Offshore powerboat racing started in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1980. Races have been held in either Lake Pontchartrain or on the Mississippi River.
New Orleans was also the home port for the Popeyes Offshore race team from 1980 to 1990. The race team was formed by Al Copeland Sr., the founder of Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits Restaurants and Copeland's Restaurants. [1] He was a six-time U.S. national champion and world champion in 1985 and 1986.
Offshore powerboat racing is a type of racing by ocean-going powerboats, typically point-to-point racing.
Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on marinas for docking, and being typically only for exclusive social leisures such as cruising, fishing trip or racing.
Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or other fixed navigational devices or racing longer distances across open water from point-to-point. It can involve a series of races with buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.
Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams race when sponsored by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, a distillery that produces Martini vermouth in Turin. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1958 as Martini International Club, founded by Count Metello Rossi di Montelera of Martini & Rossi. The race cars were marked with the distinctive dark blue, light blue and red stripes mostly on white or silver background body cars, but also red or green ones.
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken restaurants formed in 1972 in New Orleans and headquartered in Miami. It is currently a subsidiary of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International. As of 2021, Popeyes has 3,705 restaurants, which are located in more than 46 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 30 countries worldwide. About 50 locations are company-owned; the other ~98% are franchised.
Copeland's is a restaurant chain started by New Orleans native Al Copeland in 1983. It offers New Orleans-style cuisine and a casual sit-down family friendly atmosphere. Significantly expanding in the 1990s, it claimed more than 40 locations in 12 states and offered a "steakhouse"-style expanded menu by 2004. It then significantly retracted over the next few years, closing half their restaurants with only 12 locations remaining in four states, with over half of their locations in Louisiana. The following years showed expansion west into Texas while adding the Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro, Fire and Ice restaurants, and Al's Diversified Food & Seasonings – a line of specialty foods and spices for large national restaurant chains.
Hiroaki Aoki, better known as Rocky Aoki, was a Japanese-born American restaurateur, professional offshore powerboat racer and amateur wrestler. He was the founder of the Japanese cuisine restaurant chain Benihana, and Genesis magazine.
The Southern Yacht Club is located in New Orleans, Louisiana's West End neighborhood, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Established on July 21, 1849, it is the second oldest yacht club in the United States and a founding member of the Gulf Yachting Association.
Yachting is a monthly English-language magazine published since 1907. It was founded by Oswald Garrison Villard, publisher of the New York Evening Post and The Nation.
New Orleans is home to a wide variety of sporting events. Most notable are the home games of the New Orleans Saints (NFL) and the New Orleans Pelicans (NBA), the annual Sugar Bowl, the annual Zurich Classic and horse racing at the Fair Grounds Race Course. New Orleans has also occasionally hosted the Super Bowl, College Football Playoff semifinal game and the NCAA college basketball Final Four.
Douglas Blair Peterson was an American yacht designer. Beginning with the One Tonner Ganbare in 1973, Peterson's designs have pioneered many innovations in racing and cruising yachts.
Serafino Vincenzo A/K/A "Jimmy" Cazzani" was born in Sant'Angelo d'Alife, Italy. Cazzani is a Northeast Divisional Champion, North American Champion and National Offshore Powerboat Racing Champion.
Allison Blair Jolly is an American sailor and Olympic champion. Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jolly began sailing at the age of 10 and attended the Florida State University where she won the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Championships in 1975 and 1976. In 1976 she placed second in the European women's championship, and also took second place in the Timmy Angsten Regatta. In 1976, at the age of 20, she became the youngest woman ever to win the US Sailor of the Year Awards, "considered the top prize in yachting in the U.S." and was presented the award again after the Olympics in 1988. In 1979, she won the Adams Cup with the St. Petersburg Yacht Club team.
Victory Team is a government-owned offshore powerboat racing team and builder from the United Arab Emirates. It is one of Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum's several business interests and is considered to be one of the most successful teams in the sport. It currently competes in the Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship, Aquabike World Championship (powerboating), Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, doing so since its inaugural season in 1992.
John Pierce Rousmaniere is an American writer and author of 30 historical. technical, and instructional books on sailing, yachting history, New York history, business history, and the histories of clubs, businesses, and other organizations. An authority on seamanship and boating safety, he has conducted tests of equipment and sailing skills and led or participated in fact-finding inquiries into boating accidents. He has been presented with several awards for his writing and his contributions to boating safety and seamanship.
Thomas Edward Brodie Sopwith was a British businessman and car racing driver.
Alvin Charles Copeland was an American entrepreneur who founded the Popeyes fast food chain. He was also a successful restaurateur who created many successful upscale restaurants.
Fabio Buzzi was an Italian motorboat builder and racer.
Tom Gentry was an American millionaire and offshore powerboat racer.