The 2008 PWCOFFSHORE RACE TEAM
Is Sponsored by:

R&D Watercraft Racing Products: 
Please click here to visit the R&D Racing Site
"R&D's proud to welcome the PWC0FFSHORE.COM Sponsored Racers to the R&D family. 
Over the years leading race teams rely on R&D performance and innovation to win countless National and World Championships in every classification of competition. We look forward to more success in offshore competition with the PWC0FFSHORE.COM Sponsored Racers."





Racer backgrounds reflect below for your review:    Should you wish to be a sponsor for this group of riders, please contact us at pwc@pwcoffshore.com   Should you wish to sponsor an individual rider, we encourage you to contact the rider directly! 

John Belton, Redondo Beach, California.  

Primary Race Craft:  2007 Kawasaki ULTRA 250X

John is a seasoned veteran of offshore riding and offshore racing.  Belton is the most experienced rider selected to be a PWCOFFSHORE sponsored rider for 2008.  John has been riding personal watercraft for 23 years.  Most of that riding has been in the ocean off the coast of Los Angeles, California.  Nick named "The Master" by his peers, John has earned the respect of those peers from hundreds of rides and countless hours spent on the ocean.  Simply put, John is a tremendous wealth of information for offshore riding and racing related topics.  Very few people know the Long Beach to Catalina channel as well as John.  As much as John likes to ride hard and aggressively, safety has always been a paramount concern for both himself and his friends on the water.  John also enjoys casual summer riding in the general Colorado River Valley area.  It should also be noted that John is one of the original members of the "Catalina Crew."   

Race history / highlights are as follows:
July 2002:  Won very first Jet Ski race entered.  150 mile Team Endurance Race.
Aug 2002: 10th overall Long Beach to Catalina 
       2003:  Earned the #2 Plate for the BP Offshore Endurance Series
Aug 2004:  8th Overall Long Beach to Catalina
Feb 2005:  3rd Overall Mark Hahn 300
Feb 2006:  3rd Overall Mark Hahn 300
Feb 2007:  1st Overall Mark Hahn 300
Aug 2007:  10th Overall Long Beach to Catalina (broke the one hour mark with a time of 58 minutes). 
Feb 2008:  13th Overall at the 2008 Mark Hahn (riding with Tracy Malan) 

Given that John rides almost every weekend, he has made 500+ trips from Long Beach to Catalina and back.  Yes, no embellishment there, 500 round trips or the equivalent of 29000 miles or about 9 trips across the United States worth of Long Beach to Catalina Channel experience.  John has been an athlete his entire life. "I learned how to surf, sail, and swim all before I was 10 years old so I am very comfortable in the water".   John currently lives on his Sailboat in Redondo Beach, CA which further complements his "on the water" lifestyle.  

Personal Watercraft that John has owned in the past: 1985 550 Kawasaki JetSki, 1987 550 Kawasaki JetSki, 1991 550 Kawasaki Jet Ski, 1996 750 Kawasaki ZXi, 1998 1100 Kawasaki STX, 1998 750 Kawasaki SXi Pro, 2000 1200 Kawasaki Ultra 150, 2002 1200 Kawasaki 1200 STX-R, 2004 1200 Kawasaki 1200 STX-R

Current Watercraft John Owns:  2003 800 Kawasaki Jet Ski SXR, 2005 Sea Doo RXT, 2007 Kawasaki Ultra 250
Sponsors: PWCOFFSHORE.com, R&D, Hydro-Turf

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Pat Roque, Huntington Beach, California.   Contact Pat by clicking Here

Primary Race Craft:  2006 SeaDoo RXP

There is "no beach out of reach" with Pat.  Pat is an aggressive offshore rider and racer who rides with a great deal of intestinal fortitude.  Pat is a small business owner by day, by evening and weekend he is an animal on the water and a tenacious PWC racer.  Those who have ridden with Pat characterize him as one of the best offshore endurance rider around.  If there was such a thing as riding a PWC like a linebacker, Pat would be it.  Offshore riding is his passion and it shows.  We all know that sea-state separates the men from the boys.  Those who may have mounted a ski and ridden with Pat know full well that there is almost no backing off the throttle with Pat, regardless of sea state.  You will be challenged to find anyone else who can hold it open like Pat in rough offshore water.  Hard core.    

