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Yearly Archives: 2019

Performance Boat Center of Osage Beach, MO, the retailer that collaborated with Doug Wright Designs on the Wright Performance 360 catamaran, will officially debut their latest creation at this week’s Miami International Boat Show.

According to PBC co-owner Brett Manire, the new Wright Performance 420 is receiving some finishing touches prior to Miami’s opening on Feb. 14. “We were honored to be asked to have a boat in the Mercury Racing test booth, so I want to make sure that we debuted a spectacular piece,” Manire told Powerboat Nation. “This 420 is just an amazing machine. I think we’ve hit it out of the park.”

The 420 that showgoers will see is hull number one. It is 11 percent bigger in all aspects than the 360, with the exception of the tunnel. Performance Boat Center stayed with a conservative 66” tunnel to provide a high safety factor; the boat is said to ride completely flat. “We didn’t overcompensate with a big tunnel,” Manire says. “We’re still able to get good speeds out of it.” Manire said the boat has been tested at 116 mph as powered by twin Mercury Racing 400R Verado outboards.

For the boat show, PBC will demo the boat in a “Sport Setup” mode that Manire describes as “a relaxing Escalade ride” between 100 and 110 mph with no porpoise whatsoever. “We’ll be able to give people a nice heavy-duty, solid, secure ride that’s comfortable, easy to get on plane and displays good water pressure in the turns.”

The 420 also features:

• Rear transom steps to make docking and swimming a breeze.
• A swim ladder in the tail section of the boat.
• Latham Marine motorized popup Fleer night vision system.
• Motorized deck hatches
• Active Trim, Mercury’s auto-trimming device for outboards.
• Power foot rests
• Multidirectional automotive-style power seats.
• Upgraded JL Audio system with 8.8-inch coaxial tower speakers.
• Enhanced lighting system.
• Numerous USB inputs for easy charging of peripheral devices.
• Garmin VIRB action camera into the windsheild stanchion.
• Mercury CNC propellers are standard.

In addition, PBC will offer a special “3 Plus 3” warranty at the boat show. Says Manire: “To get this kind of a warranty on a boat that goes over 110 mph is practically unheard of.”

Manire says that although this first 420 was originally built as a demo boat, a customer lobbied to purchase it, so it has already been sold. “I’m currently working with another customer to build hull number two, and we’ll be taking deposits for future orders.”

Speedboat Magazine will be testing the 420 at the Miami Show, so look for a review in the magazine later this year!

 

This week, Fond du Lac, WI-based Mercury Marine has been hosting marine journalists from around the country (including Powerboat Nation) in Orlando, FL, providing them with a sneak preview of its 2019 product introductions and strategies. That includes new engine introductions from Mercury Racing, which recently debuted its new 300R FourStroke outboard, a naturally aspirated 4.6L V-8 that provides a 44% increase in displacement and up to 40% higher overall bottom-end torque than the legacy two-stroke 300XS it replaces.

Attending journalists have agreed to abide by an embargo on releasing other product details until their release at the Miami International Boat Show, Feb. 14-18.

Around 50 writers and editors from marine-related print magazines and websites from around the globe have been enjoying one-on-one interactions with the likes of Mercury Marine President John C. Pfeifer, General Manager Stuart Halley, Product Development & Engineering Vice President Tim Reid and others. Mercury representatives took questions from the journalists and offered boat rides on Lake X, the 1,440-acre body of water purchased in 1957 by Mercury Marine founder Carl Kiekhaefer and used as a test facility for the company’s products.

At the press event, Pfeifer spoke of various technological, engineering and analytical challenges faced by Mercury Marine, and their overwhelming successes providing high-quality products to the marine industry.

DCB Performance Boats (El Cajon, CA) just finished rigging a 2019 M31 Widebody project it will be delivering to a customer based in Canada. Company President Jeff Johnston confirmed that the boat will debut at the 2019 Desert Storm Poker Run & Shootout, set for April 24-28 at the London Bridge Resort in Lake Havasu City, AZ. The customer will haul the boat back home to Toronto from the poker run, Johnston said.

The boat features a 9’ 7” beam and is powered by twin Mercury Racing 1100 engines coupled to M8 drives. It features a full Alcantara fabric interior with matching under-cuddy materials.

Other details of the M31 include:

• Custom matching carpet kit with shaved diamonds in the fabric.
• Phase III gelcoat scheme.
• Half cap with black powdercoated SS rubrail.
• Vacuum Infused Resin (VIR) process, balsa-cored, with additional carbon-fiber  .
• Two (2) Simrad NSS9 Evo3 touch screen monitors.
• One (1) Garmin 7608 GPS center plotter.
• Rear view back up camera.
• Two (2) Garmin GMi20’s in back of headrests.
• Interior Rigid LED lighting package (mood lighting, courtesy lighting, LED cupholders).
• Stage III stereo.
• 6-person intercom system.
• SeaDek boarding kit (walkway between engine hatches and steps down into cockpit).
• Extreme Custom Trailer, triple-axle with customized 18” MOTO Metal rims, SS fenders and triangular drive guard.

