1979 Scarab Larry Smith 38

OWN A PIECE OF RACING HISTORY!!!

Founded in 1976, the KAAMA Racing Team is widely regarded as one of the most successful offshore powerboat racing teams in history. Having started in well over 70 races, KAAMA earned its respect not only on the racecourse, but also through its forward-thinking engineering solutions, which undoubtedly helped advance the performance boat industry.

The KAAMA Racing Team consisted of Betty Cook as driver, John Connor as crew chief & throttleman, various navigators, as well as engineering partner Peter Weismann.

Betty Cook was 52 years old and a grandmother, stood 5′ 4″ tall and weighed barely 114 pounds. Within three years she would be World Champion in Key West. She won 17 races in all including 2 world championships and 3 national championships. The open ocean didn’t care if you were a grandmother or a young rookie — everyone competed against the same odds.

The 38-foot Scarab is by far one of the most recognized hull designs in the world and respected because of its light weight and high speeds. Initially engineered by John Connor as a replacement for the Cigarette hull, the first Scarab hull was built by Larry Smith for KAAMA Racing.

Now 40 years later and after a full restoration by Thomas Jewsbury, who previously restored the Miami Vice boat, KAAMA is back and better than ever!

Everything on KAAMA was restored to its original form, which required Jason Saris and his team at Performance Marine to build some parts that are no longer produced. KAAMA’s hull is made out of kevlar, the same material used in bulletproof vests and a stronger fiberglass deck was fabricated to replace the old flimsy kevlar one. Two people can operate the boat, three is optimal. Someone to drive, someone to throttle and someone to navigate. She is powered by two 572 cid fuel injected engines (750 HP each), number three speedmaster drives and only has 20 hrs of run time. Tom is ready to pass the KAAMA torch and move on to his next project.

Visit KAAMA’s Facebook page which is updated often.

There are numerous articles, websites and publications regarding Betty and this amazing boat…..just Google it. lol