Manhasset Bay Gold Cup Poker Run 2004

[Billy Frenz]

Announcing:

THE MANHASSET BAY GOLD CUP POKER RUN
Hosted at Manhasset Bay Marina/LaMotta’s Restaurant
10 Matinecock Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050

…inaugurated by Gar Wood and Horace Dodge during the
1920’s on the North Shore of Long Island

Saturday, August 21st, 2004 on Long Island Sound, 75 mile course

$5,000.00 1st Place Grand Prize Winner

Trophy awards to Contingency Winners:KING OF THE SOUND CATAMARANS
KING OF THE SOUND V-BOTTOMS
BEST LOOKING CREW
BEST LOOKING BOAT
Pre-Registration recommended. On-site registration begins at 2 pm, Friday, August 20th and on Saturday morning, August 21st at 9 am.

Friday, August 20th, 2004: Launching, Testing, Final preparations
7 PM “GOOD LUCK” PARTY
Live Music, Food, and Refreshments

Saturday, August 21st, 2004: 11 AM Driver’s Meeting, 12:00 Noon Start
2 PM “AWARD’S PARTY” Begins
Parties are “a la carte”…just pay for what you eat and drink.

Accommodations: Roslyn Claremont Hotel, Tel: 516-625-2700
Royal Inn Motor Lodge, Tel: 516-627-5300
The Inn at Great Neck, Tel: 516-773-2000

Entry Fee: $400.00, you get 2 hands in the game and dockage
Extra hands available to entrants and riding crew at $100.00 each.

Info contact: NATIONAL POWERBOAT ASSOCIATION, Tel: 203-532-1312
E-mail: billy@nationalpowerboat.com
Or go to: www.nationalpowerboat.com

[Billy Frenz]

...a few entries so far:
John O'Loughlin 42 OUTERLIMITS 121 MPH
John Ruggeri 40 Activator 115 MPH
Ron Barrrette 40 Skater 150 MPH
Vinny Rifice 36 Skater 160 MPH
Steve Salvesen 35 Cigarette 75 MPH
Greig Lutz 35 Fountain 95 MPH
Guy LaMotta 39 Cigarette 90+ MPH
Ted Lambert 42 Fountain 94 MPH
Mr. Barese 24 Banana 90 MPH
Billy Frenz 33 Fountain Cruise at 50 MPH!
...who else is coming?
Don't feel intimidated, the fastest guy never wins the $5,000.00 Purse;
Everybody just likes to brag about how fast he can go...sometimes.

[Billy Frenz]

Immediate Release
August 22, 2004

Tom Abraham’s 45 Cigarette Maximus captures the
MANHASSET BAY GOLD CUP TROPHY at 130+ MPH!

At the 11th annual running of the MANHASSET BAY GOLD CUP POKER RUN on Sunday, August 22, 2004, hosted by LaMotta’s Restaurant in Port Washington, NY, Tom Abraham came out of the gate and never looked back as the fleet chased him around the 75 mile course over choppy seas on Long Island Sound. Initially starting out as a duel between last year’s winner, John O’Loughlin and his 42 Outerlimits GTX named “All Fired Up”, and Ed LaGuardia’s 37 Outerlimits, Abraham’s Cigarette with Richie Zul powerplants was able to establish a half-a-boat lead until his engine hatch cover blew off…an interesting tactic to gain more speed!
As the mechanical gremlins got busy on O’Loughlins’ boat causing a power steering belt to fry, Art Damast in his 46 Skater, “Red Wind” was the next closest competitor with Ozzie Castellnau’s “Wizard of Oz” in close pursuit. One of the fastest boats in the mix was Vinny Rifice’s 36 Skater, ”Color Me Bad”, but the seas were too rough for Vinny to maintain his 160 mph bursts.
Guy LaMotta, Jr. in his Cigarette “Competition 39” was maintaining a 90+ mph clip to and was the 3rd V-bottom at the Bridgeport, Connecticut checkpoint. Chasing him was Ted Lambert in his 94+ mph 42 Fountain, “VaVoom” and lucky Tom Fancher in his 37 Outerlimits, the real winner of the day when he pulled an all club flush and won the $5,000.00 Grand Prize in the Poker Run portion of the event.
Greg Katz was running good in his 35 Fountain, “Ligtning Strikes”, but impressed the crowd with his crew’s uniforms and won the BEST LOOKING CREW TROPHY. John Buscema entered his 1st poker run with his new 38 Cigarette Top Gun, “Loose Canon”, supplied by Ocean Performance of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and won the BEST LOOKING BOAT TROPHY.
THE KING OF THE CATS TROPHY went to Art Damast and crew in his magnificent 46 Skater, “Red Wind”. Just a few positions behind was George Magnifico of FASTBOATS, Inc., in his 36’ Eliminator Cat, the northeast distributor for Eliminator Powerboats.
This was a great event for all of the newcomers and veterans of the sport.
We hope to see you all on September 18th for the GLEN COVE HI-STAKES POKER AND RADAR RUN, back on Long Island Sound…
…where all of the Kings and Queens Play!
www.nationalpowerboat.com