Steve Berk

I'm not 100% sure how to upload pics so I copied the links from another board I have posted pics on of the white, 31' Sutphen "Great Adventure" as it looks today, as well as another boat that was named from a ride at the Great Adventure park called "Rolling Thunder." It belongs to Arnold @ Arnold's Yacht Basin in Point Pleasant, NJ who is my son's godfather. Click on the links below and that wil show you the pics of the boats. Great Adventure Sutphen Rolling Thunder Rolling Thunder Jaguar

My pleasure

It got started by two people Phil Lewis & Bill Gazell. Bill owned Countyline Sunoco on county line Rd in Jackson & did the towing for the park. Bill bought the Cigarette & some how got them to give him money to put the GA name on the boat. The boat originally was called ""FREEDOM". I don't know how much $ he got or for how long. He put the name on all of the boats he owned. The "Great Adventure" team has racked up more wins & championships over a 30 year span than any other offshore team in the history of the sport. 2004 the boat I own was brought out of retirement an won the S.B.I. national championship. That was the last year any of the above boats raced. The boat is still awesome & my family has used it as a pleasure boat for years. It has a back seat for passengers that is removable for racing. When we go to the restaurants here in Ft Laudale on the water people are always asking questions about it.& it's history It's quite an attention getter. As I said you can go to my website & see what it looks like today www.mercedeshowroom.com. under non mercedes. If you go to u tube look up GA boat race team there are a few short clips of my boat.

Dave The first 28 Cigarette got sponsor money from the park.. I don't think, but don't remember if six flags even owned the park in 1977. If you notice the name on the boat & the tow truck doesn't say six flags like your avatar does

Hi guys My name is Steve Berk. I was the throttle man on Great Adventure for a few years. The 1s GA was a 28' Cigarette which is the 1st photo. I bought the boat from my friend & changer the name to Berks Law when he ordered the second GA which was a 30' Blue Sutphen. " After racing the Sutphen for two years the team built the black GA. which was a 32' Viper. I then sold the Cigarette to a guy in Connecticut who used it as a pleasure boat. I bought the Sutphen & repainted it as you can see a different paint scheme from the photos, it was 1980 . We raced the Black boat in the A..P.B.A. that year which was about 15 races all around the country, California being the furthest. I raced the Blue boat in all the local club races that year with my team & Bill raced the black boat. There were about 20 local club races in the north east. .The blue boat was about 4 mph faster with the same power. But when the water was very rough the black Viper dominated, it was 2 feet longer & heavier. The white GA was a 1988 31' Sutphen that was raced for a few years. I own it today & we use it as a pleasure boat.. It has won many National & World chanpionships. It also holds the kilo record in its class. It won the 2004 National championship in S.B.I. also. That was the last year the boat was raced. I now have it up 4 sale. It needs to be in the park in Jackson NJ If you go to my dealerships website there are some pics. of it how it looks today. www.mercedeshowroom.com. Look under non mercedes. Well that's pretty much the story on all the boats pictured in this thread , My wife took most of those pics. from a helicopter in the races. I hope I have answered your questions