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Yearly Archives: 2015

Spring is in full bloom, and boaters aren’t hesitating to take advantage of it. Central Missouri was no exception with powerboat owners flocking to last weekend’s Fun Run on the Lake of the Ozarks. The event, hosted by the Osage Beach-based Performance Boat Center, was blessed with sunny weather following spring showers in the morning. And thank god it was, because otherwise the ladies you see above may not have graced the water with their presence.

Helmed by Mark Waddington, a partner of Performance Boat Center, the 52 ft. Outerlimits pictured houses twin Mercury 1350 engines and was a fitting stage for the photo with its sleek, smooth form. Though it’s hard to rival a boat like that, models from Cigarette Racing, Fountain Powerboats, Skater Powerboats and more were also spotted on the water.

Brett Manire, one of the owners of the performance boat dealership/service/parts one-stop-shop said that he counted over 30 boats, including Fountains, Outerlimits, and Skater boats they had previously sold to happy customers. Considering they prepared to feed over 150 mouths at this Fun Run, we’re eager to see what other events Performance Boat Center has in store for its Redhead Yacht Club marina complex when its Redhead Restaurant & Pool Bar reopens in the summer.

For now, stay tuned for the Lake Race on June 5th – Performance Boat Center is the chief sponsor and generously supplying boats for the event. Then, the 2015 Cigarette Racing Team Rendezvous follows a couple weeks later, the first official Cigarette owners only event on the lake. We can’t wait to see what else they have in store.

Photo Credit to PBC photographer Brad Glidewell

Powerboat Nation is again on another massive growth path and we’re investing heavily for you. We know how we got here and we couldn’t have accomplished any of it without the huge support of the followers and members that continually visit our site for the latest news and action all around the Powerboating Nation.

The world of online media moves fast and furious and the work it takes to deliver this level of content to the world takes constant advancements and fast movement. 2015 continues to bear fruits from the thousands of hours we have invested to bring you the best Powerboating site anywhere. We hope you enjoy this new look, we have it geared for continued video delivery of which you’ll see more and more PBN exclusive content weekly.

But hey, we’re not just a pretty face, as we have added to the PBN family. Truth be told, there is just so much media content being developed every day we had to bring on more staff to bring it all to you! So welcome them to the family as we continue to provide the best powerboating media experience. We hope you enjoy what you see. This is just one more step towards bringing you the best for the 2015 boating season and beyond. Powerboat Nation is always under acceleration to bring the strongest video, photos, and news coverage of powerboating events across the country.

The launch of our new homepage also sees the forum section travel to its new URL of forum.powerboatnation.com. So for all of you looking to discuss powerboating with your fellow powerboaters, head there!

I have said it time and time again. If you want to go to a place and find the highest concentration of CIGARETTE Branded boats on the water, then the Lake of the Ozarks is the place to go. My unofficial and unscientific observations show way more CIGARETTES than anywhere else in the world.

PBN Cigarette Photo Courtesy of Florida PowerBoat Club

With the Performance Boat Center as a CIGARETTE dealer it is really not a surprise the 2015 CIGARETTE Owners Rendezvous is coming to the Lake June 19-21. The Performance Boat Center is an incredible facility with everything you could ask for, from basic service and repair to full restorations, all done in house.

Brett Manire of the Performance Boat Center is hoping very optimistically their new restaurant will be open and told us that Performance Boat Center is the perfect place to host this event.

If you want to play, you better hurry up and register. The rendezvous is exclusive to only to Cigarette owners and they have limited the participation to 60 boat entries.

For more information and to register for the event email amy@redheadyachtclub.com

Phone 573.873.2300

When a customer special orders a boat it usually makes a statement. The Team at Sunsation Powerboats just rolled out a brand new Black 34 CCX with the new 400R Mercury Racing Outboards that has already got a lot of attention.

Adam Carpenter has an impressive collection of water toys ranging from a hi-performance cat, Ski boat and a line up of personal watercraft. Adam likes speed, he enjoys performance and as I remember him from participating in the Performance Boat School, he is really good at taking things to the edge. .

