In 1977, Micheal Stancombe was just ten years old when he raced his J-mod runabout on the Illinois River.

His father, George, remembers the water being so rough that he would lose sight of his son and boat in the waves and wake, it never even slowed him down – Mike went on to race offshore powerboats with his father and is still racing today.

Micheal Stancombe with his J-mod runabout

This weekend, Mike’s son Dominic will become the third Stancombe to race offshore at the age of 14!

He will be allowed to compete in Bracket Class 700, due to the APBA changing the minimum age from 16 years to 14 years a few weeks ago.

Dominic will be competing in Ella’s Nightmare, a 1977 21ft Challenger designed by George Linder, a close family friend, he commented on the upcoming Sarasota Grand Prix:

I’m excited to be racing with my dad and getting to see one of the exotic cars from our sponsors at Meara Image Motor Sports.

They are brining one to our pits!

Dominic’s first race was earlier this month at Lake of The Ozarks where he started to learn about the behind-the-scenes workings of powerboat racing.

He took the boat through its official inspection, gained knowledge about the GPS system and completed his water safety test that is mandatory for every racer before an event.

The father and son combo finished the weekend with a second-place trophy.

Not bad for a rookie!