Events

Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional photos from RWO, Ryan Walker & Class 1 Apart from two days of Race World Offshore (RWO) pro-racing, it’s what went down on the pavement from the parties on the piers to the street parades of pony power that best define the 2022 Key West...

Story and photos by DinaRella In the middle of endless rows of rubber inflatables at the 2022 Cannes Yachting Festival, my first gift from the go-fast gods flashed before me. The carbon-fiber dream machine was called the Albatro EVO 45. Except, it gets better! An hour later, standing on an...

Story and Photos by DinaRella / Professional photos courtesy of CYF and Riva Being greeted by a special edition Riva open powerboat and treated to the rolling out of a “movie star” red carpet this autumn upon entering the 2022 Cannes Yachting Festival (CYF) along the famed La Croisette...

Bring the Kids for Free Photos, Frolics, and FUN! The dates and times are Dec. 4th 4-6PM, Dec. 12th 5-7PM, and Dec. 19th 5-7PM all at our Development Office at The Ridge, 4759 North Pleasant Ave. Lake Havasu City, AZ 86404. Reserve your date and time for photos on Calendly here...

Story and photos by DinaRella / Additional photos and drone shots courtesy of Borden Light Marina Bedecked with tropical palm trees and swinging rope seats rocking you right to the bar top; blissful sunset vistas from the second level surrounded by thunderous speedboats; the feel of floating on...

Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional photos provided by Justin Wagner, Hamilton Marine Finance, Ben Robertson, Brian Correll Airshows & Lake Shots Photography Missing my connecting flight into St. Louis after a fab four-hour wait for Delta to Uber a backup flight attendant from...

Last weekend, all the dogs came out to play on the Northern California Delta for the 6th Annual Dog & Andy’s Vdrive Run at Windmill Cove Bar & Grill. Located just outside of Stockton, CA, the venue has been home to the event since its inception. Despite what the name implies, this...

Story and select photos by DinaRella / Professional photos courtesy of Billy Frenz and NPBA Thanks to Billy Frenz and the National Powerboat Association (NPBA), Guy LaMotta’s Port Washington, Long Island, enclave felt a little like an APBA racer meeting from the late 70s or 80s with so many...

Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional images from A.F. Thunderbirds, Cigarette, Lucas Oil, Mike’s Aerial Photography and F1 An over-the-top series of horsepower-packing, people-pleasing, fast-moving objects roared into Miami and beyond, fueling the streets, seas and skies for 2022...

Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional photos from Manatee Marine & Bryce Batzer South Florida “boat show time” became South Florida boat “show-off” time, a mere 72 hours after Miami’s biggest marine extravaganza to date drew to a close. For round two, the Magic City emptied out and...

The first story I ever covered for RDP was the 2016 Long Beach Grand Prix. Dave told me… “I don’t give a shit who wins the race. Just tell us about the experience and who you partied with in the pits! What was it like, who were you with?”. So thats what I did. I’ve been shooting and writing...

Story and photos by DinaRella Welcome Back Home! Gone for good was the commute from hell to Virginia Key, thanks to the return of the 2022 Miami International Boat Show (MIBS) to its former stomping grounds at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Completely revamped, it does entail a bizarre new...

Story and photos by DinaRella / Professional images courtesy of CRT Cigarette Racing Team (CRT) was on top of its game maximizing its presence at the 2022 Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show – all you had to do was look up! The premiere lifestyle and performance boat maker modeled...

Story and photos by DinaRella / Additional photos from Six Speed Photography PART ONE On the sunny Sunday of Veterans Day weekend, the steel and chrome crowd geared up to go ga-ga over the 300-plus curated rare and dear drool-worthy gems at the fourth edition of the Exotics on Las Olas (ELO4)...

Story and photos by DinaRella Art Ain’t the Only Part Tuesday’s opening whistle blew signaling Art Basel Miami, the stateside spin-off of the premier international Swiss art show, was up and running reclaiming its reign on South Florida terrain following its 2020 Wu-flu abolition. For this...

Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional photos provided by Ben Robertson, Colleen Robertson, Inka Rodriguez, Nate Stuewer & Kevin Taylor Two aquatic kin came together connecting for a weekend on Key West waters making a splash in – old-school meets new-school Fountain style – that’s...

Story and photos by DinaRella / Additional photos from RWO, P1 Offshore, Cole McGowen, Colleen Robertson, Ramon Vera & Ryan Walker No matter your motive: poker running, pro-racing, or purely partaking in “pour behavior decisions” for your liver – powerboat purebloods plowed into their...

Story and photos by DinaRella Bah-boom… the South Florida boat show scene is ba ba ba back. And the proof was in the nautical fineness that filled every inch of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS), manifesting itself in examples such as – the Fountain 38 SC recently made famous...

In the early days of America Thanksgiving was created to celebrate the blessings of the harvest and the bounty it provided. Today, Thanksgiving weekend is full of traditions where people gather to celebrate family and express gratitude for the good things in their lives. But if you love boats...

It was billed as the “Outboard World Championships” 58 years ago, a promotion hype to bring people to Lake Havasu and maybe sell some real estate. Undeniably, Robert McCulloch had dreams for this desolate piece of desert including buying a bridge in London and reassembling it stone by stone in...

The 33rd Annual Lake of the Ozarks Shoot-Out just concluded with multiple noteworthy achievements, possibly none greater than side-stepping the Covid hysteria which continues to grip ‘woke’ portions of the country and big people gatherings. Without interruption, the week-long festivities went on...

A little over 3 years ago I stumbled upon a group on line named the ‘Lower River Outboards’. Having always loved the lower portion of the Colorado River down near Yuma, I was very curious what they were about. A short time later they had posted a ‘Lower River Run’ event that was to take place...

