11/30/2023
LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT H1 UNLIMITED
The Board of Directors of the American Boat Racing Association (ABRA), better known as H1 Unlimited, is being reconstituted with new membership. The ABRA is a Washington non-profit corporation that operates as the governing body for the sport of unlimited hydroplane racing throughout the United States.
The new directors on the ABRA board are supportive of an initiative that is being led by Charlie Grooms, the owner’s representative for the Miss Madison Racing Team, and Darrell Strong, co-owner of the Strong Racing Team. Grooms and Strong campaigned four boats in the 2023 H1 Unlimited Racing Series. Strong’s Beacon Electric, which was driven by J. Michael Kelly, was crowned last season’s national champion, and the Miss Madison Racing Team won the national title in 11 of the previous 14 seasons.
Tim Austin, the outgoing chair of the ABRA Board of Directors, said the need for the change came about when the Grooms/Strong partnership, a for-profit entity called Hydrotown Group, LLC, proposed that they take over the sport’s marketing and media effort. In addition, but unbeknownst to the H1 board, the group also began negotiating agreements with the American Power Boat Association (APBA), the sanctioning body for boat racing in the United States, and with the civic organizations that host the H1 Unlimited events.
“H1 Unlimited was supportive of the group’s marketing proposal,” Austin said, “but their actions with regard to the APBA, the race sites, and even with regard to some of our volunteers, interfered with our relationships with those parties. It was clear that rather than just marketing, Hydrotown Group intended to take control of the entire series and prevent H1 Unlimited from carrying out its mission.”
Austin said the H1 board considered a number of options as a result of the interference, including legal action and possible liquidation and dissolution of H1, but in the end determined that those steps would cause harm to the sport of unlimited hydroplane racing and would likely deplete the organization’s cash reserves and leave it insolvent. Instead, considering its mission, its focus and objectives, the board members decided that the best course of action was to repopulate the Board of Directors of H1 with members who are supportive of Hydrotown Group’s efforts.
“This sport can’t be successful unless the people who run it are all rowing in the same direction, and that just wasn’t happening,” Austin said. “So, we felt it would be best to step aside and let the other group run the show.”
The ABRA was created in 2003 for the purpose of operating an unlimited hydroplane racing series. It has no shareholders and, according to Austin, because it is a non-profit, is subject to a different set of rules than a profit-making company. The rules for non-profits are established by the State of Washington and enforced by the Attorney General’s Office. Further, as a non-profit entity, H1 is able to rely heavily on uncompensated volunteers, who are the lifeblood of boat racing across all classes, and without whom this sport simply wouldn’t exist, Austin explained.
“As a non-profit organization, it would have been legally difficult for H1 to have a partnership with Hydrotown Group in the way that Hydrotown Group had envisioned the two working together,” Austin said. “With control of both organizations, they can better work through the complex multiparty relationships that will result as Hydrotown Group invests money in the sport. This will allow H1 Unlimited to continue functioning under new leadership and to do what’s best for the sport.”
Austin became chair of the ABRA board at a time when the organization was facing severe organizational and financial issues. Coming out of the 2017 season, the sport no longer had a functioning board, its chair had resigned, nearly all of its operating subcommittees had been disbanded, and the ABRA had been administratively dissolved by the State of Washington for failing to follow simple administrative procedures.
Since then, the ABRA was re-established with the state, the board reconstituted, and the organization was restructured. Despite the Covid pandemic that caused the cancellation of the entire 2020 season, H1 Unlimited has also finally reached a place where it is financially solvent and where the competition on the water is closer than it has been for many years. More events were also being added to the schedule. Before these recent developments, the 2024 H1 Unlimited Racing Series was expected to include seven races.
“We’re proud of what we have accomplished during the past six years, despite some severe setbacks,” Austin said. “We took over when the sport was in a deep hole. If it had been a patient in a hospital, it would have been on life support and in the intensive-care unit. But, thanks to the hard work of our many H1 volunteers, the sport now seems to be on the road to a full recovery.”
While Austin says the outlook for the sport appears to be good, he also warns that there are challenges ahead. “We wish the new group well as they take the ball and run with it,” he said. “I’m a big fan of hydroplane racing, so I hope they can continue in a positive direction.”
In addition to Grooms and Strong, Hydrotown Group also is owned by Tim Story, co-founder and managing partner of Third Axiom Solutions of Kennewick, and by Mike Denslow, a mortgage loan officer at CMG Home Loans in Kennewick. It is anticipated that the new H1 Board of Directors will include Darrell Strong, Charlie Grooms, Mike Denslow, Shannon Raney, Brad Luce, and Kelly Stocklin.
