Team Warpaint Article
12-20-2005, 09:31 AM
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Team Warpaint Article
Powerboat racing a hit with Somers Point pair
By LYFORD M. MOORE
Courier-Post Staff
SOMERS POINT
The difference between first and third place in world-class powerboat racing is money.
It's that simple.
The more you have, the bigger the engine you can afford. The bigger the engine you can afford, the faster your boat will go.
While driver Bob Vesper and his Team Warpaint crew were thrilled to finish third in last month's Super Boat International/APBA world championships off Key West, Fla., they're already looking forward to next year.
To compete on equal footing with this year's winner, Budweiser Select, and bring their 40-foot Apache up to speed, they're hoping to find a corporate sponsor.
Vesper, who lives in Somers Point and co-owns Warpaint with Patti Raffa, also of Somers Point, figures he knows all the tricks about driving world-class powerboats. All his knowledge, however, won't make up for that deficit in horsepower.
More is needed, he says.
To replace Warpaint's two 1,100-horsepower motors with 1,500-horsepower monsters such as those employed by Budweiser Select will cost anywhere from $65,000 to $80,000 apiece.
Vesper and Raffa say the expenditure is necessary if they want to catch up and pass the Anheuser-Busch entry.
"With the super unlimited class of boats such as Budweiser Select and ours, money equals speed," explained Vesper. "During the three days of racing in Key West, Budweiser Select's crew would change her motors after each race. We basically would change our oil and pray our engines stayed together."
Despite the unequal playing field, Team Warpaint finished third in its first attempt at the world championship. The competition also marked the first time Vesper had sat behind the wheel of an offshore powerboat at the biggest and most prestigious of all offshore powerboat races.
Vesper and his throttleman, 20-year race veteran Kurt Berger of Brick, averaged 94-95 mph over the 13-lap, 78-mile course. Budweiser Select averaged 98-99 mph.
Raffa says she and Vesper decided to get into big-time powerboat racing about two years ago because they felt it was about to take off. Unlike about 20 years ago when races were run between Miami and Bimini, Bahamas, putting much of the race out of the view of spectators, today's sponsors and organizers are trying to make the sport fan friendly.
To do so, they've made the world championship course off Key West triangular. Each leg is about 2 miles long, which means fans along the shore can catch all the thunder and awesome rooster tails without interruption.
"We had seen NASCAR become saturated with exposure and believed offshore powerboat racing to be an up-and-coming sport once again," Raffa said. "It was really popular in the 1980s when people like Chuck Norris, James Caan and Don Johnson were all involved in it.
"Unlike NASCAR, which runs on a solid track, we run on a liquid track. Every day, Mother Nature can can do whatever she wants -- and does."
Contrary to what many might think, skimming over the water at speeds in excess of 100 mph isn't all that frightening. At least not when you're in a Super Boat Unlimited Class boat such as Warpaint.
"You get a fake sense of security," said Vesper, who once drove a boat 157 mph.
"The pleasure boat I have is an open boat. Warpaint is an open boat with a canopy. You sit inside the canopy strapped in with a roof over your head and oxygen nearby in case you flip over.
"When you go fast in a regular boat, you feel the wind hitting you. Your hair is blowing, and things are hitting you in the face.
"With this boat, it's like driving a car. You have a helmet on, and it's quiet inside. You can talk to your throttleman through an intercom. You may be running 120 or 130 mph, but it sure doesn't feel like it." Reach Lyford M. Moore at [email protected]
Published: December 20. 2005 3:00AM
By LYFORD M. MOORE
Courier-Post Staff
SOMERS POINT
The difference between first and third place in world-class powerboat racing is money.
It's that simple.
The more you have, the bigger the engine you can afford. The bigger the engine you can afford, the faster your boat will go.
While driver Bob Vesper and his Team Warpaint crew were thrilled to finish third in last month's Super Boat International/APBA world championships off Key West, Fla., they're already looking forward to next year.
