Rookie Moves—Meet APBA Hall of Champion Inductee Cameron Turk

Cameron Turk was driving down the road in his hometown of Cocoa Beach, Fla., when he had to suddenly pull over to the side. A sign in front a local business read, “World Champ, Cam Turk, 700 Speed Boat.”

“I had to turn around,” said Cameron. “I asked myself, ‘Was that my name?’”

On the way to induction into the American Power Boat Association Hall of Champions Cameron Turk and Robert Bryant of theTFR/XInsurance Bracket 700-class team claimed first place overall in the 2023 Race World Offshore Key West World Championships. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

It’s common for a city the size of Cocoa Beach to put up signs for the local high school winning a division championship in football or another team sport. The city of about 12,000 full-time residents that’s best known for its surfing and proximity to Cape Canaveral has wrapped its arms around a single 16-year-old junior at the local high school for his accomplishments in a sport that’s little known to most people outside the performance-boating community, offshore powerboat racing.

For the record, Cameron drove and Robert Bryant throttled the 22-foot Nitra, TFR/XInsurance, to the American Power Boat Association national and world championships in the Bracket 700 class and are being inducted into the organization’s Hall of Champions that will be awarded on January 28 in Orlando. Not bad for a kid.

“The support here is outstanding,” says Cameron. “Everyone wants to congratulate you.”

His rapid ascension in the sport was not a foregone conclusion by any means when he and Bryant started racing. Cameron’s father, J.J. Turk, who owns the La Quinta Inn and JTs Social Bar in Cocoa Beach, has been racing offshore for years in various classes and has won world and national championships most recently in Bracket 500.

For Cameron Turk and his father, J.J., offshore racing is a family affair.

“I spent so much time dragging my family to races that they were bored and not having fun,” said J.J. “I wanted to keep my son close and have him be around us, so I decided to buy a boat to get him to go racing, too.”

He also named his wife, Keriann, team manager for Cameron’s boat and made a deal with Rick Lindsey from XInsurance to sponsor Turk Family Racing in a multi-year deal. J.J. raced this season with throttleman Michael Stancombe in the 30-foot Phantom, TFR/Insurance, in Bracket 500 this year after purchasing the boat two years ago from Team Woody.

For the Bracket 700 boat, J.J. looked at what was available on the used market. “Everything was old and expensive,” he said, explaining that if Lindsey was going to sponsor the team, J.J. felt like he should present the team professionally, so he decided to invest in a new 22-foot Nitra, which is a performance boat built in Sweden.

Bryant, now 30, started racing at 18 with his father and has won multiple world and national championships in myriad classes in offshore racing. He and J.J. met years earlier in Michigan City, Ind., and had become friends.

A couple of years ago when the annual New Year’s day Joey Gratton Memorial Run wrapped up, Bryant was getting ready to bring his outboard-powered boat back home. He asked Cameron if he wanted to drive for the trip.

Said Cameron Turk, ““I was never expecting to win nationals or become a world champion. I just wanted to go out there and see how it feels.”

“We came across Sarasota Bay at 4 in the afternoon and he did really well,” said Bryant. “You get in a boat with somebody and you know if they’re going to be able to do it or not. You could tell he’s spent a lot of time boating.”

Bryant continued, “I called J.J. and said, ‘What do you think about me and Cameron racing together next season?’”

As often happens in motorsports, Bryant, who has two young kids, couldn’t find the time to finish his boat to be ready to race in Bracket 700. J.J Turk decided to build the Nitra that is powered by a Mercury Racing 300.

The plan was to get the boat well in advance of the 2023 APBA offshore season opener in Marathon, Fla., at the end of last April. Instead, the boat was delayed and arrived a couple of weeks before the event. Bryant and Cameron tested a few times and then Bryant had a prior commitment so Stancombe throttled with Cameron in his first race in Marathon.

“I had a feeling I would be able to do it, but I was a little scared,” said Cameron. “The first corner, I was not expecting all the boats driving around me.”

