OFF 2013 will be held in conjunction with the CRA Fall event in Tavares, FL

T2x

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Attention all 2013 OFF attendees. Please register for the parties using the following website. You will also find contacts for running your boats and hotel information as well. I will be in touch with Bill Johns to see how enrollment is going. Bert Serra tells me that Bill Seebold will be coming again and plans to play in Jackie's golf outing. There are also some others coming with their clubs..... Best date for that event looks like Friday morning, but that is Jackie's call.

Hope to see you all there....



http://www.classicraceboatassoc.com/...atta-2013.html
 
More news from Bill John at CRA.

Hi Rich - Gerri and I have changed the venue and name for our Friday night social to - Opening reception & OFF Celebration. We want to welcome and honor all the OFF members with a special evening. I will introduce and then OFF will have the floor for the entire evening. Just updated our Website. http://www.classicraceboatassoc.com/...atta-2013.html.
 
Dang, the first one is on the same weekend as the Worlds. I'll try to make it to the January event.
 
Dang, the first one is on the same weekend as the Worlds. I'll try to make it to the January event.

Lately, if you see one World's...you've seen them all, but the OFF events are unique and growing. As of Now the OFF event is strictly aligned with the Fall CRA get together and many of the old timers can only attend annually...but things change and time passes.
 
Tavares Fall Thunder Regatta

November 8-10, 2013

The past will come alive as vintage and classic race boats of bygone eras return to Wooton Park in Tavares, Florida for our seventh annual Fall Thunder Regatta. Tavares is now a major stop on the CRA Florida Vintage Race Boat Circuit, and this fall's regatta expands to 3 full days, with over 75 beautifully restored vintage and classic race boats running demonstration laps on a 1 mile oval course on beautiful Lake Dora. In addition to seeing and hearing these unique and beautiful boats run, spectators are invited to view them close-up in the pit area at Wooton Park on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday & Sunday - vintage heats all day long !!!

We will be running vintage heats all day long on our one mile course, moved a bit this year, to provide better spectator viewing from the Wooton Park grandstands. There will be a large contingent of vintage outboard racers, along with the many classes of vintage inboard runabouts, hydroplanes and Gold Cup race boats. One huge 90 ton crane will be setup in the hot pit area to handle the vintage and classic race boats, which must be launched and retrieved for each heat. The constant launching and retrieving of the vintage race boats high up in the air by the crane provides for stunning visuals, and we already have six fire breathing grand prix hydroplanes registered. The sights and sounds from Wooton Park will be just magnificent, don't miss this exciting event.



Great News - OFF & CRA !!!

Rich Luhrs has made the connection with the Classic Race Boat Association (CRA) President Bill John to bring Old Friends Forever (OFF) into the CRA fold. The initial event for will be November 8-10 in Tavares, Florida. Please register for the socials parties using this Website. You will also find contacts for running vintage boats and hotel information as well. I will be in touch with Bill John to see how enrollment is going. Bert Serra tells me that Bill Seebold will be coming again and plans to play in Jackie's golf outing. There are also many others coming with their clubs for a Friday morning outing. Please join all the fun Al's Landing on Friday evening for the Opening Reception & OFF Celebration. Hope to see you all there !!! Rich Luhrs


http://www.classicraceboatassoc.com/TavaresFallThunderRegatta-2013.html
 
Are you going to be there for just the weekend do you know yet? Or will quite a few arrive early?
 
Are you taking your "Wing"....

We are taking the older 18 footer...Miss Diablo.. with twin in line 6 Merc's. The 20 footer, Dust'n The Wind II, is still out of commission from the damage sustained during Hurricane Sandy.
 
Can anyone bring a boat?

Ay Caddilac's house we brought boats. Can we do that at this event?


We are taking the older 18 footer...Miss Diablo.. with twin in line 6 Merc's. The 20 footer, Dust'n The Wind II, is still out of commission from the damage sustained during Hurricane Sandy.
 
Ay Caddilac's house we brought boats. Can we do that at this event?

Bring boats for what reason? If you are planning on running on the race course. The boats must be vintage race hulls (at least 25 years in age) and meet all the inspection requirements as published in the APBA rule book. That will allow your hull into the race pits. If you want to spectate from your boat, you may launch into the lake as a pleasure boat and watch from the spectator fleet, but you will be prohibited from the actual race course during the event. If you want to display a boat on shore, you may also register with CRA and they will give you a spot outside of the hot pits.

The reason we had to discontinue the event at Cadillac's "Byblos" was the lack of organization and the narrow confines. Boats were running willy nilly up and down the canal and in some cases cutting off the others and creating dangerous conditions. This was never meant to be a river race, but rather a chance to see old and rare racing hardware from years ago back in action doing flybys. That became increasingly difficult due to the large fleet of random hulls that assembled. Nobody's fault and the stuff was great to see, but safety has to take precedence at all times, hence the move and change of rules.

This is a sanctioned APBA V&H (Vintage and Historic) event with insurance, safety crews with ambulance cranes and fire truck on site. OFF members are guests at the event and may register for the cocktail parties and pit passes if desired.

T2x
 
OFF Update From Steve Sirois

Good Morning all of you OFFs. I just spoke with Gerri Prusko. She is the Registrar for Classic Raceboat Association. If you have been a little confused about attendance, here is the skinny as I understand. Please either e-mail her at vintageboat@comcast.net or call her at (352)729-6060 to register for the Friday and Saturday evening events at Al's Landing. These are catered events and she needs to provide the caterer with as accurate a count as possible. Additionally, since they are catered events, there is a cost....$10 for Friday night & $25 for Saturday night. CRA is welcoming us with open arms and I strongly urge you to provide them with this courtesy. Also, they have provided us with a covered area next to the pits. Per safety concerns, If you wish to enter the pits, you must be registered as a boat crewmember. You do not have to be an APBA member unless you will actually run a boat. I did not ask her about displaying a boat without actually running it. Hopefully there will be an area for that. Having OFF onboard with CRA could be a significant advantage for for the survival of both OFF and CRA. Looking forward to seeing each and everyone of you and yours at Tavares on 8-10 November. You can get more info at the following website.

As Brownie once said, "I am an Old Fart and Proud of It". - Steve Sirois

http://www.classicraceboatassoc.com/TavaresFallThunderRegatta-2013.html
 
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