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RIGHT
WHERE
THEY LEFT OFF
40-Boat Fleets Toe the Line at POPRA Offshore Season Openers in San Francisco and Dana Point.
T
he glory days of West Coast offshore powerboat racing appear to be returning, thanks to burgeoning interest in the highly competitive
Factory
classes, which made up 40% of the entry lists at the season-opening San Francisco and Dana Point POPRA events.
It was definitely a show of flash, splash and cash, as many teams debuted new equipment to start the ‘99 campaign. Former world and national champion Rique Ford came to play with a brand-new 38- foot Skater
cat,
hoping to wreak havoc in the always-tough Modified class, while fresh entries from the likes of Hustler, Formula, Fountain and Phantom promised to make things even more interesting in the Factory classes.
Here’s a class-by-class summary of what went down in offshore:
FACTORY I
It was a six-boat field for the Factory Ones at both San Francisco and Dana Point, and the order of finish shuffled only slightly between the
two
events. Four different hull manufacturers (Warlock, Eliminator, Lavey Craft and Advantage) were represented, but Ultimate Warlock still held the upper hand as Clark and Patrick Donley guided their 29-foot serpentine step-V/MerCruiser HP500 machine to double wins. Lavey Craft showed impressive potential as its new 29 NuEra debuted with rookie driver Steve Collins and throttle veteran Rick Hartman at the controls,
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