Learning the first lesson of offshore racing, that the most important thing is finishing, Cameron and Stancombe completed their laps and thanks to attrition and other teams breaking out because they exceeded the 60-mph speed limit for the class, and the rookie driver earned a second place in his first race.

He and Bryant continued to test the boat and get familiar with each other. Bracket 700 was a strong fleet in 2023 with at least a half dozen boats at most races. In races at Cocoa Beach, Sarasota, Fla., and Michigan City, Ind., the team finished in the middle of the pack. The duo headed into St. Petersburg, Fla., in the points chase and Cameron was finally feeling confident after lots of testing with Bryant.

“The boat got better as Cameron got better on the wheel,” said Bryant. “Our real goal was to get him comfortable racing with other people and turning.”

Cameron recalled St. Petersburg being the first race that he had the mindset of wanting to take to the course with the intention of winning. And that’s exactly what they did, fighting for the lead for much of the race and finishing with the checkered flag.

“Robert taught me the shortest track usually wins,” said Cameron. “After the first lap in St. Pete, I said to myself, ‘I’m starting to get the hang of this.’”

With the win, the duo worked up to the points lead for the national standings and the opportunity to take the championship was there in Clearwater. TFR/Xinsurance won again, claiming the national title in Bracket 700.

By the time Turk reached the final race of the 2023 APBA series in Clearwater, Fla., he was feeling confident behind the wheel.

“At the start of the season, I was telling him how to take a turn and by the end, I was letting him take control of the course,” said Bryant. “I could do my job better and he could do his job better.”

Back home in Cocoa Beach, the locals were taking notice of the hometown kid making a name for himself in offshore racing. The principal of the local high school let Cameron take excused absences so he could attend the Race World Offshore world championships in Key West, Fla., that take place over a week in the middle of November. The local mini-golf and go-kart business, Golf-N-Gator, also sponsored the two-boat team for the week.

The world championships are run in a three-race format, with teams racing for single points on Wednesday and Friday and double points for more laps run on the Sunday finale. Teams with the most combined points for the three days win the world championship in their class. Five teams entered in Bracket 700 and on the first day, Cameron and Bryant placed third. In Friday’s race, the duo got back to its winning ways by taking the checkered flag. This set up a winner-take-all scenario for the Sunday race.

Friday’s race was rough, especially for the 21- and 22-foot boats in Bracket 700. The team had to make extensive repairs to the boat to get it in shape to run on Sunday. Fortunately the conditions weren’t as challenging on Sunday and TFR/XInsurance took the checkered flag and the world championship.

“I was never expecting to win nationals or become a world champion,” said Cameron. “I just wanted to go out there and see how it feels.”

The icing on the cake for Cameron and his family was learning that they had been named to the APBA’s Hall of Champions, an honor reserved for the teams in a powerboat racing category that earn the most championships.

“I didn’t plan on them doing so well so soon because of Cameron being so green,” J.J. said of his son and Bryant. “I knew Robert could get him up to speed. I just didn’t think it would be so fast. Michael also helped with setting up the boat in the beginning.”

J.J. Turk also admitted that it took a couple of races for him to not be distracted by thinking about his son being on the racecourse when he was competing as well. “It was hard at first to stay focused in the first couple of races,” said J.J. “But after St. Pete, it was, ‘How cool is this?’”

This year’s Hall of Champions inductees will be recognized at the APBA’s annual meeting in Orlando on January 27.

“I’ve looked back as far as I can and Cameron is the youngest entry from the Offshore category I know of,” said Rich Luhrs, chairman of the APBA Offshore Commission. “He’s done something extraordinary. It’s an impressive feat and it shows that we’re attracting young people to the sport again.”

Cameron is a confident young man and said that he hopes to follow in the footsteps of offshore competitors like the late Allan Dunteman (Agitator), Pat Patel (In Contempt) and Reggie Fountain II by getting his law degree. Asked what he learned about the sport, Cameron didn’t talk about strategy or how to trim a boat. “After this first year, I realized there’s a lot of good people in boat racing,” he said.

Spoken like a true veteran.