Offshoreonly.com - On simulating the powerboat racing experience

I recall a thread that was posted here in 2002 which lamented the absence of a proper APBA endorsed offshore racing simulation for either the major game consoles, or the personal computer. I've often thought the same thing: Powerboat racing is the one motorsport that has never enjoyed much of a presence in the virtual entertainment market.

Believe it or not, in 1989, there was such a simulator which was fully endorsed by the APBA, and made available for the Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS computers. It even had a picture of the Gentry Scarab on the cover.

It was called: Heat Wave - Offshore Superboat Racing

http://magisterrex.com/proddetail.asp?prod=WEBIPC042

I still have a Commodore 64 from the days of yore, so I took the liberty of scrounging up a copy of Heat Wave, and the 5 1/4 inch floppy disk still works like a charm. Despite this being a 22 year old peice of software, it is a fun little simulator nontheless. It adheres completely to APBA rules of the time, and allows one to choose from a limited variety of classics such as: a 43' Don Johnson Special Edition Scarab, the 90 MPH 38 Top Gun, a Warlock 31 STX, and a Cougar cat.

You can attend racers meetings, learn how to drive/trim the different boats, and what to do if you blow a prop, have an engine fire, oil leak, or hull breach.

This simulator should be updated with modern graphics and sound, but the boats, courses, and 80's flavor should be left untouched.

Other than that one release in '89, there hasn't been anything even remotely close until 2008, when a group of software developers in Belgium created the best powerboat racing simulator to date:
It's called: Aquadelic GT, but was renamed Powerboat GT for the USA release.

This is a must have for any offshore racing enthusiast, and it makes a mighty fine distraction in the off-season months.
In career mode, you start out a rookie racer in Russia with no cash, and an old, paint-peeled, wooden runabout. As you earn money by taxiing folks to their destination, or renting a trawler and hunting for sunken treasure, you'll quickly have enough to upgrade the boat at the dry dock, and compete in local racing events.

You have an Iphone-like device that allows you to receive emails from racing organizations and sponsors. Once the money starts flying in from all directions, you can buy better boats, and beachfront real estate to dock them. You'll race in Greece, and the Caribbean later on. In between races, you'll pilot a seaplane to deliver food in relief efforts to boost your public image and popularity with the community.

There are also weapons that can be used to literally blow boats out of the water momentarily in order to scream past them and gain position.

This is really a fine product with quite a bit of thought that went into its making. The physics of the water and the boats are astonishingly accurate.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB4fczptO5k[/YOUTUBE]

The best part, however, is the ability for multi-player online play over the internet. If there is interest, we could host our very own virtual offshore races, with up to 9 participants per server.
I bought my copy for $8.00 online. Money well spent to be sure.
While it doesn't adhere to real-world offshore racing styles (obviously to appeal to a wider, non-boating audience), it is an absolute blast.

Just thought I'd bring this to everyone's attention here, as this piece of software is not widely known, and would really be a home run if properly marketed.

I'd like to see the major companies take notice and follow suit. I can well imagine an NPBA endorsed simulation would be a hit among the boating crowd, and is just what the sport needs.