
"My father, John Flanigan, raced in the APBA and U.S. Offshore back in the early '90s," said Mike Flanigan, 34. "I worked for him until I got a chance to get in my own boat."
That was 10 years ago. Today, Flanigan is one of the young turks battling for acceptance in a premiere class dominated by veterans.
When the OSS World Championships continue today off St. Pete Beach, Flanigan and teammate Bob Teague hope to parlay their third-place finish Thursday into a shot at the title.
To do that, their Lighting Strikes Donzi will have to take down the Spiderman Skater, a boat that has achieved nearly superhero status this season.
Ken Bowen and Scot Conrad started off the year in a Donzi, Adrenaline, and took over the big, red Spiderman boat when owner Todd Welling was injured in an accident unrelated to racing.
The Spiderman Skater was built by Peter Hledin's Douglas Marine, a Michigan-based performance-boat maker known for high-performance catamarans. There is no denying that Hledin's vee bottoms are fast, but Spiderman has had trouble finishing races. The 40-footer broke on the eighth of 12 laps in the final race of the regular season in Corpus Christi, Texas, but despite that fifth-place finish it had enough points to win the national championship.
But Flanigan said he thinks his Donzi is just what is needed in the rough waters off St. Pete Beach. On Thursday a brisk wind and 2- to 4-foot seas damaged many of the boats in the first race of the World Championships.
"This Donzi is definitely a rough-water boat," Flanigan said. "We don't have the top-end speed, but we can make it up by carrying speed into the turns."
And turns are exactly what the OSS, a second-year sanctioning body, hopes to be known for.
"All of our courses have six or seven turns," Flanigan said. "That makes it much more competitive. You just can't go out there and run around in circles."
The St. Pete Beach course has five lefts and one right, which forces drivers to maneuver and navigate.
"The first time out we ran the course real slow," Flanigan said. "We have a GPS and mark all the turn pins. You need to keep those numbers in your head, so when you come off a turn you set the right course to be ready for the next one."
Sound easy? Try picking out a small orange buoy in 4-foot seas through the tiny windshield of a boat going close to 100 mph.
"Navigation is critical in a boat like ours because we can't afford to go wide," Flanigan said. "We just don't have the speed. We have to keep our lines tight and run pin to pin."
Flanigan has run on all three race circuits - OSS, Super Boat International and the American Power Boat Association Offshore - but says he has opted to stick with OSS because of the competition.
"All the boats on this circuit have canopies," he said. "The safety factor is important to me."
Flanigan said he also likes the OSS's tight specifications and strict postrace inspections. "You don't hear about anybody cheating," he said.
The rival SBI/APBA tour, which combines those two sanctioning bodies, is hosting its world championships in Key West this weekend with a larger vee-bottom class. The SBI/APBA Web site lists 19 "Super Vees," but the typical race draws around 10 boats.
The SBI/APBA race courses are typical four-turn oval courses with long straightaways that are ideal for boats with high-end speed, such as those built by legendary racer Reggie Fountain in North Carolina.
Fountain, who has more than 100 wins as a driver or throttleman to his credit, doesn't like to lose. He is known as an innovator and has had some highly publicized disputes with race officials over rules and specifications in recent years. Fountain's boats excel in flat water and have dominated the SBI/APBA circuit this year.
But how the SBI/APBA Fountains would fare against the OSS fleet, which is more equally represented by all of the manufacturers - including Extreme boats and Phantom - has yet to be seen.
Last month at the OSS National Championships in Corpus Christi, two veteran SBI/APBA racers entered to go head to head with Spiderman.
"There was a lot of talk on the Internet about who would have the fastest vee-bottom, OSS or SBI," said Joe Sgro, who has driven and throttled the Super Vee Instigator to numerous wins and records. "I guess we had to see."
Instigator ended up winning the race, but only after Spiderman was forced out in the eighth lap. The Skater recorded an average lap speed of 94.74 mph compared to the Fountain's 92.17.
But Instigator didn't show up at St. Pete Beach for a rematch. A prior commitment sent the boat to Key West, which last year hosted a unified world championships, the first in a decade.