Check out these images of the M31.

 

Wozencraft Insurance, insurer of high-performance boats, has streamlined its website to make it easier for prospective customers to get quotes on coverage for their high-horsepower watercraft.

“We’re excited to announce that we have redeveloped our quote-request form,” explains owner Devin Wozencraft. “Now, when you put in your information, it goes directly to more of our underwriters. That allows us to receive terms from them much more quickly, and makes the whole process much more efficient when we’re trying to quote out people’s boat insurance.”

Wozencraft insures every kind of craft, from 16-foot flatbottoms up to 50+ offshore muscleboats.

Devin Wozencraft will be at the Miami International Boat Show (Feb. 14-18) to meet with boaters, dealers and manufacturers about coverage on customers’ boats.

To gain insurance on your boat, please visit wozencraftinsurance.com or call (888) 477-6517.

Super Boat International (SBI) has announced that its first official race of the 2019 season will take place June 21-23 in New Orleans, LA. The city of Kenner—a nearby New Orleans suburb—will welcome race teams and fans to the three-day race launching from the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

This is the first official 2019 race confirmed by Super Boat International, the premier national and international sanctioning body of offshore powerboat racing around the world. The Kenner Super Boat Grand Prix has been in the works since last September, and the Super Boat team has expressed enthusiasm at finally returning to the New Orleans area to offer an exciting event that can be enjoyed by everyone.

“My last race in New Orleans was in 2002 when I raced in the world championships,” recalls John Carbonell, president of SBI and a former professional power boat racer. “I am really looking forward to seeing a lot of the old friends I raced with there—I have fond memories not just of racing, but also of those races I produced. There are so many reasons Kenner and New Orleans are special. It will be great to be back to start this year’s race.”

The Kenner Super Boat Grand Prix will open on Friday night with a welcome parade starring the race teams and their boats. Spectators will also have the chance to eye some classic automobiles that will take part in the parade and will remain available for viewing at the dry pits throughout the three-day event.

One Kenner resident who is thrilled to see Super Boat come to town is a very proud Mayor Ben Zahn, who said he was excited about Super Boat’s big return to the city. “This is an exciting announcement for our city,” he says. “It’s been some years since Kenner hosted a powerboat race. Events like this continue to put our city on the map and attract visitors and business to Kenner. I am looking forward to this exciting event.”

Super Boat remains immensely popular with fans around the world, and their social media presence exceeds that of any other racing organization. Something the organization is proud of.

“We’ve always had the best fans in the business and they are the reason we have achieved so much success,” says Carbonell. “They are anticipating a lot, and we have no plans on letting them down.”

Super Boat can be followed on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. All of Super Boat’s races, including the Kenner Super Boat Grand Prix 2019, are available for viewing in real-time at no cost on the Super Boat live stream channel on Livestream.

Super Boat is currently working on three major races to add to the 2019 roster and will make the announcements for their dates and cities once they are finalized.

The 43NX is Fountain's largest center console to date, taking cues from the equally luxurious 39NX.

Iconic Marine Group— the parent company of Fountain Powerboats, Donzi Marine, and Baja Marine—plans to unveil several new models at the 2019 Miami Boat Show, Feb. 14-18.

“We are excited to bring this kind of a presence to Miami,” said Joe Curran, COO of Iconic Marine Group. “All of our brands/models are enjoying success at retail and our dealer network is continually growing.”

Iconic will showcase Fountain and Donzi brands at the Miami exhibit this year; each brand will have its own booth located on Pier 5 at the in-water portion of the show. Both brands will be introducing new models and have an exciting lineup to showcase.

Fountain Powerboats will be introducing the new 43NX Luxury Performance Center Console, the largest center console model ever offered from Fountain. The 43NX is built with infused resin construction and powered by quad Mercury Racing 400R Verado Outboards. The 43NX is the ultimate luxury center console complete with a full berth and private head inside the console. To compliment the 43NX, the 39NX, introduced at Miami a year ago will also be on display. The newly restyled Fountain 38 Sportfish Cruiser is making its debut in Miami this year as well. In addition to those new models, Fountain will also have the extremely popular 34CC and 38CC center-console models on display.

Fountain Performance is bringing a fast presence with the Fountain 32 Thunder Cat, which has made appearance this year both on the poker run circuit and Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Course. Back by popular demand and better than ever, will be the venerable Fountain 42 Lightning powered by twin Mercury Racing 1350/1550 engines. Look for it in the Mercury Racing Display.

