An untested cockpit duo turned to Tres Martin for training and walked away with a win in their first outing. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Last weekend’s Offshore Powerboat Association St. Clair River Classic in Michigan saw its usual handful of happy winners across the organization’s classes, but none were more delighted with their first-place trophy than John Jackman and Chip Miller in Jackman’s 40-foot Marine Technology, Inc., catamaran powered by twin 1,100-hp engines from Sterling Performance And why wouldn’t they be? After all, it was Jackman’s first offshore race and Miller, who throttled the boat with Jackman behind the wheel, hadn’t competed regularly in an offshore raceboat since the late 1990s.
Jackman and Miller weren’t expecting a win. They just wanted to have a good time. Jackman, who had been thinking about testing the waters of offshore racing since he bought the boat a few years ago through Scott Sjogren of Shogren Performance Marine, decided that the St. Clair event—not far from his home in Washington Township—would be a great place to get his feet wet, so to speak. Friends suggested he reach out to Miller, the well-known owner of Miller Marina, and a new racing team was born.
and then