Powerboat Nation is smashing through all barriers of the performance power boating world connectivity.  On February 8th of this year we proudly announced we had reached the 20,000 fan mark on Facebook. (Read Here), and today we broke right through the 100,000 mark as we continue to blow everyone away within this space of power boating, as well as in other aspects of the industry.

Why? It’s the fact we socially interact and communicate with more boaters than any other entity and have multi platformed our entire presence which includes active participation in the very thing we represent. Powerboat Nation is the only online boating media enterprise that owns a boat, actually goes boating, suffers the same hurdles and obstacles as our readers do, and we have a full time staff behind the scenes dedicated to powerboating only.  More and more readers look to us for the latest in power boating news and information.

Just three and a half years ago, when we launched Powerboat Nation  we knew then we needed to be different. We knew the media world was vastly different from the past and  tomorrow’s customer would demand a different experience. That experience needed to develop a community where enthusiasts could share their boating experiences, likes, and dislikes without being crucified as was taking place in the old world of the fading and viscous forums. At PBN we didn’t let the patients run the insane asylum we managed the house and provided a welcoming experience not seen anywhere else.

As of late, the struggle and now almost inability for the powerboating world to attract new, younger customers has become a huge challenge. The major changes to modern media has been something the powerboating world had been resistant to as well as slow to adapt to on all levels. PBN’s ability to recognize change and continually be ahead of the curve has allowed us to dominate the industry on every level and bring the world of powerboating to a much larger and broader audience.

With the challenge of an entry level boat costing upwards of $200K, it is an even larger challenge to bring in new customers and keep them. The wake board or tow boat market is on fire, producing over 25 boats A WEEK, with an entry price of $100K. With the aggressive marketing of this segment, they have been pummeling performance power boating by attracting new boat owners with great value for the boating experience. We knew that in order to bring the excitement of the sport we love to new people of younger generations, we would have to be a company that lives in the now and not the past. For our sport, keeping a larger audience is vital to any chance of sustainability and how we are able to attract new buyers to this world is the key to much larger success for everyone.

The experience and support of our advertisers across our multi-platform media packages and social media is just one part of our winning consumer experience. We couldn’t have done it alone! We are extremely grateful to our legions of loyal supporters who have rode along with us this far and are sure to be around when we hit the next bench mark years ahead of everyone else!

ABOARD THE USS NEW ORLEANS—Boats from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps maneuvered dangerously close to a U.S. military vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, part of a pattern that the top American general in the region—who was on the ship at the time—said risked grave miscalculation.

“What concerns me is our people don’t always have a lot of time to deal with those interactions,” said Gen. Joe Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, as he stood on the bridge of the amphibious ship later in the day. “It’s measured in minutes to really have the opportunity to make the right decision.”

The five Iranian boats included four small patrol craft and a larger boat called a Houdong fast-attack craft. At least one of the patrol boats was equipped with a .50 caliber machine gun and what is known as a multiple rail rocket launcher. They came within several hundred yards of the American ship.

The series of encounters on Monday took place as the New Orleans sailed in international waters through the strait. Gen. Votel, on a swing through the Middle East this week, voiced concern about how quickly such an encounter could turn lethal for the ship, which was carrying about 700 Marines.

In the case of Monday’s incident, U.S. officials didn’t consider the Iranian ships to be technically harassing the American warship, but said they came unacceptably close to doing so. Iran officials couldn’t immediately be reached to comment.
The encounters might have been considered more dramatic if they weren’t so common. American Navy ships reported about 300 incidents with Iranian vessels during 2015, according to data provided by the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Most of those “interactions,” as the Navy calls them, are considered safe or don’t rise to the level of harassment, according to Navy officials.

(READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE AT WSJ.COM)

Nineteen year old Jerry Greer’s body was found Monday night after a boating accident turned  deadly on Kentucky Lake in the northwestern part of the state.

The country star’s son had been tubing with another friend at the time of the accident and while both were wearing life jackets, Greer’s friend was the only one to surface after entering the water. The direct cause of death is still unknown as authorities are currently looking into the matter.

About 50 boats joined in the search for the boy after her went missing and crews used underwater ROVs to help locate the body.

Morgan and his wife have 4 children together and the loss is particularly devastating.

