Boat Races Draw Huge Crowd To Beach

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From the moment the Sheriff – and all the LCSO tools and toys – came over the bridge until the final checkered flag, the 2021 Roar Offshore Boat races on Fort Myers Beach were a huge success. We spoke with Roar Offshore President Tim Hill on Monday to get his take on the events of the weekend.

BTRN: Tell us about how everything went?
Tim Hill: As the producer of the event, I think the weekend went absolutely fantastic. We have received so many compliments from race fans, local businesses, town council members, the Sheriffs department and race teams themselves. FMB lends itself for the perfect back drop to host an offshore race based on all the bars, restaurants, and hotels located along the racecourse and in the vicinity of the pits.

BTRN: The crowd was ready for a major event, clearly. Any idea how big the crowd was and was it what you expected?
Tim Hill: Based on the crowd we had in 2019 I would estimate the 2021 Roar Offshore attendance to be very similar at around 40,000 people over the course of the weekend.

BTRN: What have the sponsors told you about how things went for them?
Tim Hill: We are just leaving the island this morning and getting back to the office. Based on a few sponsors that we saw during and after the races as well as Facebook Posts business was booming for them, and they were extremely pleased with the attendance and spend by race fans & teams. After letting the rooster tails settle, I will have a post-race marketing review with our key sponsors on what they liked and if there is anything we can improve on for next year.

Roar Offshore organizers Tim and Cyndee Hill

BTRN: What memory or two sticks out for you the most about this year?
Tim Hill: Perhaps the biggest one was the Sheriff being the Grand Marshal of the parade and brining his toys with him to put on quiet a show! We were made aware of his acceptance to be the Grand Marshall only a day before the parade so the LCSO and Roar Offshore team put that spectacle together quickly. The other thing that really sticks out is the feeling that Cyndee and I have when the final checkered flag falls and all our racers are safe. All of the exhaustion from months of planning and the emotion we feel for the safety of the racers is lifted off our shoulders with the waving of that final checkered flag. When that flag dropped we hugged each other and cried surrounded by friends who had seen the extraordinary efforts put forth to make this race possible.

BTRN: Any numbers yet on how much you raised for charity?
Tim Hill: Not yet. We have another event, Roar Offshore Poker Run in Cape Coral this coming weekend which we will also be raising money for the Fort Myers Beach Lions club

Hill says the 2022 Roar Offshore Boat Races will be October 6th – 8th on Fort Myers Beach.

Check out our album of photos sent in by Steve Duello and many of you who took part in the festivities last weekend.

Here’s what some of the local business owners said about the event:

 

We had a great crowd at the property that thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It seemed like the guests were happy with the delay so they could take a little break before the restart. Usually boat race weekend is challenging however this year went off without any problems at the property.
Tim Malbon 
Managing General Partner
Best Western

The weekend was great for business we look forward to them brining the event back next year.
Tyler Lemmer
Nervous Nellie’s 

I compared the 4 day weekend event to my numbers of the past 4 years. I find that we had a slight 3% increase in sales over the 2019 event. In 2017 we had hurricane Irma then in 2018 we had Red Tide. 2019 was the first boat race and of course in  2020 COID hit us all terrible and there were no boat races. I truly feel that the island is suffering from extreme road construction fatigue. Full usage of parking spaces under the bridge might of helped. All in all I feel it was a fun successful event and we thank the organizers and we look forward to the 2022 event.
John Lallo
Pete’s Time Out