Azam Rangoonwala—The Sheboygan Interview

During a break in the action between the Bracket- and Mod V-class races yesterday afternoon at the Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, Wis.,Powerboat P1 chief executive officer Azam Rangoonwala and I sat down at a picnic table outside the VIP hospitality area. A world-class multi-tasker, Rangoonwala had just finished a quick lunch while chatting with D.T. Minich of Experience Kissimmee about the Central Florida-based tourism organization’s sponsorship at the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes event later this month in the United Kingdom.

Last weekend’s Midwest Challenge was the third of event of the Class 1 season. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos

Smiling comes easily for the soft-spoken, approachable Rangoonwala, but yesterday that smile was larger than usual. It was the smile of a man whose expectations had been exceeded. Nothing about it was smug or self-satisfied. It was a child-like smile of joy and wonderment.

The smile was far different than the strained one I saw in April when we had lunch in London. Despite Rangoonwala’s best plans and effort, the 2024 Class 1 season didn’t look promising. One team from the previous season was out. Another was on the cusp of being out. A third, which had announced it was building a boat for the 2023 season, had not materialized.

And yet there we were, four months later on a flawless Midwest summer day with four races of the Class Union International Class 1 World Championship in the books and the fifth race of the American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship Series about to be in the books. Rangoonwala wasn’t just willing to talk. He was eager to talk.

You seem a little more relaxed than you were when we last met.
(Laughs) Yes. So Class 1, quite honestly, at the start of the year, was slow. We were expecting a larger field and you know we had a few hiccups. Missing 222 Offshore and the Huski team was not quite what we expected. But having said that, Cocoa Beach in May was a great event. It was amazing racing with df Young/Good Boy Vodka flying out front, Defalco as well, and Morpheus coming in. And then obviously Monster Energy/M CON, as always, put in their No. 1 effort and best foot forward and completely took home the Lake of the Ozarks event.

So it’s been a bit of up and down. But having said that, here we are now in Sheboygan and—what an event. It’s a great venue, our second year coming back here, and like people have been saying, this venue is ‘built for powerboat racing.’ It is similar to St. Pete, where we will be heading later this year, where you have the pits right next to the racecourse.

Raceboats and their crews once again took over the charming streets of downtown Sheboygan. Photo by Matt Trulio

The block party Friday night was out of control. I don’t know how many thousands of people were there, but we sold a lot of beer and that was good for us (laughs).

From a Class 1 perspective, there is momentum now. XINSURANCE has its boat back together and they have been really killing it on the social channels. The XINSURANCE helicopter has been up all weekend, and them working with our production team has been amazing. We’ve had some of the best livestream I’ve seen in a long time. So I think we are at a bit of a high point of the season in terms of the momentum we have built. You can kind of only go up from here.

It’s time to plan for next year—we’ve been having lots of conversations with Larry Bleil of Race World Offshore, lots conversation with Class 1 teams. We’ve been talking to the APBA. The national championship series is really important to all of us, and I think structuring that the right way is key to the sport as a whole. There’s a lot going on. It’s fun.

Last year, the Midwest Challenge was a Mercury Racing/Powerboat P1 event. This year it is distinctly a Powerboat P1 event. Is that better for your brand?
(Pauses) Well, look, last year was super-positive with Mercury Racing. The benefit to have them involved at that level was that first-year events are always difficult, and to have a supporter who has such a big local fan-base and that kind of weight really helped with the city and the amount of people who came out to watch the race.

It’s not the 50th anniversary of Mercury Racing but they are still involved, still supporting this event. They have been supporting us across the season, which is great.

Said Rangoonwala, “I think we are at a bit of a high point of the season in terms of the momentum we have built.” Photo by Matt Trulio

Coming back to a venue a second year you are going to do better than you did the first year. We have made some more steps in the right direction. The city has been incredible helping us mold the event to what it needs to be. We dipped our feet in the water last year. We dove in this year. The hospitality has taken a big step up for sure. The people in the VIP areas are from all over, and that’s what the city of Sheboygan wants. I mean, the population here is 50,000 people. There are 50,000 people here this weekend for this event.

We have been welcomed with more than open arms. I was handed the key to the city of Sheboygan today by the mayor (Ryan Sorenson), which was an incredible honor for me. The mayor and his assistant have been key to this event, as has (former Mercury Racing general manager) Stuart Halley. We are already talking about what this looks like next year and for years to come.

Are you still planning to produce Class 1 races overseas?
Yeah, so I know you and I have spoken about it before and, as you know, I am moving to Dubai. I am moving there with my family at the end of the month. I’ve been honest with the teams about that being what my plans are.

There are multiple reasons for that and one of them is, hey, we will race overseas whether its racing with boats that are already out there or boats that we ship out there, that’s TBD. It will take time; one of the keys to the growth of sport is, yes, building the national series, but internationally there is so much opportunity. We are here to help make that happen. It will happen. It’s only when and how much money it will cost.

At one time, you spoke of a 12-team limit for Class 1.
(Laughs) Well, obviously we are a long way from that. From a Class 1 perspective, for sure, that is still a goal. That will be another conversation for when we get close. Some people say it’s a bit of a pipe-dream, but that vision is still very much alive.

Will the APBA series always be integral and run tandem with the Class 1 series or do you see them separating at some point?
I think it will always be integral to Class 1. Class 1 will come and it will build. But there should always be an American element of Class 1 so it truly is an international championship. This is the home of powerboat racing. We may have two or three races somewhere else, but the American Class 1 races are always going to be here. They are integral to our goal.

The Class 1 series stop in Sheboygan produced many beautiful moments, including a first-time Class 1 victory for the Defalco team of Mike Falco and Billy Moore (not pictured).

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