2010 Season To Be Televised

Hello OPA Racers and Race Fans,OPA has completed the foundation to make 2010 the greatest year of Offshore Racing. Nominal registration fees, no individual race entry fees, a spectacular eight (8) race schedule featuring some of the best race sites in the country and today we are announcing a Television and promotional package second to none. When you have a sponsor like GEICO®, it’s amazing what can happen. Here’s what to expect. GEICO® joined by John Haggin of AMF and some additional sponsors have contracted and paid for a flag to flag race coverage TV package that will air each of the eight (8) OPA races starting in the Fall of 2010. The TV shows will be one hour long per race and air on the Versus Network www.versus.com for eight consecutive weekends. The show will feature all racing classes from Turbine to Class 6, no one will be left out.Additionally, GEICO® has committed to taking a significant portion their media buy within a 200 mile radius of each race site and use it to promote the races for two-three weeks prior to the event. This means that what you’d normally see and hear on TV and radio as GEICO® commercials will instead be changed to promote each racing event so that racing fans can make plans to attend.This substantial financial commitment is all being done so that the racers have the tools to gain sponsors. Sponsors want eyeballs seeing their message and with this two prong approach, OPA will have thousands of additional spectators on land and millions watching on TV. Now it’s up to you to promote your team and take advantage of the millions of dollars of promotion that is being put behind the 2010 GEICO Offshore Racing Series

Wahoo Wins in Long Island

Patchogue, Long Island - Wahoo wins the second stop of the Gieco Triple Crown. With Hurricane Bill lurking of the coast, Wahoo showed off it's new colors and performance. Next stop is the final leg of the Gieco Triple Crown in Cambridge Maryland.

St Clair Michigan - 2nd Place

Wahoo!

St Clair Michigan - Each year St Clair hosts the largest offshore event of the year. With 40 plus race boats and over 200,000 fans over the weekend, it is truely a one of a kind event.

This year Wahoo Racing is racing in the new OPA Super Class. In SV all the boats are 36 -40 Vee hulls with 525 Mercury Racing engines and Bravo XR drives. There are no speed limits, just run as fast as you can. Normal race speeds can reach 110 mph.

Wahoo placed second in the Super Vee class in a hard fought battle with Strictly Business Motorsports. For several laps both teams raced within a boat length for second until Wahoo was able to take the inside and hold on to second.

What a great race and weekend. Thank you St. Clair!

Lake Havasu POPRA Race and Poker Run

One hundred degrees and not a cloud in the sky! What an outstanding place for a spring race. We raced the bat boat on Saturday an enjoyed tight racing with the other bat boats. For the first time, we had a 2 x 2 start (instead of all the boats side by side) with the Super Vee Lites. This type of start places the slower boats in front at the start and leads to more passing and closer racing. This was an event not too miss.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Wahoo Racing Attends Port Huron Parade

What a great time! Port Huron Michigan knows how to have a parade. With an estimated 8000 parade attendees, Team Wahoo was very busy handing out candy and Team Fliers. We spent the day promoting Offshore Racing in Michigan and the OPA and received many positive comments. Fans here clearly enjoy offshore racing. Thank you to Dick Huvaere's Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep for support us and providing Team Fliers.

Pictures Of The New Boat In Action

Wahoo Racing Announces New Sponsor

Wahoo Racing announces new sponsor, Dick Huvaere's Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep. We are looking forward to helping build brand awareness for the dealership and will be involved in many community events throughout the year. Join us in Port Huron Michigan this Saturday for the St Patrick's Day Parade.



Please consider Dick Huvaere's Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep for your next vehicle purchase. And of course mention Wahoo Racing.


http://www.driveenvy.com/

2008 Schedule

2008 OPA RACING SCHEDULE

Ocean City-Maryland May 31 June 1 Triple Crown Geico

Harrison Township-Michigan July 19-20

St Clair-Michigan July 26-27

Patchogue-New York August 23-24 Triple Crown Geico

Point Pleasant-New Jersey Sept 6-7 Triple Crown Geico

Cambridge-Maryland Sept 20-21

Chattanooga-Tennessee Oct 11-12

POKER RUN SCHEDULE

Boyne Thunder July 12th

Lake St Clair Special Olympics Fun Run Aug 20th

The New Race Boat

Wahoo Racing has a new boat! It is a 38 foot Race Canopy Fountain with twin 525 hp Mercury engines. We will still be campaining the Offshore Performance Association Class 2 season for 2008.

