Thank you to Christine Semach and her family at the Myakka Outpost (Myakka River State Park), for another great FrostFest held on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014. Kids of all ages used tubes to slide down on Florida-made snow. The live band entertained the crowd for hours. Many stopped by to see the Team REDS/Watt-Ahh® race boat on the shore of Upper Myakka Lake. Visitors climbed the platform (made by the 2013 Flight to the North Pole Volunteers) to see the cockpit, the gorgeous view, and our “Navi-Gator” (a large gator plush toy placed on top of the cockpit). Some of the real gators in the Myakka Lake were jealous!
Marty Hoyer (former chief registrar and credential chief for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and former President for Championship Auto Racing Charity Auxiliary), shared with us great racing stories starting back in the 1950s when gear heads like Team REDS would come to Indy with a box of parts to construct a race car and qualify to race without any corporate sponsors. Hoyer agreed with Rob Gourley that Mother Nature gives all racers unpredictable challenges, and perhaps even more for the offshore boat racers when their course conditions change with each turn due to wind, wave and tide conditions. Hoyer added, “The similarities between auto and boat race teams are their passion for racing, support for one another, and the family-oriented businesses.”
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Racers shown in the left-hand photo (Left to Right): Marty Hoyer, Leland and Patricia Bennett, AquaNew Partners George and Ilse Linder. George remains one of the top boat and cockpit designers in the powerboat world; Robinson and Dana Gourley, AquaNew and Team REDS/Watt-Ahh® Offshore Racing; Ellen Greenleaf, Marmon Wasp 32 Racing and Team REDS/Watt-Ahh® Offshore Racing