in the beginning...,in 1962, at age 12, Billy Frenz put a 15 horsepower Johnson on a 9 foot Skimmar, a dingy made in Greenwich for his father's cabin cruiser, and which was rated for only a 5 hp outboard engine. At speed, as the nails that held the strakes to the bottom popped out and the water squirted in, chewing gum and brass screws were installed...all while traveling at a ripping 25 mph. After tearing the engine off the transom and sinking a few times, the initial thrill- seeking speedboat obsession continued to lead to bigger and better things for a lot of people and, eventually, for the entire powerboat industry.

Billy began racing on the APBA offshore circuit in 1975 with his "HOT SHOT" Race Team consisting of a Bertram 20, then a Cigarette 28, then a Scarab 30, and then Reggie’ s
1st Fountain Executioner 33. "Hot Shot" was the North East Divisional Champ for 3 years running. Billy became a member of the New Jersey Offshore Powerboat Racing Association in 1976 as a working staff member on Bill Wishnick’s committee, which produced the BENIHANA GRAND PRIX. He raced the National Offshore Circuit with the "OUTRAGEOUS" Race Team from 1980 to 1985, as throttleman with a pair of Sutphens, a Peterbilt Tractor/Trailer/workbox and a full support team.

Billy started producing the "GATEWAY POWERBOAT REGATTA" offshore races in 1976 on Long Island Sound, and this grew into the founding of the NATIONAL POWERBOAT ASSOCIATION in 1982, which sanctioned races throughout the Northeast, including Barnegat Bay, New Jersey and a WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP in Key West, Florida.

WORLD CHAMPION racers such as Pete Aitken’s BLACK DUCK RACE TEAM, Larry Smith’s OUTRAGEOUS RACE TEAM, Mark Lavin’s JESSE JAMES TEAM, Joey Impresscia’s EAST COAST MARINE, John and J.D. D’Elia’s SPECIAL EDITION TEAM, Guy LaMotta’s DRY MARTIN’S TEAM, Joe Sgro’s FEVER TEAM, Pete Meyer’s LADY L TEAM, Stu Hayim’s RECOVERY TEAM, Bob Idoni’s FAYVA SHOES TEAM, Tony Caligure’s OCEAN OUTBOARD, and Reggie Fountain’s debut to offshore racing with his EXECUTIONER TEAM, all honed their skills and got their feet wet on Billy’s NPBA circuit.

The circuit grew in leaps and bounds until the economic downturn of October 1987. The NPBA went dormant until 1992, when Billy again produced a race on Long Island Sound.. .There were not so many racer’s left though, only 15 participants. The following year the NPBA produced a Powerboat Poker Run in which everybody could play and performance powerboating enthusiasm was rekindled.

The events have grown each year and became televised in 1997.

The National Powerboat Association now produces 3 events per year, the NEW YORK CITY POWERBOAT POKER RUN on the Hudson River, the MANHASSET BAY GOLD CUP POKER RUN and the GLEN COVE HI-STAKES POKER RUN on the Long Island sound.

192 boats participated in the 2000 New York City event and the Saturday Nite Live house band from play at the parties....Quite a show!

Contestants came from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Canada, Michigan, Illinois, Maine, and Washington..

Support is given by sponsors such as:

• Cigarette Racing Team
• Donzi
• Sea Ray
• Blue Lightning Marine
• Baja
• Hustler
• Armada
• Cobra Power
• Livorsi
• Faria Marine Instruments
• Chillybear
• Total Dollar
• Velocity
• Surfside 3 Marina
• Liberty Landing Marina
• Poker Runs America Magazine
• Ocean Outboard
• Offshore Speed and Ski
• Guy Lamotta’s Manhasset Bay Marina and Restaurant
• Sunseeker Yachts of New York
• Microrods
• Total Marine
• Nortech
• Advantage
• Eliminator
• Crystal Clear Collision
• Frenzy Performance
• Full Throttle Marine
• Atlantic Motor-sports
• Stern Power
• Speedvision TV Network

Media coverage is given to these events by:

• The duPont Registry
• Powerboat Magazine
• Offshore Magazine
• Soundings
• Hot Boat Magazine
• Poker Runs America Magazine
• Go Boating Magazine
• Boating World Magazine
• Boating on the Hudson
• Long Island Boating World
• The Battery Park City Broadsheet
• Thinkfast Films
• The Internet
• WPIX Channel 11 Nery York
• Speed TV Network, (which reaches 26 million viewers. Of the 75 million people who go boating each year, the NPBA reaches over 20% of them.)

Billy Frenz and the staff of The National Powerboat Association, consisting of Ray Salerno, Kenny Salerno, Mark Salerno, Rudy DiPietro, Paul Kohloff, Natalie Frenz, Gary Frenz, Nick Infante, Mike Infante, Rich Infante, Ted Lambert, Janet Lambert, J.C. Merz, Dan Pickering, Bill Tischler, Mark Wissing and Richie Danciscin, have developed an environment that boosts camaraderie and excitement amongst powerboaters nationwide.

Log in to occasionally to watch history being created in the Powerboat World through the events and happenings of THE NATIONAL POWERBOAT ASSOCIATION.

We are not done yet !!