Image Of The Week: Jack's Back And Is All Smiles With His Year In Review And Lickity Split Hat

A couple of months back I spotlighted longtime Speedonthewater.com friend Phil Kemp’s two-year-old son, Jack, who has been a bit of a poster child for our Speed On The Water Year In Review magazine as of late, admiring his dad’s collection of magazines. It’s kind of a tradition between myself and Mr. Kemp, who recently moved from Iowa to Florida for a job as a Test Engineer with Brunswick’s Advanced Systems Group in Panama City.

With his Lickity Split hat on, Jack Kemp—Phil and Andrea Kemp’s two-year-old son—posed with his Speed On The Water 2021 Year In Review magazine at a Panama City, Fla., beach. Photo by Phil Kemp

But this image of Captain Jack with his 2021 Year In Review is my new favorite. And not because the setting is different than on the anchor rug—there’s an updated one of those below, too, of Jack in his new room—but because the little guy is rocking a Lickity Split hat, which according to his dad is his go-to hat. I can’t assume you know this, but I followed the build of that particular DCB M35 Widebody catamaran thoroughly on speedonthewater.com and just happened to be with the owner of the DCB on his PlayCraft—Lickity Split’s Toon—the day Brad and Connie Kloepfer, and their friend Paul Selberg, died following an accident in the boat, which Brad Kloepfer often drove on his own, on Arizona’s Lake Havasu almost four years ago. You can read more about it here (Keeping The Lickity Split Spirit Alive).

But back to Jack—this picture of him on a Panama City beach overlooking St Andrews Bay brings me so much joy, knowing that his favorite hat is a Lickity Split one. Anyone who knew Brad Kloepfer understands how much he loved showing off the boat and giving away shirts and hats to the kids. I know there are many of us who miss his enthusiasm and his smile.

“For the record, I didn’t make that his favorite hat,” Phil Kemp told me. “He just kept stealing that one from my hat rack—probably because it’s neon green. But I like to think it’s because Lickity Split is on it. Regardless it always brings a smile to my face because Brad was such an awesome person. I still miss getting random texts from him. He gave me the hat at the 2016 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout.

“As always you guys knocked the magazine out of the park!” Kemp added with enthusiasm.

Jack Kemp checks out his collection of Speed On The Water Year In Review magazines.

I’ve since thanked Kemp for his feedback, but I’ve yet to ever thank his wife, Andrea, for allowing Jack to represent speedonthewater.com in such fine fashion. So, thanks Andrea—I hardly doubt this will be the last time he appears on speedonthewater.com.

Also, I apologize to anyone if I made you feel sad, but I love remembering the good things about people who are no longer with us. In a way, it helps me feel reconnected to them.

If you want your own copy of the 2021 Year In Review issue, you can purchase the collector’s edition magazine, or one of the past issues (we still have copies of the 2018 issue featuring Lickity Split), by clicking here.

Image Of The Week: Jack’s Back And Is All Smiles With His Year In Review And Lickity Split Hat

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