Npba Hall Of Fame
 

NEW….NEW….NEW….
As I was reading a recent magazine article which made many referrals to the National Powerboat Association (NPBA) and its races from the 70’s and 80’s, I feel compelled to recognize the many drivers, throttlemen, and navigators who got their start in or competed on that circuit….before we changed to producing poker runs. Some of you “new” powerboat enthusiasts will now be able to “connect the dots” with some of the names and teams of yesterday and how prominent some have become in the sport/industry of today. Billy Frenz

The Inaugural Ceremony to Award Inductees into The NATIONAL POWERBOAT ASSOCIATION’s HALL OF FAME “Offshore Powerboat Racing Champions” will take place at The NEW YORK CITY POWERBOAT POKER RUN on Friday Night, June 13, 2008. Charlie McCarthy and Rich Luhrs will each make Power-Point presentations on the history of our sport!
VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE NPBA POWERBOATER
e-mail: [email protected]
Candidates so far are:
Joe Sgro FEVER RACE TEAM, OUTERLIMITS RACING
Ron Barette OVERDOSE, MAXED OUT RACE TEAM 1979
Jeff Gerardi ACAPULCO GOLD, FREEZE FRAME RACING
Pete Mazzo DYNAMITE RACE TEAM, NO DISCIPLINE 1983
Ray Patneude VELOCITY
Roger Munn JOLLY ROGER RACE TEAM 1978
Steve Schroeder INDIGO RACING 1979
John D’Elia SPECIAL EDITION 1983
Chris & Mark Lavin JESSE JAMES RACING 1983
Stu Hayim AMERICAN EXPRESS, RECOVERY RACING 1985
Rick Felson HIGH RISK RACING 1985
Larry Smith OUTRAGEOUS RACE TEAM 1978
Billy Frenz HOT SHOT, OUTRAGEOUS 1975
Pete Aitken TOP SHELF, BLACK DUCK RACING 1975
Tom Akouri HIGH ROLLER, BLACK DUCK 1975
Joey Impresscia EASTCOAST MARINE 1979
Bob Idoni FAYVA SHOES RACING 1977
Charlie McCarthy TOP BANANA RACE TEAM 1977
Billy Martin BOUNTY HUNTER RACING
Reggie Fountain EXECUTIONER RACE TEAM 1981
Rich Luhrs TEAM SHADOW 1981, CONQUEST
George Linder TEAM SHADOW 1981
Paul Fiore HUSTLER RACING
Guy LaMotta DRY MARTINI RACE TEAM 1975
Tom Caruso TOTAL MARINE 1985
John MacKenzie H.M.S. DEA WON
Kurt Burger SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT RACING 1978
Tim Ciasulli MAXON RACE TEAM
Fred Talarico BIG SHOT RACING
Joe DeTore SUPERBOAT M77 RACING, 1977
Tony Caligure OCEAN OUTBOARD
Rolf Papke STILETTO 1980
John Coen SUPERBOAT RACE TEAM 1977
Peter Meyer LADY L RACING, INSTIGATOR
Sal Sciandra AWESOME RACING 1982
Steve Berk GREAT ADVENTURE, BURKES LAW 1979
Jim Laznovsky EXTRACTOR 1981
Jim McIntyre MAD MAC 1985
Mark Tangas PROFIT TAKER 1985
Richie Zul ZUL RACING 1986
Rudy DiPietro SCARAB 1983
Rich Dancisin TOWN AND COUNTRY RACING 1983

Hall of Fame
 

Billy, How about Mike Alesse oooooowner of "Phantom", a Chris Cat,who also was a National Champ in the 80's?

what about the Duntimans of the Agitator?

I don't think they ever raced in the NPBA.

Votes tallied so far...
 

