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HomeRacingRacingsTeam Raven Swooping Into Two Classes For 2019 Season

Team Raven Swooping Into Two Classes For 2019 Season

Fueled by the likes of Brit Lilly and Kevin Smith of the LSB/Hurricane of Awesomeness team, Steve Papp of Done Deal and Randy Schleuss of Typhon combined with inaugural six-race American Power Boat Association Offshore Championship, the Pro Stock V class is booming. When the green flag drops at the May 15-17 season-opener in Cocoa Beach, Fla., there could well be 10 to 12 teams in the Pro Stock V fleet, formerly called Super Vee Lite under the Offshore Powerboat Association umbrella.

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Though it will start the season with a new boat (above) in Class 4, Team Raven plans to transition to the Pro Stock V ranks. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Among the outfits that eventually will compete in the Pro Stock V class category on the OPA/Powerboat P1-produced series is Team Raven. The key word, of course, is eventually as 25-year-old Robert Bryant, the team’s Englewood Beach owner and throttleman, recently purchased a canopied 32-foot Bandit V-bottom with a 509-cubic-inch engine. To meet Pro Stock V-class specification, the 32-footer needs a Mercury Racing 525 EFI engine, which Bryant plans to purchase in the near future.

So the team, which earned an OPA Class 5 World Championship in 2018 in a currently for-sale open-cockpit 29-footer, will run its new canopied raceboat in Class 4. Once they’ve secured their 525-hp fuel injected engine, they’ll install it in the 32-footer and step up to Pro Stock V.

“It’s been a long time dream of mine to run in Pro Stock, especially after watching them in Englewood Beach last year,” said Bryant.

Read More: Team Raven Swooping Into Two Classes For 2019 Season

Related Story: Thriving OPA Class Heading Into 2019 Season With New Name And Big Numbers

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