To compete on equal footing with this year's winner, Budweiser Select, and bring their 40-foot Apache up to speed, they're hoping to find a corporate sponsor.
Vesper, who lives in Somers Point and co-owns Warpaint with Patti Raffa, also of Somers Point, figures he knows all the tricks about driving world-class powerboats. All his knowledge, however, won't make up for that deficit in horsepower.
More is needed, he says.
To replace Warpaint's two 1,100-horsepower motors with 1,500-horsepower monsters such as those employed by Budweiser Select will cost anywhere from $65,000 to $80,000 apiece.
Vesper and Raffa say the expenditure is necessary if they want to catch up and pass the Anheuser-Busch entry.
"With the super unlimited class of boats such as Budweiser Select and ours, money equals speed," explained Vesper. "During the three days of racing in Key West, Budweiser Select's crew would change her motors after each race. We basically would change our oil and pray our engines stayed together."
Despite the unequal playing field, Team Warpaint finished third in its first attempt at the world championship. The competition also marked the first time Vesper had sat behind the wheel of an offshore powerboat at the biggest and most prestigious of all offshore powerboat races.
Vesper and his throttleman, 20-year race veteran Kurt Berger of Brick, averaged 94-95 mph over the 13-lap, 78-mile course. Budweiser Select averaged 98-99 mph.
Raffa says she and Vesper decided to get into big-time powerboat racing about two years ago because they felt it was about to take off. Unlike about 20 years ago when races were run between Miami and Bimini, Bahamas, putting much of the race out of the view of spectators, today's sponsors and organizers are trying to make the sport fan friendly.
To do so, they've made the world championship course off Key West triangular. Each leg is about 2 miles long, which means fans along the shore can catch all the thunder and awesome rooster tails without interruption.
"We had seen NASCAR become saturated with exposure and believed offshore powerboat racing to be an up-and-coming sport once again," Raffa said. "It was really popular in the 1980s when people like Chuck Norris, James Caan and Don Johnson were all involved in it.
"Unlike NASCAR, which runs on a solid track, we run on a liquid track. Every day, Mother Nature can can do whatever she wants -- and does."
Contrary to what many might think, skimming over the water at speeds in excess of 100 mph isn't all that frightening. At least not when you're in a Super Boat Unlimited Class boat such as Warpaint.
"You get a fake sense of security," said Vesper, who once drove a boat 157 mph.
"The pleasure boat I have is an open boat. Warpaint is an open boat with a canopy. You sit inside the canopy strapped in with a roof over your head and oxygen nearby in case you flip over.
"When you go fast in a regular boat, you feel the wind hitting you. Your hair is blowing, and things are hitting you in the face.
"With this boat, it's like driving a car. You have a helmet on, and it's quiet inside. You can talk to your throttleman through an intercom. You may be running 120 or 130 mph, but it sure doesn't feel like it." Reach Lyford M. Moore at [email protected]
Published: December 20. 2005 3:00AM
Last edited by KenD; 12-20-2005 at 09:41 AM.
12-20-2005, 01:32 PM
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Re: Team Warpaint Article
Good article, great people. Congrats Bobby and Patti.
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P4-13 Team THE JERSEY BOYZ OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACING, OPA/ SBI/APBA/UIM. PRESIDENT: THE JERSEY BOYZ , VICE-PRESIDENT: OPA RACING, THE GREAT SOUTH BAY RACING ASSOCIATION. WAZZUP RACING ENGINES
P4-13 Team THE JERSEY BOYZ OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACING, OPA/ SBI/APBA/UIM. PRESIDENT: THE JERSEY BOYZ , VICE-PRESIDENT: OPA RACING, THE GREAT SOUTH BAY RACING ASSOCIATION. WAZZUP RACING ENGINES
12-20-2005, 02:56 PM
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Re: Team Warpaint Article
Sounds like a modern day "madison" in the making!
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