2008 Bimini Road Rally Report

20 PWC riders travel from Miami to Bahamian islands

WaterTop Unlimited of Melbourne, Fla. recently completed the company’s exclusive, all-inclusive Bimini Road Rally with a full field of participants.

PWC enthusiasts from nine states participated in the one-of-a-kind PWC adventure, riding from North Miami Beach across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamian islands of Bimini more than 50 miles away. The 2008 Bimini Road Rally, which took place June 25-20, included a full field of 20 PWC riders and eight Formula Boat owners and crew. 

The four-day/four-night e-venture (WaterTop calls the project part event, all adventure) was supported by Sea-Doo and Formula Boats and takes participants into the heart of the Bermuda triangle.

Rally participants ride around an old shipwreck.

Beyond the open-ocean voyage, participants were treated to a tour of the Bimini islands, stopping at the famed sunken concrete ship, the Sapona, plane crashes in shallow water and a trip to the legendary Bimini Road, the fabled lost road to Atlantis.

Click here to see one of the 2008 Bimini Road Rally excursions.

Mixed in with the fun of exploring the islands was the Bermuda Triangle Poker Run. Commercial helicopter pilot Jean Paul Robinson of Miami took the Bermuda Triangle Poker Run pot with a best hand of three-aces. Steve Reech of Maryland was runner up with three-queens, and taking third was David Kirkpatrick of Pensacola with three eights.

The 2009 Bimini Road Rally is tentatively scheduled for June 24-28, 2009 and will again cap participation at 20.

Riding PWCs around a shallow-water plane crash.

The next WaterTop event changes gears with the Riva Racing HydroDrag Fall Nationals. The HydroDrag is a personal watercraft drag racing event sanctioned by the APBA and will take place Nov. 15, 2008.

The Fall HydroDrag event follows the success of the inaugural Spring National event and returns to the famous C-54 canal – the Bonneville salt flats of waterways – in Fellsmere, Florida. Various classes of PWC include; Hydro Stock, Hydro Vintage, Hydro Limited, and Hydro Unlimited. All classes pit two racers head-to-head in a 1/8 mile drag race.

The HydroDrag event utilizes a unique starting gate system called the Launch Pad that holds watercraft in place on a bunk system then lowers both vehicles simultaneously with an explosion of water behind them from the Launch Pad Pump Spout.

The HydroDrags will be complimented by the Route 1 Motorsports PWC Poker Run in Sebastian, Fla. on Sunday, November 16, 2008. The Route 1 Motorsports Poker Run will feature a 40-mile Poker Run on the Indian River and will offer a host of prizes and 2009 watercraft demos.