St Clair Michigan OPA Race

St Clair was all wet! We were only 1 1/2 laps into the race when we caught a wake in turn 1 and hooked. Fortunately, we slid first and then rolled. The slide slowed us down enough that the we were not hurt. With very little damage to the boat, we had it dried out and running within an hour. Thank you to the rescue teams that pulled us out and to all who helped recover the boat.

New Race Boat Coming Soon!

Wahoo Racing has just reached an agreement with Fountain Power Boats for a new 38 foot canopied race boat! Look for it to be unveiled at the Chattanooga OPA race in October 2007. We are excited to be part of the Fountain race team and look forward to many more championships.

Ocean City Race

Wahoo Racing 214 takes 4th place in Ocean City MD race. Nationally televised, the Ocean City race drew a large fleet of boats and huge crowds. The fans were disappointed. The ocean kick up and threw 3-4' waves at the boats. Wahoo had a strong start and fought back and forth with Strictly Business and Wazzup Racing for the first 3 spots until we suffered a water pressure warning causing the boat to slow and settle for a 4th place finish. The results were disappointing but we were very happy with the early laps. The boat ran very well with excellent acceleration. Going into St. Clair, we are very confident that we will have a great showing.

Wahoo Racing in Voice Newspaper

PUBLISHED: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Local man races to world championship
BY JOE GRAY
VOICE SPORTS EDITOR
It's not often someone can be hailed as a world champion after about a year-and-a-half in a sport, but Dean Howard can after he earned that title in offshore boat racing last November.

Howard of Columbus Township drove his boat Wahoo with throttle man Dave Sikorski of Toledo in the Offshore Performance Association World Championships Destin, Florida and took home the championship in Class II.
"It's a great honor," Howard said. "Not a lot of people accomplish it."
The championships consisted of two races and Wahoo finished second and first, respectively, for the win. In Class II, the top allowable speed is 105 mph, but choppy water and four- and five-foot waves slowed the boats considerably and made Sikorski's job more important.
That's because high waves throw the boat out of the water and the throttle has to be pulled back or the motor could be blown when the boat comes back down into the water.
"In smooth water, the driver is more important and in rough water the throttle man is more important," Howard said. "Dave did a great job. He's very experienced."
Set up is also very important when racing a choppy course because the weight has to be distributed evenly so the boat lands flat, which prevents the nose of the boat from dipping under the waves.
Howard and Sikorski also ran a boat in Class V, but an engine malfunction forced them out of the race. A Class II race tops out at 70 miles per hour and the boats are about 24-feet, while the Class V boats are usually 30-footers.
Last year, was the first full OPA season for Howard and Sikorski, but they raced in Class V and entered Class II midway through the eight-race season. They managed a couple second-place finishes in both classes.
The OPA crowns a national champion based on points earned in all eight races. Howard hopes to add that title to his young resume next year and that would mean a little more than his world championship.
"It's an honor to be a world champion, but it's won in one event," Howard explained. "The national championship is a little better because you have to do it over the whole season."
The 2007 OPA season opens June 2-3 in Algonac and Howard and Sikorski plan to be there in Class II. They've decided to concentrate on that class and get out of Class V. Before that first race, they have some work to do on their boat, which took damage during the OPA World Championships.
"It's not cheap," Howard said of the costs associated with racing, "but I have a lot of fun with it."

Wahoo Racing On Jersey Boyz Website

Wahoo Racing Teams #214 and 514 have been included on the Jersey Boyz website. You can see all the OPA race teams on the site as well as keep up to date on current Offshore Racing news. www.thejerseyboyz.com

Wahoo and Popeye