Pat has been riding offshore for 19 years.  Although he also enjoys riding the Colorado River, 95% of his riding is done offshore.  His favorite ride is the Long Beach to Catalina ride followed by a trip around the backside of the Island.  His primary training ride is the Long Beach to Catalina and back ride.  All the offshore training paid off for Pat in 2006 when he won the 2006 Long Beach to Catalina and back Offshore National Championship.  During this race, Pat set and remains the current World Record holder for the Long Beach to Catalina and Back Race. 

Race History and Highlights:

2005 Western Region Offshore Runabout Division Champion, National Champion (Amateur Class)

2005 World Finals Supercourse, 2nd

2006 Western Region Division Offshore Champion, Overall 1st (Vet Master)

2006 Long Beach to Catalina, 1st, Offshore National Champion (WORLD RECORD HOLDER)

2006 Long Beach Sprint Nationals, 2nd

2007 Long Beach Sprint Nationals, 1st

2007 Long Beach to Catalina, 4th

2007 Mark Hahn 300 Mile Endurance Race, 9th

2007 Parker, Arizona Regatta, 1st

2007 Western Region Division Offshore Champion, Overall 1st (Vet Master) 

Pat has owned the SeaDoo 580, Kawi Ultra150, RXP, Kawi 1500 and the 2006 RXP.  

Given that Roque rides every weekend, he estimates that he has done the Long Beach to Catalina and back ride approximately 150 times.  Can you say push the envelope?  These trips have involved many interesting experiences.  The highlights involve challenging himself to take on El Niño's 10 to 15 foot waves (DON'T DO THIS) back in 1990 resulting in a broken craft 15 miles off shore in the channel on his SeaDoo 580.  After being separated from his group, he was finally rescued and towed in via a large sail boat.  He's also been in positions in the channel that required him to be taken in by a Coast Guard helicopter.  He relishes the time that he broke down right outside Catalina, was able to get his craft started and then had to make it back to Dana Point (35 miles) in the dark, by himself (DO NOT DO THIS).  Pat states that this riding in the dark experience taught him a great deal about riding.  In addition to bringing all the safety gear on every ride(!), Pat says that he had to ride by instinct due to his inability to see and therefore read and anticipate the waves.  He states that he had to feel the craft as it negotiated the waves and ride only by instinct.  He has held on to this riding in the dark experience and attributes much of his riding skill to this one night.  Pat still rides in an instinctual manner.  

In his remaining free time, Pat enjoys any and all extreme sports such as skiing, rock/waterfall climbing, hiking and a little basketball on the side.  Sponsors: PWCOFFSHORE.com, R&D, Hydro-Turf

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M Gerner, Southern California. 

Primary Race Craft:  2007 Kawasaki ULTRA 250X for the rough, 2007 RXT for smooth water

Mark is truly passionate about offshore endurance riding, racing and growing our great sport.  Most people who know Mark know him as a Type-A workaholic who usually has a cell phone attached to his ear.  He believes in working hard and playing hard, very few things are pursued at half speed with Mark.  When the weekend comes, he loves to blow off the steam that his business week usually generates through hard core offshore endurance riding.  It is absolutely his passion.  There are few things in life that Mark enjoys more than riding offshore with a group of riders that are equally passionate about aggressive offshore riding and racing.  Mark is known to ride with a great deal of intensity.             

Mark is a former Marine Corps Infantry Officer and a veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  He also deployed to most of Europe, Israel and North Africa.  He has served in Fortune Ten companies in varying management and executive level roles; he is currently engaged in Business Development for a fast moving technology company.  

