Watercraft World: PWCoffhshore Race Teams Fare Well at the Mark Hahn 300

Shawn Alladio · 03-04-2009, 10:04 PM

PWCOffshore Teams Fare Well at Mark Hahn

Jason Johnson
Watercraft World

PWCOffshore.com
Mark Gerner and Robert Carreon enjoy a victory lap after winning the Mark Hahn Memorial 300.
Some of the biggest names in the sport were in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., for the fifth annual Mark Hahn Memorial Havasu 300 at the end of February, and a pair of Southern California riders took home top honors at the APBA-sanctioned team endurance race presented by Yamaha Watercraft.

PWCOffshore.com riders Robert Carreon and Mark Gerner teamed up on Carreon’s Kawasaki Ultra 250X to prevail over a field of 54 teams for 300 miles on the wind-whipped chop of Lake Havasu.

“We brought two boats with us,” said Gerner, the founder of PWCOffshore.com. “Robert’s Ultra 250X and my Steve Friebe-enhanced Sea-Doo RXT. Literally we made the decision to go with the Ultra when we got up in the morning to find the wind blowing more than 30 mph. And it was right decision.

“I have to take my hat off to the Ultra 250X,” he continued. “The race was very rough—it really demonstrated that that boat is the one for rough water. Our entire pit crew, led by Aaron Cress, played a major role.”

Gerner said he took the lead on the final 10-mile lap, passing the team of Paul Pham and Pat Roque, who finished second aboard a Sea-Doo RXT. Pham and Roque are also part of the PWCOffshore.com group.

To prove how rough the conditions were compared to the 2008 endurance race, Carreon and Gerner finished in 6 hours and 5 minutes, while last year’s winners finished in less than 4 hours (although the race was cut short by two laps or 20 miles).

Finishing in third place was Shawn Alladio, the woman behind K38 Water Safety and one of the newest members of the PWCOffshore.com team.

PWCOffshore.com
Riding solo, K38's Shawn Alladio finished third overall on her Kawasaki Ultra 250X.
And get this, Alladio raced the entire 30 laps without a teammate, Ironwoman style. She finished in 6 hours, 19 minutes aboard her Kawasaki Ultra 250X.

“That’s the real deal as far as I’m concerned,” said Gerner, who competed by himself the previous two years. “Running in those conditions and doing as many laps as she did, that’s fantastic.”

Overall the fifth annual event, which is held in memory of endurance racer Mark Hahn who died at a race in 2004, was a success. Endurance racer Mike Follmer, one of the promoters of the event, hosted an awards dinner just hours after finishing eighth overall with teammate Tony Beck of Walt’s Motorsports. And once again, teams graciously pitched in to help each other on the Crazy Horse Campground beach.

“Honestly, we just feel real honored to have shared the course with so much talent and to race in Mark Hahn’s honor,” Gerner said. “It was a real rough, technical race. It was the most difficult Mark Hahn race I’ve done—the offshore training we do definitely helped. I’d also like to thank Mike Follmer, Ross Wallach and DSM Events for putting on a great event.”

Top 5 teams

Robert Carreon/Mark Gerner, 30 laps, 6:05:31, Kawasaki Ultra 250X

Paul Pham/Pat Roque, 30 laps, 6

57, Sea-Doo RXT

Shawn Alladio, 30 laps, 6:19:09, Kawasaki Ultra 250X

Jean-Bruno Pastorello, 29 laps, 6

56, Kawasaki Ultra 250X

Kim Bushong/David Tew, 29 laps, 6:19:09, Kawasaki Ultra 250X

For the complete results, visit www.apbaracing.com.

http://watercraftworld.com/output.cfm?id=2053963

Shawn Alladio · 03-06-2009, 05:44 PM

SHAWN ALLADIO TAKES IRONWOMAN TITLE AT 2009 MARK HAHN MEMORIAL 300 MILE PERSONAL WATERCRAFT RACE

TUSTIN, CALIF., (3/6/09) - Shawn Alladio, owner of K38Rescue, took top honors in the Ironwoman class as well as third place in the overall finishing standings at the Mark Hahn Memorial 300 mile personal watercraft endurance race at Lake Havasu City, Arizona USA on Saturday, February 28th, 2009.