Meanwhile, Donzi Marine is coming to the show strong with the new 41GT Triple Outboard 400 Verado Powered Luxury Sport Boat. This boat is an evolution in the sportboat market. Due to the outboard configuration, the 41GT features an open concept cockpit with versatile and ample seating and a day cabin complete with head and wraparound seating. The star of the show will certainly be the all new Donzi Icon 44 Cat powered by Quad Mercury Racing 400R Verado Outboards. The Donzi Icon 44 Cat is 100% carbon fiber and epoxy resin construction, making it lighter, stronger, and faster. The interior features an upscale luxury interior with seating for 6 in addition to a settee in the aft cockpit.

“This boat blends Donzi attitude with an elegance that will appeal to a select clientele that demand the finer things in life and have earned it,” Curran said.

“I couldn’t be more excited about coming to Miami with this amount of amazing new product,” said Fred Ross, owner of Iconic Marine Group. “The new models respect their brand heritages while providing the very latest in technology and advancements.”

 

Skater Powerboats of Douglas, MI—one of the most popular performance hull builders in the world—is currently tooling a 55-foot catamaran that will become the largest boat in its stable.

“The plug is pretty far along,” Skater owner Peter Hledin told Powerboat Nation. Hledin personally hand-tools all of Skater’s plugs himself, and this one has understandably taken quite a bit of time, due to its massive size.

Launched in 1979, Douglas Marine first offered a 24-foot Skater. Forty years later, it now offers one of the most comprehensive and successfully competitive lines in the world, with Race/Pleasure craft models ranging from 28 to 50 feet. The offshore race course boasts numerous World Championship-winning Skaters, including the 38’ Skater Performance Boat Center/Jimmy John’s and the 40’ Skater WHM Motorsports. 

“We’ve got pretty much all of the bases covered,” Hledin says of the company’s lineup. “We’ve got a 28, 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 46 and a 50. Hopefully somebody doesn’t want a 39 and a half,” he chuckles.

The staff of Speedboat Magazine got a look at the plug during a recent tour of the factory, which will be featured in its March 2019 issue, according to Speedboat’s editors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial photos courtesy Tom Leigh @ Tommy Gun Images

Yesterday, Powerboat Nation reported that DCB Performance Boats was en route to deliver its latest M44, Bananas XL, to repeat customer Dave Magoo of Lake Havasu City, AZ. Today, the boat saw water for the first time as Magoo and DCB’s Tony Chiaramonte launched it and took it for its maiden ride.

“During our first run, we saw 119 or 120, something like that,” Magoo told Powerboat Nation. “I’m breaking the boat in, so I’m not in any hurry to run it hard. But the boat runs really, really good. It handles incredible, and it handles better than my 35—it turns better, too. It runs so flat, it’s unbelievable.”

The Bananas XL project began when Magoo gave DCB carte blanche to build the wildest, options-heavy craft they could devise. “He kind of gave us a blank check and said, ‘Let’s see what you’re made of,’ and I think we stood up to the challenge,” says DCB’s Tony Chiaramonte. “It’s probably the most creative, crazy project we’ve ever done.”

Prior to delivery, the boat was displayed at the recent Los Angeles Boat Show.

Some of the boat’s dozens of options include:

• Twin Mercury Racing 1550/1350 dual-calibration engines capable of reaching speeds of 180+ mph in 1550 mode.
• Air conditioning on the engines to keep them cool.
• Temperature-controlled seats.
• The seats go up and down and back and forth.
• The elaborate cabin features a dropped ceiling.
• A cooler that doesn’t need ice—just plug it in, and it keeps things chilled to 37 degrees.
• RGB lights on the command screens.
• Colors on all lights may be changed, including under the tunnel and under water.
• Lights and cameras on the sea strainers.

Asked which of the boat’s features most blew his mind, Magoo said, “How it handles. The boat turns so hard, even at 30 mph. It just handles so well. It does not feel like that big a boat. It’s mind-boggling.”

Magoo added that the boat’s air conditioning system, while perfectly operational, was not needed in mid-January, even in Arizona. “It’s already ice cold out here. It was 44 degrees when we took off.”

Magoo says that he and wife Buffie plan to attend at least 11 poker runs this year, “so the boat will be going everywhere,” he says. “We’re going to do LOTO, Desert Storm, the Emerald Coast run, Thousand Islands, Texas Outlaw, Powell, Big Cat, Miami in November, and that’s just for starters.”

