A living piece of offshore racing's glorious heyday is up for grabs: hull #001 of the 47-foot Apache, built at the original shop in Hollywood, FL, and finished in Gail Paik’s yellow-and-blue “69” paint.

The boat made one race, in New Jersey in 1987, then disappeared into federal custody after the crackdown that took owner/driver Ben Kramer’s company; it did not surface again until a 1994 government auction. The hull still carries the hand-painted names of the men who built and campaigned it—rigger Bobby Moore, designer Mark McManus, throttleman Bob Saccenti, and navigator Bob Idoni. The boat is currently owned by World Champion offshore racer Lorne Leibel and being exclusively brokered for sale by Jeremy Cohen of Seabound Yachts. Under Leibel it has been kept race-capable rather than turned into a replica: triple Keith Eickert / Thunder Racing V8s, rebuilt by Sterling Performance to about 700 hp each (with a spare), maintained at T&T Custom Marine, and in 2023 it went back on course at the Ocean Cup.

The legacy of Apache Powerboats is one of the most legendary in offshore racing. The company's origins can be traced back to Miami’s “Thunderboat Row” in the late 1970s, when Kramer and Saccenti used a 41' mold tied to Don Aronow’s Cigarette-era designs. Their breakout boat was the 41' Warpath, which won the APBA Class II World Championship in the rough Key West waters. That deep-V became the template for later 41s and 47s that dominated offshore racing through the 1980s and early 1990s. Ownership split after that; by the mid-1980s, the Kramers held Apache Powerboats (the larger 41/47 line) while Saccenti ran a sister shop for smaller hulls; he later left the Apache name after a rights fight and went on to Chief Powerboats. In 1987, the U.S. government seized Kramer’s company; builder Mark McManus was put in to run it and has controlled the Apache name since.

For Lorne Leibel, the boat didn't just represent the ultimate pedigree of offshore—it reflects his lifelong involvement in high-performance boating, racing relationships and the emotional value attached to a legendary machine. For seven years, in a pre-Internet era, he searched for the boat relentlessly, mining information through phone calls and receiving contradictory reports that the boat had been abandoned, was deteriorating in Louisiana or converted for law enforcement use. Finally, in 1994, an associate discovered a full-page DEA auction advertisement in The Boat Trader: the Apache was scheduled to be auctioned in Cape Kennedy, FL, alongside cars, trucks and other vessels. So when the opportunity to purchase the rig presented itself, he leaped.

Now 75 years old, Leibel told Speedboat that is back and knees have deteriorated from offshore and automobile racing, and since the Apache spends more time stored than on the water, he has once again become open to selling it. Enter Jeremy Cohen of Seabound Yachts, who has brokered a number of iconic high-performance boats, including the Tommy Bahama MTI. Leibel agreed to allow Cohen, a trusted specialist in the performance-boat market, to put the Apache up for sale to a serious buyer. It's stored at T&T Custom Marine (Miami Shores, FL), owned and operated by fellow offshore legend John Tomlinson. The boat's original gauges and period appearance have been preserved, while the engines and drives have been modernized.

This Apache has become far more than just a race boat. It has weathered a dramatic and colorful past—surviving complex legal battles, public auctions, multiple ownership transfers, and over a decade of protected storage. Its pedigree and historical weight make it as compelling to a seasoned collector as it is to an offshore racing purist.

For more information, or to make an offer, call Jeremy direct at (718) 619-7001 or please visit Seaboundyachts.com.

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