Adam has a vacation home on the water and is always on the move, doing something, going somewhere. So, with his existing stable of water toys and other active machines to move him along how and why did he decide to build a very discreet looking 34 Sunsation CCX with Triple 400 Mercury Racing Outboards?

As Adam tells us… It was super cold day in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and while sitting around with friends after snowmobiling they decided it would be a great idea to get warm and on the spur of the moment they bought tickets to go to the Miami Boat Show and get warm for awhile.

Getting to Miami and walking the show Adam had zero intention of buying a boat. He and his friends were enjoying the much warmer weather, having fun, and of course, looking at everything the Miami Boat Show had to offer. When they came upon the 34 CCX Sunsation demo boat in the water they related back to the knowledge of a great friend who has owned a Sunsation Sport Boat for over 20 years who enthusiastically tells us “the boat looks as good as new and has always performed above expectations, providing a couple of decades of great family fun and performance.” Then, when offered a invitation for a demo ride from one of the owners of Sunsation, Jared Morris, the now warm snowmobiling crowd all jumped aboard as Wayne Schaldenbrand ran them around Miami’s Biscayne Bay for a little joyride.

Adam said they all had a great time and went on their way around the show, again looking at everything outside and inside the Miami Convention Center. Inside the show hall they of course came upon the inside display from Sunsation and struck up a conversation with the other brother from Sunsation Powerboats, Joe Schaldenbrand. Joe talked all about the boats, life in Michigan, snowmobiling, and how great it was to be in Miami and be warm.

Adam and his crew continued to walk enjoying the show, Miami, and everything it had to offer, still not really even having the thought to buy a boat. Then Monday came and before flying back to cold Michigan, Adam thought the idea of being able to get out a few times a year every winter to go snowmobiling in the extreme cold should be balanced with going to Florida a few times a year every winter to go powerboating. So Adam made his way back over to the Sunsation Booth and ordered a brand new 34 CCX Sunsation Center Console Extreme, with triple 400R Outboards, and because all of his stuff is already black on black the boat would have to match.

Of course the boat order was taken by Joe and the excitement of Adam came down a little when told how long to wait. Sunsation is so very busy building boats it was going to be a few months… Nevertheless the boat was ordered and the process of the build would move on.

Well as fate would have it the next morning at the Miami Airport, Adam and Joe ran into each other for the flight home and Joe offered up the Demo Boat they were building that was just out of the mold. The boat could be painted black instead of blue and Adam could get the boat done sooner rather than later. But all black? Really? Though Joe tried to convince him of another color choice, the answer was final. To describe the motivation Adam simply said, “Women don’t wear high heels because they are comfortable, they wear heels because they look great and my boat is going to look great!”

The boat does look great. Mitcher T did an incredible job with the execution of Adam’s vision. Adam was invited to visit the shop and said it was great working with him. “A really cool experience working and collaborating with Mitcher T. The project came out 10 times better than expected. It was a goal to have the boat look all black from 50 feet away and as you get up closer the graphics come out. Mitcher killed it!”

A little over the top maybe. but this is one build where nothing was skipped and the decisions were simple. Adam asks how many LED lights normally go into the cockpit and whatever the standard answer is the number is doubled. Killer lighting, a Stereo System with 23 JL Speakers and a ultra modern looking cabin done in white with a black floor and black headliner. The 400’s are going to push the boat to that extra level of performance and the boat is also set up with FLIR Night Vision, Garmin Radar, all rigged to the Garmin 8215 displays.

The boat is special, as in Special Ops, and even before it got wet for the first time it brought on some heightened attention from Border Patrol agents working near the Sunsation Factory. The Border Patrol pulled up right before the first sea trail and with their windows rolled down asked Adam, “Nice boat, do you mind if we take some photos?” Adam replied, “Sure, as long as you don’t pull me over!” The agents followed them to the ramp and took pictures the whole way.

