Through faded photographs of men and machines, the backwall of Boat House restaurant and at the Sarasota Hyatt hotel told the story off offshore racing in unmatched fashion. The wall held dozens of historic images. For a go-fast boating fan, they were hypnotic.
The most memorable of them was a shot of a raceboat hosing down a bridge full of spectators during an event in the Southwest Florida city, because it captured the rebellious, even lawless early nature of the sport. Offshore racing in the 1980s and 1990s was loaded with sketchy-to-terrifying characters. It followed that the Boat House wall had its own version of mug shots.
But the place also served strong drinks and edible food. By any metric, it was a lot more fun than a post office.
The Sarasota Hyatt closed its doors at the end of May and will be demolished reportedly to make space for high-rise condominiums. Open only for special events, the Boat House shut down regular operating hours more than 20 years ago.
If its walls could talk, they’d say “Shut your mouth, open your ears and enjoy another drink. It’s time to listen.”
During the annual Powerboat magazine Performance Trials stop in Sarasota, the Boat House was the hangout for boat-builders, dealers and Powerboat test-team members. Gathering there at the end of each day, regardless of your dinner plans, was optional. Yet no one ever skipped it.
Which made perfect sense—even when we were sick of each other. When you have everyone from Outerlimits founder Mike Fiore, to the Schaldenbrand family of Sunsation Boats, to the Porter clan, including extended family members Scott Smith and Vic Spellberg, to Sarasota-based Donzi characters Lee Kimmel and Steve Simon in one room enjoying adult beverages and telling tall tales and, OK, some straight-up lies, why would you leave?
A few folks—this one included—often skipped fancy suppers in favor of a Boat House cheeseburger and more socializing. The late photographer Tom Newby, who died in a helicopter crash off the coast of Sarasota during a photo shoot in 2007, and I pulled that one all the time.
For members of the Powerboat test team, the Boat House could be dangerous. We all had to be on the launch ramp before sunrise to start work. Staying till last-call to watch a Cardinals World Series game with then-managing-editor Jason Johnson, for example, turned out to be a really poor choice. That was a long day.
But that didn’t stop us from ending it in the Boat House that night.