Saturday Service Scheduled For World Champion Racer And Beloved Boater John Robinson
Tomorrow afternoon in Naples, Fla., friends and family members of New York native and Florida resident John Robinson—a powerboat enthusiast to the very core who died from undetermined causes on Saturday. August 31—will gather to remember the world champion offshore racer who lived life to the fullest, on and off the water.
Whether he was running a Skater catamaran or hanging out at the docks or in the race pits, John Robinson loved being around boats. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
Robinson, a Pro Stock Outboard-class world champion in the early 2000s with the Snakeman Racing team in his triple-outboard-powered 36-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran, is being remembered with a traditional Catholic service on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. at the St. Ann Catholic Church.
His teammate with Snakeman Racing for a few seasons, Paul Whittier called Robinson one of the most laidback and fun to race with teammates he’s ever had.
“John was such a super fun-loving individual,” Whittier said. “He had such a passion for the people in the offshore racing community just as much as he did for the competitiveness on the course. We had a lot of fun together because John was just that kind of guy. He didn’t take himself too seriously—I mean he knew boat racing was boat racing and things just went wrong sometimes.
“Honestly, I loved how laidback he was about the racing,” he added. “I’ll give him credit. He saw an opportunity and he went and bought that boat to race. It ran OK, for a somewhat pleasure-race version Skater. But I’ll tell you what, John Vanderstel and I got a hold of it, took it to Lake X and reconfigured the whole thing. We turned it into and out-and-out contender and we ended up being a pretty serious team. A serious team that had a lot of fun.”
The Snakeman Racing team had a good, fun run in the Pro Stock Outboard class in its 36-foot Skater. Photo courtesy Offshore Vintage
A longtime friend from the boating community and fellow offshore racer, Nate Hunt said he and his wife, Connie, were devastated to hear of Robinson’s passing.
“We’re really going to miss John, he was so much fun to be with—we did a lot of stuff together,” said Hunt, a member of the APBA Hall of Champions as throttleman of Team Predator. “John just bought a grom from me to take to the races in Key West this year. He was definitely dedicated to racing—he loved every minute of it. He seemed to be enjoying his Nor-Tech center console, too.”
Robinson’s twin-engine silver and blue Nor-Tech, and before that his all-white sterndrive-powered 32-foot Skater, were staples at events up and down Florida’s West Coast.
“I first met John through Fort Myers Offshore when he, ironically enough, had a 32-foot Skater,” said Tim Hill, the president of Fort Myers Offshore who in 2023 purchased a 2000-model-year Skater 32B catamaran. “We didn’t get to see each other much outside of FMO and offshore racing as John lived in Naples and us in Fort Myers, but when we would catch up at an event it was as if it had only been a week since we had last spoken. John was a man of many words and loved life. He would do anything for anyone, which he showed many times on the water helping other performance boaters and racers as well as supporting Cyndee and I with Roar Offshore and FMO. He truly will leave a void in the Southwest Florida boating community and nightlife scene.”
Check out the slideshow above for images of Robinson doing what he loved.
Ryan Beckley, the veteran offshore racer and organizer of the annual Joey Gratton Memorial New Year’s Day Fun Run, said he enjoyed every minute he spent with Robinson.
“John was a really fun guy with a passion for our sport—he was a big part of the offshore family,” said Beckley, the owner of Kinetic Animation in Bradenton, Fla., who raced with John in his former Super Stock-class Skater a handful of times. “John raced in a lot of different stuff, but he was an outboard guy at heart. He also did the fun stuff with Fort Myers Offshore and he would come to our New Year’s Day Fun Run every year.
“He was a big proponent of our Offshore Vintage page, too, and he had sent us tons of pictures of when he was younger going to Key West and other races,” he added. “He gave us a lot of cool old photos from all these races he used to go to from the ’80s and ’90s. He will be missed.”
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