The boat is sure to bring a lot of attention wherever it goes. Adam plans to bring the boat to Fort Myers during the winter to have a chance to get out of cold Michigan during the summer and summer in Indiana. Look out for his new boat “Discrete” at a poker run somewhere this summer.

SUNSATION has always been a brand favorite that brings out a super loyal following of dedicated boat owners!

Photo Credits to Sunsation Powerboats

We can’t wait to get the performance results from this incredible looking boat.

Congratulations to SUNSATION and the new owner!

Black on Black Sunsation
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We made the big journey to the heartland of America to visit our friend and loyal PBN supporter Brett of the famous and world renowned BBlades Propellers so we could capture a glimpse of just a little of the magic that goes into building a “Lab Finished” propeller.

Like all real art or craftsmanship whether an engine, boat, outdrive, or propeller the real magical products come from people who are not only completely and thoroughly skilled and versed in their craft, but have the ability to alter and perfect it with their own hands.

The raw goods, or core, of a propeller come from fabulous machinery. But what makes the real difference is the application of skill and perfection of the process to make the fastest, strongest, and most reliable parts with their own hands. This is exactly what BBlades propellers are; handmade specialty props that perform great.

With virtually over 100 years of propeller experience these craftsman shape, smooth, and perfect propellers to reduce slippage numbers and provide the most propulsion with the least amount of effort.

We hope you enjoy this video!

 

Today was the day the famous 48 MTI Lamborghini Aventador “Raging Bull” met it’s new owner. The 1350 Mercury Racing power boat will soon be raging on the waters in Spain near the party island of Ibiza under the control of its new owner. Maybe “Raging Bull” will get to Spain just in time for the “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, Spain.

For almost a year, Larry Goldman President and Owner of Xtreme Powerboats/Extreme Marine in Miami, Florida has been talking to his buyer from Russia about which boat to buy and the other options available to him. He could have a boat custom built to his specific wants and needs or he could buy any one of the many available boats that Larry showed him throughout the year. But this buyer wanted a boat that wasn’t even for sale…

Gino Gargiulo was not really looking to sell his famous Lamborghini boat “Raging Bull”. However, the Russians didn’t want to wait, didn’t want to hear no for an answer, and just today ended up closing on the boat that everyone else has dreamed of owning.

Larry Goldman is certainly known for selling Xtreme Boats. In addition to this Lamborghini MTI, Larry Goldman has sold the Ferarri MTI, the Mercedes MTI, the Aqua Mania Skater raceboat and the majority of all the new 42 MTI Center Consoles. All of these boats were sold to foreign buyers.
Larry has worked hard over the years to cultivate relationships with buyers from all over the world and he knows what it takes to close the deal.

The new owner owns multiple boats – they have other smaller boats and at least one very, very, large boat. But the operation of a high performance catamaran requires training and skill if you want to do it correctly. To achieve the absolute best performance and handling that the boat is capable of the new owner made the decision to complete the Tres Martin Performance Boat School curriculum.

Yesterday I spent six hours in the classroom session and then today we dodged rain showers and heavy winds to complete the on water part of the course. The new owner did fantastic and is now ready to navigate around Ibiza and other European ports.

Don’t be surprised if Powerboat Nation reports that we’re running around on the exclusive island of Ibiza with Xtreme Powerboats and Larry Goldman. Larry will be easing the new owner into the boat and is anxious to bring the Xtreme Powerboat Lifestyle to a whole new group of wealthy Europeans who will be excited to try and outdo each other around all of the exotic ports.

As for Gino? I guess everyone will have to wait and watch. First we had the Mercedes themed MTI, then the now infamous over the top Lamborghini Aventador themed MTI – now…? What can Gino Garguilo think of next?

Raging Bull Leaves for Europe
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Reggie Fountain is a man who needs no introduction. His name and reputation is world renown and his accomplishments in the powerboating world are unparalleled.

If you’re a big fan or just looking for a great property with a deeded dock in Moorhead City, NC, then this is the place for you. Check out the great video of the incredible property. After you buy this great waterfront property you will have to let us know all about it. Then we will plan a proper Powerboat Nation powerboating house party.

