Organizers are diligently working to put together the Treasure Coast Power Boat Race. Planned for April 23-25, the Treasure Coast Power Boat Race will feature nearly 100 power boat racing teams representing the United States and Canada.

The power boat race will be authorized by the American Power Boat Association and has the potential to be largest power boat race event in Florida. an estimated 30,000 fans are expected to fill the seats of this highly anticipated event," said O'Connor.

"Initially we began thinking this would be a small little power boat race that we could put together just to get our toes wet and see if we could actually pull it off again," said O'Connor whose father-in-law Brian O'Connor's 5.0 Liter class boat Gator was renowned to Palm City power boat racing fans. "We had a multitude of questions: Is it really possible to do? Would power boat competitors come? Would people actually come to watch?"Even with those questions still at large, O'Connor knows that in approximately 50 days, those answers will definitely present themselves. Putting together the power boat race was the easy part, she said. "Florida has provided a lot of memories of so many wonderful times for race teams, owners and families all around the country," she said. "Our first month when word got around that we were going to have this power boat race, the subject began to dominate forums and chat rooms on all the power boat racing Web sites.

"O'Connor stated that the response has been much larger than she had originally expected. Power boat Racing families have told her when they arrive they will be staying as long as two weeks with plans to visit other areas of Florida while attending the race. Local business and community entities like Martin County Parks, the Treasure Coast Sports Commission, along with many others has been essential to the power boat races development, O'Connor said. In the event this power boat race develops into the magnitude of the Pineapple Festival, Stuart Air Show, it will be one of the year's best economic shots for the area.Palm City power boat racer Duff Dailey is one of many local area competitors who is excited to get behind the wheel in front of the home crowd again. "I first learned of Stuart when we came up to race in the Sailfish Regattas back in the 70s," said Dailey, originally a Miami resident. "I love it here in Stuart so much that while visiting I decided to make the transition, although it took me until 1995 to move here and by that time wouldn't you know it, the same year was the last year they had the races."

However, Dailey has not let the lack of a home power boat race venue bother his racing career. He currently holds the world kilo record in his racing class, the K Racing Runabouts, with a hair raising power boat speed of 147.264 miles per hour. "It's going to feel really awesome to race in front of the home crowd again for the first time in a very long time," he said. "All the other guys are really excited about it. Jessica has really gone to the extreme to pull this power boat event together and it's rerally great to see the county working along with her as a team to make this power boat race possible. Hopefully, they'll be able to make the racing here on the Treasure Coast big again like it once was,"said Dailey.