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gkraft@usa.net
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1999 Season TalkStory's F2-33 TEAM LAZZARA wins the Cigarette
Super Boat International's Grand Prix of Miami ! Driver: Throttleman: Owner:
Dick Lazzara (Batman) Gene Weeks (Superman) Gordon Kraft (Hagar)
Team Lazzara with driver Dick Lazzara (Batman) and Gene Weeks (Superman) at the throttles, battled 3-6' seas April 18th, and jumped into the lead halfway down the first lap of this years Super Boat International season opener, and held the lead through the finish, to WIN the Super Boat Grand Prix of Miami. The Super Boat International Manufacturer 2 class (called F2 in APBA) had over eight (8) other F2 competitors, including Team Apache which was close behind us in Second Place, and well back from them was Team Fountain in Third Place, and Team Cigarette, and others. Our awesome new OuterLimits F2 boat proved itself in maintaining tremendous speed in very rough sea conditions. YeeHaw!!!!!!!
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Racing Photos
Ft. Meyers Hooters Offshore Race
May 16
Team Lazzara finished in 5th place on calm waters off of Ft. Meyers Beach, in a field of 10 other F2 boats. This race was won by a 30' Stuphen (last years World Champion). Our friends, in the Mastery Fountain F2-51, were in second place Sunday, until they spun out in a turn and dropped out. They were very fast in their new Fountain. Dick and Gene in our TalkStory F2-33 spun out on Saturday's practice, and tossed out Gene Weeks, he was bruised and banged up pretty good, but insisted on racing on Sunday. Dick also has a bunch of new bruises from the spin out as well, but he wouldn't think of not competing and drove on Sunday. Our new Outer Limits is still undergoing testing of props, etc. and we expect to get it back into the winners circle at the upcoming Key West SBI race on June 6th, hopefully we will have a little more rough water... because that is where our OuterLimits really shines, in the rough seas races. this just in... we had too big of props, sorry about that. We going to fix dis thing brah. did 90 when I bought it, now 83? What a change from our last year's F2-33 Baja boat. Now we are hoping for 4-5' seas and last year we were flying in those conditions. just talkin' story brah! I got to drive our new F3-33 cat, many times at over 100mph, what a great smooth running boat. We may enter it in some future Local class races, to gain experience before entering the tough new F3 class races... (in fact, I drove it from Shooters in downtown Ft. Meyers to the south end of Marco Island in about 35 minutes, including the 5mph zones) awesome dude! How about a race like this round trip, then everyone in Ft. Meyers Beach, Bonita Springs Beach, Naples Beach, and Marco Island Beach, could watch... "Community Racing Aloha Series"
Key West, Fl. The weather was poor, seas 3-6' with cross chop (square waves) and from the first lap thru the 6th lap F2-33 with Dick Lazzara as Driver, and Gene Weeks at the throttles, TEAM LAZZARA steadily increased it's lead to at least a half a lap, about 5 miles... in some of the crappiest seas you could imagine, we have the video from the chopper, and it shows us passing nearly everyone, because they had slowed down due to being in the air more than on the water, i.e.. the Havoline 115mph cat, the World Champion B-1 boat, whoa this OuterLimits has no rough water limits!!!!!! It loves the rough water, and so does our Team. Congratulations to Dick and Gene for the best ride of their life! unfortunately, we ran out of gas on the final lap. Just wait till Corpus, we have a lot to do there. We have the best Team. That's TEAM LAZZARA folks. This was a very tough one to swallow. But, I always say, let's turn the negative to a positive. Kick butt in Corpus, and please let there be some rough water for the fastest rough water boat I have ever seen. Great boat Mike! This boat would be a good "B" based on it's rough water characteristics. Maybe next year? Who knows?
