Cheoy Lee is already well known in yachting circles, but powerboat-racing circles are a different story. That’s about to change, thanks to the expertise of the project manager for Cheoy Lee’s Alpha 76 Express (pictured) and the in-the-works Alpha 87 Express, Gene Weeks. Cheoy Lee and Weeks believe that the sleek styling and swift speeds of the Express’ yacht and megayacht models will appeal to consumers who enjoy powerboat racing and a little racing of their own hearts out on the water. Cheoy Lee is therefore sponsoring Weeks’ CL-Alpha.com raceboat.
To say that Weeks has a familiarity with the speedboat market is an understatement. Weeks is a powerboat racing champion who shares a cockpit with his wife, Paula. Prior to joining Cheoy Lee, he worked with some of the most notable speedboat consumer brands, like Baja, Outerlimits, Donzi, and Statement Marine. Cheoy Lee’s vice president, But-Yang Lo, whose family has owned the China-based shipyard since it opened in 1870, purposely approached Gene Weeks for the creation of the Alpha series. Gene and Paula Weeks lived in China for two years to oversee the development of the first Cheoy Lee Alpha 76 Express.
Paula and Gene Weeks have figured out how to combine their philosophy of “race on Saturday, play on Sunday” and their enjoyment of pleasure boating by promoting the Cheoy Lee Alpha series in the P1 SuperStock series via their boat, CL-Alpha.com (below). P1 SuperStock is approved by the Union Internationale Motonautique, the governing body of marine motorsports, as an international class of powerboat racing.
Cheoy Lee decided to sponsor the Weeks’ boat at the first round of the P1 SuperStock USA Championship in Stuart, Florida in April. The heightened awareness of its brand that resulted convinced the management team to continue to sponsor CL-Alpha.com for the rest of the 2013 racing calendar. “An Express Yacht is a big step up from a powerboat, but a logical progression for this generation of performance boater,” Gene Weeks explains. “We feel confident that the SuperStock Series, with its European, upscale influence, provides ideal exposure for Cheoy Lee—especially since the races are along Florida’s boater-friendly East Coast and aired on Fox Sunsports TV.”
Cheoy Lee will additionally sponsor events where both CL-Alpha.com and the Alpha Express 76 will be on display. In the meantime, if you’d like to catch a glimpse of the Weeks’ racer when she’s not on the circuit, she’s kept at Cheoy Lee’s U.S. headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. And, of course, you can arrange a sea trial of the Alpha Express 76—or become one of the first buyers of the upcoming Alpha Express 87.
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