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PBN Staff

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That’s right Desert Storm will be back and in better shape than ever returning to Lake Havasu on April 22-26. Putting on large events is a huge and thankless undertaking. Jim and his team of volunteers had done nothing short of an incredible job in making this Desert Strom Event a huge success year after year. After last year’s health concerns surrounding founder Jim Nichols it was on everyone’s mind as to what the future of desert storm might look like? Well the wonder is over as Jim has taken on a new partner in Jim Russell of Lake Havasu-based DSM Events. DSM’s history of event promotion should bring a host of new changes are on the horizon for the West coasts season starter event kick’s off.

The 2015 Desert Storm Poker Run and Shootout looks to be bigger and better with the addition of DSM to the plan. They have planned an expanded street party and it looks as if the event will continue to build upon its efforts at London Bridge Park with an expanded beach party and a shift will be made moving many of the boats to the water other than the downtown street party.

Desert Storm is always a highlight and we cant wait to get back to Lake Havasu and having a great time at this premier powerboating event.

DCB Recently finished up their 2014 regatta which was described as the Best Ever Regatta and just this week they are in full swing preparing for the Monster Bash Charity Poker Run at Lake Havasu where they are the premier sponsor. Currently in production they have a 31, 29, 35, and recently delivered 3 brand new boats. They will be delivering a new M 29 with 700 Mercury’s and NXT drives to Monster Bash.

DCB has something special for sure. The DCB Team does it all to perfection and they have established a fiercely loyal group of customers who just naturally or maybe organically attract others who want to belong and they only way to become a “belonger” is to buy a DCB.

In this world that seems to circle back and repeat itself most boat builders are chasing the customers and building different boats. Center Consoles, Crossovers, and other styles of open boats with outboards to give their existing customer base something else to go to.

What DCB won’t do is change their directions or sacrifice their vision and mission to continue to build the very best catamarans in the world. With exact measurable precision, building performance catamarans is all they do. You can have one from 29 to 41 feet, you can ask for a variety of power options, you can pick the color and appointment options. But don’t ask them to build you a fish boat. Even if it doesn’t have rod holders, and not that anyone would, but the point is they don’t have too. DCB is that rare combination of a great group that has come to a point to where they have reached the peak of Bruce Tuckman’s theory of group dynamics. They were formed, they stormed, they normed, and now they just flat out PERFORM!

This higher level of a professional business with a performance team culture is really rare. I am not sure if it was planned for just happened but it doesn’t matter. Keeping the final objective in the forefront the DCB Team delivers and their customers know it. The allegiance of their customer base speaks volumes for what they have achieved and if you want to become a DCB “belonger” you have two choices: Find a used boat and buy it quickly, or call DCB put down a deposit and wait because the list for new boats is long and full of existing “belongers” in front of you.

Speed, agility, performance, style, and a level of appointment and attention to detail that is unsurpassed in boating. This statement is not opinion, it is measurable.

Look for DCB to be at the 2015 Miami Boat Show and stay tuned for some other news that will make you want one even more!

When you are looking to change your powerboating lifestyle, selling your boat can be one of the worst experiences of your boating life. Why? Between the Tire Kickers, financing, trades, taking the time to show it, explaining it over and over again and for the most part never getting the amount of cash you were expecting or wanting to get. The entire process is fatiguing and disheartening.

If you leave it up to chance and chose from one of the brokers around think about this. Often the brokers don’t have actually control or custody of the boats they represent. They have to rely on you, the boat owner, marina, or other facility to make sure everything is ready for a showing and many times it’s a last minute deal where a perspective buyer has just flown in to town. The boat is dirty, batteries are dead, hatch rams don’t work, fuel leaks, faulty electronics, the list can go on and on which obviously deters some buyers away and for the ones that remain interested it begins the back and forth negotiations that unnecessarily bring the final selling price down.

Acknowledging there are numerous choices the question is merely identifying who can serve your needs best and in today’s market there is one choice that doesn’t view themselves as your option but truly your solution. Scott Sjogren and his team at Pier 57 has positioned themselves to be one of the highest volume powerboating outlets in the country.