Alladio, riding for PWCOffshore.com Racing, completed the grueling 300-mile race at Lake Havasu, Arizona, where the usual winter winds of 30 mph blowing across the water added one to two feet of wind waves, in just over six hours for an average speed of nearly 50 miles per hour. To win the Ironwoman class, a woman must ride the entire race without rider change. Most team entries, both male and female, use two riders who usually switch every three or four laps of the ten-mile racecourse.

In typical Alladio fashion, Shawn credits her absolutely stock Kawasaki Ultra 250X JET SKI® watercraft and her crew for her success. “The Mark Hahn 300 is a team event. A racer doesn’t make the event, the team effort does,” Alladio says. “My PWCoffshore.com team mates helped me with pre-race training and pit-crew training. My amazing, ten-person Liquid Militia pit crew was ready and successfully completed our six flawless refueling stops.” For each refueling stop the race rules required the pit crew to take the race boats out of the lake to a designated refueling area about 30 feet from the shore. Moving the thousand-pound boat back and forth across the beach called for precision and coordinated effort by the entire pit crew.

Liquid Militia Pit Crew: Pit Boss Mike Smith, Kyla Dominguez, Ryan Smith, Craig, Andrew and Justin Mellon, Barrett and Bryant Lambert, and Melissa

Regarding Shawn Alladio's Ironwoman performance and podium, PWCOFFSHORE team mate and Overall winner Mark Gerner said "That's the real deal as far as I'm concerned,". Gerner had competed himself the previous two years in the Ironman position. "Running in those conditions and doing as many laps as she did, that's fantastic." Gerner, a former Marine Corps Infantry Officer paid Alladio the ultimate compliment, "she is a warrior and a tremendous addition to the PWCOFFSHORE Team".

PWCOFFSHORE RACE TEAM L-R Ralph Perez, Robert Carreon, Mark Gerner, Shawn Alladio, Kim Bushong, and Sean Conner

Alladio added that as long as her strength and determination matched the power of her JET SKI watercraft, her pit crew would make the difference in finishing first or not. And they all succeeded.

Alladio borrowed the showroom stock Kawasaki from her Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. corporate sponsor one day before the race, giving her team enough time to give the boat a thorough once-over and add the logos of her other sponsors. Those sponsors included the American Watercraft Association, PWCOFFSHORE.com Race Team, Liquid Militia Clothing, Hydro-Turf, R&D, OTB Boots, Mustang Survival, K38 Gear, Betty Belts, Hypnotic Films, along with running the American and USMC flags.

The Mark Hahn is one of three long distance races on the West Coast. Alladio and her team plan to contest the other two, the Dana Point to Avalon Offshore Sprint, and the LB2CAT events. The former starts in at Dana Point, in Orange County, Calif., and crosses the Catalina channel to Avalon on Catalina. The LB2CAT is the round trip race from Long Beach, Ca., to Catalina and back.

Alladio said she is also making arrangements to race a European offshore event at Roslagsloppet, Sweden, in August.

In 2009, K38 Water Safety celebrates 20 years of service to recreational, occupational and event management water safety and education! K38 has trained thousands of personnel from fire rescue, lifesaving, military, law enforcement, and search, rescue agencies, and is the worldwide-recognized authority in the occupational use and application of Personal Watercraft. K38 is represented through accredited affiliates in 14 countries worldwide teaching water rescue, racing, officiating, event management, operations, swiftwater, flood, big wave, towsurfing and industry support using JET SKI watercraft for rescue or patrol applications. K38 is founded by Shawn Alladio, a professional IJSBA racer for 2 decades, National Safe Boating Council instructor and water rescue professional. K38’s motto is ‘The Life You Save May Be Your Own’

Photos: http://k38watersafety.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1608

www.K38WaterSafety.com
www.PWCoffshore.com
K38rescue@aol.com

Shawn Alladio · 03-06-2009, 08:07 PM

2009 Mark Hahn 300 Mile Memorial PWC Endurance Race
2009 Veteran Masters Open Class Champions

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PWCOFFSHORE racer Kim “Ironman” Bushong and AWA - Socal Watercraft Club member David “Pirate” Tew won the overall Vet Masters Championship at the World’s Longest Continuous Running Endurance PWC Race, the Mark Hahn 300.

