Powerboat Starts Slow, Finishes Fast : Racing: Powerboat Marine Products wins convincingly at San Diego Offshore Challenge.

Proving that caution and patience can be virtues in a sport where speed is often considered everything, Russ Wilkin and Jim Dyke guided Powerboat Marine Products to a convincing victory Sunday in the Superboat Class of the first San Diego Offshore Challenge on San Diego Bay.

The race was the fifth stop of eight in the Offshore Professional Tour, but it was the first on calm water in 1991. It also featured the shortest course ever and had more turns than usual.

Holding back initially to get a feel for things on the 8.7-mile, seven-turn course under the Coronado Bridge, Wilkin and Dyke methodically increased the power to Powerboat Marine Products until they took the lead midway through the 17-lap, 147.9-mile race.

Once in front, Powerboat Marine Products cruised to its first victory in 1 hour 23 minutes 53 seconds, beating second-place Team Jaguar by more than eight minutes and third-place Circus Circus by 13:35. Powerboat Marine Products, a 40-foot catamaran Skater with two 1,000-horsepower Chevy engines and Mercury drives, averaged 105.79 m.p.h.

Driver Wilkin acknowledged his boat could have gone faster. “But you don’t beat on the controls when you know you’re that far ahead,” he said.

Spirit of the Amazon, which had won the previous four races and had a commanding lead over second-place Powerboat Marine Products in the overall points race, was leading Sunday’s race after seven laps before two of its four engines blew out. Despite the problems, Spirit of the Amazon, driven by Brazilian millionaire Eike Batista, managed to finish fifth and maintained its overall points lead heading into next Sunday’s race at Long Beach.

In addition to Spirit of the Amazon, at least six other superboats in the field of 11 experienced mechanical problems.

Said throttleman Dyke, “Gosh, I don’t know how to put this into words, but I guess the main factor was nothing happened to us.”

Wilkin, 47, who owns a lucrative agricultural business near his hometown in Bay Village, Ohio, and Wilkin, 32, who is from Bluffton, Ind., just started racing in the Superboat Class this season. Sunday was their first victory. They finished fourth, second, third and second in their first four races.

Last year was their first full season, but they decided to ease into the sport via a lower class boat.

Their friend and teammate, Kevin Brown, died in a powerboat accident during the 1989 World Championships in Atlantic City.

Dyke was in the cockpit with Brown but managed to escape with only a few cuts and bruises.

An incident like that, Dyke said, teaches you a lot about caution and patience.

Race Notes

In other classes on Sunday, Dirty Laundry, owned and driven by Joe Mach, 50, of St. Louis, won its fourth Open Class race in a row, finishing in 1:30:45, 32 seconds ahead of Hyperactive and A.E.S. Motorsports, which were second and third, respectively.

Like Powerboat Marine Products, Dirty Laundry was never seriously challenged after taking the lead midway through the race. Dirty Laundry averaged 97.79 m.p.h., second best in all classes.

Agitator, owned and driven by Allan Dunteman of Oak Brook, Ill., and Splish Splash, owned and driven by Alan Pariser of Marina Del Rey, each led from start to finish and won the two “stock” classes.

Agitator, which averaged 92.54 m.p.h. on Sunday, has now won all five Class Pro-1 races this season. Splish Splash, the defending world champion in the Pro-2 class, averaged 77.58 m.p.h.