It is with a heavy heart that I send this notice out to you. We were at 11 race boats last Saturday coming to Lake Havasu for competition. Yesterday we received 3 team’s cancelation notice. We would be at 7 or possibly 8 boats running the course each race, considering normal attrition rate at the races we would be down to 5-6 by the main event on Sunday.
April 21st and 22nd, 2012
Schedule and Meetings
FRIDAY April 20
7:00 am Race Village opens for teams to Check - In
9:00 am - 4:00 pm Offshore - Check-In/Safety Inspection
10:00 am- 4:00 pm Offshore Registration- (LBCR)
11:00 am Swim Test (LBCR Pool)
12:00 pm Driver’s Meeting for Class testing – Race Village
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Testing (Rules of the Road, GP Turn 1, 2, & 
5pm Offshore Drivers/Scorers Meeting Mandatory-Race Village
SATURDAY April 21
7:30 am - 8:00 am Patrol Boat Meeting (Mandatory) - (LBCR)
7:30 am - 8:00 am Drive Physicals - (LBCR)
8:30 am - 4:00 pm Cranes Open (8:30-10:00 am & 12:30-4:00
9:00 am - 6:00 pm Race Village opens to Public
8:00 am - 3:00 pm Race Control Open (monitor VHF 78A)
9:00 am - 10:00 am NWSRA Race
10:00 am - 11:00 am Heat #1 25-35 miles
11:00 am - 2:00 pm NWSRA Race
2:00 pm - 3:00pm Heat #2 25-35 miles
7:00 pm Meet the Race Teams Party (TBD)
SUNDAY April 22
9:00 am - 1:00pm Water Ski Enduro
8:00 am - 12:00 pm Patrol Boats sign in & Late Offshore Registration - (LBCR)
11:00 am - 6:00 pm Cranes Open
11:00 am - 11:30 am Offshore Racer Physicals (Mandatory) – Race Village
9:00 am - 5:00 pm Race Village opens to Public
7:30 am - 3:00 pm Race Control Open (monitor VHF 78A)
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Offshore Grand Prix for all Boats (Closed Course) 60-75 miles
5:00 pm Awards Ceremony
WATER SCHEDULE
Saturday
Boat Warm—up 8:30 am - NWSRA
Grass Roots Race 9:00 am - NWSRA
Mini Marathon Race 9:30 am - NWSRA
POPRA Race #1 10:00 am - POPRA
Women’s Marathon Race 11:00 am - NWSRA
Men’s Marathon Race 12:30 pm - NWSRA
POPRA Race #2 2:00 pm – POPRA
Sunday
Boat Warm—up 8:30 am - NWSRA
Grass Roots Race 9:00 am - NWSRA
Women’s Marathon Race 10:00 am - NWSRA
Men’s Marathon Race 11:00 am - NWSRA
Offshore Grand Prix 1:00 pm - POPRA
Super Cat
Renegade - Ferguson
Renegade Offshore Racing
Honker Cut- Carnoful
http://www.honkercutmarine.com/
CRC- DeFrees
Team CRC 7
Production 1
AVR- Kutcher
Who’s Racing- Jones
In the Red- Juve
Cat Lite
Amsoil- Teague
Production 4
Coyote - Rebolo
Pig Iron Racing- Johnson
521 Racing
Production 6
Gretchen’s
OFFSHORE RACING RETURNS TO
LAKE HAVASU!!!!
For Immediate Release
March 5, 2012
For the fifth time Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association (POPRA)
is returning to Lake Havasu on April 20th to the 22nd in conjunction with
the Lake Havasu Boat Show. Catch all the race action starting on Friday
with practice runs. Many of the offshore race teams will take this
opportunity to “test and tune” their boats for the weekend. Saturday race
action features racing 30 mile heats. Sundays racing culminates with the
2012 Havasu Gran Prix. The public is invited to come down and get up
close inside POPRA’s race village and dry pits in the Windsor Beach
(Windsor 4) parking lot adjacent to the Havasu Boat Show. Stop by, meet
the racers and take some pictures next to these extreme boats. Spectators
will see offshore boats racing in speeds from 70mph to over 150mph! Some
of the best offshore race teams in the country are returning to Lake Havasu
to defend their title!
For more information and updates please visit www.pacificoffshore.com
Top Speed in Lake Tahoe
Advantage Marine, Pacific Offshore Rescue Team, and Vessel Assist worked on a plan to put together a slalom course that would help drivers hone their skills at running corners.
Jeff and Russ from Vessel Assist (Lake Tahoe) took the plan and put it into place. They used a sea anchor style, weighted buoy system for a perfect deep water course. It was simple to change and worked great.
POPRA 2012Series
LAKE TAHOE WORTHY RISK CHALLENGE!!!
OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACING RETURNS TO
LAKE TAHOE June 21st Through June 24th, 2012
Tahoe City, CA (Saturday, August 06, 2011) - Offshore Powerboat Racing is returning to Lake Tahoe on June 21st Through June 24th, 2012 as the Inaugural Lake Tahoe Worthy Risk Challenge and Fun Run which will feature two different types of courses.
