Titans of the Water
Some built the boats. Some broke the records. All of them shaped the water.
Still Making Waves
Living legends who continue to shape the performance boating industry.
Reggie Fountain Jr.
The King of Offshore
Reggie Fountain II grew up in Tarboro, North Carolina, and entered his first boat race at 14. By his early 30s he had amassed over 100 victories in 201 professional races, won two Formula One World Championships, and founded Fountain Powerboats — a company that would go on to sell over 10,000 boats and cross $1 billion in total sales.
Bob Teague
The Test Driver's Test Driver
Bob Teague served as an infantry platoon leader in Vietnam, fought fires as an LAFD Captain for over two decades, and simultaneously built Teague Custom Marine into one of the most respected names in high-performance marine engines. He has raced in over a thousand races, earned multiple World Championships, and is the only person Speed On The Water has ever said "no one is better" about.
Don Johnson
The Actor Who Actually Won the World Championship
Before he played Detective Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice, Don Johnson grew up racing boats. But unlike most celebrity racers, Johnson didn't just show up — in 1988, he and throttleman Hank Stock won the Superboat World Offshore Championship in Key West, beating the pros on their own water.
Steve Curtis
The British Class 1 Legend
Steve Curtis is the most decorated Class 1 offshore driver in history. With nine UIM Class 1 World Championships and three decades at the top of international offshore racing, the British legend — throttleman and principal driver for Dubai's Victory Team — has redefined what longevity and consistency look like at 160+ mph.
Billy "The Plumber" Mauff
The Yellow SuperCat #5
Billy Mauff is an 18-time offshore world champion and nine-time national champion. Behind the wheel of his trademark yellow WHM Motorsports Skater SuperCat #5, the Long Island plumber-turned-throttleman has raced at the front of the fleet for four decades straight.
Gary Balough
From NASCAR to Offshore Podiums
Gary Balough built a stock-car career with over 1,000 short-track victories, 22 NASCAR Cup starts, and the 1986 All Pro Super Series championship. When he traded four wheels for two hulls, he brought the same hard-charging style to offshore racing — winning world titles as throttleman of the FJ Propeller Victory race boat.
Gone But Never Forgotten
Their time on the water may have ended, but their legacy never will.
Don Aronow
The King of Thunderboat Row
Donald Joel Aronow built five of the most iconic boat companies in history, won two World Championships, set 12 world speed records, amassed over 350 offshore race victories, built boats for presidents and kings, and transformed a quiet Miami street into the legendary "Thunderboat Row." His murder in 1987 remains one of the most infamous crimes in the history of sports.
Reynier "Rey" Marino
The Next Reggie Fountain
Reynier "Rey" Marino founded Hellkats Powerboats in Miami, purchased the tooling for the iconic Jay Pilini 30-foot Spectre catamaran, and was building the next great American performance cat when he was tragically killed in a test-run accident at age 36. His 32-foot widebody catamaran went on to become the first electric boat in history to exceed 100 mph.
Carl Kiekhaefer
The Father of Mercury Marine
Elmer Carl Kiekhaefer bought a bankrupt outboard motor company in Cedarburg, Wisconsin in 1939 and built it into Mercury Marine — the most dominant force in outboard engineering on Earth. A notoriously demanding engineer who slept on a cot in his factory, Kiekhaefer held over 1,200 patents, swept NASCAR with Chrysler 300s in 1955–56, and gave every offshore racer who came after him the engines that made their speed possible.
Betty Cook
The First Woman Offshore World Champion
Betty Cook didn't start racing offshore powerboats until she was in her fifties — and then she proceeded to become the first woman to ever win a World Offshore Championship. Piloting her legendary Kaama catamaran from Newport Beach, California, she beat every man on the ocean in 1977 and again in 1979.
Tom Gentry
The Hawaiian Record Breaker
Hawaii-based developer and offshore racer Tom Gentry took powerboating to its absolute extremes. He won two Offshore World Championships, built the 110-foot Gentry Eagle in 1988, and then used it to shatter the Blue Riband transatlantic record in 1989 with a 62-hour, 7-minute crossing. He did it all with unmistakable Hawaiian flair and a relentless appetite for speed.
Rocky Aoki
The Benihana Gladiator of the Ocean
Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki founded the Benihana restaurant empire and used the money to chase every adrenaline sport on Earth. Offshore powerboat racing was his masterpiece. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, his Benihana Grand Prix team was a fixture on the world offshore circuit — and his flair for showmanship made him one of the most visible figures in the sport.
Al Copeland
The Popeyes Speed King
Al Copeland founded Popeyes Chicken in 1972 and by the 1980s he was pouring the chicken money into the fastest, loudest, most outrageous offshore racing team America had ever seen. His Popeyes / Diet Coke four-engine catamaran set speed records and championships on the world offshore circuit — and made New Orleans the unlikeliest offshore-racing capital in the country.
Ben Kramer
Apache Powerboats Founder
Ben Kramer founded Apache Powerboats on Thunderboat Row in the early 1980s and quickly became one of the fastest and most feared drivers on the offshore circuit. He won the 1986 World Offshore Championship in his Apache catamaran — and by 1987 was in federal custody. His racing career ended abruptly, and the shadow that fell over it became one of the most infamous chapters in Thunderboat Row history.
Jesse James (the Legendary Catamaran)
The 101.8 MPH World Record Cat
Jesse James isn't a person — it's arguably the most legendary offshore racing catamaran in American history. Built as a 1983 Chris-Craft factory race cat, it dominated the American Offshore Circuit in 1984 and 1985, set a 101.8 mph world kilometer record, and was campaigned over its lifetime by Mark and Chris Lavin, Ross Tebbs, and Wayne and Grant Valder — a rotating lineup of owners and drivers who kept the boat winning for over a decade.
Recommended Reading
Deep-dive articles from the journalists who cover this sport best.
Old Friends Forever Reunion Makes a Fine Intersection for Memory Lane
A moving tribute to the offshore racing community’s annual reunion — covering the legends who still gather to share war stories from the golden age of American powerboating.
Read the Full ArticleTop 10 Offshore Powerboat Racers of All Time
The definitive ranking of the greatest offshore powerboat racers ever — from Don Aronow and Betty Cook to Reggie Fountain and beyond. A must-read for every fan of the sport.
Read the Full ArticleKnow a Titan We Should Honor?
If you know someone who shaped the marine industry and deserves recognition on this page, we\'d love to hear their story.
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