Charlie in the Top Banana 38
We are exceptionally pleased to announce that boatbuilder, racer and HORBA founder Charlie McCarthy has joined us here in an official capacity at Serious Offshore. As the founder of the Historical Offshore Race Boat Association, Charlie has been at the forefront of keeping the history of this sport alive for many years.
Charlie’s efforts go well beyond being a historian. One of his greatest accomplishments has been keeping many of those who created and built this sport connected to us. More than a few of these sometimes colorful characters have unfortunately passed on in recent years. Charlie’s efforts have helped keep the memories of those individuals and their accomplishments alive. At the same time, he’s worked with organizations such as OFF, keeping those still with us connected. We hope to bring those old “war stories” to those that aren’t able to attend the OFF get-togethers in person.
Charlie scoring a victory at Key West in Top Banana
In addition, Charlie has the donated archives of another HORBA founder, John Crouse. As a decades-long fixture in this sport and author of SEARACE, John’s voluminous archives are simply the most comprehensive collection of photos, articles and other documentation on the beginnings and first several decades of this sport. Beyond being the keeper of the paper documentation of offshore powerboating, Charlie has persevered in both encouraging and supporting the restoration of the few remaining vintage raceboats as well as acquiring several on his own including the iconic 32 Cary “The Cigarette”, and the 35 Cigarette “Benihana”. We look forward to the eventual restoration of this collection.
Charlie with legends Rocky Aoki and Bobby Sacenti
Charlie has written a number of pieces on our history and soon we will be reprinting them here for your enjoyment. We also plan to bring you as many stories from “the old days” as Charlie is able to extract from those who were there and have survived to tell about it. Along with Charlie’s archives and encyclopedic knowledge of offshore powerboat racing, he is in possession of John Crouse’s unpublished manuscript of the follow-up to SEARACE. With any luck, we hope to get a peek at what’s inside.
Please join us in welcoming Charlie to the Serious family.
Charlie with son Charlie Jr. in Benihana
The Inside Articles
vBulletin Message