Mark has been riding offshore for 12 years, almost exclusively offshore off the coast of Southern California.  He loves the aggressive “hard core” nature of riding hard in the ocean, especially in rough water.  He relishes the intensity and aggressive nature or riding in the ocean when the seas are up.  Mark seeks out the unique challenges that the open ocean presents to man and machine while pushing the envelope at full throttle.  He rarely rides the lakes or river; the Havasu trips usually involve racing the Mark Hahn 300 mile endurance race or the new Walt’s Endurance Race. 

Race History and Highlights:  Mark has completed the Long Beach to Catalina and back race four times.  After a mechanical took out Mark's RXT just before the 2006 LB2CAT, he was still able to finish second in his class on his backup Yamaha 1200 XLT.  In 2007, Mark broke the infamous 60 minute mark with a round trip time of 58.01 and came in 9th in Pro Am 1 Class.  Mark won the Veteran class in the 2007 Long Beach Sprint Nationals.  The 2007 Mark Hahn race challenged him with a mechanical issue that resulted in him missing the first 60 minutes of the race.  After fixing his craft, Mark was still able to complete over 20 Iron Man laps in the remaining few hours of the race!  2008 Mark Hahn 300 mile race, winner of the Iron Man for greatest number of Iron Man laps.          

Mark has been an athlete all of his life.  He has engaged in weightlifting, competitive cross country running and mountain bike racing.

Running - Marathons:  4, Ten Mile Running Races:  4, 10K’s:  Multiple (one of which he won 1st in his class).  Mountain Bike Racing - “Twenty-Four Hours of Adrenalin” Races:  4.

Mark was selected to be one of the 2006 WaterCraftWorld Magazine Dream Demo Riders.  This experience provided him with the unique opportunity of riding just about every product on the market.  He has owned the Yamaha WaveVenture 1100, Yamaha 1200XLT, 2005 SeaDoo RXT and the 2007 Kawasaki ULTRA250X.

Given that Mark rides every weekend, he estimates that he has done the Long Beach to Catalina and back ride approximately 120 times (at least).  As many of you know, there are very few people who have done the Catalina round trip over a hundred times.  This experience, knowledge and offshore expertise that he has generated through these multiple full throttle Catalina rides has been invaluable and the basis for much of the content on pwcoffshore.com.          

Fun fact about Mark:  A number of years ago, Mark had a soft tissue injury and fractured bone in one of his legs that required rather extensive surgery.  Having committed to do the race, he refused to miss the annual LB2CAT and back race and against Doctor’s orders and just out of surgery, he tucked his injured leg and did the round trip 58 mile Long Beach to Catalina and Back Race on one good leg.  Yes, he finished the race.  He laughs about how he had a hard time just walking to the ramp to mount his craft for the start of the race and how he thought he could feel the newly implanted screws in his bones rather painfully moving around as he negotiated waves throughout the channel.  Now that’s hard core! (OR maybe a little crazy?!? Yea, he’s all healed up now!)  Mark also laughs about he time when his GPS locked up in the channel and he ended up next to a shark fishing boat that had just dumped chum in the water.  Gotta love the all of the dynamics of the channel.  
Sponsors:  PWCOFFSHORE.com, R&D, Hydro-Turf 
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Steve was born and raised in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. He started his career in the Motorsports industry as a technician at a Honda, John Deere dealer back in 1978. In 1982 Steve left the cold country to move to sunny California.  Upon moving to California, Steve went to work for Clawson Motorsport and works there to this day, the same shop where he started when he moved to California.  When asked about his job, Steve says "I'm sure glad I don’t have to go to work every day, I just get to go play, learn and have a good time.”  Steve started racing jet skis back in 1999 and was hooked immediately.  The long endurance races are his favorite due to all of the additional requirements such as perfect fuel stops, quick rider changes and an effective race strategy.  Steve says, ”the best part about racing is all the great people you get to meet and hang out with.”  Steve estimates that he has done the Long Beach to Catalina and back training ride approximately 30 times.  Steve's most prized accomplishment was winning the Mark Hahn Memorial 300 mile race in 2006. One of his remaining goals is to win the Long Beach to Catalina race.  Steve's best finish in the Long Beach to Catalina race is third place but he's training to win in 2008!  Steve is married to his wife Gail and has a 19 year old daughter named Bailey.

