Roar Offshore Fun Run Building For Something Bigger In 2021

A year ago this weekend, 68 teams competed in Roar Offshore Fort Myers Beach, the final event of the inaugural six-race American Powerboat Association Offshore Championship Series, in Southwest Florida. The event put an exclamation point on the strongest offshore racing season in almost two decades. Organizers Tim Hill, Cyndee Hill and Mike Shepherd had returned the sport to a once-popular venue, and the event was a hit. They looked forward to doing it again in 2020.

When Roar Offshore Fort Myers Beach returns next year, a fun run the weekend prior will be part of the festivities, which included a parade through seaside town in 2019. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Though this weekend’s 35-boat Roar Offshore Run Fun in Cape Coral doesn’t replace the cancelled Roar Offshore race, which like all contests in the APBA series fell prey to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is both a space-holder and a part of the contest’s future.

“First, we wanted to give our fellow performance-boat enthusiasts an organized event, which have been few and far between this year,” said Hill. “We also wanted to give back to the community since we weren’t able to have the races this year.”

Better still, this weekend’s five-stop, 120-mile fun run, which kicks off tonight with an opening party tonight and will raise money for the Fort Myers Beach Lion’s Club, will dovetail with Roar Offshore next year.

The new 460 Flyer from Nor-Tech—the event’s title sponsor—will be among the beauties in the 35-boat fleet in tomorrow’s Roar Offshore Fun Run.

“There were already plans to make this a permanent event the week before the Roar Offshore races,” said Hill. “We plan to have a full week of events starting with the fun-run weekend in Cape Coral and transitioning to Fort Myers Beach for race-weekend the following weekend.”

Editor’s Note: Speedonthewater.com chief photographer will be on hand to capture the Roar Offshore Fun Run this weekend.

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