On hand once again for this year’s seventh annual Bradenton Area River Regatta, speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden captured dozens of great tunnel-boat racing images from the Bradenton, Fla., event, which is billed as “Manatee County’s largest spectator event” with an estimated 150,000 spectators turning out fo the one-day festival. Several of Boden’s pictures are featured in the slideshow below, but the shot of veteran driver Terry Rinker getting after it in the Avalon and Tahoe boats-sponsored No. 10 Phase Three Performance Hoffman F1 Composites hull deserved top billing since the 10-time national champion took home top honors in the Formula 200 class after the 30-lap race on Saturday, Feb. 12.
Fan favorite Terry Rinker was flying around the Manatee River course during the Bradenton Area Riverwalk Regatta. Photos by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
A local favorite, Rinker, who came out of retirement in 2021 and hadn’t competed in Bradenton for a few years, raced against a couple of family members—his nephew, Chris Rinker, who was competing in his No. 52 Moore hull and finished second, and his son, Ashton Rinker, who was dialing in his brand new No. 20 Outkast Racing Formula 1 hull and took third—plus another eight drivers, including fourth- and fifth-place finishers Tyler Welch and Jimmy Kerr.
Promoted by the ISM-USA sports management firm and the Powerboat Superleague, the event also featured the SST45/Formula Lights class, which included five boats. While JW Nelson appeared to have the 10-lap race in the bag, he suffered a mechanical issue with one lap remaining that prevented him from finishing the race, dropping him to fourth place after Jason Bonnano did not start the final race. That left the door open for Maryland’s Michael Harris in the No. 30 Harris Motorsports/Greenwell Boatworks hull to take first place ahead of Randy Partch and Ricky Sober.
Check out the slideshow above for more images from the Bradenton Area Riverwalk Regatta.
All in all, the Bradenton Area Riverwalk Regatta, which was cancelled in 2021 because of pandemic restrictions, went off smoothly with excellent weather, fast-paced action and enthusiastic participation at the Manatee Riverfront. Add in the music, the food, the games and, of course, a spectacular fireworks extravaganza to conclude the day, and it was clear the event did not miss a beat by taking a year off.
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