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Kim Bushong

The Southern Californian endurance racers paired up together, piloting Pirates #33 Kawasaki Ultra 250X. The red rocket ran an impressive 29 laps at ten miles per loop for a time of 6 hours, 18 minutes and 53 seconds.

The team also rounded out the top 5 finish positions on the prestigious overall Podium for the PWCOFFSHORE race team, taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th respectively our of a field of 59 race teams.

LordBlack Race Team Member, ‘Pirate’ is favorite by his beloved mascot Captain Morgan, his family and club members. Pirate is a tenacious and practical opponent on the track, never to be underestimated, just look at his nickname!

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Pirate

Kim is one of the pioneers of Ironman triathlons setting the current pace millions of aficionados worldwide now enjoy. He’s a natural athlete that understands the rigors of enduring great distances and the will power of determination.

The Southern California Watercraft Club members pitted for the #33 team: Russell Libby, Dave Brewer, Brian Largartica, Trent Tew, Travis Campbell, Danny De La Cruz

Liquid Militia Pit Crew batted second up when club members came to the hot pits at the same time, it was a festive and fun atmosphere with a competitive edge that served the membership well.

The Mark Hahn is one of three long distance races on the West Coast. Bushong and his team plan to contest the other two, the Dana Point to Avalon Offshore Sprint, and the LB2CAT events. The former starts in at Dana Point, in Orange County, Calif., and crosses the Catalina channel to Avalon on Catalina. The LB2CAT is the round trip race from Long Beach, Ca. to Catalina and back.

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Socal Watercraft Club Members

Sponsors: PWCOFFSHORE.com, Hydro-Turf, R&D, OTB Boots, Liquid Militia, Captain Morgan, AWA

www.PWCoffshore.com
www.Socalwatercraftclub.com

Shawn Alladio · 03-06-2009, 08:08 PM

The Mark Hahn 300 SEA DOO X Team First Award was earned by Pat Roque and Paul Pham

Pat and Paul on the Podium Recieving the Sea Doo X Team First Award

PWCOffshore Racer Paul Pham, along with team mate Pat Roque, another outstanding Southern California endurance racer, took home the SEA DOO X Team First Award at the 2009 Mark Hahn 300 Mile Memorial PWC Race!

Their placing helped boost the PWCOFFSHORE Top podium Finishes from first to third at the event named in honor of fallen PWC Racer Mark Hahn and promoted by Mike Follmer. The 30 MPH sustained winds and 59 race teams couldn't stop their assault, as they rode a steady and faithful pace on Lake Havasu in Arizona.

The HOT PITS for Team #99

Their second place Overall podium finish put the first Sea Doo Race Boat across the Finish line in a time of 6 hours, 6 minutes and 57 seconds. 30 grueling ten mile laps were traded off between the racers on theri Sea Doo RXP boat #99. They absolutely led the charge for all Sea Doo fans, a race boat that loves harsh conditions.

Paul and Pat also took second Place in the Pro Am Four Stroke Division, bringing home a total of 3 Mark Hahn Race awards for the evening awards banquet celebrated with friends, family and fellow racers.

Paul Pham is a veteran of offshore and endurance riding and racing. A successful business man with a Master’s Degree, Paul’s passion outside of work is aggressive offshore riding and racing. As it reflects in the 2007 Long Beach to Catalina and Back Offshore National Championship Race DVD (where Paul came in 6th overall), Paul has developed into a force to be reckoned in both offshore and endurance racing. Smooth yet aggressive on the water, Paul appears to effortlessly fly across the ocean at 75 mph on his RXP. He is also the Vet Master 2008 National Champion, and now can add this team placing to his race lineage.

http://k38watersafety.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1644

www.PWCoffshore.com