After a long month, we’re set to begin racing again with our Midwest venues. I love racing these events because the fans are so appreciative of our attendance, not to mention the weather is usually outstanding and water conditions are calm and beautiful.

Lately our competition has either broken or not shown up. Our good friend, Aqua-Mania driver Gregg Rosen, is on the road to recovery, and for that we are truly grateful. We are enthusiastic about the Turbines being together to race at the next couple of events. This year, the St. Clair (Mich.) event could break the record for fastest offshore race held by Miss GEICO and Bud Select in 2007.

I’m asked about running the Turbine class boat all the time. Mostly it’s “How fast does it go?” or “What’s the key to success?” Unlike some other classes of race boats, operating a turbine-powered offshore cat is rarely “just pin it and hold on.” This class and speed level is about managing the power, managing the equipment and retaining focus. The trick is getting to the big numbers as quick as possible.

One of my racing mentors taught me something early on, which made sense when I started, but only now do I understand what he meant by: “You must first learn how to win before you can be a truly great racer.”

The common denominator of the best in boat racing is the ability to have the patience to manage the extreme focus that allows you to be faster, test smarter and run longer than your competitor. Pushing a bad line or making your glory move too early leads to disappointment more often than not, while stalking your prey and executing a comeback is strategic and deadly.

This goes for off the course as well as on the course. Once again, I’ll go back to my list of greats like the Seebolds, Gilbreath, Tomlinson, Scott, Ballough, Fountain, Villwock, David, Imprescia, Teague and Curtis. Patience and preparation is the key to long-term victories. Think of these guys—do you ever see them hyped up on a public forum or running around the pits squawking. No, they manage their emotions, focus on their game and are ready to execute. They have “learned how to win,” and they have learned to patiently focus on their game and not on what the other guy is doing. Each one has learned that true strength in racing comes from being able pull back as well as push the throttles forward. Sure, you’re going to lose sometimes, but the odds begin to stack in your favor as the preparation pays off.

The Miss GEICO team has been testing in Orlando, Fla., the past week. It was a good test session and thank goodness we went because we found a couple of weak links that we were able to address. Our crew has worked really hard to get the boat where we need it. I wish we had more time to test the new boat but right now our schedule is tight.

Whispering Turbines has done a tremendous job of giving us a beautiful set of engines to work with. Around the shop, the Qatar team continues with its safety modifications. Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis were in Australia racing with the brave Aussie Offshore Series. They did well, then again the Aussies love rough water events so every finisher is a winner in my book.

Sitting in the airport on the morning of Memorial Day, the dread creeps in from a weekend of not living up to our potential. I reflect on silly mistakes that turned into bigger challenges and the leadership that was lacking—responsibility I take on my shoulders.

Boat racing is no different than any professional motorsport in the fact that it is unbelievably complex and infinitely challenging. The variables are endless and the price you pay for losing focus can be costly. Balancing budgets, strong personalities, performance, fatigue, excitement and competition with very little room for mistakes leads to very high “highs” and the lowest of “lows.”

This past weekend, my team—Miss GEICO Racing—was culminating the Herculean effort of bringing an entirely new boat to the racecourse. The team had put in thousands of hard hours to create a fast, reliable, perfectly balanced machine that will perform as good as she looks.

Pulling Miss GEICO out of the shop, we were in awe of the sleek Mystic lines coupled with ferocious carbon scoops that feed ice-cold air into Whispering Turbines’ perfectly tuned and balanced engines. The anticipation was as thick as the damp cool breeze coming off the Atlantic. It’s going to be a good weekend we tell ourselves … this was not to be. Simple mistakes and loss of focus would spell defeat for my team this Memorial Weekend. We are crushed at disappointing our fans, sponsor and owner.

The airport is busy—I’m early, more time to think … great. The same words repeat in my head over and over: “We are so much better than we performed.” Reliving the weekend’s events makes me nauseous. An ooh comes from the table next to me and I look up to a TV monitor in the airport as the pictures flash. The Indy 500—the almighty Penske team falls to blunder after silly blunder, Mike Conway’s horrific airborne crash destroys a million dollar piece of equipment, top NASCAR drivers fist fighting in the pits, wheels falling off and Greg Biffle’s crew member run over on pit row.