Since 2003 Pier 57 (formerly Shogren Performance) has been leading the way in used boat sales, trades, and consignments. When your boat is sold through Pier 57, the boat is underroof at their 45,000 square foot indoor heated facility. The boats are thoroughly detailed, kept clean and dust free, and all of the little things are noted and repaired. When it comes time for the showing there is never a last minute rush because the batteries are kept charged, the hatch ramps go up and down, no leaks, drips, or errors. Potential buyers can fly into one of three major airports and in no time be greeted in a professional showroom with sales staff, fully certified service technicians, and administrative support to detail every aspect of the deal. Financing, surveys, insurance, transportation, documentation and registration, everything all in house at one time.

On Pier 57’s website buyers can view more pictures of the boat than anywhere else, they can see photos of the engine scans and any defects, chips in the paint, or other minor flaws are pointed out, right up front to remove any surprises or unexpected potential problems with the showing of your boat. True transparency in the boat and in the deal.

TRADES for your used boat? This usually means the seller has to take the trade or cover it in the final sales price. Pier 57 can and will “Take All Trades” Long time general manager Greg Weber told us “We really can and do take all trades! Boats, cars, trucks, motorhomes, monster trucks, and even airplanes. We have done it and will continue too which gives sellers so many more options to potential buyers. Pier 57 has the financial stability and track record to get deals done that others just can’t touch.”

So what’s the catch or cost? Nothing up front is ever charged to the seller. Everything is done in house and is included in the closing statement to the seller. Simple, hassle free and most importantly a truly professional dealer customer sales arrangement that continues to bring referral and repeat customers to Pier 57.

“We didn’t build this overnight” said Sjogren “We have a tremendous amount of repeat and referral customers and this is a testament to our mission statement and core values. We treat everyone fairly, honestly, and only deliver the truth. Our reputation is everything”

Professionalism in the Performance Boat Business. A refreshing and revealing look into the operations at Pier 57!

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This is the diet you probably didn’t now you were on and I have an idea where your mind might have wandered. Facts are, the devil is always in the details and the smallest of details can make a big difference to what separates the best boats from the others its in the details and yes, the weight.

In a recent discussion with my buddies at Hardin Marine I asked whats new and they said that Peter from Skater had inquired about and kind of complained as he felt a boats hardware weight could be reduced to ultimately reduce the total boat weight and could effectively help provide a better boat in the end.

Hardin also said the DCB boys shared the same interests. DCB had recently contacted them looking for ways to streamline the aerodynamics of the boat and could something as small as the pin cleat base height be shortened even more than it already is? For Hardin this is really not big deal. They cant read every customers mind but when a customer, especially a boat builder, has a specific request, simple “Just Make It”. They even manufacture a special smaller diameter stringer washer exclusively for DCB in an effort to perfect the boat they deliver to their customers.

So the guys at Hardin showed me an example of what this all meant and what they were up to. Here you’ll see they have gone as far as to literally shave down or lower the head profile of the stainless steel quick pin cleats they manufacture as well as reduce the weight to a mere 2.5 ounces. Along with the weight reduction comes some problem solving as you can see by the pictures they have cast a six sided allen key option to hold the base so that it can be tighten securely and wont loosen up as so many of them do.

To some this may seem ridiculous but to the elite powerboat manufactures no detail is too small or over looked all the way down to the smallest of details. So while yester-years models of these boats are good, the stuff coming out of the factories today is even better, and the guys at Hardin Marine are doing their part to bring new technology and weight savings to their customers is a clear and forward focus.

Just another example of the smallest of details happening behind the scenes that goes into building these super performance boats of today.

For some time now the U S Navy has been operating unmanned watercraft and working to expand its fleet of autonomous vessels. One major drawback to the systems was the operators were literally driving the boats to destruction. While running with a joystick from a combat information center the techs didn’t feel the pitch of the boat, the rise of the swell, and the slam of the launch, they just kept pushing and without the feel of being on board they would run these watercraft until they fell apart.

