Gallery: Highlights From Friday’s WMO Rock The Coast Keith Holmes Memorial Run

To kick off this year’s Rock The Coast Fun Run organized by West Michigan Offshore, close to 30 of the more than 80 boats registered for today’s fun run left Grand Haven Municipal Marina on Friday afternoon and headed to the Mart Dock in Muskegon as part of the Keith Holmes Memorial Run.

Ron Meyering ran his new Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats 477 in the Keith Holmes Memorial Run during Friday’s Rock The Coast kick-off event. Photos by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

Speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden and I—along with our friend, Paul Rose of SeriousOffshore.com—participated in the event from the comfort of Appearance Products owner Craig Ellis’ 51-foot SeaRay cruiser where we captured photos and videos of the memorial run on the way to Muskegon.

To recognize the late offshore racer and owner of CK Motorsports who died in an accident during the 2017 St. Clair River Classic race in Michigan, many of the participants wore their bright green Keith Holmes/Cat Can Do shirts during the 20-mile jaunt to Muskegon, which included a dinner honoring the racer with his former 28-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran on display at the marina where Holmes often used the ramp to test his 40-foot Skater raceboat Cat Can Do on the lake.

Check out the slideshow above for more images from the Keith Holmes Memorial Run on Friday.

Mike Holford, who took ownership of the business and rebranded it to CK Performance Marine in February 2018, led the fleet in a 1999 Sutphen 38 Dominator he recently purchased from one of his customers. After returning to Grand Haven, Holford described the tribute to his mentor and longtime boss as emotional, in a positive way.

“It was nice for so many people to pay their respects to Keith this evening,” Holford said. “The food was good and several people took a few minutes to share some stories about Keith. It was a perfect way to start this year’s Rock The Coast.”

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