Powerboat P1, the international marine motorsports promoter, and energy drink Monster Energy have announced a major powerboat and personal watercraft racing sponsorship. The exclusive, multi-year agreement sees Monster Energy become the Official Energy Drink of the APBA National Championship, the UIM Class 1 World Championship and the P1 AquaX USA National Championship. This new partnership follows the news that Monster Energy will be the title sponsor of the M CON Racing Team in this season’s Class 1 series.

Jointly promoted by Powerboat P1 and Race World Offshore (RWO), the APBA National Championship Series comprises five offshore racing events in Florida from this month through to September. It comprises fifteen classes of racing with more than sixty teams competing.

Powerboat P1 has the international rights to UIM Class 1 racing, regarded as the pinnacle of offshore powerboat racing, and the race calendar for the coming season sees the world championship heading to Wisconsin for the first time and returning to favorite locations in Florida and Indiana. A fleet of eight Class 1 boats representing Australia, Sweden, Norway and the United States will compete in the six-venue series, which kicks off at Cocoa Beach on Florida’s Space Coast next month. Powerboat P1 will film and distribute the Class 1 action through its national and international TV broadcast agreements.

The Monster Energy sponsorship also includes personal watercraft racing, with the brand becoming the Official Energy Drink of the P1 AquaX National Championship. Kicking off in Michigan City in early July, the five-venue series will feature endurance racing events in Florida and Indiana across the summer.

“Motorsports are a major part of what Monster Energy is all about and we support racers and motor racing the world over,”

said Monster Energy Vice President of Motorsports Dave Gowland. “After forming an alliance with the Monster Energy M CON Racing Team in the Class 1 championship, we are now absolutely enthused to announce the relationship between Powerboat P1, RWO and Monster Energy for the 2023 race season. Highlighted by the UIM Class 1 series – the apex of worldwide offshore powerboat racing – with an international fleet of eight boats, Monster Energy and Powerboat P1 will Unleash the Beast and power on to race venues in Florida, Indiana and Wisconsin in a quest to determine the world champion.

As part of the new, multi-year relationship, Monster Energy will be known as the Official Energy Drink of the APBA National Championship, the UIM Class 1 World Championship and the P1 AquaX National Championship for personal watercraft riders. Racing and the spirit of competition is what Monster Energy is about and we’re thrilled to go racing and be with the enthusiastic fans on the shorelines this summer with Powerboat P1 and RWO. Bring on Marathon!”

“Monster Energy invests in an array of international sports and properties, and their decision to sponsor our range of marine motorsports is testament to the growth of our business over the last twenty years, with strategic partnerships and television coverage playing key roles,”

commented Powerboat P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala. “They pride themselves on being ‘all-action’ and love racing, power and larger than life opportunities, and our high-energy, lifestyle events will provide the brand with a platform to get in front of people and interact with fans. RWO President Larry Bleil added:

“We’re excited to partner with P1 and Monster Energy for the APBA National Series and looking forward to our new season getting underway with the RWO 7 Mile Offshore Grand Prix in Marathon, Florida at the end of this month.”

Monster Energy will receive extensive signage opportunities on race weekends across the season, together with sampling opportunities within all P1 and RWO event areas and at boat parades, VIP hospitality and exposure through P1’s national TV broadcast deals with Bally Sports Regional Sports Networks and CBS Sports.

The new partnership brings together two of Pratt’s great loves – business and powerboats – in a deal that sees Good Boy Vodka become the Official Vodka of P1 Offshore powerboat racing.

Pratt describes vodka as,

The liquor we gravitate to when we want something light, clean, and easy.

Pratt continued by saying

We are excited to be partnering with P1 as we grow our brand across the nation. I founded the business with a mission to support animal charities and Veterans, and our slogan ‘Every pour helps a pup’ means a portion of the proceeds from every bottle purchased is donated to foundations supporting those causes.

 

I’ve been involved with motorsports for many years and this season I joined the 345 Racing powerboat team, sponsored by XINSURANCE, to compete in the UIM Class 1 World Championship, so this sponsorship is an ideal marriage.

 

He explained that Good Boy Vodka delivers an exceptional smoothness and distinctive taste because it starts with a blend of California’s finest corn and is then six times distilled and carbon filtered.

It will make its first appearance at the P1 Offshore Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix presented by Visit Sarasota when it will be available at the ‘meet and greet’ event on Friday evening and in the P1 Village across the weekend. It will also feature at the P1 Offshore St. Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix in September.

Powerboat P1 CEO, Azam Rangoonwala commented,

Partnerships are at the heart of our business, and we are looking forward to welcoming the Good Boy Vodka team to our two P1 Offshore events in Florida. We will be working closely with Alex to help him meet his business objectives and we wish him success in his new Class 1 racing career.

Good Boy Vodka and Powerboat P1 will cross-promote on all social and digital platforms, and the sponsorship will provide Good Boy Vodka with significant branding opportunities at the race events.

Pratt, who splits time between his hometown of Clearwater on Florida’s Gulf Coast and Southwest Michigan, is preparing for the national launch of ‘The John Daly Cocktail’ created through an exclusive partnership with the famous professional golfer.

Daly’s favourite mix of lemonade, iced tea and Good Boy Vodka will be available in a ready-to-drink cocktail for race fans to enjoy at the P1 Offshore Grand Prix events, where the brand’s new Seltzer and cocktail flavours will also be highlighted.