“The family is grateful for the outpouring of support and requests prayers at this time as they privately mourn this terrible loss,” the statement released by Hunt on behalf of Morgan and his wife, Karen Greer, read.

Read the Original Article Here

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There’s a definitive reason it’s called Boyne Thunder. You can hear the heart stopping, guttural roar of high performance boats for miles around as droves of boaters hit the water for the 13th annual poker run on the waters of Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan. The 150-mile run is on every single powerboater’s bucket list and we can’t be more excited to get out on the water!

The awesome team of volunteers at Boyne City Main Street are making sure that this year’s event is going to be better than ever! The street party is going to be massive this year with people already flooding the town in anticipation of the coming events, and there will be tons of boats and tow rigs lined up for everyone to see before they take off on the lakes.

Make sure you get here plenty early to take it all in, and if you’re bringing your boat for the poker run we can’t wait to see you out on the water!

Follow along with all the pictures from Shoot2Thrill Right Here! 

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(Photos by Shoot 2 Thrill Pix)

In 1961, I was service manager at Challenger Marine, in North Miami, Florida. Challenger was a beautiful facility situated on Arch Creek, in the middle of nowhere. We were dealers for Chris Craft, Trojan (the boat, not the ribbed one), Boston Whaler, and Johnson outboards. These were trying times for boat yards. The Gummint had recently done away with most of the tax deductions for corporate boats and yachts. When I went to the Army in the spring of 1958, kicking and screaming, (When the Major asked if I had ever considered the violent overthrow of the United States government, I replied “Not until now!”) we had about forty painters and carpenters. All the big boats were made of tree wood, a miracle material. One could take a couple of tools into the woods, and come out with a boat! Corporations would buy a new Chris Craft cruiser in the fall, use it over the winter, and turn it in for repaint, repower, whatever. The sky was the limit.

When I returned from the wars (Stationed in NYC, I fought the battle of Broadway, took the Beanpot Bar single handed, and even scarier, I got my finger caught in a wedding band), the wood-butcher count was down to about ten. We had to work a little harder for business. We concentrated on service work, and I got promoted from outboard mechanic to service manager. One of my first customers was a tall, handsome, well tanned gentleman named Don Aronow. He was tan enough that one might suspect a woodpile malfunction. Don had just moved down from Joisy, and had sent his diving boat ”Claudia”, a 32 foot Pederson Viking skiff, to our yard for launching. Don was brutally handsome, funny, well dressed, a big tipper, and the best swordsman that I have ever met. That first day, he was dressed in a silk shirt, gabardine slacks, leather sandals, a planter’s straw hat, and smoking a Cheroot. We immediately became strangers. We were both about 6’2” and change, 225 pounds, but Don somehow had rearranged his 225 in a different pattern. He was 2 or 3 inches wider at the shoulder, and 3 or 4 inches smaller at the waist. He was very interested in offshore racing, women, money, spearfishing and having fun in general. One of his spearfishing pals was Frank Satenstein, Director of the famous “Jackie Gleason Show”, filmed every week on Miami Beach. We used to hang out there, and drink with Jackie.

Don wanted to be involved in the boat business, offshore racing, or anything that was different from being a builder in New Joisy. He moved to Bay Harbor, on Miami Beach, and drove back and forth in a new chocolate brown Rolls Royce. He told me a story about being stopped by a motorcycle cop on the Broad Causeway, connecting the mainland to the beach. The motorcycle cop, John O’Mara, said “Sir, you are fifty dollars over the speed limit.” Don gave him the fifty. Later that afternoon, O’Mara stopped him again, with the same line. Aronow said “I will bet you a twenty that I wasn’t.” O’Mara said “Sir, my pride will not allow me to accept that bet!”

Don wasted no time in gathering a circle of “boaty” friends. Dave Stirrat, Sam Sarra, Cal Connell, Howard Abbey, Jake Trotter, Buddy Smith, Stu Jackson, and several others. He was a ringleader. He decided to be a boat builder! He went to Dave Davis, at Sea Bird Boats, and bought three or four empty black 23’ vee hulls. His idea of building, at that point, was to have them covered with teak. He assembled a motley crew of boat yard guys, and put the first two boats together. When he showed them to his new friends, we hooted him off the dock. It may have been at that point that he decided to jump in with both feet.

