Unlimited And Stock Outboard Partner For Promotion
Edited and Reprinted with permission from the APBA
Boat racing is fun, boat racing is exciting and boat racing has many levels of competition.
With the H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes flying around the course in excess of 200 mph, few fans would take a look at the wooden stock outboards and see a tie between the two classes. That was until H1 Chairman Steve David and Stock Outboard Region 12 Commissioner David Hale got together and started to realize that the unlimited boats could do more than race fast, the big boats could go a long way in helping all of American Power Boat Association including the stock outboards.
The APBA was created in 1903 by an act of the New York legislature as a racing association for powerboats. It is the United States sanctioning authority for the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), the world governing body for powerboat racing and the APBA sanctions races in a number of different categories including the Unlimited Hydroplanes, Inboard, Outboard Performance Craft, Stock Outboard, Modified Outboard, Pro Outboard, Outboard Drag, Offshore and Special Events classes.
This year, H1 will try to do more to help promote the stock outboards by having a display at the season opener in Madison, Ind. and having them run once again in San Diego.
“Where our sites have the capacity and room on their schedule stocks, they will join the promotion,” said David. “I can think of nothing better than fill the event with more boat racing, helping promote the sport and the APBA.”
David Hale
The partnership stemmed from a conversation David and Hale had two years ago. The Stock Outboards were invited to participate at San Diego Bayfair and were pitted right next to the Unlimiteds. Being pitted right next to the Unlimited garnered a little extra attention for the Stock Outboards and excited Hale about future possibilities.
“I think what we have done now is that each category has just enlarged their families to encompass the other,” Hale said. “We have said over and over that Stock Outboard is the grass roots of racing and now we are going to make those words a reality and show people that this is how you become an Unlimited driver. This is where a lot of them started.”
With Unlimited drivers such as J. Michael Kelly and Jimmy Shane cutting their teeth in the Stock Outboard Classes and slowly moving their way up into Inboard racing and eventually Unlimited racing, the two categories partnering together seemed like a natural fit, according to David.
To announce the official partnership, Hale attended the 2014 Unlimited Banquet to make the announcement alongside David, and it couldn’t have gone better.
“I want to emphasize the welcome we received. When I say that these sites are looking forward to having us at their races, I don’t mean that they’re looking forward in the ‘polite’ sense that someone might say,” Hale said. “I really got the impression from (many of the Unlimited race directors that they really wanted to have us (at their races).
“People look up to the drivers of these (Unlimited Hydroplanes) and here is how you become an Unlimited hydroplane driver, here is where they started; in Stock Outboard. Stock Outboard is alive and well within reach of everyone. Yes, you too, can race a hydroplane. Not only that, but you too might even be racing against an Unlimited driver in your next race.”
—
Unlimited And Stock Outboard Partner For Promotion
Edited and Reprinted with permission from the APBA
Boat racing is fun, boat racing is exciting and boat racing has many levels of competition.
With the H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes flying around the course in excess of 200 mph, few fans would take a look at the wooden stock outboards and see a tie between the two classes. That was until H1 Chairman Steve David and Stock Outboard Region 12 Commissioner David Hale got together and started to realize that the unlimited boats could do more than race fast, the big boats could go a long way in helping all of American Power Boat Association including the stock outboards.
The APBA was created in 1903 by an act of the New York legislature as a racing association for powerboats. It is the United States sanctioning authority for the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), the world governing body for powerboat racing and the APBA sanctions races in a number of different categories including the Unlimited Hydroplanes, Inboard, Outboard Performance Craft, Stock Outboard, Modified Outboard, Pro Outboard, Outboard Drag, Offshore and Special Events classes.
This year, H1 will try to do more to help promote the stock outboards by having a display at the season opener in Madison, Ind. and having them run once again in San Diego.
“Where our sites have the capacity and room on their schedule stocks, they will join the promotion,” said David. “I can think of nothing better than fill the event with more boat racing, helping promote the sport and the APBA.”
David Hale
The partnership stemmed from a conversation David and Hale had two years ago. The Stock Outboards were invited to participate at San Diego Bayfair and were pitted right next to the Unlimiteds. Being pitted right next to the Unlimited garnered a little extra attention for the Stock Outboards and excited Hale about future possibilities.
“I think what we have done now is that each category has just enlarged their families to encompass the other,” Hale said. “We have said over and over that Stock Outboard is the grass roots of racing and now we are going to make those words a reality and show people that this is how you become an Unlimited driver. This is where a lot of them started.”
With Unlimited drivers such as J. Michael Kelly and Jimmy Shane cutting their teeth in the Stock Outboard Classes and slowly moving their way up into Inboard racing and eventually Unlimited racing, the two categories partnering together seemed like a natural fit, according to David.
To announce the official partnership, Hale attended the 2014 Unlimited Banquet to make the announcement alongside David, and it couldn’t have gone better.
“I want to emphasize the welcome we received. When I say that these sites are looking forward to having us at their races, I don’t mean that they’re looking forward in the ‘polite’ sense that someone might say,” Hale said. “I really got the impression from (many of the Unlimited race directors that they really wanted to have us (at their races).
“People look up to the drivers of these (Unlimited Hydroplanes) and here is how you become an Unlimited hydroplane driver, here is where they started; in Stock Outboard. Stock Outboard is alive and well within reach of everyone. Yes, you too, can race a hydroplane. Not only that, but you too might even be racing against an Unlimited driver in your next race.”
—