Though it’s been a few years since Scrapyard Media and Speedonthewater.com have produced an “In The Lead” episode for the Speed On The Water YouTube channel, viewers have been asking for more ever since the final episode aired a couple of years back. The pause had nothing to do with desire or passion, and everything to do with funding.
At least of the quality worth securing funding to produce, video costs about $1,000 a minute. Getting it paid for, at least in the high-performance marine world, isn’t easy.
But thanks to Larry Bleil of Race World Offshore, Tyler Miller of M CON Racing, Hardin Marine and CP Performance, Speedonthewater.com got the greenlight to task the Scrapyard Media crew to produce a new episode of “In The Lead” spotlight offshore racing safety and rescue leader Shawn Steinert.
A Southwest Florida local, Steinert leads the SSR Safety and Rescue Services team. Though the group prefers to function in a pure guardian role during offshore races, the team recently saved the life of veteran offshore racer Ricky Maldonado when he became entangled in his safety harness after the Super Stock-class catamaran he was throttling rolled and came to rest upside-down.
That makes the subject particularly relevant, though the topic offshore racing safety and the people who provide it is always worth visiting.
Shooting for “In The Lead With Shawn Steinert” starts this month at the Race World Offshore-produced Clearwater Nationals, the final race of the regular season. If the current schedule holds, the video will air during the Key West World Championships in early November.