The 2010 PWCOFFSHORE RACE CLUB
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."






Pictured Below, R&D Racing sharing the stage after PWCOFFSHORE wins the the overall at the 2009 Mark Hahn Memorial 300 Mile National Championship Race 


The PWCOFFSHORE Racing WARRIOR AWARD:
The annual Warrior Award is awarded to the member of PWCOFFSHORE Racing that best demonstrates the core values of PWCOFFSHORE Racing.  They are integrity, a collaborative spirit, inclusiveness and being tenacious on the race course.  They demonstrate "Strength & Honor"  both on and off the race course.

The 2010 Warrior Award Will Be Awarded on July 18, 2010
2009 Warrior Award Winner:  Ms. Shawn Alladio    


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! 

 
Individual Race Club Members: 

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Sean Conner: Reno:  Nevada PWCOFFSHORE Club Member Since 2009

Primary Race Craft: 2008 SeaDoo RXT

 

Sean Conner brings great riding ability and a passion for our sport that will fit nicely into our vision for success on the race course and the demeanor to assist in growing our sport!  Sean is smart, articulate knows racing and is tenacious on the race course.  Sean will have well over 100 years of experience to leverage from the Sponsored Racer Group to assist him in achieving success

 

Sean Conner has spent his life on the water.  From the time he was 6 months old on the California Delta to traveling the country as Assistant Crew Chief for the Miss Geico Offshore Powerboat Race Team.  Sean started riding PWC's in 1998 at the age of 10 and has been hooked ever since.  His primary riding grounds are the California Bay Area.  Sean is either working or racing.  Sean prefers the hardcore nature of offshore PWC racing in big water but also enjoys the technical aspects and requirements of long distance racing such as the Mark Hahn 300 Mile Endurance Race.  Sean started with the Miss Geico Offshore Racing Team in 2006 as part of the boat crew.  Continuing on through the 2007' and 2008' season, Sean advanced to Assistant Crew Chief.  In this capacity, Sean has executed the setup of the Miss Geico offshore race boats for 45 races including two record speed runs resulting in three consecutive National and World Championships.  "Two things that I'm known for is attention to detail and strategy" says Sean.   "Never overlooking the smallest of details, they do make a difference.  Double checking every part, piece, nut, bolt, and fitting after every run.  Paying attention to detail is what wins races and builds championships.  I always have a strategy before each race" Says Sean.  "Knowing the strong and weak points of both yourself and your competitors are key to capitalizing on situations when they present themselves, winning races is all about preparation and attention to detail."  Sean's most prized accomplishment in racing is winning the 2008 Offshore World Championship in Key West with the Geico Powerboat Team.  

 

2009 Race Season Stats:

 

In my first full offshore racing season I was voted by my peers the new offshore racer of the year award along with six podium finishes including three 1^ST place victories.   Second place in the DJSA Enduro Championship and ninth place in the Triple Crown Offshore Championship.

 

Mark Hahn 300:  DNF (after racing our way into 5^th overall)

Dana Point to Avalon:  3^rd place amature open

DJSA Sanfransisco:  3^rd overall

Long Beach to Catalina:  DNF

DJSA Rio Vista:  2^nd overall

DJSA Super Course:  1^st Place

DJSA Pittsburg:  8^th place

DJSA Oakley:  1^st place overall

Dana Point to Oceanside:  1^st place amature open,  2^nd place overall

 

2009 Up and coming racer of the year

2009 DJSA Championship Standings:  2^nd overall

2009 Offshore Triple Crown standings:  9^th overall

 

2010 Season Outlook:

Working closely with my technician Steve Friebe we have built a faster, better handling and more reliable ski for the 2010 season.   Whether it comes to physical training or building a faster more reliable race craft we never rest in our pursuit to be the best.   Using what we have learned in the 2009 season we are focused on Dominating every event we attend in the 2010 race season.

 

 

Mark Gerner Primary Race Craft:  2007 Kawasaki ULTRA 250X for the rough (2), 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 13 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 five 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 to Catalina and back 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 (single rider) laps.  2008 LB2CAT Offshore National Championship:  Took a launch while in third place only to return in top ten in ProAm Class.  2009 Mark Hahn 300 Mile Race National Championship Overall Winner (with partner Robert Carreon).  PROAM Winner at the 2009 Mark Hahn 300.  2009 Dana Point to Avalon Offshore Sprint, 9th Overall  (mechanical), 2009 LB2CAT Offshore National Championship 2nd overall and second in PROAM, 2009 Dana Point to Oceanside and Back Race 5th overall, 2009 Overall Triple Crown of Offshore Race Champion, voted by peers as the 2009 Triple Crown Offshore Racer of the Year.  Mark is the President of the AWA PWCOFFSHORE Club.            

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 literally every product on the market.  He has owned the Yamaha WaveVenture 1100, Yamaha 1200XLT, 2005 SeaDoo RXT, 2007 RXT and the 2007 Kawasaki ULTRA250X. Pictured below - Mark at the 2009 Long Beach to Catalina Offshore National Chapmpionship Race where he came in second place overall: 

Given that Mark rides every weekend, he estimates that he has done the Long Beach to Catalina and back ride approximately 150 times (at least).  As many of you know, there are very few people who have done the Catalina round trip over a hundred times (let alone ever a single time).  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, Fly Racing  
Below, Gerner at the 2009 LB2CAT 

John Belton, Redondo Beach, California.  PWCOFFSHORE Club Member since 2007 

Primary Race Craft:  2009 Kawasaki ULTRA 260X     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.   

 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) 
April 2009: 5th overall at the Dana Point to Avalon Offshore Sprint
Nov 2009: First stock craft to finsih at the Dana Point to Oceanside and Back Offshore Race

Given that John rides almost every weekend, he has made 600+ 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