It was 30 years ago, Mia.to NY run
 

Wow,
it was 30 years ago today that I set the record from Miami to New York in a 24' Pantera w/ 2 Mercury o/b's
Of course no gps, no cell ph's, no internet, etc. What a trip!
ONLY 2 compasses , "most" of the charts and an old RDF.
Later,
pp.

Those Were The Real Old Day's :)

Congrats Pepe and Panteraboats!!!

Love this model!!! Pepe, I think its time to build a short serie "M24" now!!!

These old ladies still rocks!!!

Looking forward for another 30 years!!!

MangeW

thats a real accomplishment.... Let me know about Black Sunday.....

Pepe - Congrats! one more example of being such an accomplished maverick! :boat:

I have seen one pic from that event before but we need some more pics! any more gems in the archives??

You the Man!!!

Happy 30'th!!!

Man that took some stones!!! I don't boat in my own back yard w/o the GPS, lol. Did you run at night and if so what was that like?

Dan

Yes we ran @ night and it was "dark"!
Compass and dead reckoning along w/ the RDF.
That is why we ran up on a sandbar in the Carolinas.
I have the story published in Powerboat magazine from 1978,
would you like to see it?
Later,
pp.

I sure would!

Would love to read the story as well. Congrats :)

post it.....

A few pics. of the record setting 24'.

PowerBoat Magazine article.

Hey Pepe,

Do you have the article in a bit higher resolution - that one was a bit too hard to read :traurig001:

Yeep, even for young guys like me.....

Sh*t, my magnifying glass works pretty good!
I will ask Jo.
later,
pp.

Young? :rolleyes:

An even younger guy like me would also like to see it in higher resolution. :party-smiley-048:

Hell, I am only 58 years young!
pp.

Pepe,
Just out of curiosity,
1) How many gallons of fuel did the boat hold?
2) How many stops did you have to make to refuel?
3) Where were your gas stops?

I remember watching you race in that boat in the 1979Benihanna Grand Prix.

The boat had 2 floor tanks holding about 120 gals
It also had a tank in front of the rear seat that held around another 100 gals, maybe a little less.

If memory serves me right, we made about 8 stops.
It had to be the 1978 Benihana GP, in 1979 I raced a new 28' triple OB. It seems like yesterday, except my memory is not that good, those years happened quick.
They sure were fun!
pp.

that means at 38 im still a baby :)
wass up with the 28 ts ?
im ready to down size again :)

Thanks Pepe,
Since you were running at night, did you have to make arrangements with specific marinas to stay open all night or did you have 8 crews along the course? This must have been a logistical nightmare? No cell phones to call your crew back then....

How long did it take?

Crew??? what crew? I had a driver going north w/ the trailer.
My wife spent the night up in a plane looking for the boat, because she had not heard from me since noon and feared for mishap!

The trip took 42 hrs, It could have been done under 30 hrs, but we spent the first night up on a sand bar.

My run was included in the Boating magazine's 50th anniversary issue's "The best of all time"!
pp.

Happy anniversary PP. Here's a couple of pics from my collection of your early days:

I'm sure this was a logistical nightmare. Did you have the 8 stops pre-scheduled, or did you "chance it" hoping to find marinas open for fuel?? Just curious how you planned this.
Thanks
Bob G

That's hilarious :evilb: Very hard core! Today a record run like that would have ended on that sand bar...

Went BBQ? HAHAHAHA,
just kidding. The story about that race is amazing.

I could kill for a old school Pantera-shirt

No, not really. If I do another record run, which I have been thinking for over 10 years, there will NOT be any sandbars on the way. It will be from Bermuda to New York harbour on a 4th of July. Across the Atlantic, THAT would be a record run!
I would really like to do it on 2010. 36' w/ triple OB. I have spoken to a couple of sponsors already but nothing serious.
pp.