Although the herd has thinned, the upcoming Around Long Island Race should still be intriguing, http://speedonthewater.com/in-the-ne...ng-island-race.

When we first thought of running this long race again, last fall, we had over 30 people express an interest in entering.

As we got closer to the date of the actual race, we had a number of people start calling and for one reason or another, drop out.

I had the opportunity to speak at length with one of those people and he had some very thoughtful reasons why he was not entering.

First he said, when he sat down and tried to put all of the loose ends on paper of what he needed to do to enter, he was amazed. From the rigging on the boat to the navigation involved to the overall length of the race. It was just more than he imagined. He said he did some homework n the past races and speed attempts. There have been so many who have tried just the solo speed attempts in perfect conditions, with no racing pressure and they failed to finish the run. This is a lot bigger deal than I thought, he said.

Back in the day when the races ran, they averaged over 20 boats per event. This year it looks like a half dozen or maybe one or two more. These are people who are attempting in most cases, to experience something that they have never experienced before. We have an entrant this year, Chris LaMorte, who although very experienced in high performance boating, has never actually raced before. He has done his homework and prepared both the boat (36 foot Skater) and the engines (Built by Innovation) the very best that he could. This preparation has been going on for the better part of 5 months. He also selected a very experienced throttle-man in Ryan Beckley. We are honored that he chose this big race to test himself, his crew and his boat for his first attempt.

Coming back to try to improve on their existing race record will be Joe Sgro and Jo Cibellis with the 43 foot Outerlimits. Although this boat is currently the record holder for vee bottoms, they realized they would have to go smaller with the engines in order to be able to run fast enough with their fuel capacity. Once again, preparation and experience and using the best boat and engines (Mercruiser) they could field. We thank them for being a manufacturer that is willing to expose their product to the public, in a race situation where every one can see how well the boat performs.

Well explained, Charlie. And although I confess to generally looking for positive stories to report (but I certainly have reported my share of the negative) I wasn't "spinning the good" in this one. While the turnout may or may not be disappointing, the Skater cat and Outerlimits that are slated to participate make for a compelling potential story.

We have heard from the guys building the big Skater cat......it won't be ready in time.

BUT....they are working on another possible entry that may give an excellent showing for itself.

That is the Spirit of Offshore...never giving up, always pushing for another shot.

can't say that I'm surprised with the low participation numbers. it's a $3000 day if all goes well and nothing breaks. unless sponsored or independently wealthy is not happening for most...that's the equivalent of a week long family vacation.

I understand the other boat these guys have and could be working on is a 39 foot Skater deep vee.

That could make the race very interesting especially if the water gets rough.

I suspect you aren't even 1/2 right at 3K...... I spent that to do the KW poker run 10 years ago with small block power

Hi Charlie, the 399 Skater v Tyson has is the current New York to Bermuda record holder and dam to dam record holder on lake of the ozarks and will be ready to go for Long Island if the new one is not complete.

Uhhh 1k fuel, 1k entrance, 1k misc...did you see my if nothing breaks disclaimer. 3k isn't far off if you are local to the event.

Re the cost to do a real open water ocean race. You guys don't have a clue.

This event does not equate with either the roundy round offshore races of today or a poker run.

1980 I was sponsored by Rums of Puerto Rico at $25,000 per race for the ten race season...it wasn't enough and I had to keep putting in the shortage.

Considering a good engine package today costs about what our whole boat fully rigged did back then, the full number must be much higher.