Now set up with high tech software the watercraft are completely capable of full autonomous operation. For the U S Navy this is a huge new asset to defend individual ships, fleets, and harbors from hostile actions. Set up with advanced sensors and software coming from NASA technology with advanced algorithms that determine the proper speed, trim, tab and throttle response to not only keep the craft on target but also maintain the optimal running attitudes, speed, and trim for all conditions. These Navy swarms are also capable of firing advanced weapon systems all at the same time they are driving around unmanned.

So what does this mean for our regular powerboat industry? Well, it maybe able to save lives! While there is strong doubt by some in the powerboat industry about having technology act as an automatic intervention to the operation of a watercraft, it appears as the technology is here. It may not be readily available to the public and is sure to be expensive but what if it could be employed to keep our boats safe at high speed. It works in the automotive world and I remain the forever optimist that at some level, at some point in the future we will see advanced sensors incorporated into high speed craft that can identify critical operational limits and impose interventions at speeds not measurable to human reactions and keep the occupants safe.

 

This may come off as a bit of a rant but facts are facts. The power boating industry is not weak as it may appear to some, as the matter of fact its booming in all segments except the Performance side. A recent analysis done by the Freedonia Group Inc. reported sales of recreational boating products are expected to increase 6.1 percent per year to $×.1 billion in 2018. I have a good idea of why! You could call it an opinion but when MasterCraft is selling 14 boats a day and we don’t have a strong entry level Baja anymore, all opinions may count for something. This last week the mainstream players in the boating industry were all at the IBEX Show looking, planning, and buying TECHNOLOGY and INNOVATION for their brands.

All the way down to the basic entry level boats the manufacturers are incorporating tons of new consumer features. The reason why: They’re building better boats than ever before, creating something new and innovative to give the boater desire and want to buy a new boat. Sure, you can get some new Garmin screen in about any boat. But today’s boats feature numerous wireless controls, touch screens, steering wheel mounted switches to providing convenience and cool factor to the driver. There are new shapes and styles for ergonomic comfort and style appeal. These boats are not the boat your dad had 20 years ago.

It doesn’t stop with look and feel, there are numerous driving functions from automatic attitude control to repeatable operator setting and touch screens. Today’s boats are advancing and this is the call to the performance boating industry that says if your not showing up to the one major trade show of the year designed just for you, then what were you doing this last week of September? Don’t get me wrong, we did see Jay Pillini ofPillini Marine Technologies the Nor-Tech crew, and John Cosker from Mystic, but what was missing was a dozen of the industry’s best known brands.

What walking this show taught me was that people want to go boating as much if not more than ever. What it also taught me is a new paint job with some new billet hardware isn’t reason enough to buy a new boat. If the performance boat builder of yesterday wants to thrive again then they better get out and see what makes a new boat buyer buy a new boat. The likes Kia and Hyundai are making entry level cars with interiors and refinement previously found on only luxury imports. Today’s builders just can’t sit back and always rely on a new engine and drive package to keep them upfront. There are a couple of builders who get this and always continue to refine the product but as a segment we are loosing ground fast. This is 2015 the time of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, PowerBoat Nation, and Amazon. How we buy and what we buy is now influenced by more than a pretty face.

Country Music Super Star Jake Owen made a special appearance at IBEX yesterday, touring the show floor to check out our industry’s latest innovations. To kick off Jake’s visit, Discover Boating, an organizational part of the National Marine manufacturers organization showed how focused they are on the growth of boating with Jake and talked about the great success of the tour as well as the Stories of Discovery series – two key pieces of the overall campaign. As a result of this work, and Discover Boating’s other successful campaign elements, more than 3.5 million people visited the DiscoverBoating.com website this year, a 54% jump over last year. Check out Jake’s and Discover Boating’s tour video below.

Powerboat Nation continues to keep you abreast of what the heart and soul of a 2000+ horsepower engine from our friends at Goodwin Competition is based upon, the true engineering excellence of in house CNC billet manufacturing. Its not really that uncommon in the high end upper echelon of big power engine builders to use billet blocks and cylinder heads.

