2015 LB2CAT Race Report

There were many titles pinned on Kawasaki Factory pilot Craig Warner after winning his unprecedented sixth race championship at this years Hot Products Long Beach to Catalina and Back IJSBA Offshore Endurance National Championship: The luckiest guy in racing… the most skilled endurance racer of our day... even “Greatest Of All Time.” In fact, we at Watercraft Rider believe that the latter is true, because in racing (as it is with life in general) you tend to make your own “luck.”

Perhaps Craig said it best himself after the race:

“Ya know, sometimes strategic ways and good boats win races, it’s not always the fastest boat that wins the race.”

Who is to argue? We will spare you the “tortoise and hare” analogy, but consider that his R&D Turbo powered Kawasaki Ultra was dialed back to run the race at an extremely conservative and very under stressed peak speed of “only” 72mph. We saw his GPS at the end of the race – peak speed=72.9mph. This was against skis capable of speeds 8-12mph faster than him in flat water. And believe us when we say that it was FLAT out there for the race. We have video proof. And before you get too carried away with how “slow” he was, his 51:21 race time was a new race record.

Canadian Mike Klippenstein was the driving force that put the pressure on Warner to perform, as Mike and Craig swapped the lead on a few occasions during the return track of the race… all the way up until the $2 hose clamp that secures the fuel filler neck to the gas tank gave way, severely crippling Mike’s Yamaha and his run for the national championship.

Check out all of the racing action leading up to the record-breaking win by the “Greatest Of All Time" in the LB2CAT. Special thanks to Mike Klippenstein for carrying our GoPro camera.

For information as to how you can enter next years LB2CAT race log on to www.rpmracingent.com