Steve Friebe's Race History:  APBA #70933 USWRA # US00602.  Years riding 20. Years Racing 9.  2006 Seadoo RXP 2006 National Team Endurance Champion Winner of The Mark Hahn Memorial 300 New World Record 4 hours 50 Minutes (2006), East West Texas Cup Overall Winner 2005 USWRA Supercourse Rankings, 1st in Masters Class 2005 USWRA Supercourse Rankings , 1st in Pro-am 4 stroke Superstock 2005 Teamsport Racing Supercourse Series Masters Class Champion 2005 Teamsport Racing Supercourse Series 3rd overall, Pro-am 4 stroke superstock 2004 BP Motorsports endurance series 2nd overall, Overall Winner Team 400 Endurance Race, 3rd Overall Long Beach to Catalina Race, 9th Overall World Finals Super Course Race, 3rd Overall APBA Sprint Race Series 2003 BP Motorsports endurance series Champion, Class Champion Long Beach to Catalina race, 3 overall wins out of four team races 2002 IJSBA / BP Motorsports endurance series 7th overall, Masters Class Champion in Gran Prix series, Class Champion Long Beach to Catalina race.  2007 Race Results:  Region 1:  Mark Hahn Memorial 11th overall, 7th pro-am 4 Stroke.  SCSC Spring Classic Parker AZ, 1st overall, 1st pro-am open.  Long Beach to Catalina 5th overall, 5th proam.  Region 2: Clearlake Supercourse, 3rd overall, 2nd pro-am open.  Camp Far West Supercourse, 1st overall, 1st proam open.  Region 5:  Team Sport Supercourse series, 1st am-vets, 7th pro-am open.  Texas Cup Challenge, 1st am-vets, 6th pro-am open.  Supercourse Nationals, 1st am-vets, 4th pro-am open.  APBA Supercourse high points for 2007, 1st am-vets 4th pro-am open, 2nd place overall in the 2008 Mark Hahn 300 mile endurance race. 2008 Long Beach to Catalina Offshore National Championship - 7th overall.      
 
Steve Friebe's Sponsors: 
PWCOFFSHORE.com, R&D, RIVA RACING, CLAWSON MOTORSPORTS of Fresno, CA. SLIPPERY
 Hydro-Turf 
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Kim is probably the most accomplished athlete PWCOFFSHORE selected for the 2008 sponsorship.  He is definitely the most obsessed with riding PWC offshore!  Passion anyone!  In addition to being a competitive offshore rider, Kim is one of the originators of the Iron Man Triathlon scene.  He is a former world police and fire games triathlon champion as well as Ironman triathlon top ten finisher in Kona Hawaii.  By the way, Kim led one of his Iron Man race through the swim and bike ride portions of the race only to be overtaken during the final Marathon run race.  Kim has mountain and road bike raced, swam competitively and competed in running races.  Kim's says he's burned out on every one of these other sports, some more rapidly then others but all within a few years.  Kim states that unlike his other sporting ventures, he has not burned out on PWC riding and doesn't see it happening for the indefinite future.  Kim has been riding PWC offshore for 12 years and can’t get enough.  Kim has done the Long Beach to Catalina and back race five times and remains his favorite race. 

In 1997 he bought his first watercraft, a new 1996 Tigershark three-seater, 1997 Sea Doo SPX (Kim states that this was one of the best hull every made), Yamaha 1100 WaveVenure, 2002 SeaDoo GTX Foretec, Kawasaki STXDI, Kawasaki 1500F, Kawasaki 250X.  Kim jokes that he tends to go through Jet Skis like a pair of my running shoes.    