Hemingway owned the 38-foot (12 m) fishing boat named Pilar having acquired it in April 1934 from Wheeler Shipbuilding in Brooklyn, New York, for $7,495.

Pilar was a nickname for Hemingway’s second wife, Pauline, and the name of the woman leader of the partisan band in his 1940 novel of the Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

The main engine was a seventy-five horsepower six-cylinder Chrysler Crown Marine with a speed ​​of sixteen knots, about 30 kmh. Hemingway regularly fished off the boat in the waters of Key West, Florida seen by many as the ‘spiritual home’ of offshore racing.

So, now Papa’s Pilar has become the official rum of the P1 Offshore series for the 2022 racing season, bringing their storied brand and award-winning rums to offshore powerboat racing fans. The partnership will include a pop-up activation at the P1 Village – a new fan-engagement zone with unique experiences and vendors – being introduced at the P1 Offshore Sarasota Grand Prix and carried forward through the season.

Jessie Behar, Director of Consumer Strategy & Engagement for Papa’s Pilar said

Hemingway had many passions, but his one true love was his boat, Pilar. He spent much of his time out on the water and lived a lifestyle where he was never a spectator. Papa’s Pilar was crafted to honour that sense of spirit. We consider ourselves citizens for the ocean and we’re excited to partner with P1 Offshore to continue honouring Papa’s legacy while engaging with racing fans and boating enthusiasts who share that same adventurous spirit.

P1 Village attendees and VIP ticket holders will have access to custom-produced merchandise, giveaways, music, games, and signature Papa’s Pilar cocktails.

On making the announcement Tim Ramsberger, CEO & President, Powerboat P1 USA said

We are thrilled to be associating with Papa’s Pilar and are eager to develop compelling and fun engagement together with our lifestyle brands. We look forward to helping continue the rapid growth and reach of Papa’s Pilar through our expanding entertainment platforms.

In true Hemingway spirit, Papa’s Pilar works with local and national charitable foundations and causes that support ocean conservation and reef restoration to preserve what matters.

The Hemingway family and Papa’s Pilar Rum have collectively contributed millions of dollars to causes and communities that advance literacy, water conservation, reef restoration and other worthy initiatives that would make Papa proud.

The season gets underway at the four-day Thunder On Cocoa Beach event on Florida’s Atlantic Coast from 19 – 22 May.

Rather than going the twin inboard 1100HP Mercury Racing Motor route, they have opted to fit their 42ft MTI catamaran with two Sixteen Power V16 naturally aspirated 1100hp motors.

Sixteen Power was the brainchild of marine high performance specialist Tom Robertson, who was looking for a more reliable alternative to a supercharged American V8 engine.

The engine building industry based mainly on the marinized ‘Big Block’ Chevy’s has gone as far as it can. As the power density got higher and higher the engines became less and less reliable to the point that we measure the performance in hours. The solution was obvious, the engine needs more cylinders. That was the beginning of Sixteen Power.

Back in 2003 the Cadillac Sixteen concept car inspired him to re-think his engine theory. That led him to Katech Engineering LLC, who were known for building engines for the famous GM Corvette Racing team, where he found Caleb Newman, who was the Program Manager for the Cadillac Sixteen concept car’s engine. After a while Newman would become a co-founder of Sixteen Power along with a third partner, Jeff Stevenson, who is both the main financial backer and their test driver.

Robinson explained that the concept car engine had a few features he didn’t like, such as the single cylinder heads.

We had to start from scratch with our design. Sixteen Power’s engine has four separate cylinder heads, standard units that fit a regular small-block V-8.

 

It made our engine block a little longer, and that gave us room in the middle of the block to do the oil and water the way you want to with an engine that long.

Although the V16 is longer than the V8, the use of an all-aluminium structure means the weight isn’t a burden in comparison to the traditional ‘Big Block’ with its supercharging system. Their block is a single piece designed by Sixteen Power and cast in a Detroit-area foundry, it’s not two V-8’s joined end to end. The single crank and single camshaft are machined from billet steel. Bore and stroke are based on the LS7, bringing the total displacement to 14 litres, or 854 cubic inches.

Work on the engine started in 2013, but customer sales didn’t start until 2017.

We did a lot of reliability testing because marine engines take a lot of abuse. Part of the testing regimen involves a sixteen-hour stress test on the bench.

What sets this V16 apart is the intentional use of parts that are already available in the marketplace. Fewer bespoke parts across the assembly of the motor keeps the overall cost of the motor more reasonable.

Sixteen Power is now set to highlight its performance and reliability to the public by placing its V16 1100hp engines into competition at the pinnacle of offshore racing, the Powerboat P1 promoted UIM Class 1 Offshore World Championship.

The JBS racing team will consists of National and World champion Stevenson and throttling with him is his long-time friend, National and World Champion, Micheal Stancombe.

For Sixteen Power UIM Class 1 is just the beginning as they have had many inquiries from potential automotive customers about the V16.

Robinson finished by explaining

The focus right now is to provide the boat industry with a consistently powerful and reliable motor that can fulfil the needs of customers of high-performance boats. V-8’s making 1200 hp and beyond don’t hold up, don’t come with a significant warranty, and normally require race gas. The whole idea is to replace the V-8s that people are using in boats with an engine that’s less stressed and will be more reliable.

The season gets underway at the four-day Thunder On Cocoa Beach event on Florida’s Atlantic Coast from 19 – 22 May.

Racing Image by Thomas Pictures Inc.