Commentary

Deciphering Dunkirk

ByMatt Trulio August 20, 2019May 17, 2020

In the interest of full disclosure, Speedonthewater.com is the official media partner of the inaugural American Power Boat Association Offshore Championship Series produced by the Offshore Powerboat Association Series and Powerboat P1. Jason Johnson, my speedonthewater.com co-publisher, and I were honored to be asked by Azam Rangoonwala of P1 and Ed “Smitty” Smith OPA, and we agreed to take on the formidable task of covering the before, during and after of the six-race series, which so far has delivered more than 50 boats per race and some truly fantastic action—the Supercat-class battle between the Pro Floors Racing and M-Con teams in Cocoa Beach, Fla., comes to mind.

Race World Offshore struggled to attract boats in its first race of the 2019 season—and few spectators on scene even noticed.

But that arrangement never was exclusive. From the beginning, we let everyone know that speedonthewater.com would cover Race World Offshore and Super Boat International races as they happened. No one involved had a problem with it then, no one involved should have a problem with it now.

Race World Offshore produced its first race of the 2019 season in Dunkirk, N.Y., last Sunday. But with an eight-boat turnout and none of those boats in the same class—they even had a poker-run boat in the mix—it really wasn’t a race. It was an exhibition, a show for thousands of fans from a small town and beyond, and a decent one by most accounts.

But it wasn’t a race.

For dedicated and discerning fans of the sport, it was a non-event. But for the vast majority of people who showed up to watch eight go-fast boats run on Lake Erie, it was a show.

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Deciphering Dunkirk

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