NPBA HALL OF FAME Candidates votes tallied so far… January 18, 2008
1. Pete Aitkin: BLACK DUCK RACING; 30 Shadow Cat w/twin Merc O/B’s then triples…became a legend!
2. Jim McIntyre: MAD MAC RACING, 32 Scorpion, triple Merc O/B’s…this was just the beginning, he is still in the “game” today in a big way.
3. Ron Barrette: OVERDOSE, SUPERDOSE, MAXED OUT RACING,
30 Superboat w/O/B’s, 40 Skater Cat. …names say it all!!!
4. Rich Luhrs: SHADOW RACING, Image 21 O/B…Designer, Builder,
Commentator Extraordinaire…he knows everything about the “game”.
5. Joe Sgro: FEVER RACING, 28 Manta w/Small Blocks …ran over 80 mph back in the 80’s, realized you go faster by chine-walking since you only use half the “coefficient of drag”…currently a star on the OUTERLIMITS/LUCAS Race Team… Tester of the new Racing neck/helmet support brace.
6. Guy LaMotta: DRY MARTINI, 27 Magnum w/Holman & Moody’s, 40 Cigarette, 53 Magnum…a great competitor, innovator, and connoisseur to our sport!
7. Sal Sciandra: AWESOME RACING, 32 Scorpion, 36 Eliminator Cat, 40 Skater Cat…1986 NPBA CHAMPION and still one of the fastest guys on the water!
8. Chris Lavin: JESSE JAMES RACING, 28 Cigarette in 1984, 30 Chris Cat, Conquest Cat…Courageous is a term that fits the Lavin Bros and their memorable style!!! “Hats-off” to their dedication & contributions to the sport…forever!
9. Larry Smith: OUTRAGEOUS RACING, 30 Sutphen in 1979, 33 Sutphen, initially powered by Jim Ross Engines in the 30 and later powered by Bill Flynn’s small-blocks in the 33, throttleman Billy “HOT SHOT” Frenz would bend the tachometer’s needles past 9,000 rpms(no rev-limiters) to make 92+ mph…!
10. Steve Berk: GREAT ADVENTURE, WINGS RACING, 30 Sutphen, 28 Cigarette,…numerous fast boats since then…he loves the rough water where real men race!
Stu Hayim, John D’Elia, Joey Impresscia, Charlie McCarthy, Reggie Fountain, George Linder, Peter Meyer, Tim Ciasulli, Rick Felson, Tom Akouri, Bob Idoni, Billy Martin, Tom Caruso, Kurt Burger, Fred Talarico, Joe Detore, Tony Caligure, Rolf Papke, John Coen, Jim Laznovsky, Mark tangas, Richie Zul, Rudy DiPietro, John Bochis, John Demeno, Tim Sharkey, Fillipone Bros., Werner Kuenzle, J.D. D’Elia, Matt Leuci, Aldo Aleszczuck, Gino Montrone, Paul Fiore, Frank Buckley, Mike Alesse are all still in the running. Cast your vote for any of the above or “write-in” your favorite racer to [email protected].

Billy:

I ran both the 21 and the very first 30' Shadow cat in your races.

Rich Luhrs Race Boats
 

I will ammend the information on your boats.
The " Black Duck " was the 2nd Shadow Cat?

Npba Hall Of Fame
 

What About Finish Line Race Team, Joe Calabro ??

Actually, it was #4, and that hull was replaced the following year with the one that is still hanging around today.

Rich

Adding Race Teams...
 

Good additions:
Joe Calabro/FINISH LINE RACE TEAM
Mike Alesse/PHANTOM RACING
Tony Lucarro and Thomas Lampus/LADY L RACE TEAM

Npba
 

Forgot, Bill Sena, Whopper

HMS Dea Won was 2 or 3 i think... and ole Frank Buckley(on the list above) was the owner along with his then wife Dea.

"Dea Won" was originally Joey Detore's boat and it was hull number 3.

The first two were the prototype with the wooden deck (as we raced it in one of Billy's races in the center brochure picture below.....pretty rough "baptism" eh?) and my white, all glass and balsa race hull which was sold to a guy from Puerto Rico after qualifying first in Sport class at Key West '81.

T2x

JESSE JAMES is coming too...
 

Hi Guys,
Chris Lavin in his Jesse James Cigarette plans on attending/playing with us at the
NEW YORK CITY POWERBOAT POKER RUN.
Cool Beans!
Who else is bringing what to the NPBA HALL OF FAME Show?

Hello Billy,

How about Roger Munn and his Jolly Roger Red 27 Magnum Sport.
Roger also rode with Billy Martin for years in Bounty Hunter,
Roger had one of the fastest Magnum Sport back in the 70s at over 80mph.
Roger worked on a lot of good running race boats over the years
Thank you
Jim

Jim...... True that !

Steve

Roger Munn
 

There is no question that he was one person who helped many other boaters also win ...then cast a vote for Roger

Yo Billy

Here we are back in the day !

