OSS: Mike Tomlinson

Poker Runs America Magazine recently had an opportunity to ask Mike Tomlinson, Chief Referee for the Offshore Super Series Powerboat Racing Association ( OSS ) and General Manager of Eliminator Boats of Texas, about his thoughts on OSS racing and the trends he sees for the organization and the sport. “I think the offshore community took a giant step in the right direction with the formation of OSS. This is an owner-driven organization, where every owner has an equal say and rules are voted on in a democratic forum. Once a class votes on and approves a new rule, it is sent to the OSS Board of Directors for final approval. After Board approval, usually the new rule is introduced January 1 of the following race season. However, if the rule had one hundred per cent approval from the currently registered boat owners in the affected class, it could be effective immediately. I take pride in being able to say that any rule in our book will be equally applied and will have the same enforcement, regardless of the team or owner. Our racers benefit from knowing that they are on a level playing field with everyone being treated equal, per the rules. Any equipment not meeting set specifications is disallowed. This is only one reason I feel that the success of OSS has been immediate and overwhelming. Additionally, offshore fans are provided with family entertainment that is easier to understand, with typically no more than two separate classes competing in a race. Courses are created with safety first for our racers and fans, yet attempting to enhance the overall offshore experience. Usually, the entire course is in full sight from either on shore or afloat in the spectator fleet area and is designed to challenge even the best drivers. Some sites even feature free admission and we open our dry pits “Race Village” to the public, where you can see the boats and talk to the teams. Safety is paramount with OSS racing. All the boats in our association are state of the art closed canopy racing machines. We are a leader in safety with one the most professional team of rescue divers (Angels) in the sport. In addition to flying more helicopters with “Angles” aboard, allowing testing and racing only with full air and water rescue resources in place also now requiring full time on-board air systems, complete with on-dash air gauges, OSS continues to seek improvements in an effort to make offshore racing a safer sport. All safety / medical personnel are certified firefighter dive and rescue paramedics. With their help, OSS has the only two-person canopied dunker in the sport. The dunker employs an actual Skater cockpit so that both members of a team can practice self-extraction in case of an accident. The dunker also has a full time air system from TNT Marine, and helmets provided by SRP. And with additional help from Reliable Carriers to manufacture the frame, thus the “OSS Super Soaker” was developed. Our teams are required to go through the dunker twice a year. In fact, as unpopular as the training is, many of the people that had to rely on their training during an incident, report that their experience in the dunker really helped them to stay calm under otherwise frightening conditions. Actually, a lot of the improvements that boats builders use today have come from racing development. Support comes from companies like Mercury Racing, MTI, Skater, Eliminator and Lavey Craft just to name a few. Things that are now looked at as every day additions in the boating world, like step hulls, cat hulls, Mercury XR drives, Sport Master gear cases, closed canopied pleasure and poker run boats, all used the offshore environment as a research and development arena. If you need extreme conditions to prove new ideas and prototypes, look no further than my backyard. After over 40 years in racing, 30 as an official, the whole OSS experience has been a breath of fresh air. The entire OSS staff, officials, members and board are a true team. Everyone rolls up their sleeves and works together to make each event a success. While still in its infancy, this association has surpassed all others in acceptance by the media and fans alike as a fleet of racing professionals. Now, after St. Clair and looking forward to Destin, in my opinion, the future’s so bright; you’ve got to wear shades”! (Page Top)

SBI/APBA: Kevin Brown

With two major race organizations serving the offshore performance enthusiasts in North America, fans have the ideal opportunity to enjoy the very finest in motorsports action. Poker Runs America had the pleasure of visiting with Kevin Brown, Chief Referee of the SBI/APBA, to take an inside look at the behind the scenes efforts that go into every offshore race. Kevin is a modest, soft-spoken guy with a track record that has made him one of the most successful race producers on the offshore circuit. His carrer began as a racer, back in 1991, and by ’94 he had set the “A” class kilo record, and raced with Donny Wadeck on the Wellcraft Factory II team. With a wide range of interests within the scope of offshore performance boating, Kevin became a member of the Spirit of America race team, which set four APBA endurance records, including Tampa to Miami, and both legs of the Miami-Nassau run. After Kevin won the Dick Fulam – Mike Poppa Sportsman of the Year award in 1995, legendary master builder Gene Whipp brought him into the management side of the Sarasota race. By 1999 Kevin was Race Chairman, and for the past six years he has dedicated his efforts to the racing circuit with outstanding results. John Carbonell, president of SBI/APBA, chose Kevin to be the Chief Referee because of “his knowledge and integrity and the respect of the people he was dealing with”. Among the many duties Kevin took on was the melding of the APBA and SBI rulebooks in 2005, producing guidelines that combine ethics with common sense within every class of competition. With an extensive background in the marine industry, Kevin is in the unique position to devote time to the race circuit. As a yacht broker and small business owner he has the flexibility to fly around the country to more than ten venues per year – holding a private pilot’s license makes this travel somewhat easier – and he also has a Coast Guard 100-ton Master’s license. As an instructor at the Wellcraft High Performance Boot Camp back in the 1990s, he certainly understands all of the concerns of racers. When we asked Kevin to describe for our Poker Runs America readers the duties of a Chief Referee, he shared the following insights: “As the Chief Referee for SBI/APBA, I am directly involved with every aspect of each racing event. Most of our race sites are well established locations, some of which have been conducting races for over 20 years. This makes the preliminary site work and pre-race logistical planning much easier when you have a system in place at each site. As safety is the primary concern for the participants and spectators, part of my pre-race function is to make sure that the medical director has all the assets and assistance he needs from the local authorities. Next I must make sure that the race course is properly laid out as per the permit, and make sure that the manatee watch program is in place. Once the logistics are all in place, we move on to the pre-race inspections of the race boats, and the safety equipment of the race teams. This process generally consumes the two days just prior to race day. Race day is a very busy time for the entire staff, beginning with racer’s physicals at 7 am, moving into the driver’s meeting at 9 am at which time I brief the racers on the conditions of the course, specific problems that may occur during the race, and discuss the post race inspection procedures. During the race, I am responsible for the scoring procedure, and monitoring the race for infractions. After the race, I must collect the data from all the officials about the race itself, and oversee the post race inspection process. If there have been infractions during the race or technical violations found after the race, I am then required to asses the appropriate penalties, hopefully that does not occur too often.” Looking to the future of offshore racing, Kevin Brown sees the continuing requirement for “quality race sites, quality boat racers, and a strong sanctioning body. Out of these,” he says, “will come a strong fan group and that, in itself, will lead to marketing opportunities for the sport.” (Page Top) (Close Window)