Though throttleman Ryan Beckley has been offshore racing—primarily in the Super Stock class—for more than 20 years, the 2025 season was his longest yet. That because with the exception of a Bracket 500-class opportunity during the 2025 Race World Offshore Key West World Champions, Bradenton, Fla.-based owner of the well-known Kinetic Animation graphics serving the offshore racing and go-fast pleasure boating communities didn’t have a ride that year.
But come March 28-29 at International Hot Rod Association Offshore National Championship Series season-opener in St. Petersburg, Fla., Beckley will be back in the cockpit of a Super Stock raceboat with 16-year-old rookie driver Sloan Langston of Myrtle Beach and Florence, S.C.
The Langston family purchased the 32-foot Doug Wright catamaran, which ran as Coco’s Monkey, from Pete Bogino. Bogino, in turn, and other veterans racers connected Langston will Beckley, who will wrap the cat in its soon-to-be-determined team-name livery at his Southwest Florida shop.
“We’re going to get in a few practice sessions before I wrap it,” Beckley explained. “I am just hoping to teach him how to do things the right way and be safe.”
The current plan is for Beckley and Langston to share the cockpit for two or three events before Langston takes on a new driver. Names in the hat include Truston Hanna, the 17-year-old son of Kirk Hanna of Mod V-class of North Myrtle Beach RV Resort & Dry Dock Marina team fame and Langston’s 30-year-old brother, Hampton.
But until that happens, Langston will be a student-driver and Beckley will be his instructor. Langston’s high-performance powerboat operating experience is limited to running a 20-foot Allyson pleasure-boat, so he knows he has much to learn.
“Everybody I talked to me to go to Ryan,” he said. “I’m looking forward to learning from him.”
Beckley, as it happens, chairs the American Power Boat Association Offshore Racing Commission. And he has no problem with competing in IHRA-produced-and-sanctioned events.
“It’s all good,” he said. “I just want to go racing—especially in the Super Stock class—help out, a new team and hopefully find a continuing ride. I am just going racing.”
“ I hope the opportunity that (IHRA owner) Darryl Cuttel has afforded many forms of motorsports is beneficial to everyone,” he added.