Steve

Roger is one of few and last Magnum experts out there, he has been a Magnum boater/racer for a long time.
I believed that the Jolly Roger was a late 60s Sport and Roger was associated with Magnums back then with Billy Martin.
His Sport was running in the 80s back in the 70s and today most sports are still not running that fast with all the new technology we have.

Thank you
Jim

Roger's tricks
 

You got it right...he told me he would paint the lower back portion of the bottom of his Magnum to give it slickness just like it was new,a few days before the race...one of his many tricks.
Most of you don't know that he did design a 31 ft stretched Magnum with Carlos Paez called the Sprit,only 9 were built in the early 90's.It is a great boat and when it was raced as Team Mean Green in 1995 they had great success.We did locate one that never has been in the water and is in the final stages of completion . It will be in the water this summer up north.
You can go to this site to see the Sprit as well as a 29-9 Magnum,still need to add some words to the pictures however you can get a good look at the Sprit.
http://www.ur1web.com/wrapzs/home.html

Roger took my 28 Cigarette P class race boat that I built new in 1979 & did some tricks to the boat when I got it home to N.J......No engine work. Between him and Don Stoll they gave me 5 mph. We went from 65 mph to 70 mph.......I repeat NO engine work !
He is truly......" THE KING OF SPEED " !

Steve

what did he do? I heard he was amazing, think he would want to help in getting the sutphen over the century mark?
have some on going plans to get it close, want to get all involved who can dial. Ed toth can drive that thing to the moon he knows the hull so well. Hope all is well with your fam steve!

CDC

When Roger had Jolly Roger he had Big blocks in it with MDS Speedo drives, but the motors were not super high HP motors
Roger used the Magnum every weekend all summer long to run around the Bay and never broke down.
He just knew how to set up a boat and make it run fast.
He would tell me,,"its all in the set up and the little things".
Thank you
Jim

It's the little things that count.....You just have to do alot of them.
Some were done to the" Magic J " & we picked up a few MPH

Steve, may i call to discuss? are you still in contact with Rodger?

Christian

Call me anytime you feel like.......954-270-5999

thank you very much i will phone 2 morrow
Christian

....

If the average racer actually tests his boat instead of partying it is amazing what results can be found.

Success on the race course comes strictly from homework... Hot paint jobs, jewelry, cosmetic surgery for the wife, pit parties, exotic sports cars, custom bikes, non stop tequila, a big mouth or ego, hats and tee shirts do not add one mile an hour to a boat. Perfecting C/G, experimenting with drive height and gear ratios, testing dozens of props in varying weather/ wave conditions and fuel loads, blueprinting the bottom, trimming weight, finding what lines the boat likes in turns, etc, etc, etc..... adds top end speed in some cases, but, more importantly, reduces lap times.

There are valid reasons why names like Gilbreath, Powers, Moore, Imprescia, Munn and Tomlinson endure, while others with equal backing and opportunity quickly fade into obscurity.

T2x

Agree 110 %
 

Agree with you 110%... Roger Munn will finish off our 31 Spirit once Jeff and I get the basics done and then it will be able to run to the max,basic on its limits.
Who knows best than the person who designed and built it. Bud

this thread may be old but it STILL needs pics

NPBA Hall of Fame Inductee's Peter Aitkin and Tom Akoury in the Black Duck:

Thanks for sharing, Big Time. I remember chasing that thing around the course a lot when Nicky had it as "Boardwalk". Always a GREAT boat!

Say "hi" to your dad for me. One of these days I'll stop in and grab a beer with him.

Tom
Total Marine

Steve, I can not believe that picture of you and Billy, neither one of you look old enough to have a beer, and Billy looks like he dosen't weigh over 100 pounds, and yes Billy, you havent aged a day.

Michael Filippone

TGC-32:
Hi Tom. how are you and the fam, hope all are well, please say hello to Popa John for me.

Michael

even tho its old, how about PETER MEYER ??????
and STEVEN KILLDAHL !!!!

Will do Tom...and the Duck is still standing after this weekend, so you can still stop in anytime for a beer. Pretty scary though when you are sitting in the bar and eye level with the docks!!! Hope your marina held up ok!!

-Chris

The good old days, makes me smile just thinking about them.

The only thing that mattered was ....how can I get another 4 mph out of this boat :lolhit:

Anyone have any pics of the Big Shot shadow cat? My dad used to race in it but don't have many pics..thnx

I can't post pics, but here's a link. If anyone can post pics feel free.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resi...nt=photo%2cjpg