 

Spring fever usually means it’s time to start thinking about getting the boat ready, or, if you’re lucky enough to have your boat in the water and completed your shakedown cruise, to get after those nagging little things corrected before they grow bigger if ignored. Now is the time to squeeze more performance out of your vessel before the season begins in earnest.

BBLADES has programs in place that let you test and tweak your boats performance affordably. The right prop and boat set-up can save you money in fuel, not to mention the embarrassment of being at the back of the pack. Keep reading here or visit the BBLADES website to learn more about our test programs.

We want to thank everyone who participated in our Miami Boat Show contest and congratulate the folks who took home prizes:

  1. Doug Miller-Single, Bravo Style Lab Finish (value of $392.00)
  2. Scott Kowalski-$150.00 Merchandise Certificate
  3. Eric Diver-Bravo-style BBLADES BSAFE Prop Lock
  4. Paul Jimmerson-BBLADES PropStop Bag
  5. Matt Wiersma-Hat/T-shirt Combo

Want to get in on some prize winning action? BBLADES Facebook page is where we announce contests and specials, so join us there for useful information about a better day on the water and some occasional silliness!

And while you’re on Facebook, check out our buddy Korey Sprengel, champion walleye angler. We’ve partnered again with Korey this year, and you can learn a little something about fishing – as well as propeller and boating tips.

Know What To Look For When Inspecting Props

When getting your boat ready for the season, don’t forget that prop maintenance is as important as checking out the engine, hull and accessories on your boat. In fact, the following steps should be used every time you take your boat out on the water, but certainly after three or four days of boating fun.

BBLADES’ Prop & Spacer Plate Test Programs – Eliminate The Guess Work

No matter what type of boating you do, what type of horsepower you run, or what type of propeller you spin, BBLADES has the right prop to help you max-out your boats performance. Better hole shot? No problem. Faster top-end? We can help squeeze out a few more rpm and mph. Improved fuel economy?
There’s a prop for that.

But even after consulting with your BBLADES prop pro about which wheel is best for your application, the true proof is how it performs on your boat, and BBLADES Prop Test Program is an easy, inexpensive way to “try before you buy.”

BBLADES offers test props from our own line of quality propellers, as well as those from Mercury, Turbo, Hydromotive and more; BBLADES even offers testing of Hering Offshore propellers , and is the only prop shop to make such an offer available.

BBLADES OB/F: Versatile Prop For Today’s Big Outboards

The BBLADES OB/F is perhaps the most versatile outboard propeller available.

A four-blade, stainless steel wheel (14.75” diameter available in one-inch pitch increments from 21- to 32- inches and 15” diameter in one-inch increments from 33- to 37-inches), BBLADES’ OB/F features a custom-tuned exhaust tube that reduces drag, improves trim reaction and aides’ time-to-plane and top-end speed.

The leading edge of each blade is wedged and balanced while the trailing edge cup heights are lengthened and matched for cleaner, smoother acceleration. It’s available in both left- and right-hand rotation.

Slip Into Something More Comfortable

“Prop slip” may be the most widely used and most widely misunderstood term in boating. It sounds like something bad, but it’s a good thing when occurring in the proper percentage.

In simplest terms, prop slip is the difference between actual and theoretical forward travel resulting from a propeller’s angle of attack. Too much prop slip leads to poor performance and lousy fuel economy. Cavitation, or prop blow-out, will greatly increase the slip percent number. A prop diameter that is too small for the horsepower and load can also increase slip beyond desirable levels.

Too little slip can create other issues, not the least of which is destroying a drive or gear case components.

Gary Seeds from Cincinnati Ohio has been boating for a long, long time and like most of us crazy boat owners the thought and dream of upgrading to a new boat is a never ending progression.

It was 2010 while on a Florida PowerBoat Club Poker Run, running in another brand of boat when he mentioned to his wife, if they continued to do these events another boat would be in order to tackle the bigger water for a more comfortable and better performing ride. Ask and you shall receive because immediately after a 39 CIGARETTE with Mercury Racing 700’s was the Seed’s new ride and it came with “Full Wife Approval!” The 39 proved to be such a great ride that the progression to another boat could only be another CIGARETTE!

