To get the most out of the Miami International Boat Show for the past few years, I’ve dragged John Tomlinson—yeah, that John Tomlinson, the multi-time offshore powerboat racing world champion throttleman—with me to the by-appointment Mercury Racing Demo event at Grove Harbour in Coconut Grove. If he’s in town, he always says yes. And the fun-factor triples.
Tomlinson and I go back a few decades, including our time together as test-team with him as the driver and me as the meat-in-seat reporter for Powerboat magazine. We’ve become good friends during the years, and he makes himself available when I need someone at the helm for a demo experience who has forgotten more about go-fast boats when I’ll ever know.
Tomlinson always finishes our post-demo-session goodbyes with the same gentle reminder, “Don’t me in any trouble,” meaning that what is said off the record stays off the record. My response remains the same, every time: “Come on dude. Have we met?”
On the record? The worst thing I’ve ever heard Tomlinson say about a boat is that he “wouldn’t own it.” That’s a trademark J.T. understatement that he rarely utters, but means it when he does.
But Tomlinson wasn’t sure if he could make it this time around as he was just getting back from another gig on the offshore racing side in Central Florida. Tomlinson had been testing the Pro Class 1 MTI GC Racing catamaran with team owner/driver Willy Cabeza. They’ll be sharing the 48-footer’s cockpit this season, though Tomlinson also still plans to throttle the 39-foot Factory Stock Mead Family Racing catamaran—another MTI creation—alongside driver Caleb Mead.
“It went great with Willy,” Tomlinson told me before he headed back to Miami-based TNT Custom Marine, the business he co-owns with longtime partner Mike Thomas. “Willy and I got a lot of seat-time in the boat, and it’s running really well.
“We got a lot done,” he added. “I am looking forward to racing with Willy.”
For the record, Tomlinson returned to Miami in plenty of time to meet me at Grove Harbour during the show. We were all set for a Thursday session with an 11 a.m. start-time, but an MTI demo-ride for a would-be buyer at TNT ran late. By the time Tomlinson was done, he would have been subjected to two-hours of horrific South Florida afternoon traffic to reach Coconut Grove.
Of course, Tomlinson being the gentleman he is offered to make the trip. But friends don’t make friends drive I-95 during the Miami Boat Show, so I told him to stay put and enjoyed demo rides in a Performance Powerboats P420 catamaran and a Nor-Tech 4000 Roadster catamaran without him.
Also for the record? Though I don’t it know for sure, I finished that day with a strong hunch that Tomlinson “would own” either of those boats.
But what I do know for sure is that he’s looking forward to racing with Willy C.