Inside SOTW Mag: Tomlinson’s Take—30-Plus Years In The Making

In my last column, I referenced the offshore racing season that Lorne Leibel and I had planned to run in 2020, even though it was looking unlikely because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Lorne, a Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee who sailed for Canada in the 1976 Summer Olympics, and I were looking forward to racing the former Performance Boat Center-backed raceboat, a Skater Powerboats 388 catamaran in which driver Myrick Coil and I won two Super Boat International Superboat-class world titles.

When it comes to longtime, loyal TNT Custom Marine customers, Canadian performance boater Lorne Leibel is definitely at or near the top of the list. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

I also mentioned that Lorne was my teammate for my first offshore race ever in 1986. Along with throttleman Bob Latham of Latham Marine, Lorne was the driver of the Molson Indy 38-foot Cigarette V-bottom and I was the navigator. It’s kind of crazy to think that he and I would have a chance to race together almost 35 years later. This year was supposed to be his “last hurrah,” so we’re planning for 2021 now instead. Lorne wants to do a few races, Key West being one of them, of course.

My relationship—or should I say TNT Custom Marine’s relationship with Lorne—extends far beyond the racecourse. We’ve probably housed close to a dozen boats for him throughout the last 30 years, not to mention the boats we’ve stored for his brother and his nephews.

To enjoy the complete version of Tomlinson’s Take, subscribe to Speed On The Water digital magazine.