He built a small factory on a desolate street in North Miami Beach. The factory was so far into the boonies that you could only see one other building from the dock except for Florida Wire Products across the canal, and Oolite Prestress across the street. He commissioned Jim Wynne and Walt Walters to design the Formula 233. Don showed me the plans for the boat, and asked me to get Challenger Marine to be the local dealer. No problem, as I was the General Manager at that point. The Formula was a roaring success. Don did everything against the grain of the boat business. He priced the boat double any other 23’ boat, at $7985, cut the dealer discount to point that it was impossible to discount, and put together a ten boat racing team on other people’s money! I raced on the team, and in 1964, Bertram boats finished one, two, three in the Miami-Nassau race, and the Formulas finished four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten, with me winning class two, and Jim Wynne winning class three. Merrick Lewis immediately bought the company, freeing Don to dream up another barn-burner. Wynne Walters again. This time: Donzi Marine, with me as sales manager/whipping boy.

Don had built a home in Gables Estates by then, on the most desirable lot in Florida. The home was situated on the end of a street, with the broad Biscayne Bay and Matheson Hammock on one side, and a dock in a calm canal on the other. I think it was at this point that Don discovered that he was Jewish. He started hosting Sunday afternoon brunches at the new home, sometimes for 50 or 60 people, with only Skip and Joanne Allen, of Southern Boating, and my wife and I as the token Christians. His social group was pretty much divided along the same ratio. Don did not enjoy boating. His idea of a boat was a conveyance to get to the spearfishing grounds. He realized that his friends and hangers-on were much better boaters than he, so he set out to even the score. He hired Harry Schoell to design and build a 21’ all wood runabout, and on weekends, when no one was around, he set out to be DON ARONOW! One Sunday, I was at home with my family when Don called an asked (told) me to go to the Castaways Charter Fishing docks and find a certain charter boat that he had “bumped into.” I drove over to the boat, which was backed into its slip. There were two planks missing from the top of the transom, a V notch on the starboard side of the hardtop, two hatches broken on the foredeck, and the bow rail adrift on the starboard side. Don had apparently tried to jump their huge wake, and pretty much bounced right over the boat. I agreed a cash settlement to make the incident go away. Another Sunday, Don called to tell me that the boat was parked next to Fun Fair on the 79th Street Causeway. I replied that I didn’t realize that there was a dock there. “There isn’t.”

The worst one was in the early Formula Marine days. I had a Formula 233 race boat with a 427 Ford Interceptor on a vee drive, maybe the first such setup ever. Don wanted more speed, and sent a 233 hull to Lake X to have a racing 409 Mercruiser on a #2 (Now that is a description) sterndrive. When the boat was delivered back to the Formula Marine shop at 5PM, Don, fiberglass foreman Jake Trotter, Sales Manager Stu Jackson and I just had to take it for a ride. No hand holds, engine box, padding, nothing except the engine sticking up. The controls were side mounted outboard style, single lever, and Ride-Guide steering. No power trim, so the trim angle was set by placing a rod in the proper pinhole. No trim tabs. We jumped in, and away we went. Don was driving, Jake was on the left, I was behind Don, next to the engine, kneeling and holding on to the gunwale. Stu was across the engine from me. The boat seemed noticeably faster than my vee drive model, and we were excited about the speed breakthrough, when I noticed a large Hatteras approaching from the opposite direction. He was making a 3 or 4 foot wake on glassy water. It never occurred to me that Don would not slow down. We hit the wake at about 55 MPH, went straight into the air, slowly rotated to my side down, and crashed. Stu came across the engine inverted, smashed into my neck, which was tight against the side of the boat, and landed spread eagle, upside down on the wildly spinning engine. The flame arrestor rod pierced his back two or three inches. I couldn’t hold my head up. When I got to my knees, my head was on my right shoulder, and would not move. Don drove the Mercruiser control box right through the side of the boat. I don’t know what Jake hit, but he was out like a light. Somehow we got to the Haulover fuel dock and called an ambulance. They took Jake and Stu to Hospital for a few days, and Don and I nursed the boat back to the factory. My neck responded a little, so I drove, while Don tried to stem the bleeding from his right side. We idled along, with the control box roped to side of the boat. Don looked at me and smiled. “Well, what do you think of it?”