Just this last weekend Gary took delivery of his brand new CIGARETTE 42X with Mercury Racing Qc4v 1100 Twin Turbo Engines. Gary could not be happier with the boat and with the boat company.
“The entire CIGARETTE EXPERIENCE is incredible” said Gary in a phone interview. “Working with Bud Lorow and the entire Team at Cigarette made the boat buying experience very enjoyable” Gary went on to talk about the design phase and painter. David Hunter is awesome to work with. He listens, understands the customers design ideas and applies all of it into the boat. The design studio allows you to really spec the boat the way you want it.”

Out of the box the boat ran 117 and with a little more prop an easy 120+ is very attainable. Look for Gary to be at the Pirates of Lanier Run and other events across the country all summer long! A great build for a proud new owner. From concept to delivery 7 Months. This process is a progression and the outcome brings an enthusiastic owner who knows and understands the CIGARETTE DIFFERENCE. Congratulations to The Seeds Family and to CIGARETTE RACING for another incredible build!

Planting the Seeds
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What can I say that I have not said before. The biggest, The best, The most fun, The most charming….Covering just over 200 miles of boating over two days with outstanding stops at fun venues with great food and charming gracious people. The Tickfaw 200 is something that can only be experienced to really understand just how significant it is.

How many boats? Well they sold over 340 hands and some boats did have more than one so the best guess is 400 boats because some of the boats didn’t buy any hands and there were performance boats everywhere.

Big powerful brand new Skaters to some old one off single engine performance boats and everything else in between.

The rock concert atmosphere in the Camp at Blood River Landing and the non stop action everywhere makes the TICKFAW 200 something that the only way you will know is if you attend. Next year you can count on some even bigger fun. I have a plan and I am going back with a fleet of PowerBoatNation Boats to ply the waters all around New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain, and back up to the Blood River! This is really gonna be great!

CHECK OUT ALL THE PICS IN THE FORUMS

When you build a SKATER it usually ends up being custom. The Chris Bradley “RainMaker” 388 Platinum Edition Skater build is well underway and just last week the team was together at Skater to review some of the final details before the placement of equipment begins with drilling holes and cutting out the fiberglass.

A Skater build is always different and unique and this is why you will never find two Skaters exactly alike. With this build the center console is being specially cut and modified, a new integrated hatch scoop design will be incorporated, the seat placement will be customized to the owner, and a long list of other cool things that I will not tell anyone about until we reveal this boat.

The Goodwin Performance Engines are being fitted and all the last minute details coming together. Jamie Borg is handling the integrate interior design and installation and Hardin Marine is building some one off hardware that will blow your mind. The full view of the design and final paint from TAOD, The Art of Design, will just have to wait as well but I will tell you it’s new, different and amazing.

Standby for the big surprises. This is going to be fast, loud, and the ultimate performance pleasure boat.

RainMaker 388 Platinum Skater
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Most Poker Runs around the country usually have numerous national name brand sponsors to help support the event and aid with the high costs of even production. The Tickfaw 200 is more of a locally supported event with very strong local sponsorship but not many national brands.

The exception to this is Legend Marine Group from Carrolloton, Texas, just outside Dallas. Legend Marine brought an entire entourage of Texas Powerboaters to the run with them. This fun loving group had an entire section of the Blood River Landing Camp set up fro themselves that was always referred to as Texas Row, with the exception of a couple coaches from Oklahoma the rest were exclusively TEXAS. Casey Freeman who runs Legend Marine, told us the Tickfaw 200 run has the highest concentration of Legend Marine customers outside of Texas and it is an absolutely must attend for the Mega PowerBoat Dealer.

Fittingly, as a CIGARETTE Dealer, The Legend Crew ran all over the 200 mile poker run in a 39 CIGARETTE GT with Triple 300 Mercury Verados which proved to be a very economical and fun boat to make the run in.

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