OPA/APBA goes International

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 25, 2017

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After a year and a half of negotiations its ‘Official’, Resorts World Bimini (www.rwbimini.com) will be hosting the first OPA/APBA race outside of US waters on Friday April 28th and Saturday April 29th 2017. This exciting Offshore Powerboat Racing event is the culmination of effort on the part of the Resorts World Bimini Marketing / Management Team and Roger Berkon for B O S A (www.BahamasOceanSportsAuthority.com) a group who has been putting on events throughout the Bahamas and around the globe for the past twenty years and sees this event as a perfect match between the Offshore Powerboat Association and Resorts World Bimini.

"Resorts World built this spectacular hotel, casino, and marina on the tiny island of Bimini, The Bahamas and the ‘OceanSports’ world needs to know about it. Bringing the Resorts World Bimini Offshore Powerboat Gran Prix, an OPA / APBA Offshore Racing Series, to this world class resort just makes sense. We'll televise this race nationally across the United States with an hour long show on a major network that will maximize resort exposure. There's just no better way, I know of, to show off the resort, marina, and the vast array of guest facilities to a national audience of power boating enthusiasts. Hopefully this becomes an annual event on the Resorts World Bimini schedule of ‘OceanSports’." Said Roger Berkon when asked to comment on the race event.

Ed "Smitty" Smith, President of OPA is excited about this new race venue. When asked he replied..."Oh man, I gotta get my passport renewed. We've been working with Roger on this event for a long time and everything just came together today. The big obstacle with a race outside the USA is the transportation of the race teams, the insurance, customs and various other challenges. Fortunately, Bimini is only fifty miles from Florida and Roger has chartered two ‘Ro-Ro’ (roll on/ roll off) sea transporters that can hold about twenty teams per each. The size of the team’s rigs will determine exactly how many boats can make the trip. We are hoping to bring roughly forty boats, so if you want to go, register now and get on the list. This is huge for OPA, we race between the US and Canada when we race in St Clair and Port Huron Michigan and now we are going to The Bahamas. And the best part is that our friends from the Chesapeake Powerboat Club (www.cbpba.com) just happen to be holding a Poker Run from Ft Lauderdale to Resorts World Bimini on the exact same weekend, so we partnered with them as our support fleet. They've worked with us many times at our races in Ocean City and Solomons Island, Maryland, so they know what to do and how to do it. I really couldn't have planned this any better, it all just came together and I can't wait till April."

Focus TV Productions has been contracted to film and televise the event. With over thirty years of experience filming Offshore Races, Focus TV Productions will use six cameras, aerial drones, and onboard cameras to cover all the action. The race will air on a national channel about a month after the race.

Race teams that want to participate will load on and load off the ‘Ro-Ro’ sea transporters before and after the race in Ft Lauderdale. All race boats will leave Ft Lauderdale five days before the race and then return as early as two days after the race so there's plenty of time to get ready for the next race.

For more details, please stay tuned to www.oparacing.org . And, for race entry information send an email to opa@oparacing.org Let them know that you want to race in Bimini, The Bahamas on Friday April 28th and Saturday April 29th, 2017