From all of us at Powerboat Nation to all of our members, fans, sponsors, and guests we wish you a very Merry Christmas. Regardless of how you celebrate we wish for you precious time well spent with family and friends to whom you share great love and affection for.

The true measure of value is what we all offer each other from ourselves directly and can only hope everyone is happy with what they are given. We so very much value and appreciate all of you and your contributions to Powerboat Nation!

Merry Christmas!

The friends of the Miami Marine Stadium announced that on Thursday, January 9, Jimmy Buffett and Gloria Estefan will appear together at the Coral Gables Museum for a special stadium celebration hosted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

A limited number of tickets for this intimate event – which will feature a short performance by Jimmy – are available now: www.marinestadium.eventbrite.com

Few places capture the spirit of South Florida quite like Miami Marine Stadium.
From the roar of hydroplanes to dazzling performances on the bay, it was here that Miami turned its cultural heartbeat into a spectacle the world couldn’t resist.

Join us at the Coral Gables Museum on Thursday, January 9, from 6:30-10:30 PM as we relive those glory days with two legends who once graced the stadium’s dramatic floating stage – Jimmy Buffett and Gloria Estefan.

Hosted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this celebration will shine a spotlight on these two musical icons as NBC 6 anchor Jackie Nespral interviews the stars about their memories of the stadium’s past, as well as their hopes for its comeback as a world class sports and performance venue. Jimmy Buffett will close the evening with a short performance.

All guests will receive a one-year membership to the National Trust, as well as free admission to “Concrete Paradise,” the Coral Gables Museum’s critically-acclaimed exhibition dedicated to Miami Marine Stadium. Complimentary cocktails and heavy appetizers will be served throughout the evening. There will also be a silent auction featuring original stadium seats signed by the stars.
Proceeds benefit the National Trust’s work to restore the stadium, as well as our host for the evening – the Coral Gables Museum.

Important note: Doors will open for general admission at 6:30 PM. The program will begin at 7:30 PM, and seating will be unassigned. We expect the program to conclude at 9:00 PM. Afterwards, attendees will have free access to “Concrete Paradise” until 10:30 PM.

Christmas day is fast approaching and you may have a boater that’s still on your shopping list. To make things just a bit easier we’ve discounted some of our most popular items up to 33%! Black and White Powerboat Nation shirts now start at just $12 through Christmas. Order any of these shirts before Thursday and Morning and choose USPS Priority Mail or UPS Next day, 2-Day or 3-Day for delivery before Christmas in the lower 48 United States. Our holiday specials have been a huge success we’re running low on inventory on Non-PBN Branded items, but if there’s something on the store that you’re looking to get by Christmas, don’t be afraid to contact us to check stock and shipping time estimates!

Random power boating is coming back and Brand X is leading the way. Part of the efforts Powerboat Nation has been proposing was to revitalize the local performance boating lifestyle and broadcast it across the world and since we have been slacking, Jason Ventura and his friends have picked up the slack. Recently they all went boating together and didn’t even really have to plan it.

Jason told us he had a customer call at the last minute and wanted to have his boat delivered to the 15th street ramp. Without hesitation they did a wash down threw fuel in the boat and delivered it to the boat ramp. When Jason told the owner he was going to splash his boat and do a run to on Saturday to Gilberts on Key Largo and asked if he was interested in going they quickly replied with an enthusiastic YES!

Jason posted on Face book that they were going and sure enough a couple of other people responded. Up early on Saturday they pulled the PowerBoat Nation Gladiator out of the Brand X storage shop for a quick wash and some props and then to the boat ramp where they met up with friends Marc and Michelin Gendron, who owns a big power, 42 MTI named Xclusive. Marc decided to leave the MTI at the dock and join as passengers in the Gladiator.

Leaving Hillsboro inlet they we nosed the 36 foot V into some nice 3-4 foot seas with a steady 10 MPH east wind, running south along the beach they met up with the Julie and Wayne Casey at the Port Everglades inlet in their 39 Cigarette with Mercury Racing 700’s. Both Cigarettes ran south to HaulOver inlet where they met up with Jeorge Arellano with his beautiful 35 Daves Custom Boat also powered with Mercury Racing 700s and continued south and finally caught up with Steve Di Marco in his super clean 44 Outerimits as they pulled under the Card Sound bridge. Minutes later they were all tied up at Gilberts with a table was full of food, beverages and great company. Then almost like it was planned Mark and Eileen Fisher of showed up.

After several hours of conversation they all loaded up and headed back north. By the time they left Haulover it was dark and with nav lights on they worked back north for a scenic Christmas Light tout of the waterfront homes in Fort Lauderdale

Getting back to boating is what makes the difference and we have to thank Jason and Celeste for leading the way back.

