Powerboat racing wins support from Peters and May

by Bob Wonders on 30 Oct 2010 Leading boat shipping company, Peters and May, has become involved with extensive sponsorship support to several race boat competitors in various series.

Originally, the global boat shipping company’s sponsorship was limited to moving Unlimited Hydroplanes to international meetings, but racing, it seems, has gotten into the company’s blood.

A new Peters and May Racing logo has been designed and developed to unite the racing teams under its sponsorship ‘umbrella.’

One high profile client, the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) has chosen Peters and May as its official logistics provider for the second successive year. In 2009, Peters and May took responsibility for shipping the Qatar team’s two Super Cat race boats to Key West for the Super Boat International World championships.

Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, who competed in Australia’s Class 1 Offshore Superboat Championships earlier this year, described Peters and May as 'always being on call.'

'We rely on Peters and May to ensure the safe and timely delivery of all our boats and equipment,' Sheikh Hassan said.

Peters and May not only attends to the transport and shipping of the race boats, but also team support vehicles and the multitude of spare parts and components required. The company is also providing full support to the U37 Schumacher Racing Team, one of 15 teams contesting the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane series.

Team driver JW Myers was injured after a crash earlier this year in the original boat, Miss Peters and May’, but he is well on the way to recovery and has signed a new deal with the company to compete under the company’s banner. Myers will also contest the US 350cc Runabout Class, 12-foot (3.65-metres) boats powered by a 3-cylinder, two-stroke inboard in which drivers kneel in an open cockpit at speeds up to 100mph (160km/hr).

Another Unlimited Hydroplane driver, Jeff Barnard, will be racing a stock 500 or 5.0-litre hydro, craft powered by a 305 cubic inch Chevrolet engines, in events both sides of the USA. 'Travelling nationwide would be impossible without the Peters and May sponsorship, he said.

Another racer enjoying Peters and May support is Mike Webster who will be racing in the APR Formula 3, 16’ (4.87-metre) tunnel boats with 60hp engines and top speeds in the 60mph (96km/hr) region. Peters and May will also be visible on the international UIM catamaran racing circuits and has shipped Florida’s champion racer Gary Ballough’s boat from the US to various meetings worldwide.

The company also shipped British-based Chinese racer, Martin Lai’s new Pentera boat from Florida to Europe. Lai carried the Peter and May banner in his racers this year, which have included the legendary Cowes-Torquay event in which he and his team came in second overall in its class.

All the sponsorship opportunities provide Peters and May with exposure into new boating markets as well as extensive television coverage. 'In addition to a lot of fun, we have had some serious business develop from our racing activities,' David Holley, Peters and May USA managing director, explained.

'We have an opportunity to support additional teams in new race series and hope to achieve similar results; Peters and May racing is focused on race classes that have strong international presence, not unlike the company itself. It is important for us to develop our brand, but at the same time give back to the tremendous sport of powerboat racing,' he added.

Headquartered in the UK, Peters and May has been prominent in the industry for more than 30-years, shipping yachts to ports worldwide. It now has a Chicago-based corporate arm with another office in Fort Lauderdale and has added smaller sport yachts, personal watercraft and racing teams to its client list.

Chris-Craft and Regal, two brands of US-built boats well-known in Australia, are shipped in by Peters May.

For further inquiries please go to: www.petersandmay.com