What is almost unheard of is a 100% billet aluminum supercharger intake manifold. While a fabricated intake manifold may seem like a logical choice they have no ability to survive the weight of the intercooler, supercharger, and induction system as the weight and vibration breaks and cracks them in no time flat.

So a cast aluminum intake could be another option but it leaves no ability to adjust size and shape angles as well as air flow requirements on demand of a single particular engines needs. These engine are not built as cookie cutters these engines are purpose built specific weapons of choice for the performance boating industries true “Top Guns”.

So after viewing one of these parts and literally drooling over the craftsmanship I had to have the details and Todd Goodwin was kind enough to share well some of the info but kept close to the cuff the stuff considered proprietary secrets.

Todd tell me about the intake manifold? What does it start out as aluminum wise and finish out as? Answer: A solid billet ingot of material starts at 194 lbs. & finishes at 25.34 lbs.

WOW Real solid solid billet right not cast? Yes.

The intake ports are HUGE what size ports are they? Well, it’s large enough for a soda can but that’s “Proprietary Info”.

Are they exclusive to your block design? Yes, exclusive to block & heads only.

Are they finished here in house? YES on our own 5 axis CNC machines.

Do you make any other style of just the supercharger version? We make a naturally aspirated version as well, we just haven’t applied it to the marine world yet. We have a different version for drag racing/ truck pulling that we have won several championships with.

Are there any water ports? Not in the intake manifold. The block & heads are fully water jacketed and is far superior over a cast water jacket because we can model & machine a perfect water jacket where as the casting process, there is core shift, cooling shift & pattern design constraints.

Is there a supercharger explosion or safety burst panel? Yes it does.

How much boost have you put through one of these intakes? We have pressure tested them to 100+ lbs. but only require 17.5 lbs to make 1800 horsepower!

Goodwin Competition really raises the bar in the performance boat world and while there are some running in boats right now. In the coming months PBN going to do what no one else can do and that will be to take all you you on some wild rides powered by Goodwin Competition! Stay tuned to PBN.

A great race weekend in Clearwater this past weekend. A feet of boats descended upon the west coast of Florida for the final race of the official 2014 season and the National Championships

Miss Geico cruised the course without any competition after Qatar suffered an engine failure and was not able to compete.

Some of the closest racing all year took place and some may have been just a little too close. Black Pearl took the National Championship in Manufacturer Production P3 B but only after some full contact action with 2nd Amendment. Both boats will be repaired and ready for the worlds in Key West.

The Superboat race got off to a interesting start with Spirit of Qatar, driver Ali Al-Neama and throttleman Billy Moore going over at the first turn of the very first lap. While standing on the pier the roll looked very bad but fortunately the boat landed on its bottom and both driver and throttleman were not injured. The boat looked to be in surprisingly good condition.

All season Team Stihl and Team Broadco have been battling on the course and this National Championship Race was no different. Grant Bruggermann and Chuck Broaddus with Team Broadco have really come together as a team and it showed. They were able to hold the boat strong all the way to and through the turns but just couldn’t pull enough speed out of the turns to take down the super strong 388 SKATER Stihl Racing with Mark Kowlaski and J. R Noble maintaining strong and consistent performance lap after lap.

Broadco ran so hard through the last turn they tore both skegs off the drives.
Team Hulk with Rob Nunziato and Dan Lawrence took an easy win in their Doug Wright. They got out front and just kept going leaving a huge gap off their stern to the second place boat.

This past weekends Memorial Fun Run at the Lake of the Ozarks to Honor Mike Fiore may just be the first of many to come. Brett Manire of Performance Boat Center in Osage Beach, Mo was instrumental in arranging a powerboating event to honor Mike and Raise funds for the Fiore Family Fund.

Brett’s partner Mark Waddington who is a Multi-Outerlimits owner spoke to the crowd of over 200 people about how important Mike was to powerboating and the significance of his V Bottom designs.

