The 2010 APBA Long Beach, Ca. USA to Catalina and Back Offshore National Championship Race, AKA the “LB2CAT” is scheduled for July 18, 2010

PWCOFFSHORE on May-9-10 10:53am

5/9/2010

The 2010 APBA Long Beach, Ca. USA to Catalina and Back Offshore National Championship Race, AKA the “LB2CAT” is scheduled for July 18, 2010 and will be brought to us by RPM Racing Enterprises and Ross Wallach.

The best offshore PWC / Jet Ski Racers in the world will assemble to take on this legendary and epic race! Many are forecasting the best gathering of talent ever and one of the best LB2CAT Races - ever. Kawasaki has swept the podium the last two years straight with the Kawasaki ULTRA 250x and 260x platforms. Last year’s standout racer was Factory Monster Kawasaki’s Craig Warner who won his second consecutive APBA Offshore National Championship and he will be pursuing his third straight Title this year! Mark Gerner of PWCOFFSHORE.com Sponsored Racing took second place on his Kawasaki ULTRA 250X in 2009 and third place went to former World Champion Chris Heinrich racing his Kawasaki ULTRA250X.

The race is a 60 mile round trip course that starts from behind the break wall in the shadow of the majestic Queen Mary for an approx. 30 mile sprint across the channel to a turn-boat off the coast of Avalon (Catalina Island), and then back to the finish line at the Queen Mary. Professional racers are completing this round trip in just less than 60 minutes, a reflection of the speed and raw power of contemporary watercraft. A well tuned, fast, reliable craft, navigation skills and physical fitness all play a role in the success of these racers. The water conditions in the channel are unpredictable and can be “ocean smooth” (the ocean is never completely flat) or could present rough water conditions similar to what we saw at the 2008 LB2CAT. Racers do their best to implement a “setup” on their craft that is best for the given sea state on race day.

Ms. Shawn Alladio of Liquid Militia / PWCOFFSHORE Sponsored Racing / K38 Water Safety fame will be there in force to take on yet another LB2CAT. Alladio has been the first woman to cross the line in literally every LB2CAT she has participated in. Chis MacCluggage of MACC Racing won the 2010 Dana Point to Avalon Offshore Sprint Race, the first offshore race of the 2010 Triple Crown. Macc will be a contender at the 2010 LB2CAT racing his Yamaha in pursuit of another LB2CAT win while simultaneously pursuing the prestigious title for the “Triple Crown of Offshore” for 2010. Note to self, we will see Macc and Warner battle in an offshore race for the first time in history. Drama anyone? Much will be determined on this day….. Word on the street is that Mark Gerner is building a new Kawasaki ULTRA platform with a “gloves off” approach to the build. Mark’s Mantra – “pray for rough water.” European racers are being solicited to participate and there is rumor that one prominent name might show up! John Belton of PWCOFFSHORE Sponsored Racing has been tearing up the offshore course on a stock Kawasaki and is preparing for the race through multiple cross channel transits. Sean Conner has been engaged in a strict training regime and will not be on a stock craft as he was at the Dana Point to Avalon Race; word is he will be back on a rocket-ship for the LB2CAT. Relatively new offshore standout Tommy Kolleck has also stated his intent to race again in 2010 and has been putting in multiple hours of training in preparation for the race. Also engaged in a training regime is Mark Manke and David Fekete of KMG Racing. When asked about how he was training for the LB2CAT, Mark Manke said “Along with the regular cardio & strength conditioning, I ride as often as I can. Closed course on stand-ups during the week with the SD Crew, river trips with friends and racing my Sport Spec Blaster at ISBA World Finals and selected APBA Watercross tour stops.” Tyler White from TAD Racing will also be participating after a strong Triple Crown start and podium finish at the Dana Point to Avalon Race.

There are multiple classes to accommodate all skill levels and types of watercraft from manufacturer’s stock class to fully modified watercraft Pro Classes. 2009 Class standouts were Warren Frank who won the Challenged Athlete Class, Kevin Shaw won the Manufacturer’s Stock Class, Mike Arnold won the Military Class, Jim Walker won the Amateur Open Class, Dave Szych won the Sportsman Open Class, Kim Bushong of PWCOFFSHORE Racing won the Veteran Master Class and of course Craig Warner won the Professional Class and the overall.

PWCOFFSHORE.com intends to put a helicopter in the air again this year to film the race and create yet another DVD covering the race. 2009 DVD sponsors were Liquid Militia Clothing, TAD Racing - Doug White, Greenhulk.net, 4-TecPerformance.com Parts, Corner Pocket Studios, PWCOFFSHORE.com, Impros The Impeller Professionals, Vanick Racing, Steve “Famous” Friebe, The AWA, K38 Water Safety and Dave Arnold Live.com. LB2CAT DVD's can be found here: http://www.pwcoffshore.com/DVD_LB2CAT_BACK.php

SeaDoo has a new model for 2010 with their SeaDoo RXTX; the craft sports a larger hull than its predecessor and appears to be a better rough water hull than the 2009 RXTX hull. Mark Gerner of PWCOFFSHORE Racing who owns both a Kawasaki ULTRA250X Race Craft and a 2007 SeaDoo RXT Race Craft said ”The 2010 RXTX hull is a much better hull for rough water than SeaDoo’s previous year’s RXTX hull and SeaDoo appears to have taken a significant step forward for ocean riding and racing, nice job SeaDoo! My initial impression and opinion gleaned through a few offshore rides with the new RXTX is that the ULTRA hull still appears to be the better hull for rough/big water. Kawasaki got a lot right with the ULTRA hull for rough water. Time, the aftermarket and a few more offshore races will ultimately be the determing factor and this could all change, we shall see. Hey, how about that Yamaha SHO, it really appears to be doing significantly better in offshore." With the aftermarket’s advances with the Yamaha SHO and Macc's recent offshore win, the Yamaha SHO appears to be picking up momentum in offshore racing. Yamaha, SeaDoo, Kawasaki, Honda - the offshore battle of the brands will be a great one this year!

We are poised for yet another epic LB2CAT Offshore National Championship Race! See you on July 18, 2010 – be there! Entry form and logistics information here: http://www.pwcoffshore.com/LB2CAT_Race_Page.html

Triple Crown of Offshore: http://www.pwcoffshore.com/Triple_Crown_of_Offshore_58.html

PWCOFFSHORE Forum, look for the LB2CAT Segment: http://www.pwcoffshoreforums.com/

http://www.lb2catrace.com/ http://www.jetskioffshore.com/

jet ski racing, pwcoffshore, pwc racing, catalina, long beach to catalina, lb2cat, endurance racing, offshore racing
 
Left, Mark Gerner of PWCOFFSHORE Racing at the 2009 LB2CAT Offshore National Championship Race