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Racing Photos
Corpus Christi, Tx. TEAM LAZZARA wins
FIRST Place! (More info when I talk to Dick and Gene)
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Racing Photos
Sarasota, Fl.
photo courtesy of Dan at www.4sarasota.com
F2-33 TEAM LAZZARA blows an engine. (More info when I talk to Dick and Gene) TalkStory Offshore Local "X" Class L-333 Spectre 36' Cat driven by Gordon Kraft, and throttles by Benard Minarcin blows both drives in first lap but still wins its "X" Class. But wow, we were look'in good in the Local "X" Class before the misshap. Looks like the Mercury Bravo One drives just can't handle the 600HP Chevy's in the Cat. Nothing like cruising in a 115mph Cat in the ocean dudes!
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Racing Photos
something new is here!
Our best wishes to the crew of L-33 who suffered serious injuries in a major crash that threw them out of their lead boat.
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Racing Photos
1999 S.B.I.
(7) July 16 - 18 Deerfield Beach, Florida
(crashed)
I have waited for some time to pass by before adding the following photo's from our SBI race in Deerfield Beach due to the severity of the injuries sustained by Dick and Gene. Dick and Gene were seriously injured in a crash that destroyed our F2-33 OuterLimits. I am pleased to tell you that Dick (badly injured) is recovering well, considering the impact of hitting the dash board face first at around 83mph, when they stuffed the boat into a large rogue wave (about 8' high). Gene also face planted into the dash, but his injuries were less than Dick. Gene is back racing. Dick is on "Injured Reserves".
Consider the fact that with the extreme damage shown in the above photo's that the boat still floated for over two hours after the crash, and towing by Towboat US. Basically the deck exploded and left the hull open as a result of the intense crash. We wish to thank our fellow racers for your support and concern during this accident, and the extremely fast response by the Stars Rescue Team in getting to Dick and Gene. 1999 S.B.I.
(11) Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 Atlantis/Bahamas
(3rd place)
Were back! It is hard to keep a great team like Team Lazzara down. Mike Fiore of OuterLimits built us a replacement boat in about four weeks.
We received our new replacement F2-33 boat from OuterLimits a few days before this race, and had no test time prior to the race. The new boat ran extremely well. This would not have happened if Matt (our Chief Mechanic) and Mike Fiore of OuterLimits had not worked many 20 hour work days to get the new boat done in time. Thank you Mike Fiore and Matt and all involved in building our beautiful new F2-33. Matt (Robin) drove since Dick (Batman) is still on injured reserves. Great job Robin!
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Racing Photos
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Racing Photos
go fast and be safe Hagar
1999 S.B.I.
(13) Nov. 7 - 14 World Championship - Key West, Florida
see you there!
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Racing Photos
1999 (Tentative Racing Schedule)
APBA 1999 & SBI 1999
NATIONAL OFFSHORE SERIES
SCHEDULE 1999 S.B.I.
(2) April 16 - 18 Miami, Florida
(1st Place !)
A.P.B.A.
(3) May 14 - 16 Fort Myers, Florida*
(5th Place)
1999 S.B.I.
(4) June 4 - 6 Key West, Florida
A.P.B.A.
(5) June 18 - 20 Corpus Christi, Texas*
A.P.B.A.
(6) July 2 - 4 Sarasota, Florida*
1999 S.B.I.
(7) July 16 - 18 Deerfield Beach, Florida
A.P.B.A.
(8) August 13 - 15 Charleston, South Carolina* (skipped)
A.P.B.A.
(9) August 27 - 29 West Palm Beach, Florida* (skipped)
1999 S.B.I.
(10) Sept. 10 - 12 New York (NOTE 1)
(skipped)
1999 S.B.I.
(11) Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 Atlantis/Bahamas
(3rd place)
A.P.B.A.