Regarding his tigershark, Kim says "I rode the snot out of that willfully disobedient beast, that flat bottomed piece of work beat the heck out of me and itself.  While skipping sideways across wave-tops in the open ocean, I used to marvel at the abilities of other riders to master the waves.  Years later, I found out those same riders wondered how that guy on the Tigershark could even stay on that thing while skipping sideways across the swells."  Kim says that Since he's mounted the offshore configured hull of the ULTRA 250X, the pounding that he takes in the channel has subsided somewhat, although still intense at close to 70 mph.  "We're going a lot faster now with larger hulls which has shifted that paradigm for the aggressive offshore riding scene, requiring some changes in riding methodology" says Kim. 

Quote of the decade from Kim:  "The faster I go, the harder and more violent I bounce, the more sore I get, the more satisfaction I feel.  If walking up the dock after a hard ride does not cause my legs to crumble from under me then I’ve not had a good ride"   Those who have ridden with Kim know he has a great deal of skill offshore, especially in rough water.

Race History and Highlights:

2002  Beginner stock IJSBA stock class Long Beach To Catalina Offshore national champion

2003 :Long Beach to Catalina Class Champion 

2004 Normally aspirated Long Beach to Catalina Class Champion

2006 ProAm Long Beach to Catalina Four Stroke Normally Aspirated APBA National Champion

2006 ProAm 2nd Place in the Mark Hahn Memorial (Paul Pham was his partner)

2006 Vet Master Long Beach Sprint National Champion 

2007 Vet Master Long Beach To Catalina National Champion (Time - broke an hour!) 

2008 Mark Hahn 300 Mile:  7th Overall, riding with Paul Pham.

Fun Fact about Kim:  Back in his Iron Man Triathlon days, Kim was attending so many Iron Races and operating on such a shoe-string budget, that he jokes about having to spray bug spray around some of the mattresses that he had to sleep on.  There was a great deal of inexpensive peanut butter consumed in those days to maintain the energy required to train for all of his Iron Man races.  Needless to say, The discipline Kim fostered from his Ironman training and races has served him exceptionally well in the PWC endurance racing arena.  Sponsors:  PWCOFFSHORE.com, R&D, Hydro-Turf

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Aaron Cress. Technical Advisor

We seek out Aaron's expertise for guidance around the Kawasaki ULTRA250X.  Aaron is a passionate supporter of Kawasaki and of the offshore arena.  Aaron's guidance and feedback with regard to the ULTRA250X has been invaluable to our group. 

Below, Aaron Cress on his newest source of transportation:  


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DISCLAIMER:  Read This:  This website is informational only. This site is intended for the review by adults only.  No representation is made or warranty given as to its content. User assumes all risk of use. PWCOffshore.com, its owners and its suppliers assume no responsibility for any loss or delay resulting from such use. Warning - although PWC riding is great fun, riding personal watercraft (PWC) in the ocean is not for the beginner and is for adults only.  Offshore PWC riding can be extremely dangerous resulting in serious injury or death.  The information on this site is for adults and strictly the opinion of the writers on this site.  We are only PWC enthusiasts - please do your own research and make your own judgments regarding what products you purchase and how & where you ride your watercraft (PWC).  We are not certified mechanics nor are we certified mariners or certified maritime navigators.  Do not take anything you read on this site as guidance from a "professional."  By reading this site, you agree to take whatever information or input you receive on this site at your own risk.  If you are inexperienced or a beginner we recommend against riding in the open ocean.  We encourage you to take a boating safety course and consult with the Coast Guard regarding PWC, boating, rider safety and maritime navigation before you consider riding PWC offshore, in the ocean.  For more boating safety information, go to the Coast Guard's website at http://www.uscg.mil/  or call the US Coast Guard at (310) 732-2042 for more information.  Have fun and be safe and never ride in the ocean unless you know what you are doing.