 

 

 

 

 

Ever since the center-console muscleboat market exploded on the East Coast, many have wondered which West Coast builder would throw its hat into the ring, and take a bite out of this ever-expanding market segment. Now, after years of strategizing, the first major Southern California-based builder appears to have staked its claim: DCB Performance Boats of El Cajon, CA, has announced that it will tool a 42-foot center console, which it hopes to have ready by spring of 2020.

According to company owner Jeff Johnston, the 42CC has been “a long time coming—we’ve been asked to build one for the last two seasons, and the time finally came to design and tool one. We’re very excited about it.” Johnston said that the concept is basically done, with the engineering phase to follow; artist’s renderings of the boat have been released and depict an impressive quad-outboard concept sure to compete well with center-console offerings from the East Coast. DCB already has two orders for the 42 and is currently fielding commitments for hulls 3-5.

The design of the boat—branded as “V42CC,” although Johnston said that nomenclature might change—is a collaboration with SFG Yacht Design. The boat will be equipped with three, four or five Mercury Racing 400R outboards.

Johnston added that part of why DCB made their announcement now was to make the knowledge public prior to February’s Miami Boat Show, when some customers might be deciding whose center consoles to purchase in the next several seasons. “At least they’ll know it’s coming down the pipeline,” he says.

Meanwhile, DCB has just finished a successful display at the Los Angeles Boat Show, where it showed off its new M44 Bananas XL, which is being delivered to repeat customer Dave Magoo today and will be launched on the water for the first time tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan. 23). The boat, powered by twin 1350/1550 Mercury Racing engines, is capable of reaching speeds of 180+ mph, according to DCB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy Gilbert's Resort Key Largo.

Led by Stu Jones, the Florida Powerboat Club (FPC) just wrapped up its 2019 Winter Poker Run. The group returned to a popular destination from the past: Hawks Cay Resort & Marina in Duck Key, near Marathon. This resort had been closed for over a year, after sustaining heavy damage in September 2017’s Hurricane Irma, but recently re-opened its doors.The group of 22 boats assembled Friday morning at Haulover Marine Center in North Miami with a nice mix of cats, performance vees and nine center console models, including two Deep Impact, two Mystics,  two Nor-Techs, a Concept 44 and a Blackwater—all featuring Mercury Verado power.

Performance cats made a big showing, especially the twin outboard cats powered by Mercury Racing 400Rs. These were represented by a brand-new Mystic 38 cat, two Wright Performance 36s, and a 34 MTI. All of these boats soon became the front runners when the boats took to the open ocean from North Miami. Poker cards were handed out at Haulover Marine Center, Grove Harbour Marina and Gilbert’s Resort of Key Largo.

The January weather was fantastic, with warm temperatures and light winds—more like spring weather to many of us—and delightful weather for the many northerners who had come down to Florida to escape the winter chill.

New to the poker run fleet was Jones’ newly completed Project 1080 38 Cigarette, which was a partnership with Mercury Racing. It’s powered by a new set of Mercury Racing 540 stern drives. According to Jones, the boat ran extremely well, and received many compliments from the FPC members, many of whom have been following the project on social media. Everyone was delighted to see the boat finally performing its duties as an official paceboat for FPC.

Friday night, the group all got together for a nice meal at the waterfront restaurant, Angler & Ale, located on the Hawks Cay Resort property. On Saturday, it was time get out an explore the local waters. A helicopter joined in as the boats headed south from Duck Key towards Marathon, and the choppy seas slowed many of the boats down to a 35 mph pace, while others braved the rough chopped and powered through the seas to the Seven-Mile Bridge. With the chopper in hot pursuit, the fleet gathered up for the money shot, as each boat passed under the spans of the bridge. The group turned north on the more protected bay waters on the Gulf side, and settled in for lunch at an area hotspot: The Island Fish Company in Marathon.

Later that day, teams stopped by the FPC hospitality suite for a happy hour and to play out their poker cards. Congratulations to Barry and Stephanie Henson of Tennessee, who pulled the best poker hand and won FPC prizes along with a customized AO Cooler—in spite of the fact that their Nor-Tech 43 Supercat had an engine failure a day earlier and had to be trailered back to Miami.

Sunday saw a turn in the weather as a major cold front pushed through in the early-morning hours, bringing teaming rain and colder temperatures. Some teams did not heed weather forecasts, which predicted rain stoppage by noon, and instead left in the earlier morning hours, only to be showered on much of the way home. For others, including the FPC Project 1080 crew, an 11:30 departure proved to be well-planned, as the sun emerged and it was clear skies for the 100-mile trek home.

FPC looks forward to its next 2019 event, the Miami Boat Show Poker Run, Feb 21-24, 2019. They will be returning to the Florida Keys with Key Largo as its new destination. For more info, visit the FPC site or call the (954) 545-1414.

 

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