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The boat was also the first boat on the scene to assist Bobby Saccenti and Ben Kramer when they stuffed their big Apache cat in 1986 in New York.
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AOKI FIRST IN POWERBOAT RACE
By JOANNE A. FISHMAN, Special to the New York Times
The New York Times, Published: July 15, 1982
POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J., July 14— Benihana, the 38-foot catamaran driven by Rocky Aoki, roared out of the thick haze in the Atlantic Ocean to cross the finish line first today, capturing the eighth annual Benihana Grand Prix.
This was the second time that Aoki has won the $45,000 offshore powerboat race, an event that he also sponsors. It was a stirring comeback after a near-fatal accident Aoki suffered as the pilot of an offshore powerboat more than two years ago.
With a time of 2 hours 35 minutes 33 seconds, Aoki also set a record of 80.25 miles per hour for the 208-mile course as the openclass boats roared across an almost flat sea.
Benihana was followed across the line by Rampage II, a 38-foot Cigarette driven by Joe Ippolito of Point Pleasant Beach, and Rampage, a 37-foot Cougar catamaran driven by Eddie Trotta of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Ippolito was assessed a three-minute penalty, though, which moved Trotta into second and dropped him into third. A estimated 250,000 persons watched the race, according to race officials, from the New Jersey beaches from Long Branch to Seaside Heights.
Cigarette Hawk, driven by Jerry Jacoby of Old Westbury, N.Y., did not finish the race. The breakdown cost him his lead in the national point standings. Betty Cook, who finished fourth with Michelob Light, now leads with 1,019 points, followed by Jacoby with 1,000. Howard Quam, who was the driver of record for this race even though Aoki was at the helm, earned the first-place points to lift Benihana to third with 925 points.
Aoki, the 42-year-old head of the Benihana restaurant chain and a resident of Englewood, N.J., drove wearing a leg brace that still remains as a result of his accident.
Aoki took the lead at the start of the race and held onto it until his kill switch caused him to lose two minutes of running time. The kill switch, a safety device, is a cord that runs from the driver's vest to the ignition. If a driver is thrown out, the kill switch cuts off the engine. Apparently, the cord was too short and the jolting caused a cut in the power, said Aoki.
Aoki regained the lead, only to have the kill switch cause another loss of time, this one for more than 40 seconds. Again, Benihana regained the lead. He held onto it and stretched it to a about a mile. Aoki's crew was Quam of Chicago, the boat's owner and throttleman, and Mike Nebus of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the mechanic.
Willie Diaz, of Miami, driving El Boss, a 30-foot shadow, easily won the sport class with a time of 1 hour 22 minutes 48 seconds for the 119-mile course that all the performance classes used.
Sal Magluta of Miami captured top honors in the modified class with his 31-foot Seahawk. Gene Whipp of Sarasota, Fla., drove Fox, a 30-foot Velocity, to first place in the pro stock class, while Kenny Kalibat of Island Park, L.I., won Class V with K&K Outboard, a 23-foot Ghost.
By JOANNE A. FISHMAN, Special to the New York Times
The New York Times, Published: July 15, 1982
POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J., July 14— Benihana, the 38-foot catamaran driven by Rocky Aoki, roared out of the thick haze in the Atlantic Ocean to cross the finish line first today, capturing the eighth annual Benihana Grand Prix.
This was the second time that Aoki has won the $45,000 offshore powerboat race, an event that he also sponsors. It was a stirring comeback after a near-fatal accident Aoki suffered as the pilot of an offshore powerboat more than two years ago.
With a time of 2 hours 35 minutes 33 seconds, Aoki also set a record of 80.25 miles per hour for the 208-mile course as the openclass boats roared across an almost flat sea.
Benihana was followed across the line by Rampage II, a 38-foot Cigarette driven by Joe Ippolito of Point Pleasant Beach, and Rampage, a 37-foot Cougar catamaran driven by Eddie Trotta of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Ippolito was assessed a three-minute penalty, though, which moved Trotta into second and dropped him into third. A estimated 250,000 persons watched the race, according to race officials, from the New Jersey beaches from Long Branch to Seaside Heights.