A little over a year ago, just before the pandemic, I was browsing through YouTube videos and came across a video from an event in Texas. It contained lots of performance boats speeding across a beautiful lake that wound like a snake through lush, green, rolling hills. Being a freelance...

Most boaters, especially those with a penchant for high performance and racing, are at least somewhat aware of the annual Grand National Catalina Water Ski Race held in Long Beach, CA. Afterall, a 71-year history tends to make people pay attention. And although the 60+ mile ski race in the open...

It was October 22, 1972 and world speed ski record holder Danny Churchill was attempting to up his own mark of 126 miles an hour in the quarter mile on a single ski. Churchill was at the top of his game, winning the overall Grand National Catalina Water Ski Race title the preceding August...

In celebration of Lake Havasu City, Arizona’s famous London Bridge and its 50th anniversary, powerboat racing will once again dazzle the shores of the city with the running of the beloved Lake Havasu Classic Outboard Championships. The powerboat racing event will be held October 15-17, 2021, and...

Story and photos by DinaRella / Additional photos by Florida Powerboat Club, Stephen Miles Design & M. Boyle Let's be honest, technically a poker run is a boat show, the only exception is everyone's there not for the show but to show off their go-fast goods and glitterati of guests along for...

What does 100,000+ horsepower look like? Maybe something like this….over 100 of the hottest hot boats in the country lined-up gunnel to gunnel along the beach of the oh-so-popular Pirates Cove Resort just south of Needles, California on the Colorado River. September 21, 2013 was a special day...

IHBA officially bowed out of the drag boat racing business at the conclusion of the 2009 World Championships at Firebird Lake in Phoenix and turned the reins over to Lucas Oil. Here’s Part 2 of that final IHBA race. As for the 2009 IHBA World Finals, they went out in style. Although the total...

26th Annual IHBA NAPA Auto Parts World Finals 2009 — IHBA Bows Out, Lucas Oil Products Drag Boat Racing Series Steps Up The changing of the guard….sometimes for the better, and then again, sometimes not. That’s kind of the mixed feelings that the elite of drag boat racing had at Firebird...

Starting in 2010, Irvine Lake in Orange County, California Hosted Some of the Wildest V-Drive Regattas on the Planet! For 363 days a year, Irvine Lake, located in the rolling hills of eastern Orange County, California is a quiet, calm and serene reservoir where the loudest audible sound might...

Billy Berkenheger.....Boat Painting Rembrandt You can sometimes spend months, and even years, restoring a great old flatbottom or hydro. Countless hours of garage time can go into meticulously fabricating and machining every custom part and piece of hardware. And the repair of every nick...

What Better Way to Start a New Year (2014) and Honor One of Their Own Than to Have a Meet-Up. While two-thirds of the country is locked in a deep-freeze with sub-zero temperatures, Southern California jet boaters were breaking out the sunblock for a day on Lake Elsinore at the annual Tom...

Top Sprint Boat Racers from Seven States Battled for 2013 Championship Titles in Long Beach Most power boat racing fans just refer to it as “the beach.” Eighty–one years ago there wasn’t a motorboat to be seen at Long Beach Marine Stadium, a city icon now recognized has a historical landmark...

S.C.O.P.E…..All About Big, Fast Boats and Fun When you call yourself the Southern California Offshore Powerboat Elite, better known around west coast boating circles as S.C.O.P.E., you better be able to back up that moniker with some solid credentials. Fortunately for the stalwarts of...

Last Saturday evening I was sitting at the bar at Sundance Saloon having a beer with my buddy, Daren Van Ryte ( @OCphotographics ). I had just signed Amanda Ames' pants (a whole other story) and was relaxing after shooting the Outlaw Nationals V-drive event that “DIDN’T” happen at Sundance...

Story and photos by DinaRella / Additional photos from TNT Marine Sales, B. Chrisco & M. Boyle Eta didn't know what she wanted to be... a tropical storm, a hurricane, or just a pain in the ass for powerboaters who waited all the Orwellian-year-long for the 28th Annual Key West Poker Run...

Story and photos by DinaRella / Additional photos by Nor-Tech and Sunsation Inked up sales contracts state the obvious; serious spenders trumped strolling pretenders on the Bahia Mar docks during the 2020 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS). Never have I covered a show where so...

Desert Storm is the Biggest, Baddest Poker Run in the Country –Since We Missed It in 2020, We Can at Least Take a Walk Back Down Memory Lane. It's called Desert Storm, and it's arguably the biggest, most over-the-top poker run, shoot-out and street/-party/show-and-shine display of exotic...

San Francisco to Long Beach – Non-Stop There’s something very enticing about the ocean and traveling great distances in a high-speed offshore boat. Some very well known celebrity-types have even tried their hand at it like Chuck Norris, Michael Regan (son of President Ronald Regan), Betty Cook...

V-Drives Reclaim Respect At 2009 Parker 300 Enduro The 2020 Parker Enduro just happened last Saturday, October 30, keeping America’s oldest marathon boat race still alive although it is a mere fragment of its once great self. Still, the Enduro remains competitive and entertaining to watch as a...

The Real Story How Boat Racing Lost the Best Competition Venue in the West - Part 2 After the crushing news from the November 1975 Parks and Recreation meeting, things were left up in the air on many fronts. Racing in 1976 wouldn’t be that much different than before except for the new 5:00pm...

The Real Story How Boat Racing Lost the Best Competition Venue in the West Occasionally the subject of Long Beach Marine Stadium comes up during conversations among boat racers and fans. Inevitably someone offers up their version of how and why boat racing got aced out of the Stadium, and...