As I have blogged in the past, it has always been my ambition and goal to race Formula 1. I achieved that goal in the U.S. through the help of many.

My biggest break came when Wayne Worthy told Fred Bowden I should be running his second boat. The deal was done and made on a handshake and a tequila shot in the pits following a race in Sault St. Marie (in Michigan). This is a big deal because I do not drink, but Fred told me I had to take the shot to make the deal.

In my first start, I qualified third in Bay City, Mich., and in my second start, I qualified on the pole and won the race. Needless to say, I was on cloud nine—I had just won an F1 race in only my second start. From that point on, I accumulated a lot of pole positions and eventually many wins after teaming with Ted Gryguc in my third full season.

I could always handle my business on the race course, and honestly that part came fairly easy. I followed a simple model of drive great, get noticed and get a ride with an established team that already had funding.

Well after five years and a couple of “almost deals” with teams in Europe, I decided that if I was going to make this happen, I had to come up with my own money. This was always the part that I struggled with.

Let me pull back the curtain of F1 in Europe. On the world circuit every team has to have two boats. There are then two types of teams. The first is a government-funded team like Abu Dhabi where they have two good drivers from Abu Dhabi. The second type is your typical race team that needs sponsorship to exist and flourish. This is where it becomes a bit complicated, as most teams have one good driver and then the second boat is used as an income source. Basically the primary driver would prefer to have a second driver that pays a bunch of money but is not a threat to win races. So piling up wins here in the States was a detriment to my cause.

The opening for me came because with the economic struggles everywhere there were less people available to pay for these rides and even less who could acquire a license to race. So my only way of getting on was to come up with my own money, aka sponsorship, because I’m not a wealthy guy. I always thought if you just won a bunch of races, companies would coming knocking! I can’t even believe how naive I was. The fact of the matter is what I’ve learned over the past six months is that you need three things to attain sponsorship. And hold on to your hat because these are not groundbreaking ideas!

1. Something to sell: Seems simple right? Well what I realized when I sat down to put my package together was that while it was going to cost a lot of money to do this deal right, I had a lot to offer a company worldwide—a comprehensive package of TV, internet and print media. A company is not going to spend money with you unless it feels like it’s going to receive excellent exposure and return on the investment.

2. Time, time and more time: This was the first time in my racing career that I have devoted time to pursuing sponsorship in a real way. I put together a promo package and called and e-mailed everyone who I’ve met throughout the years to ask for help or leads.  I’m hundreds of hours in and I am very lucky that I have anything to show for it.

3. Don’t be scared of the word ‘no’: I didn’t realize this until I heard it a couple times. I had an irrational fear of the word “no” so I was afraid to ask for the deal. After I was told no a few times, I realized that it did not harm me physically and I would be fine and life would go on. You have to put yourself out there because a smart business person can tell almost immediately if you truly believe in your product.

I am by no means an expert on this, but I will tell you after closing my first deal, the high that I experienced was a close second to winning a boat race. Partially because I knew I would then be able to compete to win more races on the biggest stage. I also just noticed that I have been saying “I” throughout this whole post, and that is wrong. I should have been using “we” because without the following people I wouldn’t be on a flight right now to Qatar to try and realize my dreams.

Dave Ray: He spent countless hours working on our promo package, brainstorming and chasing down leads.

Dave Dewald: Besides being the best propeller man in the world, he facilitated and helped set up my deal with Team Sweden. Once again, countless hours of phone calls and e-mails.

Ted Gryguc: He owns and keeps our U.S. team running as well as being the crew chief for our F1 H2O team.

Alex Hledin (PTR Race engines): His company has gotten behind me and the belief they have in me is humbling.

Wizard Performance Products: Dean Pink’s company makes the best high-performance piston on the market for a 2.5L Mercury as well as many other great products. They have been an associate sponsor and supporter of Ted and I since day one.

Pro Marine: I just inked Pro Marine as an associate sponsor this year. If you need parts for any outboard or Jet Ski, Pro Marine is the place to get it—great pricing and great service.

Peters & May: This company is a major sponsor of ours and provides the best service and pricing when it comes to shipping boats anywhere in the world. They’re also now the UIM preferred shipper and I am to proud to represent the company around the world.

So now that I have some funding and all the logistics are taken care of, it is time to start racing. We are going to have an adjustment period, but I promise we will always give 110 percent. I’ excited to get started and show the world that America has not fallen behind the rest of the world in our sport.

Editor’s note: Shaun finished fourth at the 2011 season opener of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship on Doha Bay in Qatar on March 5. Look for his first-person perspective in the May/June 2011 issue coming out in April.