Back in the 80's and 90's, my uncle (Jack Bishop) raced offshore. I have been having a REALLY hard time finding information about what series he raced in, type of boat, etc. My aunt tells me he won some championship, but again I am striking out finding any info at all. I'm hoping a few pics and names will help.

I believe the key boat is the Mercury M-80. The crew was Jack Bishop (driver/owner), Dan Sayler (navigator) and David Gillmore (throttle). My uncle owned Smilin' Jack's Marina in Jupiter, Florida at the time, one of the largest Mercury dealers.

Any and all info would be great. What series they raced, did he actually win, where is there online info, etc.

Although not offshore, he later went on to race the smaller, fast boats (enclosed cabins) that turn on a dime with my cousin Johnny, sponsored by Bud Light. (I have pics of that somewhere).

Pics
Looks like I can't post pics/URLs. But you can see the photos at the IMGUR gallery below if you assemble the URL.

Go to imgur dot com / gallery / R5WAXRC

There were 2 that I remember. First was the 24' Cougar and second was the 30' Chris Cat. The Cougar raced in the stock class and the Chris ran in modified. I believe they won the World's in the Chris in either 1986 or 1987.

Great! I found a pic that has "1986 World Record Holder APBA / UIM 116.358 Offshore Racing Team" on the back of their jackets. I assume that is MPH. My Aunt says they won in the M-80, but I also have a pic saying it might have been the S-26. Is there a website somewhere that has the records of these races? I can't believe I can't find anything. I don't know what race series, category, etc. If he won a championship you'd think it'd be listed somewhere.

My aunt says "Well it was 1986 so maybe nobody cares anymore, just us." But hey that wasn't that long ago!

Did you try Horba?

I have no idea what Horba is Can you advise?

Historic Offshore Race Boat Association - Boca Raton, FL

Horba doesn't know what Horba is and hasn't for about a decade.

Classic Offshore Powerboat Restoration on Facebook has many old racer members, try there.

My dads race team owned that boat!!

i remember picking it up from jack .
they never raced it again it just sat in a warehouse
for years before it was sold . I loved crawling around
and playing in it with friends growing up!

I found some articles that I was looking for on this site, maybe you will find some information there.

Powerboat Archive

Ernie