Of all the names I see thrown out here, I am sorry to not see Sam Griffith. Sam was a real life WWII war hero. He was a wild man racing everything from planes to cars to boats, both inshore and offshore. He started some small things like the Gold Coast Marathon. This was a race that started at 79th st in Miami at the Pelican Harbor Yacht Club. Sam started that yacht club too! Anyway, the race was from Miami up to Palm Beach. Sounds cozy doesn't it? Except the race was run on the inside on the Intracoastal through the canals and the cement sea walls. Sam chose for his ride a 225 three point hydro that would run over 100 mph. Many young and upcoming drivers,cut their teeth on this race and many famous drivers took wrong turns and found themselves turning into a dead end canal at 80 or 90 and having to get their boat,stopped...NOW!

Sam survived two times that his plane was shot down and he exited with his parachute....except it didn't open. TWICE. He smuggled rubies out of India and when the war was over Crouse discovered that Sam had been awarded almost every medal except the Congressional Medal of Honor by America,France and England. When it came to offshore powerboat racing, Sam drove the boat that,Bertram owned and rode on, but it was,Sam who set the strategy and the race pace. He won the Miami Nassau race like 4 out of the first 5 times it was run.

Sam was the racer that Aronow and Odell and Brownie and most everyone else racing at that time, held the greatest respect level for among racers. His life was cut short by cancer. He died before his time and never had chance to build up the many wins others did later. Remember he was respected,so much the first championship given to the best racer anywhere in the world....it was called....... The SAM GRIFFITH TROPHY.

Please consider Sam Griffith when you are making your choices.