With 53 boats in attendance and over 200 people they were able to raise just over $20,000.00 for Mikes Family Fund and the money keeps coming in. Brett told us he has never been to an event that showed such a raw sense of emotion and generosity.

Performance Boat Center hosted the entire event, run, food, and beverages. All the bard tips were added to the pot. Brett said two five gallon buckets were overfilled. The party lasted untl midnight and the giving just kept on going all the way to the end.

Just another example of the tremendous generosity shown withing the performance powerboating world.

Great job to everyone at Performance Boat Center and the RedHead Yacht Club

Photos courtesy of Performance Boat Center

For awhile now Skater Powerboats has been building yet another WHM Motorsports Race Boat for owner Billy Mauff. Just today the boat was tested in St Cloud, Florida and it will make its racing debut in Key West this November.

This new build is not new to Powerboat Nation as we have been sitting on the video from the build just waiting for the right time to bring it all to you. In Douglas Michigan at the Skater Factory, Powerboat Nation was on hand to get some first comments and thoughts from Billy and his throtttleman a Jay Muller. I don’t think Billy can count how many Skaters he has built but it is a lot of them.

This 40 has been chopped down and features a new style canopy, short bustle, and rigged with Sterling Performance Engines.

WHM has been on the race course for years and has always been a crowd favorite you can be sure to see this brand new boat in Key West in November.

 

Well it looks as if Mercury is flexing their muscle once again with a new alternative engine replacement. This new 540CID engine package called the 540MAG Bravo 4V . Mercruiser is clear to point out the engine brings 560Ft Lbs of torque but with the rated horsepower numbers we are lead to believe they have cautiously played down the engines actual horsepower.

Mercruiser recognizes there’s a world of old tired worn out 454-502 carburetor and fuel injected engines in service that could benefit from a solid powerplant upgrade that comes with a 1 year warrantied direct replacement option for those boaters who want a simple and quick option compared to a full rebuild from an independent builder.

While this new option has not yet been publicly announced, as always PowerBoatNation has got our ear to the water on whats coming in the industry and we bring it to you as soon as we can.

Specifications:

Power 440 HP (328 kW)
Full Throttle Range 4200-4600 RPM
Displacement 540 CID (8.9L)
Engine Type 8.9L Mercury V8 Iron Block & Remanufactured Heads
Bore & Stroke 4.50” X 4.25” (114 mm X 108 mm)
Compression Ratio 8.6:1 With Forged Pistons
Rocker Arm Ratio 1.7:1 Stamped Steel
Fuel Requirement 87 Octane (R+M)/2
Fuel System Holley 800 CFM Electric Choke Carburetor, Mechanical Fuel Pump
Induction System Single-Plane Aluminum Intake With Bronze Crossover & Pads
Ignition System Thunderbolt V with Knock Control
Charging System 65 Amp / 917 Watt Alternator
Water Drain System Multi-Point Drain – Hand Removeable Blue Drain Plugs
Exhaust System Iron Manifolds with 4” Dia. 316 SS Dry Joint Exhaust Elbows
Cooling System Thermostatically Controlled Raw Water – 143 F
Accessory Drive System Serpentine Belt
Lubrication System High Flow Oil Pump , Copper Oil Cooler, Oil Thermostat
Recommended Engine Oil SAE 25W50 FC-W Synthetic Blend Racing Oil
Audio Warning System Oil Pressure, Coolant Temperature, Drive Lube
Bravo One X & XR Ratios: 1.36, 1.50:1
Bravo One XZ Ratio: 1.50:1
Bravo Two X Ratio: 1.81:1
Bravo Three X Ratio: 1.81:1
Bravo Three XR Ratios: 1.81, 2.00:1
Dimensions (LxWxH) 34” x 33” x 27” (871 mm x 830 mm x 689 mm)
Engine Weight (lbs./kg) 1025 / 465
Fresh Water Cooling: Not Available
Engine Only Part Number 8M0085999

Stand by for more and more industry insights from the best PowerBoating Website!

 

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