Hopes of another universal worlds championship, one that would truly determine the fastest boat in each class, were dashed when organizers from the rival tours could not agree to terms.
Flanigan, who with Teague won the world title in Key West last year, thinks his future lies with OSS and Donzi, which he sells from his dealership on Gandy Boulevard.
"I think you will see a much larger fleet next year," Flanigan said. "There will be some surprises."
11-21-2005, 07:45 AM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
Gulf races crown OSS champs
By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoors Editor
Published November 21, 2005
ST. PETE BEACH - They say a powerboat race is often won or lost in the first lap. After Sunday's final race in the Offshore Super Series World Championships, Joey Gratton said he would agree.
"It is all about getting out in front and staying there," said the throttleman for the first-place OSS Cat Lite team Page Motorsports . "We didn't win the start but once we did get out ahead, we did the NASCAR thing and made sure that nobody got by us."
Stan Ware and David Wade in the Popeye's boat got off to an early start. But Gratton, a veteran from Sarasota, and teammate Steve Page slipped by and did what all seasoned racers do: They protected their lead.
"We didn't make any mistakes," Page said. "Being out front made all the difference."
Ron and Scott Roman in the Motley Crew Skater tried several times to pass Gratton and Page but failed. The brothers from New Jersey, the reigning national champions, won the first race of the worlds on Thursday.
"We have been going at it with those guys all season," said Ron Roman, the throttleman. "They were doing exactly what we would have done to them if we were out front - block us out."
The Romans had a problem with one of their engines, and at one point missed a buoy and had to stop and go back around.
"That really hurt us," Scott Roman said. "After that, there just weren't enough laps left in the race to reel them in."
But the Roman's second-place finish, combined with their victory on Thursday, gave them enough points for the world title.
"A national and world title ... not bad for our first season with OSS," Ron Roman said.
In other catamaran action, Tom Abrams and his Reliable Carriers Skater had a blistering start and for a while looked unbeatable. But midway through, he pulled off the course and left the other four OSS Cats to battle it out.
One by one, the others fell off. By the end, only two were left: Nichols/Pier 57 and team CRC.
"To win a race you have got to finish," said St. Petersburg's Todd Werner, driver for the Nichols MTI. "It doesn't matter how fast you can go, but how quickly you get around the course."
Werner and teammate Billy Moore had worked their way through the pack to first place. Mike DeFrees and Jeff Harris, the reigning national champions, tried to narrow the gap. But two laps from the finish, DeFrees and Harris rolled their 40-foot MTI.
Since there were only two boats running at the time, team CRC was awarded second place even though it technically did not finish. Those points, combined with Thursday's first-place finish, gave CRC the world title pending a review by race officials.
In vee-bottom action, national champion Spiderman followed its first-place finish Thursday with a win Sunday. Ken Bowen and Scott Conrad dominated the class for most of the season and added the world title to their racing resumes.
Todd Welling, Spiderman's owner, didn't promise a victory Sunday even though his boat has proved virtually unstoppable.
"Let's just say we'll give it our best shot," he said. "But I will say that we will have a Spiderman cat as well next season. You can count on that."
By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoors Editor
Published November 21, 2005
ST. PETE BEACH - They say a powerboat race is often won or lost in the first lap. After Sunday's final race in the Offshore Super Series World Championships, Joey Gratton said he would agree.
"It is all about getting out in front and staying there," said the throttleman for the first-place OSS Cat Lite team Page Motorsports . "We didn't win the start but once we did get out ahead, we did the NASCAR thing and made sure that nobody got by us."
Stan Ware and David Wade in the Popeye's boat got off to an early start. But Gratton, a veteran from Sarasota, and teammate Steve Page slipped by and did what all seasoned racers do: They protected their lead.
"We didn't make any mistakes," Page said. "Being out front made all the difference."
Ron and Scott Roman in the Motley Crew Skater tried several times to pass Gratton and Page but failed. The brothers from New Jersey, the reigning national champions, won the first race of the worlds on Thursday.
"We have been going at it with those guys all season," said Ron Roman, the throttleman. "They were doing exactly what we would have done to them if we were out front - block us out."
