Top Banana

It has been along time since I paid an entry fee, and I was just curious what the going rate is now for the different racing organizations.

Do different classes pay different fees, or is it one amount for everyone?

Thanks

Charlie McCarthy

Fast Shafts

OPA,
Entry fee....................$500.00 (Same fee for all classes)
Boat reg fee ..............$400.00
Crew member fee........$150.00
Crew member fee........$150.00
----------------------------------
Minimum for one race $ 1,200.00

What was the cost in the "olden" days?

Top Banana

Robert

Let me dig around in the archives and come up with an answer for you about the cost of entry fees in the (g)olden days.

Also prize money.....we were paid about $16.000.00 for a first place in the open class in '79.

Ron P

WOW, what race was that and what was the overall purse?

How many classes back then, and how many total boats at a race?

Top Banana

Ron the race that paid that prize money was the Bushmills Grand Prix that was run out of Newport Beach Calif. in March of 1979.

I have an old program from a Bacardi Race that shows the following boats in Open class 1 (this was 1,000 cu in max)

US 1........... Beep Beep................ Joel Halpern
3................Michelob Light............Joe Ippolito
5 ...............Benihana...................Rocky Aoki
6...............Sea Sweep................Howard Arneson
7...............Copper Kettle.............Sandy Satullo
8...............Powerboat Mag Spl.....Bob Nordskog
9..............Natural Light ..............Preston Henn
13............Bewitched..................Terry Baugher
15............Bounty Hunter.............Billy Martin
17............JJ's Joint.....................Jerry Jacoby
21............Banshee.....................Wally Cole
31............Staying Alive...............Bob Castoro
45............Flap Jack....................Howard Quam
55............Papa's Benihana.........John Sheker
66............Top Banana...............Charlie McCarthy
68............Really Ridiculous.........Don Smith
70............Can Do......................Ron Cain
76...........Signature Mar Spl........Tommy Adams
77...........Limit Up......................Michael Doxford
81...........Cobra........................Connie Sisler
83...........La Tortuga II..............Dominic Visconsi
89...........Kaama.......................Betty Cook
144.........Night Moves................Bill Elswick
699.........Bittersweet.................Franklin Szykula

24 Open Class 1 boats. If you won one of these races, you really worked at it.

Then there was Open 2, Sports, Modified and Production classes too. Races were often over 200 miles in open ocean conditions that put a big premium on quality built boats and well prepared rigging.

1waterboy1

Charlie,
"Top Banana" was one of my favorite teams back in the days of the Benihana Grand Prix....I remember 20+ Open Class boats back in 1980....77 boats total in 5 classes!There are alot of people looking to bring a big race back to Point Pleasant in 2005....and it would be great to see you and many other racers from the "glory days" there.

Top Banana

I would love to come back to Point Pleasant again....I have many good memories of the place.

I have been away from the sport for a long time and have really enjoyed coming back and getting "involved" again.

My son finally convinced me to go to Key West this past November and it opened up a lot of great memories and got the juices flowing again.

Thank you for your kind words.

Ron P

Please try to make the Point Race this summer. Rocky usually shows up and infact we are trying to bring Benihana back as a sponsor.

More of memory lane can be found at www.njoffshore.com. Please join the mailing list. We run the Point race under OPA. www.oparacing.com.

If you come down, I'll take you on the pace boat and you can give the green flag!

Top Banana

Ron P thank you for the invitation. I will definitely put it on my calender for August this year. I am usually out at Sturgis SD for the rally at that time, but this year I will be back in Pt. Pleasant.

Will you be at the Miami Boat Show this year?

I will be down in Miami from Tuesday to Friday, maybe we can get a chance to meet up.

Ron P

Yes, I'll be there on Thrus and Fri.

Look for me, I'll be wearing a shirt that says "Extreme Boats Magazine" on the back.