(12) October 8 - 10 Islamorada, Florida*
(skipped)
1999 S.B.I. A.P.B.A.
(dnf)
(1st Place !) (blew engine) (crashed)
(13) Nov. 7 - 14 World Championship - Key West, Florida (14) November 15 - 21 World Championships - St. Petersburg, Florida
*Southeast Divisional Race ***Schedules subject to change without notice
Sponsors Wanted! Please email your interest to: gkraft@usa.net
1998 APBA Season ends in 2nd Place for TalkStory's F2-33
TalkStory Offshore's - Team Lazzara F2-33
takes 2nd Place in both Northeast and Southeast Regions for 1998 APBA Factory II Season !!!
now this is what I call TalkStory bruddah thanks to our crew!!!!!!!
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Racing Photos
Mahalo Gordon H Kraft CEO Talk Story Offshore Racing, Inc. Visitor's
gkraft@usa.net
(watch soon, for our racing harbor and fishing harbor on TalkStory Island) Come chat with us!
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Talkstory Offshore Racing
http://www.talkstory.com/newrace/ [3/20/2000 9:52:58 AM]
New TalkStory Offshore Racing F3-
New TalkStory Offshore Racing F3-33 boat Spectre 36' w/600HP (speed to date 115)
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New TalkStory Offshore Racing F3-
F3-33 will be used as a TalkStory chase boat for the next few races, not in competition. Need some time behind the wheel first... Plus we probably should pull out the Merc 600's and drop in a set of HP500's for actual competition. see ya out there !
Also,
we will be adding TalkStory
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New TalkStory Offshore Racing F3-
Offshore Fishing Teams travels shortly...
Beautifull 47.02lbs. Second Place Mahi-Mahi, 1st Place was 47.07lbs. ouch! (come'on over Kona boys, the Mahi-Mahi gets bigger over the next two+ months offshore of the Florida Keys) TalkStory is a 35' CABO. and we got the Second Place trophy thanks to the good folks at the 1999 Key Largo Dolphin Tournament, Benard says, "the next time we fish this one, remind me to stuff a mullet down our fish"...
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New TalkStory Offshore Racing F3-
Gordon Kraft, Capt'n Benard Minarcin, 1st Mate Chris Mart Benard (crazzy about) knows and loves this stuff! When he gaffed this big fish, we both had to beat the fish into our fish hold, it was kickin' our ass for a bit... I caught one like this over in Kona a few years ago on Mr. Roses, BIG EDDY. But I don't remember it's size.
Howsit? KONA!
return
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1998 APBA Offshore Season
1998 APBA Offshore Season *(note: F2-71 Matco-Fountain and F2-88 Team Hustler were disqualified at APBA Bolixi Worlds and have had all their points taken away as a result. We always wondered how they suddenly got about 5 mph faster.) (results copied from apba-offshore.com after 7 races)
*FACTORY II-SOUTHEAST* Pos. 1 2 3 4 5
Boat Name MASTRY ENGINE CENTER TEAM LAZZARA STRESS MANAGEMENT TEAM SUTPHEN NA
Boat# 3523 1114 2377 1764 898
Owner ADIB MASTRY TALKSTORY OFFSHORE BOB CALLAHAN RICHARD SUTPHEN SCOTT UTAH
Races 6 7 4 4 3
Points 632 604 337 302 223
FACTORY II-NORTHEAST* Pos. 1 2 3 4 5
Boat Name TEAM SUTPHEN TEAM LAZZARA TREADWELL MOTORSPORTS NA ADRENALINE
Boat# 1764 1114 693 898 2566
Oct. 10, 1998
Owner RICHARD SUTPHEN TALKSTORY OFFSHORE ERIC TREADWELL SCOTT UTAH DEL WATERS
Holiday Isle
First Place!
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Races 2 2 2 1 1
Islamorada, Fl.
Points 211 170 169 94 76
1998 APBA Offshore Season
Well, guess what? We actually won this one! This was a APBA Divisional Race.
But as they say, a win is a win! We wish to thank all our crew and the APBA for all their help and hard work for this year. Remember this is our first year in APBA Offshore Factory II. Truely a learning year! I would like to thank Dick Lazzara, Gene Weeks, and Team Lazzara for making this year happen! Gordon H Kraft, CEO, TalkStory Offshore Racing, Inc. MAHALO !