The Lake Tahoe event comprises of two (2) separate challenges -Saturday September 10th - The Worthy Risk Challenge will push every team to the edge in a sprint. The boats will run one at a time and be scored on total time, top speed and Best Combined to bring home the Trophy and checkered flags for all classes. At the end of the day the winning team will carry the Worthy Risk perpetual trophy home for a year!
Sunday, September 11th will feature the POPRA Tahoe Fun Run. The teams will be running a fifty (50) mile course around the lake.
The action both days will include a helicopter with video, safety, and still photos from the air. Shots and video will be available to all. Pacific Offshore Recue Team, a highly trained group of divers and medics will provide the safety coverage. Pioneer Boat Storage and Advantage Marine will host the Dry Pits in Truckee, CA.
The Offshore Powerboat Challenge will be hosted by the Pacific Offshore Power Boat Racing Association, the recognized leader in Offshore Powerboat racing on the west coast. Offshore race boats will compete from all over the U.S., ranging from 22 feet to over 50 feet and will hit speeds upwards of 150 MPH in some of the Pro classes.
The action starts Saturday, September 10th, with the teams competing in a three and a half (3 ½) mile sprint to achieve speed and handling domination over the rest of the teams. The awards will be given out in the evening at the party.
Sunday September 11th the Lake Tahoe Fun Run can test the skill and equipment of the most seasoned veteran as well as the novice racer over fifty (50) miles of the most beautiful shoreline anywhere in the world with the 50 mile test of endurance that can trace it’s roots to the very start of Tahoe Powerboat racing 100 years ago.
Lake Tahoe provides a wealth of family fun with great hotels, wonderful restaurants, and world famous parks of the Sierras. The casinos will be here for all of you that care to make a wager or catch a show. Lake Tahoe is a tourist destination for racers and race fans alike.
This event is meant to be a grass roots, or perhaps gas roots event, all are welcome. POPRA welcomes first-time racers to compete in the challenge. There will be a class for everyone, the fees are low and there are lots of prizes. For more information and an outline of rules log onto www.pacificoffshore.com.
The Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association is one of the oldest offshore powerboat racing organization in the world. POPRA was incorporated in 1966 by the late Bob Nordskog, known around the world as the “Grandfather of Offshore Powerboat Racing”. The production of a POPRA event has a significant impact on the economy of the cities they visit in terms of tourist dollars in hotel, restaurant and retail sales from the racers and fans. POPRA draws participants from all over the U.S. and has produced races throughout the West Coast. Race sites include cities such as Lake Havasu, Long Beach, San Diego, Dana Point, Oceanside, Benecia, Pittsburg (Calif.), Ventura, San Francisco and Las Vegas (Lake Mead). (For more information: www.pacificoffshore.com )
Contact:
Brad Johnson, POPRA President
(530) 550-1638 or brad@pigironracing.com
Misty morning heat
As we enter our racing season & with the season opener behind us, I stop to think, “What is the true meaning of a Crew Chief” and what’s evolved in his (or her) job? I watch closely my team make the laps time after time, but only when the boat comes in from the race can I share my comments. I tell my driver & throttle man, in my opinion, what they did right but mostly what they did wrong! I tell them that they pulled back the throttle too soon when entering the corners or that they took the corners too wide! “You HAVE to cut those corners as tight as possible to the pins, without losing your speed!” “Use your tabs to slow down or accelerate faster out of the corners”; “Stay closer to the pin & put your boat between the other boats”; “Don’t let the other boats shut the door on you when approaching them by switching up your lane choice!”
Do these instructions help or do they bring down, tear down their confidence in their racing ability? Sometimes they say “you’re not out there, so you don’t know” or sometimes they say nothing at all. I feel I need to throw out as much information as possible, what they do with it is up to them. Is this the feeling of most crew chiefs or am I missing something? For those racers who do not use a crew chief, is the additional expense of getting yet another person to the race worth the information or help that person can potentially give to the team & riding crew.
On the other hand, there is so much more to my job than just to watch the race & give information to the riding crew. It’s about getting the boat & crew to the race. From a week before the race starts, or more, I’m focusing on spare parts for the boat, uniforms for the crew, accommodations, race fuel, checking the com gear for operation, packing the boat & hauler, making sure all the sponsors are on board (both verbally & in writing), checking that all sponsor’s stickers are on the boat & most importantly making sure that there’s enough money in the checking account to go as well as enough cash for on the road. Yea it seems like allot but it’s all worth it when you arrive. Oh once you arrive there’s more. Making sure we’ve got the best spot in the pits to showcase our sponsors, making sure all the sponsor’s flags are placed in the correct spots around the city (where they won’t get torn down), setting up camp in the pits so that it doesn’t look like a yard sale & the hardest, making sure the crew keeps moving. Every day getting up at 6 am to get to the drivers meeting, get to the physicals, getting to registration & making sure this all caught on tape & film. It’s hard to imagine this all for just 3 hours of running time, if you make it that far! About the only thing I’m not responsible for is making sure the boat runs. That is another job all in its self.
So, all the above is just a tip of the ice berg as far as my job is concerned, the rest is just pure fun!!!!