The Romans had a problem with one of their engines, and at one point missed a buoy and had to stop and go back around.
"That really hurt us," Scott Roman said. "After that, there just weren't enough laps left in the race to reel them in."
But the Roman's second-place finish, combined with their victory on Thursday, gave them enough points for the world title.
"A national and world title ... not bad for our first season with OSS," Ron Roman said.
In other catamaran action, Tom Abrams and his Reliable Carriers Skater had a blistering start and for a while looked unbeatable. But midway through, he pulled off the course and left the other four OSS Cats to battle it out.
One by one, the others fell off. By the end, only two were left: Nichols/Pier 57 and team CRC.
"To win a race you have got to finish," said St. Petersburg's Todd Werner, driver for the Nichols MTI. "It doesn't matter how fast you can go, but how quickly you get around the course."
Werner and teammate Billy Moore had worked their way through the pack to first place. Mike DeFrees and Jeff Harris, the reigning national champions, tried to narrow the gap. But two laps from the finish, DeFrees and Harris rolled their 40-foot MTI.
Since there were only two boats running at the time, team CRC was awarded second place even though it technically did not finish. Those points, combined with Thursday's first-place finish, gave CRC the world title pending a review by race officials.
In vee-bottom action, national champion Spiderman followed its first-place finish Thursday with a win Sunday. Ken Bowen and Scott Conrad dominated the class for most of the season and added the world title to their racing resumes.
Todd Welling, Spiderman's owner, didn't promise a victory Sunday even though his boat has proved virtually unstoppable.
"Let's just say we'll give it our best shot," he said. "But I will say that we will have a Spiderman cat as well next season. You can count on that."
11-21-2005, 12:39 PM
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Re: St Pete Race Articles
Wipeout hands Screamin Eagle title
Catamarans race along the St. Pete Beach shore in the Offshore Super Series World Championships. Six champions were crowned.
By RODNEY PAGE, Times Staff Writer
Published November 21, 2005
ST. PETE BEACH - As the laps began to mount in Sunday's Offshore Super Series Vee Lite race , Screamin Eagle throttleman Allen Campbell was doing the math in his head. To win the world championship, Campbell knew he and driver Matt Jones needed to overtake race leader Wild Card/Gen Pro .
Wild Ride , which won Thursday's race by three seconds over Screamin Eagle , was comfortably in third with more than a lap to go in the nine-lap race. If Wild Card-Gen Pro won Sunday's race and Screamin Eagle finished second, Wild Ride would have enough cumulative points to win the world championship.
Then Wild Card/Gen Pro rooster-tailed heading into a turn on the backstretch, wiped out and was unable to finish. Screamin Eagle took over first place and never looked back, claiming the team's first world championship. Wild Ride settled for second. Imco was third.
"We're trying our best to catch (Wild Card/Gen Pro ), we're wide open on the throttle," said Campbell, who lives in Sarasota. "We see them go into the turn and we see a big water spray. We knew what they did. We backed off and went wide. That made us number one."
Unlike Thursday, when there were waves of 3 to 4 feet that beat up many boats, the waters were smooth. Campbell said that is the best condition for his boat, but a slow start had his team trying to make up ground most of the race. And he admitted if Wild Card/Gen Pro hadn't washed out, his team wouldn't have taken the title.
"You couldn't have set up a better scenario," Campbell said. "We've got to finish second with them fourth, or we've got to win with them more than three seconds behind us. Then we start out third? We've got to spend most of our time trying to run those guys down. We wouldn't have caught them."
WHM Mini-Me finised fourth in Vee Lites, Wild Card/Gen Pro was fifth and Typhoon, which didn't complete a lap Thursday, failed to do so again on Sunday and finished sixth.
There was drama in the OSS Cat Outboard division, some of which took place at the start of the race. Loan Shark , which was only 28 seconds out of first place before Sunday, broke down as the race began and failed to start.
