Nic Nowak of Marblehead, left, receives the Rookie of the Year award and the second place Club High Point Award from South Shore Outboard Association Comadore Alan Akerstrom at the SSOA Annual Awards banquet earlier this month.
Marblehead’s Nic Nowak, a first-year high-speed outboard racer, was the proud recipient of the American Powerboat Association’s (APBA) Region One Rookie of the Year Award for 2011.
Nowak, a member of the South Shore Outboard Association (SSOA), won the award for his overall performance in the region one section of the country, which encompasses five New England states.
Competing mainly in the A-Stock Hydroplane Class, Nowak drove his O’Conner built hull, powered by a 15hp Johnson engine with speeds over 55-MPH, against some of the toughest competitors and seasoned veterans in the country. He also bested seven other Region One rookies to take the award.
In May at the 2010 season opener, the Ice Breaker Regatta in Standish, Maine, Nowak showcased his natural talent in the cockpit with a third place podium finish in his very first day of competition.
Not to rest on his laurels, he took advantage of some of his competition that disqualified themselves on the starting line.
Nowak, with some gritty and heads-up driving, took the overall win in only the second race of his career, earning the customary dunking in the chilly early spring water.
“Racing in the middle of the pack gets you wet and cold enough, but then after inspection they threw me in the lake to boot,” Nowak said. “I have never been so cold and happy at the same time”
Using the Standish race as a springboard for a stellar season, Nowak then traveled to Hubbardton, Vt. on June 19-20, where he proved that his inaugural performance three weeks earlier was no fluke by placing second during the Saturday race and then third the following day in the battle of Hubbardton Regatta.
Racing at West Thompson Dam in Thompson, Conn. July 10-11 against some of the toughest competition in the country, Nowak took an impressive second on Saturday, and then proved that he is certainly for real taking the checkered flag Sunday, earning his second trip of the young season to the top of the podium.
Next on the Region One schedule during the weekend of Aug. 28-29 was the choppy, challenging Haverhill River Run, which, with the help of the Crescent City Yacht Club, brings thousands of spectators to the shore of the Merrimac River to enjoy spectacular views of both oval track racing and the grueling Marathon event.
In this event, boats speed right through the center of the city on the exaggerated 25-mile course. In the A-Stock Hydro event, Nowak took home fourth place Saturday, but by Sunday it was evident that he had gotten the hang of the rough water as he smoked the field over the choppy conditions to take home his third win of the season.
Backing it up, Nowak then switched to a runabout style hull to try his luck at the marathon distance. In that event, he captured an impressive third place finish in the A-Stock Runabout Class.
The next event at Beautiful Watson’s Pond in Taunton, Nowak was fourth Saturday, and then it was back to the podium with a third place finish Sunday.
In the season finale, the Kingston 3 Day Regatta in Kingston, N. H., Nowak not only raced his A-Stock Hydro to a fourth and two thirds, but then upped the bar by piloting Club Commodore Alan Akerstrom’s powerful D-Stock hydro to a win Saturday and a fourth on Sunday.
Asked about the speed difference after the race, Nowak, with eyes still bulging from the adrenalin rush, said: “I had been racing the little 15 in the A-class all year, but when I first hit the gas in that big 40 horsepower D a whole new world opened up.”
At the SSOA awards banquet held at the Chateau Restaurant in Norton two weeks ago, club secretary Steve Noury cited Nowak’s list of first-year accomplishments in the A-Stock Hydroplane Class, which included not only Rookie of the Year honors, but also second overall in the club high point standings and 12 th throughout the entire United States out of 87 registered drivers in the highly competitive class.
Race fans and fast boat enthusiasts should check out all the action and the 2011 upcoming schedule at
Copyright 2010 Marblehead Reporter. Some rights reserved
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