Cigarette Hawk, driven by Jerry Jacoby of Old Westbury, N.Y., did not finish the race. The breakdown cost him his lead in the national point standings. Betty Cook, who finished fourth with Michelob Light, now leads with 1,019 points, followed by Jacoby with 1,000. Howard Quam, who was the driver of record for this race even though Aoki was at the helm, earned the first-place points to lift Benihana to third with 925 points.
Aoki, the 42-year-old head of the Benihana restaurant chain and a resident of Englewood, N.J., drove wearing a leg brace that still remains as a result of his accident.
Aoki took the lead at the start of the race and held onto it until his kill switch caused him to lose two minutes of running time. The kill switch, a safety device, is a cord that runs from the driver's vest to the ignition. If a driver is thrown out, the kill switch cuts off the engine. Apparently, the cord was too short and the jolting caused a cut in the power, said Aoki.
Aoki regained the lead, only to have the kill switch cause another loss of time, this one for more than 40 seconds. Again, Benihana regained the lead. He held onto it and stretched it to a about a mile. Aoki's crew was Quam of Chicago, the boat's owner and throttleman, and Mike Nebus of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the mechanic.
Willie Diaz, of Miami, driving El Boss, a 30-foot shadow, easily won the sport class with a time of 1 hour 22 minutes 48 seconds for the 119-mile course that all the performance classes used.
Sal Magluta of Miami captured top honors in the modified class with his 31-foot Seahawk. Gene Whipp of Sarasota, Fla., drove Fox, a 30-foot Velocity, to first place in the pro stock class, while Kenny Kalibat of Island Park, L.I., won Class V with K&K Outboard, a 23-foot Ghost.
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During the years, the race course has gotten smaller and shorter. In the Benihana days, the race was over 200 miles long running laps from NY's Fire Island to Seaside Heights NJ. One lap was about 80 miles. For the spectators, and there were many, the boats came by once an hour and only three or four times depending upon the race course configurations. Today the racecourse is a small 4 mile oval as close to the beach as possible. Since the beach drops off quickly, the boats usually run within 150 feet of the surf.
http://www.oparacing.org/history.html
http://www.oparacing.org/history.html
smokeybandit
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Can't believe I missed this whole thread. Went to the Pt. Pleasant race this past weekend and decided to check the sites. Great seeing these old pix. Thanks for posting them!
smokeybandit
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I'll help if I can. Still hoping Pete can find pix of my 24 Skater and 21 Superboat. I lost all pix of those in a basement flood.
smokeybandit
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This is my one and only picture of my Skater
smokeybandit
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Yup, I have the videos. Still need to order the high quality DVD's from Big Seas.
smokeybandit
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We actually had more than 3 boats. I'll try to give the full lineup but the older I get the worse my memory is.
30 Chris Cat - Smokey and the Bandit
21 Superboat - Smokey and the Bandit
24 Skater - Renegade
41 Apache - Apache Bandit (the banner boat)
39 Conquest - Smokey and the Bandit
I'm sure I am forgetting a boat or two.
Plus all of the trucks and pit scooters. We had a lot of fun back then. My father was the money behind it all and I was just a young punk kid that got to race boats on dads dime. Dad got into a bit of.........we'll call it trouble. The money was gone and so was the racing.
30 Chris Cat - Smokey and the Bandit
21 Superboat - Smokey and the Bandit
24 Skater - Renegade
41 Apache - Apache Bandit (the banner boat)
39 Conquest - Smokey and the Bandit
I'm sure I am forgetting a boat or two.
Plus all of the trucks and pit scooters. We had a lot of fun back then. My father was the money behind it all and I was just a young punk kid that got to race boats on dads dime. Dad got into a bit of.........we'll call it trouble. The money was gone and so was the racing.
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