"As soon as we hit the gas on the start/finish line the left motor blew up," said Loan Shark throttleman Dan Lawrence, who is from Sarasota. Teammate/driver Marc Granet is from St. Petersburg. "The left motor blew in the first race but we still finished. Then we noticed we needed a clamp bracket on the right motor. So we couldn't get the left motor fixed in time. We had to take a chance."
That left two boats to duke it out in the Cat Outboard division, Bermuda Berry Cuda and Mojo. Mojo was leading into the seventh lap but blew an engine and finished second. Bermuda Berry Cuda won its first world championship since 2000.
"We've been second every year since then," throttleman Dennis Berry said. "We finished second to Mojo in the national championship the same way. We were leading and we blew an engine. There's a lot of luck in this. I will say that it is more prestigious to win a world championship than a national championship."
The only other class running in the first races was the OSS Cat Extreme. JEM and Pair-a-Dice were the only two boats in the division. Pair-A-Dice easily defeated JEM Sunday, but JEM had a 4 minute, 56 second lead after Thursday's race and won the title on cumulative time.
Catamarans race along the St. Pete Beach shore in the Offshore Super Series World Championships. Six champions were crowned.
By RODNEY PAGE, Times Staff Writer
Published November 21, 2005
ST. PETE BEACH - As the laps began to mount in Sunday's Offshore Super Series Vee Lite race , Screamin Eagle throttleman Allen Campbell was doing the math in his head. To win the world championship, Campbell knew he and driver Matt Jones needed to overtake race leader Wild Card/Gen Pro .
Wild Ride , which won Thursday's race by three seconds over Screamin Eagle , was comfortably in third with more than a lap to go in the nine-lap race. If Wild Card-Gen Pro won Sunday's race and Screamin Eagle finished second, Wild Ride would have enough cumulative points to win the world championship.
Then Wild Card/Gen Pro rooster-tailed heading into a turn on the backstretch, wiped out and was unable to finish. Screamin Eagle took over first place and never looked back, claiming the team's first world championship. Wild Ride settled for second. Imco was third.
"We're trying our best to catch (Wild Card/Gen Pro ), we're wide open on the throttle," said Campbell, who lives in Sarasota. "We see them go into the turn and we see a big water spray. We knew what they did. We backed off and went wide. That made us number one."
Unlike Thursday, when there were waves of 3 to 4 feet that beat up many boats, the waters were smooth. Campbell said that is the best condition for his boat, but a slow start had his team trying to make up ground most of the race. And he admitted if Wild Card/Gen Pro hadn't washed out, his team wouldn't have taken the title.
"You couldn't have set up a better scenario," Campbell said. "We've got to finish second with them fourth, or we've got to win with them more than three seconds behind us. Then we start out third? We've got to spend most of our time trying to run those guys down. We wouldn't have caught them."
WHM Mini-Me finised fourth in Vee Lites, Wild Card/Gen Pro was fifth and Typhoon, which didn't complete a lap Thursday, failed to do so again on Sunday and finished sixth.
There was drama in the OSS Cat Outboard division, some of which took place at the start of the race. Loan Shark , which was only 28 seconds out of first place before Sunday, broke down as the race began and failed to start.
"As soon as we hit the gas on the start/finish line the left motor blew up," said Loan Shark throttleman Dan Lawrence, who is from Sarasota. Teammate/driver Marc Granet is from St. Petersburg. "The left motor blew in the first race but we still finished. Then we noticed we needed a clamp bracket on the right motor. So we couldn't get the left motor fixed in time. We had to take a chance."
That left two boats to duke it out in the Cat Outboard division, Bermuda Berry Cuda and Mojo. Mojo was leading into the seventh lap but blew an engine and finished second. Bermuda Berry Cuda won its first world championship since 2000.
"We've been second every year since then," throttleman Dennis Berry said. "We finished second to Mojo in the national championship the same way. We were leading and we blew an engine. There's a lot of luck in this. I will say that it is more prestigious to win a world championship than a national championship."
The only other class running in the first races was the OSS Cat Extreme. JEM and Pair-a-Dice were the only two boats in the division. Pair-A-Dice easily defeated JEM Sunday, but JEM had a 4 minute, 56 second lead after Thursday's race and won the title on cumulative time.