I’m not alone. There will be countless crew chiefs and racers modifying their plans, adapting to their weaknesses and double-checking their strategy. There is no simple solution—to be the best takes innovation and personal strength, and there will be failures along the way. The weak fall by the wayside in doubt and self pity and the strong persevere.

The feeling of loneliness in the fight for perfection subsides a little, the guilt remains … my horse is standing in front of me motioning for me to get on.

Thank goodness the end of silly season is upon us. Silly season is the affectionate name racers give the period between the world championships and the first race of the year.

It’s next to impossible to turn off the direct feed of testosterone and adrenaline that pours into most offshore racers’ veins. What was taken out on the racecourse gets taken out on Web forums, magazines, holiday parties and local waterways in the form of smack talk and rumors and gossip.

I’m glad it’s behind us for another season and we can get back to business. Scotty (Begovich) and I attended the Poker Runs America poker run in Miami a couple of weeks ago and were reminded of how much fun it is to run a boat without being strapped in at 150-plus mph. We had a great time—the Mercury Racing/GEICO Cigarette performed flawlessly. The twin Mercury 525EFI engines burned 73 gallons all day at full throttle … amazing.

With our season opener coming up at the end of this month in Ocean City, Md., the Miss GEICO project is coming along beautifully. This year you will see a completely new boat built by Gary Stray and the rest of the Miss GEICO racing team.

We placed a huge emphasis on safety and stability, which is immediately noticeable. Tracy (Bratvold) at Whispering Turbines is at the dyno as I type, putting the final touches on this year’s new engines.

John Cosker of Mystic Powerboats was at the Riviera Beach race shop yesterday checking out his old girl, and he was amazed at the transformation of the C5001. She’ll be fast.

I expect the Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA) series sponsored by GEICO to be the hot ticket this year in powerboat circles, with 50-plus race boats expected to attend the events around the country. I’ve heard we’ll see upward of 10 Super Cat boats at the Sunny Isles Beach (Miami) race in June.

I’ve had the unique opportunity to watch the Qatar team work over the past several months, and I can honestly say it is an honor to have them in our shop. They are a true race team—always friendly and very focused. It is easy to see why they are such a successful race crew (Robbie and Emmy are the ones in the picture above lowering a Lamborghini engine in place).

See you in Ocean City!

To “us” the offshore world is a family—we fight (forums), we mourn, we laugh and we look forward to new innovations and interesting happenings in our community. We also long for the perfect sunny day with a light chop and good (boating) friends on board.

To the outside world we are daredevils, egomaniacs and extreme thrill seekers with little regard for the environment or our neighbors. Have you ever noticed how the conversation always turns toward your boat and what it’s like to cruise the waterways with big engines and the sun on your face in search of a good time? Then the next question: “How much gas does it burn?”

Interestingly, your boating family will want to know how the boat ran on the outside, what speed you hit with full tanks and five people and if the new paint job was a hit at the sandbar, island or dock. While your nonboating friends don’t understand why you’d possibly want to run around at the speeds you do all weekend, pouring ungodly amounts of money and gas into that “big, loud, gaudy boat.”

Ever try and mix your boating friends with your nonboating friends? Yeah, I’ve done it enough to know it generally doesn’t turn out the way you envision it. Nonboaters get bored within an hour conversation about MTI vs. Skater or Fountain vs. Cigarette or the latest article in Powerboat magazine.

Most of us have learned to leave them at the dock on big boating days or weekends as this stuff isn’t for the light-hearted or those with weak stomachs. We’ve all learned to break them in on a day that you won’t be tempted to mix it up with a fellow offshore boater … you guys know what I’m talking about.

The point is, we are a unique bunch—lots of successful, strong personalities who find common ground on the high seas testing Mother Nature and pushing our equipment to the limit. Hey, we’re not a perfect crowd but I like my boating friends and I like the language we speak in the common quest for more speed and reliability.

So next time you’re at a company cocktail party, kids birthday or family gathering look around for the other disconnected guy with that glazed-over look in his eye (no doubt he is wondering if he’ll have his new labbed props back for the weekend) and introduce yourself as a fellow boater. Your girlfriend or wife may hassle you for talking about boats all day/night, but hey you’re just keeping with the brotherhood. And hot damn, you’re going boating this weekend. Life is good.