• Performance Boating Joy


    by Steve David

    The Joy of a performance boating website that seeks out the good in what we all enjoy.

    Let me admit that I am a boating addict. I have lived on the water most of my 58 years and have been boating for 52 of those. For the past 43 years I have been racing. But before we go there, it is the boating part, not just the racing, which makes the whole maritime experience a joy. It has never been a matter of whose boat was cooler, or more expensive or bigger. There will always be faster, bigger, prettier, louder, etc. boats than yours or mine, and that is fine. I have as much fun dinking around the shallows of the Abacos in our 11’ Boston Whaler Tender as I do our 60’ Sea Ray or driving the Oh boy Oberto Unlimited Hydro. It’s the serenity of the sea, the boating lifestyle, and the very people that surround it that make it what it is.



    Abaco Islands
    I’m not interested in bashing others, whether it’s a person or their boat. There are plenty of websites for that garbage. I’ve migrated to Serious Offshore as my favorite because of the civility of the members and the genuine desire to help, inform and improve our collective marine experiences. The personalities on here are just, well Cool! From Paul and his team, to Bobcats 20 years stories on Key West, to my dear friend Rich Luhrs and so forth. These are folks that have a passion. They are direct, forthright, and VERY real.


    Rich Luhrs

    My passion for what we all enjoy has taken me to some wonderful locations around the world. Just this coming week I’ll be racing in Qatar and returning again there in February. In the summer we’ll be racing throughout the USA, from Detroit to Seattle, San Diego to Madison, IN and places in between. Like many of you, I’ve have my opinions on what we do well and what we don’t. Seems it’s always been easier to see what’s wrong in others than fix ourselves. Towards that end, I served as Sr. VP of the APBA for 4 years and then it’s President from 1996 to 1998. I thought if I’m going to complain I should really do something about it, rather then just throw air punches.


    Pocket Saver’s Plus, Steve David 1988

    While serving APBA I worked with some truly amazing people. The aforementioned Rich Luhrs,
    The late Gene Whipp, Fred Hauenstein, Charlie Strang, Gloria Urban, and so many others who share a passion for boating in general and racing in particular.
    I hope through Serious Offshore I can help to bring you the latest news in my parts of the boating world. Those being Unlimited Hydroplanes and a little of my pleasure boat travels throughout the Keys and the Bahamas. Through our shared passion, perhaps we can help each other to obtain a greater enjoyment from our sport and in fact, working together, improve the experience for those who will follow.



    T-Plus, Steve David

    Feel free to write me on the site and I’ll do my best to respond in a timely manner. If you can make one of my races (the schedule is at MissMadisonHydro.com or H1 Unlimited.com) you would surely be welcomed as a VIP. Hopefully you like Oberto Beef jerky, we’ve got it!



    See you at the first turn.
    Steve David

    Sometimes in your life, you get the privilege of getting to know people who not only are successful in their chosen walks of life, but are also just awesome people with their personalities, ethics, principles, and morals; Steve is one of those, and one of our Icon’s. I had the privilege of getting to know him because we bought a Black Thunder that is a bit unique, and he took the time to discuss it with us. Steve was the official test driver for Black Thunder, and had “Sabrina” (named after his wife), which is one of the sweetest 43’s ever built (triple engines, whipple charged). I must admit, I was bummed when they decided to swap the Black Thunder out for a big Sea Ray……..



    I try to tease Steve into re-entering Offshore races, I believe the last season he competed in offshore was in 2000 with Nigel Hook on throttles, Tony Weise as navigator, and Steve at the helm in the CITGO-SUPERGARD Scarab. If you know of more recent, let us know about it. He may correct me himself.

    Here at Serious, we have always tried to put the sport of performance boating first. It comes before personal egos, National Enquirer type stories to drive up hits for advertising revenue, and keyboard bashing of people and boats. Legitimate, first hand, experience of issues is things we try to do our best to assist with, and will continue to do so. If you have anything at all we can assist with, send out the SOS, and we’ll do our best to help.

    A big welcome to the hydroplane guys, I hope you enjoy yourselves here as much as we enjoy your version of performance boating. I never raced a hydro bigger than a knee-banger way back when, but that’s something I’ll never forget.

    Steve, go get that Championship back while you’re in Qatar, and be safe. None of that loop-d-loop stuff like a couple years ago. Everyone, wish him the best of luck as I always do.

    Paul Rose, Publisher