The sun was shining, the temperature approached 90 degrees and it got “hotter” on Long Island Sound as 17 of the slickest speedboats in the Northeast took the start of the 9th Annual Glen Cove Powerboat Poker Run produced by the National Powerboat Association. Upon departure from the docks at Steamboat Landing Restaurant, our host Restaurant for this event, <Billy Frenz’s Fountain/Paceboat, “PARTYMASTER” lead the fleet to the starting line.

Tommy Abraham’s 27 “Cigarette” took off first to clear the path for the “Big Boys”…Johhny O’Loughlin’s  48 Outerlimits Cat, “Justice”, Joe Castellana’s 46 Skater Cat, “Awesome”, Dr Carl Caiozzo’s 36 Skater Cat. That is the Cat pack that made it to Bridgeport 1st, but in the reverse order: Dr Carl 1st, Joe C. 2nd and Johnny O 3rd, all powered with Mercury No. 6 drivelines.     The leader of the V-Bottom fleet was Joe Cibellis in his 41 Outerlimits, “Bella Vita” with twin Ilmor V-10’s and Ilmor Outdrives. Rob Winoski’s, single-engine 700 HP with a Merc Bravo XR outdrive, “BAT BOAT” was right on his tail being the 1st single engine boat to reach Bridgeport.      Bill Betz in his 43 Outerlimits got off to a great start and lead the fleet up Long Island Sound before the bilge gremlins started working on one of his crankshaft sensors…Dr Bill Schmid’s 36 Skater had the same gremlins working in his bilge at the dock…killing both batteries. He managed to get going, but not until the lead boats had already hit Bridgeport.      Two Classic 41 APACHE’S entered the event. Steve Sokolich’s “Predator” with Guy LaMotta, Jr on-board as navigator and Eric Cheshire’s ex-“Star Chaser”…both ran excellent in the choppy sea conditions of the day. Our youngest Captain’s of the day were the sons of Michael Reiter on his 39 Outerlimits, Greg (16) and Alex (14)…remember the names, I am sure we will hear more about them at future events.

The “Best Dressed/Looking Crew” Trophy went to the team of “Bad Company”, Matt Gordons’ Donzi lead by fast Eddie Dawson…that also had bilge gremlins on-board that took out one outdrive. They managed to hitch rides on 2 different boats and make it back for the awards.      The “Best Looking Boat” trophy went to “Justice”, the 48 Outerlimits Cat of John O’Loughlin, prepped and throttled by Falcon Marine’s highly regarded Jimmy MacIntyre.   The “1st V-Bottom Navigator” Trophy went to Joe Cibellis in his Ilmor powered 41 Outerlimits.   The “1st Cat Navigator” Trophy went to Dr Carl Caiozzo in his 36 Skater Cat with Vinny Rifice on throttles.     3rd Place money went to Eddie Dawson with 2 pair: 6’s and 4’s, netted him $500.00.   2nd Place money went to Steve Barker in his 43 Nortech w/1075 HP Mercs, 2 pair: 6’s and 5’s netting him $750.00.   The Grand Prize winner was Joey Barrese in his 27 Activator with 622 cubic inches of  raw power…2 pair: Aces and 10’s netting him $1,250.00. We have enlisted the services and technology of GPS Tracking by Kattack, with transponders on the  lead boats at this event and can be viewed by visiting our website and clicking on to the appropriate event to see a replay. Presently we have the “Around Long Island Marathon”, “Tom Abrahams Single Attempt at the Record”, and the “Glen Cove Powerboat Poker Run” up…enjoy.That concludes our 2010 season of boating events produced by the National Powerboat Association. Keep checking the website for new dates and new challenges to the around “Long Island Marathon” Record as a few teams will make this attempt again before the year/season is over. A reminder, this 271 mile course was done in 1989 by Stu Hayim and Joey Impresscia in a 32 Skater Cat with 650 hp Eickert engines and Merc #6 Speedmasters in 3 hours and 6 minutes.   Visit our website for the latest photos, videos and You-Tube clips of our events. A reminder, we talk boats everyday, so if you have parts for-sale, a boat for-sale, searching for these items, recommendations for service facilities/experts, suggestions for our poker runs or the "AROUND LONG ISLAND" MARATHON, contact me.     I look forward to chatting with you… “Ahoy Mate”, Billy Frenz NATIONAL POWERBOAT ASSOCIATION Direct e-mail:frenzyyy@optonline.net         Tel: 203-532-1312   Return to the Statistics main page