Offshore Boat Racing Gives Drivers a Rush

Alan Pariser has seen the fast lane. Now, he drives on it.

Over the past three decades, Pariser has been a rock-and-roll concert promoter, an artist manager and the president and owner of the largest independent recording studio in the nation. He has catered to such stars as Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Dave Mason.

Pariser says his biggest thrill, however, was winning last year’s Class Pro-2 World Championship in powerboat racing.

Sunday at noon on San Diego Bay, Pariser will compete in the first San Diego Offshore Challenge, the fifth stop of eight on the two-year-old Offshore Professional Tour.

“Despite all my years in the music industry, I really get the biggest kick out of boat racing,” said Pariser, 48, who owns and drives a 28-foot V-bottom boat appropriately named Splish Splash (as in, I was taking a bath). “It’s something you totally do on your own. This is a venture where I directly control my own destiny. I really find it a lot more gratifying.

“Doing a concert, it’s great when the lights come on and the show works out. It’s really a great feeling. But you’re really nothing more than a voyeur, looking out through the eyes of the performer. All your energy is going out to them.

“Racing is different. It’s all me and my team out there.”

Pariser is not alone.

The sport seems to attract the rich. The OPT tends to brings out the B-O-Y in a CEO.

Eike Batista, owner and driver of 1991 Superboat Class points leader Spirit of the Amazon, is a 34-year-old gold-mining millionaire from Brazil.

Pennsylvania’s John Gerhet, 33, made his fortune as co-founder and president of American Minerals. Gerhet owns and drives superboat inXS.

The current points leader in the Open Class, Dirty Laundry, is owned and driven by Joe Mach, 50, who owns a huge dry cleaning business in the St. Louis area.

Also from St. Louis, the pilot of the Bud Dry Draft team is none other than August Busch IV.

Most of them started in powerboat racing as weekend recreational drivers.

The OPT, a non-profit organization established to promote the industry of powerboats, offers them a chance to compete.

Despite its infancy, the OPT has lured big-time advertisers, sponsors and a TV package from ESPN. Large viewing audiences are also the norm. About 150,000 are expected to watch Sunday’s race along South San Diego Harbor, the Silver Strand and the Downtown Seaport Village area. There is no charge.

Actor Don Johnson, who played Sonny Crockett and could often be seen chasing drug dealers in a powerboat on the TV series Miami Vice, is one of the founders of OPT and holds the record for the fastest lap--127.3 m.p.h. last year in New York City.

Johnson has yet to race this season, but he may take a spin next week in Long Beach.

Other celebrities who have driven on the tour include Chuck Norris, last season’s driver of the year, Kurt Russell, Bruce Jenner and Stephen Stills.

There are four classes of powerboats on the OPT.

The superboats are the newest class, most impressive and most expensive. Other than length--45 to 50 feet--the superboats’ only limitation is that the power source must come from an automotive or marine block. Some have up to four 1,100 horsepower engines and can reach speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.

Batista’s Spirit of the Amazon, the defending world champion superboat, has won all four races this season and has built a comfortable points lead over second-place Powerboat Marine Products and third-place Little Caesars Pizza.

Open Class boats are a bit shorter--35 to 45 feet--and less powerful than the superboats because they must adhere to international standards--a displacement of 1,000 cubic inches for gasoline engines and 2,000 for diesels. Still, they can notch speeds of 125 m.p.h.

Dirty Laundry, the defending Open Class world and national champion, has won the past three races in 1991 and leads A.E.S. Motorsports and Excalibur Hotel & Casino in the overall points race.

Agitator, owned and driven by Allan Dunteman, has dominated the Class Pro-1 field, winning all four races in 1991. Pro-1 boats are the larger of the two “stock” classes. They range from 30 to 35 feet and may have two or three 300-horsepower engines.

The 24- to 32-foot Class Pro-2 boats have a maximum of 700 horsepower and can top 100 m.p.h. over long stretches. MerCruiser Manta Racing has a three-race winning streak and leads Can’t Touch This and Pariser’s Splish Splash in the overall Pro-2 points race.

Pariser and throttleman Rick Doria, however, have led after every lap they have run this season, but have finished only one race because of a drive problem.

All powerboats require at least two crew members--normally a driver/navigator and a throttleman/engine specialist--but some have three aboard during a 120-plus mile race.

The course on San Diego Bay is the shortest in the history of OPT--10.5 miles around--and Sunday’s race will be the first on calm water this year. Calm water is considered an advantage to the catamarans since they tend to glide on top of the water. Boats with a single V hull--the more popular design among recreational boat manufacturers--tend to do better in rough water.