Powerboat racing coming to Lake Hopatcong
Written by William Westhoven | Apr 15, 2013 | Daily Racord
Boat speeds on Lake Hopatcong are limited after Memorial Day, so it’s a good thing the inaugural Lake Hopatcong Grand Prix, May 10-12, will beat the holiday deadline.
With twin-engine racers hitting straightaways at 135 mph and cornering at 95 mph, the competitors in the Offshore Powerboat Association’s first race event of the year are used to exceeding limits.
“It’s all about adrenalin,” said Jay Muller, a Lake Hopatcong resident and the OPA’s top-ranked racer, who was instrumental in bringing the race circuit back to New Jersey’s largest lake.
Muller and up to 40 other racers will compete in six categories for a purse of about $25,000 on an “arena-style” 2.8-mile course that will be fully viewable from many locations on the lakeshore. The Brick-based OPA is using the Lake Forest Yacht Club as a staging area.
Lake Hopatcong resident Jay Muller's offshore powerboat is 40 feet long and has twin 1,200-horsepower motors. / Photo courtesy of Dee Ungarten/Lucididee
“We’re very excited here,” said Lake Forest Yacht Club Commodore Ray Calogero. “I’m sure a lot of people on the lakeside will be enjoying the weekend.”
Calogero said the OPA leased use of the private facility for the weekend but that the club will be open to the public on race day on a first-come, first-served basis. Some member boats are being moved from slips to accommodate the powerful racing boats.
Muller’s 40-foot catamaran is powered by twin 1,200-horsepower motors.
“We’re very excited here,” said Lake Forest Yacht Club Commodore Ray Calogero. “I’m sure a lot of people on the lakeside will be enjoying the weekend.”
Calogero said the OPA leased use of the private facility for the weekend but that the club will be open to the public on race day on a first-come, first-served basis. Some member boats are being moved from slips to accommodate the powerful racing boats.
Muller’s 40-foot catamaran is powered by twin 1,200-horsepower motors.
“I grew up on the Jersey Shore,” said Muller, an Upper Saddle River native who has lived on Lake Hopatcong for about two years. “I was always attracted to all sorts of boats, and I went to the races with my dad.”
Calogero recalls previous powerboat races on Lake Hopatcong, but Muller says those boats were not built for choppy seas.
“Offshore powerboats are designed to race in rough or calm waters,” he explained.
Other races scheduled for the upcoming OPA season include the Heritage Coast Offshore Grand Prix in Michigan on Tawas Bay (Lake Huron, June 14-16), the Atlantic City Offshore Grand Prix (June 21-23), the War at the Shore: Sock’em Sandy (Long Beach, N.Y., Aug. 23-25) and the Palm Beach World Offshore Championship (Jupiter, Fla., Oct. 16-20).
Lake Hopatcong resident Jay Muller's offshore powerboat is 40 feet long and has twin 1,200-horsepower motors. / Photo courtesy of Dee Ungarten/Lucididee
Muller, who has been racing for 24 years, has won 12 national championships, seven world championships and is the top-ranked racer on the circuit. He serves as the all-important throttle man, controlling the speed of the boat, while a driver steers. Throttling is particularly important on the smaller courses, where timing acceleration out of tight turns makes the difference between winning and losing.
At high speeds, control also is essential to both victory and safety.
“It can be a dangerous sport,” said Muller, who escaped unscathed when he flipped his boat in the Key West Championships in 2003. “I’ve had friends who I have lost. But with the new oxygen and canopy systems we’ve developed, it’s a loot safer than it used to be.”
Offshore powerboat racing also is an expensive sport. Muller says it costs about $800,000 to build a boat in his class, while maintenance, transportation and crew expenses cost him about $400,000 a year. Purses can run as high as $50,000 and some money also comes in from television rights (the OPA website lists MSG Plus as part of its regional coverage network) but “the only way to break even is with sponsors,” Muller said.
Muller’s primary sponsor is Broadco Property Restoration, and he also races for another team when he is not throttling his own boat. He manages to turn a profit, “but it’s really more of a hobby. I do motocross, too, which is another hard way to make money,” he said. “I guess I just keep choosing the wrong sports.”
A father of four, Muller has passed his passion down to his three sons, ranging in age from 9 to 13. “They love it, and they have their little boats,” he said. “They also love motocross. They love racing and are all about it.”
A full schedule of events for race weekend begins May 10 with the arrival and inspection of the boats (a crane is brought in to place them in the water) and public events all day culminating in a Meet the Racers party at 7 p.m. at the Mason Street Pub and Marina. The next day, events include race boat testing on the course from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., followed by a second Meet the Racers party at 7 p.m. at the Lake Forest Yacht Club. On May 12 the races are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m.
For more information, visit www.oparacing.org or www.lakehopatcongrace.com .
