as reported on H1 Unlimited web site
SOURCE
Ted Porter, owner of the Precision Performance Engineering/LLC Race Team, has announced that his family will be leaving the sport and selling the team’s large inventory of equipment.
In 2011, the team campaigned three hulls – the U-5 Graham Trucking driven by Jeff Bernard, the U-7 Valken.com driven by Scott Liddycoat and the U-57 Formulaboats.com driven by Mark Evans.
H1 Unlimited Chairman Sam Cole responded to the news by saying, “This is very sad news. Ted and his family have been a major, very positive part of our sport on and off the race course and we will miss them personally and professionally. I want to personally thank Ted for all that he has contributed to the growth of the sport and wish him and the Porter family all the best in the their future endeavors.”
In a release Thursday morning, Porter said –
It has been an amazing ride for the Ted Porter Family and Precision Performance Engineering/LLC. In the six years we have been in the sport our U-5/U-7/U-57 team has won the National Championship once, the World Championship twice, countless heat wins, and several race wins. We have successfully done what many said couldn’t be done, competitively run a three boat team. Actually several said a two boat national team couldn’t be done successfully. When we mastered two national boats we moved on to three national boats. The latest proof to this success was the 1st, 2nd, 4th place finishes at the Oryx Cup/UIM World Championship in Doha, Qatar. The great people on our team have been the secret to our great success. We’ve had 50+ team members over the years to thank for our great success and I would mention them all individually but I don’t want to accidentally leave anyone unmentioned.
Looking back: We were introduced into the sport in 2005 as a boat sponsor when there were only seven boats signed-up for the first race. The sport was in trouble and needed an 8th boat to fill the field to not incur contractual penalties with race sites. Formula Powerboats stepped-up and sponsored the U-5 and went on to finish in the top 5 National High Points that very first year.
In 2006 Precision Performance Engineering/LLC & U-5 Racing, was formed. A deal was struck with the Bernie Little Family and the T5 & T6, Trucks, trailers, and equipment were purchased and moved to Decatur, Indiana. The boats underwent the name transformation from Miss Budweiser to U-5 & U-7 Formulaboats.com. This rookie owner and rookie team and rookie crew chief and rookie driver went on to win Valleyfield and ultimately the 2006 National High Points Championship. That was one for the record books and had never been done in the history of the sport.
2007 was the sophomore slump year with flips on both the U-5 & U-7 boats. We continued to run the two primary boats and a back-up boat that year, our first taste of three boats, and finished the year much smarter than we started.
2008 was back to the good times with race wins in Madison Governors Cup and San Diego plus the Crew Of The Year Award.
2009 had two more wins w/Thunder in Evansville (1st & 2nd) and the Inaugural Oryx Cup/UIM World Championship!
2010 had several heat wins but no Final trophies. This was our first accident-free year since 2006. We did win the Owner Of The Year award due in part to the multi-boat contribution to the sport. We also made history in San Diego with three boats from one team competing and finishing a final heat, again never before in the sport.
Our OPA Offshore P4 team debuted that year with a respectable 2nd National High Points and 2nd World Champion finishes.
In 2011 our three boat H1 Unlimited team made history again with all three national boats U-5/U-7/U-57 competing in all races, several final heats, and the epic finish in the Oryx Cup/UIM World Championship winning 1st, 2nd, &4th place finishes.
Also in 2011 our OPA Offshore P4 team had an amazing year winning the National High Points Championship and the World Championship.
This relatively young team has achieved success not seen by many teams that have been in the sport for decades. Again it’s the people, our extended family, that made all this possible.
As 2011 winds to a close it is with heavy heart and fond memories I announce that the Porter Family is exiting the sport to pursue other interests. It is our choice to leave the sport in healthy times. We entered the sport to help make it stronger. Now that the sport has the staying-power to last for generations, we feel we can move on. A special thanks to Air National Guard and other series sponsors. With these sponsors the sport is healthier than it has been since Miss Budweiser’s exit. No one will ever be able to fill Bernie Little’s shoes, but our team did bring some really great boats out of mothballs and put them back on the water and into the winner’s circle where they belong. These boats were built to win and they were built to last. Their timeless/winning design continues to be built into the newest boats out there. Hopefully new future owners can run these awesome winning hulls well into the future.
Thanks again to the sponsors and fans that share our success!
Best Regards
Ted
We will be looking for good homes for our equipment.
Lucididee Fast Boats 