TalkStory Offshore's Sponsor: TEAM LAZZARA
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1998 APBA Offshore Season
Check out the video (Real Video format)
F2-33 twin stock Mercury 500HP top speed 85mph+ Factory Class II (Gentlemans Racing Class) Factory Class I & II are similar toTransAm races, Camaro's, Mustang's, Cuda's, Firebirds, only they are Fountain's, Scarab's, Baja's, Hustler's, NorTech's, Formula's, etc. The engines are "sealed" stock engines and they may not be modified by the racer.
1998 APBA Baja National Offshore Series www.apba-offshore.com May 15-17 Fort Myers, Florida, Gulf of Mexico June 5-7 Corpus Christi, Texas, Gulf of Mexico July 2-5 Sarasota, Florida, Gulf of Mexico July 24-26 Chesapeake, Maryland, Chesapeake Bay August 14-16 West Palm Beach, Florida, Atlantic Ocean August 28-30 St. Petersburg, Florida, Tampa Bay September 11-13 Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Lake Ontario September 25-27 South Padre Island, Texas, Gulf of Mexico Oct. 9-11
Islamorada, Florida,
Atlantic Ocean
1998 APBA World Championship October 26-31 Biloxi, Mississippi, Gulf of Mexico (Team Lazzara did not attend)
Congradulations to Team Stuphen, winner of the 1998 APBA Worlds F2 class. http://www.talkstory.com/1998apba.htm (3 of 7) [3/20/2000 9:53:20 AM]
1998 APBA Offshore Season
(now bring that little boat out here to APBA Southeast Region, that's real "offshore")
Our First Race:
5/15-17/98
Fort Meyers, Fl.
2nd Place
APBA National
it_was_3am.htm
6/5-7/98
Corpus Christi, Tx.
2nd Place
APBA National
corpus_chri.htm
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1998 APBA Offshore Season
"boats need water!" 7/3-5/98
Sarasota, Fla.
APBA National good_news.htm
7/24-26/98
Chesapeake, Md.
APBA National
We took DREAMS from Marco Island to Baltimore. Our F2-33 boat was ready we thought, we had Innovation check out the engines after our overheat in Sarasota, they gave us a OK. On the third lap, several rescue boats rushed to Reggie Fountains "B" boat, it was on fire, F2-33 hit a rescue boat wake, went about 15' into the air, landed on it's transom, and broke a ignition coil. We made it around for our 3rd lap on one engine, and then retired to the center of the course. http://www.apba-offshore.com/chesa.htm
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1998 APBA Offshore Season
8/14-16/98
West Palm Beach
APBA National
West Palm was pretty rough water, we were airborne alot. F2-33 had one engine missing very badly, but we made it through to the end of the race, we were running on one and a half engines... We checked the carbs and found dirty fuel, and the diaframes in both carbs were damaged?
8/28-30/98
St. Petersburg, Fla.
APBA National
Smooth water with cross chop. We had to stop after three laps, with fuel in the bildge!!! The fuel was found to have come from a fuel pump with two sharp burrs that cut through the diafram???? This one could have blown up the entire boat. Gene had Dick go to the bow of the boat and wait for a tow.
9/11-13/98
Toronto, Cn.
4th Place
APBA National
Well now, here I was in New Orleans at the CEDIA show, wanting to get to Toronto, spent three hours in a cab trying to get to the airport, about two feet of water everywhere... Dick and Gene took fourth place, but I missed it. Jeff tells me that we ran well, but down on horsepower. Heard that the one F2 boat had engines that perportedly dyno'ed at over 510HP. We hope to have our engines rebuilt and back in F2-33 for our next race. I have always felt that the overheat (due to being in the air so much) at Sarsota, lost us some dearly needed horsepower... engines just don't like being overheated, I know, I've blown up several. Which is why the guys don't think I should drive. because I like too much throttle... Unfortunately, another F2 Baja 33' Outlaw rolled and landed right side up on the last lap, the driver and throttleman were injured, but will be OK... I understand that one had a broken leg, the other a broken nose. Dick and Gene helped get their boat back to the wet pits and checked on them at the hospital to make sure that they would be ok. http://www.talkstory.com/1998apba.htm (6 of 7) [3/20/2000 9:53:20 AM]
1998 APBA Offshore Season
well that's racing!
