article in KW paper on SBI Marathon

[Bobcat]

Wet and Wild
Aqua Mania highlights rain-delayed Marathon Grand Prix

By Willis Jacobson Assistant Sports Editor

MARATHON -- Racing literally in a class of its own, the Aqua Mania boat essentially turned Sunday's seventh annual Marathon Grand Prix into its own showcase.

Pretty good for a boat with a first-time driver.

With John Cosker making his debut behind the wheel, Aqua Mania, which was the lone entrant in the Superboat Turbine class, turned in the fastest speed of the day -- at 187 mph on one of the straightaways -- and twice lapped its nearest competition from the other racing classes.

"We were really racing against ourselves," said Cosker, whose team also had the highest average speed at 110.09 mph. "We were just trying to learn the boat and push ourselves as hard as we could so that when we get to other races where there might be more competition, we'll be set up pretty well."

Aqua Mania's run was one of the highlights of the event, which was the second of the season for the Super Boat International Racing Series. The start of Sunday's racing was delayed by about 90 minutes due to passing rain. Once the skies cleared, however, the 16 boats hit the water and enjoyed near perfect conditions.

"We were watching the rain on the radar, and we could see that it was going to clear up eventually," said John Carbonell, CEO of Super Boat International and Sunday's race organizer. "Once it cleared up, it was still raining, but it wasn't impeding our view of the course, so we raced."

The delay seemed to mainly build the anticipation among the teams.

"It's frustrating when you're getting ready to go, but then you can't do it," said Cosker. "Then after all that waiting, we finally get on the water and it starts raining again. So it's kind of frustrating when you're pumped up and ready to go and then have to wait again."

Not everyone, however, was happy to see clear skies.

"We were actually looking forward to having the bumps and a little bit of action out there," said William McComb, who drove Patron Rock Star to victory in the Superboat Vee Unlimited class. "When it calmed down and got bright and shiny, we were like, 'Oh, no.' We wanted some action. It makes it a little more exciting."

Cosker said the weather was partly to blame for his team missing out on one of its pre-race goals -- to top 200 mph. Still, Cosker, who built Aqua Mania and had been a throttle-man with the team for six years, said he enjoyed the view from the driver's seat as he and throttle-man Rick Merola navigated the course's turns beneath the north end of the Seven Mile Bridge.

"One of the owners couldn't make it to the race this weekend, so he asked me to drive," Cosker said. "It was a little bit of a changeup getting in the driver's seat, but it was a lot of fun because this is a pretty aggressive course. Plus, I got to learn a lot more about the boat by sitting in that seat."

Patron Rockstar, which averaged 76.78 mph, won its class despite some early technical problems that hindered its start. McComb said the team initially had too much fuel, which left the boat's propeller at a higher level than the team would've liked and hindered the boat's speed, much like poor traction with a car.

"Once we burned some fuel, the stern sunk back down in the water and the slip on the propeller went down," McComb said. "After that, we gained like two or three miles per hour and were able to pull away."

The SuperHeat team, making its SBI debut, took first in the Superboat Unlimited class. Team Miccosukee won the Superboat Stock division, ahead of runner-up Throttle Up Propellers. Panasonic was first in the Superboat Vee Extreme class, and Rockstar finished ahead of Davis Motorsports and Hard Rock in the Superboat Vee Unlimited group.

In the production classes, winners were Rockstar, Double Trouble, Crazy Chicken and Rum Runners.

At Sunday's post-race award ceremony, some of the teams were already looking forward to returning next year.

"I've always enjoyed this race," Cosker said. "I've been down here like three or four times, and for some reason this is always one of my favorite races. It's a challenging course and it's a great place to come, and the people here are really hospitable and treat us really well."

[jayboat]

[Buoy]

Wet and Wild
Aqua Mania highlights rain-delayed Marathon Grand Prix

By Willis Jacobson Assistant Sports Editor

.

Pretty good for a boat with a first-time driver.

With John Cosker making his debut behind the wheel, Aqua Mania, which was the lone entrant in the Superboat Turbine class, turned in the fastest speed of the day -- at 187 mph on one of the straightaways -- and twice lapped its nearest competition from the other racing classes.

I know what they mean, but that's a bit misleading...

[TCEd]

SBIP must be nervous with a sixteen boat entry after all the news regarding the TV contract with CBS.

[Ratickle]

SBIP must be nervous with a sixteen boat entry after all the news regarding the TV contract with CBS.

Were only 10 able to finish?

[ThrottleUp Props]

It is nice to Throttle Up in the news!!!!!!

Julie

[jayboat]

Were only 10 able to finish?

Not sure of the total, but there was some attrition-

Hard Rock had a starter issue and did not start.

Superheat lost a fuel pump on second or third lap.

National Guard lost complete lower when bolts vibrated loose (there's a nice prop near turn 3).

Rum Runner DNF, dont know why.

I think that's everyone...

[Marginmn]

Ok, silly question, but why can't the ego's behind OSS and SBI bite the bullet and merge their two struggling series into one viable series for the good of the sport?

[jayboat]

Ok, silly question, but why can't the ego's behind OSS and SBI bite the bullet and merge their two struggling series into one viable series for the good of the sport?

um, good question, my friend.

there's probly 5000 pages of discussion on this subject over on the other site.

one would think that considering these low boat counts and the current state of the economy, etc etc... that the answer would be obvious to anyone with eyes.

one would be mistaken.

[cigdaze]

Ok, silly question, but why can't the ego's behind OSS and SBI bite the bullet and merge their two struggling series into one viable series for the good of the sport?

For starters, see here:
http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forum...ead.php?t=6843

here:
http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forum...ead.php?t=6476

and here:
http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forum...ead.php?t=6310

Lots of good discussions.

[Marginmn]

Tks, I did say it was a silly question

[TCEd]

The problem I have with all the discussions regarding the various sanction bodies and what's best for the sport is they don't seem interested in the FAN. The threads break out into discussions on class structures, personalties, the CBS contract, geographic regions and so on and forgetting the FAN typically pays the bills via tickets or buying the commerciall products that sponsor the entrants or events.
I'd suggest the FAN would like to see the best racers running against each other under one sanction body instead of the one, two boat classes run today by two sanction bodies on the same weekend. This crap didn't work with pro football, pro hockey, INDY cars or pro basketball, they all merged into one body and they had a lot more money then then offshore racing does.

I get a kick out of the banner on the SBI website stating they're the sport of the rich and famous. Offshore racing is a good sport with good people involved and a lot of bad management.
ed

[cigdaze]

Agreed. It sucks as a fan to have to decide which race to attend this past weekend. Thus, I attended neither.

The biggest problem the way I see it, is that there is too much catering to every special interest in boat racing...In other words, make boats to fit classes, not classes to fit every boat. Racing one's self is not exciting. It's like Stecz doing it himself. No thanks.

[jayboat]

It's like Stecz doing it himself.

Good post... could have done without that visual, tho.