September 25-27
South Padre Island, Texas,
2nd Place
APBA National
Hurricane Georges got in our way, had to close up our house here in Marco and go to Orlando. Talked to Gene Weeks, he said that there were only 11 boats there, that was Friday afternoon. We ran and took a second place after Matco-Fountain... The second day of racing was cancelled due to Hurricane Georges.
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It was 3AM
It was 3AM, just hours before the race, we had to get a big rig tow truck to help us pull the blown starboard engine... whew!
we borrowed a engine from this boat, no really, we didn't steal it...
mahalo! Mastery Engine Center! We get F2-33 into the water 5 minutes before the race!
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It was 3AM
and Billy Berkey and Gene Weeks win Second Place! way to go guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey man, I think I like this!
and maybe some day our driver might not show up for the race and I ... of course I'm
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It was 3AM
going to need a bigger seat.
http://talkstory.com/Racing/Racing.html
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Very smokey skies in Corpus Christi from the fires in Mexico
Very smokey skies in Corpus Christi from the fires in Mexico. Many thanks Corpus Christi, for your wonderful hospitality!
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Very smokey skies in Corpus Christi from the fires in Mexico
Come'on Dick,
catch Mastery Engine Work's
NorTech 380 in First...
We won 2nd again!!! But this time, Mastery felt our presence! According to the APBA race lap times, we are now running under 1 mile per hour slower, than the winner Mastery F2-51, wait till Sarasota, were getting much faster each race...
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Very smokey skies in Corpus Christi from the fires in Mexico
You Mastery boys won again! Mastery's NorTech 380 Question: Hey, how come your boat is 5' longer has three people in it versus our two, we have the same engines supposedly, and your 2 miles per hour faster? Answer: Blue printed and balanced, head work, and 10 weight oil in both engine and outdrive.
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Very smokey skies in Corpus Christi from the fires in Mexico
I'm thinking, we are getting faster boy's, wait til the next race in Sarasota... I have to tell you that the Mastery Engine guys loaned us a set of their hot props for this race, and it helped our speed at least another mile per hour! By the way, this was Dick Lazzara's very first race as our new Driver! He was awesome! And we beat the Fountain boat again! They took Third Place, but they are getting faster also... http://talkstory.com/Racing/Racing.html
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The Good News
The Good News We were leading Mastery's Nortech F2-51 on lap one this time (we were faster) but one of our engines impellers (supplies water from the outdrive) overheated due to the boat being in the air so much (3'+ swells) melted the water hose, that's right melted, and there was substantial smoke everywhere in the boat as a result, it looked like the boat was on fire! Dick Lazzara (Driver) and Gene Weeks (Throttleman) are fine, and the boat is fine. This was a very sad outcome of working so hard to get our Baja 33' Outlaw fast enough to stay with the F2-51 boat. But we will be back at the next race, and faster yet... As they say, "that's racing". The engine is now being torn down for damage inspection, probably will be OK. The Bad News We were in first place when this happened! Sarasota Photos Yes! Team Lazzara was really leading the pack from the begining!
More Air Time
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The Good News
Poetry in Motion A special thanks to the City of Sarasota, the Suncoast Offshore Grand Prix Festival 98 and to the Suncoast Foundation for the Handicapped, Inc. A very big hand for all the volunteers who put this all together! Mahalo! http://talkstory.com/Racing/Racing.html
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TalkStory Interactive Chat Environment
Play this funky sound
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