If anyone wants to have another get together contact Jason at brand X and he will be your tour guide in south Florida.

While it’s a Holiday time for most of us, the crew at Dave’s Custom Boats are busy building new Powerboat presents for some very good customers. DCB has 9 new boats under construction right now, with more in the works. Three of them are M35’s with Mercury Racing 1350’s and three more with 1100’s are currently being built.

A recent water test in this M35, that will be delivered to Toronto, Canada, with 1100’s ran 158.8 MPH in its first test so we know it has at least 160 in it. This is a real impressive number and compared to similar sized boats I have ran with Mercury Racing 1100’s would make the M35 Fastest in class with this horsepower.

DCB’s Tony Chiaramonte told us things at the Southern California Shop are “Slammed Busy, we are running hard and very blessed right now. Lamination, sanding, polishing, and rigging is really busy and production is solid. We are selling and building well into 2015 model year.

The build that really caught our eye is the M29 with Mercury Racing 565’s on XR’s. This super economical ride is projected to run between 105 and 115 MPH. The first boat set up is a spec boat and Tony told us they have quite a few leads on it. Additionally, three more M 29’s are right behind the first one, another twin 565, single 1350 with the M8 drive and the third boat will be another 565 boat.

Dave’s Custom Boats are built with the highest quality and offer customers a great variety of options and configurations.

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FastBoats Marine Group Becomes South Florida Dealer To Bavaria Motorboats. With German engineering and reliability, along with eye-popping Italian design, Bavaria Motorboats has entered the North American market with three powerboats built by Germany’s premiere boatbuilder, Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH.

The new boats include the Virtess 420 Flybridge, which won the prestigious 2013 European Powerboat of the year as well as this year’s Italian Nautical Design Award.

Other boats in this first North American power fleet are the 44-foot Hardtop and the 39-foot Hardtop. There are 12 boats in the Bavaria power flotilla ranging from 29 to 44 feet and ten in the sailboat line from 33 to 55 feet. The company—one of Europe’s largest boatbuilder–has been in business in Giebelstadt, Germany since 1978 and produces between 1,000 and 1,500 boats a year, 85 percent of which are exported. Staff at the factory numbers some 600 people.

Although Bavaria sailboats have been popular in the United States and Canada for some years, this is the first time Bavaria powerboats are entering the market here, and all the models being imported are equipped with Volvo IPS power systems.

Heading the North American effort is General Manager Blane Aarup, a 27-year marine industry veteran who has held executive posts at Baja, Donzi and Chris-Craft. FastBoats Marine Group has been selected as Bavaria’s South Florida representative.

Wozencraft Insurance has announced the promotion of Tanah Kinsey (right) to the agency sales team. Tanah has worked with Wozencraft for the past 5 years in Customer Service. Tanah is fully licensed to offer Property, Casualty & Life products & specializes in boat insurance as well as auto, home, life & rec. vehicle insurances.

Replacing Tanah in Customer Service is the newest member to the team, Jareni Nunez (left). Jareni comes with great enthusiasm, enjoys boating & loves to help our clients with their insurance needs.

Wozencraft is a full service insurance agency with specialized products and services for the high performance marine segment.

If you are need of boat insurance or any other insurance needs, feel free to drop them a line at: 888-477-6517 or email: info@wozencraftinsurance.com

Snow, freezing conditions, and cancelled airline fights couldn’t keep Powerboat Nation away, but it sure did wreck havoc on the rest of the group. The bad news is that Bill Pyburn, Chris Bradley, Jason Ventura, the guys from Hardin Marine and the remainder of the entourage weren’t able to make the connecting flights and will have to reschedule their trips.

The good news for me was I got almost a full day and a half with Peter Hledin from SKATER powerboats. I learned a bunch of stuff and got a history lesson that is worthy of a book itself.

Kelly Sills’s boat was in paint and it is moving along well. Will it be at the Miami show? We don’t know and it will remain a maybe!

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For all the loyal BBLADES customers, we want to thank you for your business! So, during the month of December, we invite you to take 15% off any BBLADES Gift Certificate.

Whether looking for the perfect gift for the boater on your list or just banking away for a future purchase of your own, go to theBBLADES on-line store, select a gift certificate and enter promo code BBGIFT13 when checking out. You’ll get a $100 gift certificate for only 85-bucks, a $50 certificate for $42.50 or 15% off any other amount.

The certificate is good for one year and can be redeemed towards any BBLADES purchase; a new propeller, accessories, lab finishing or prop repair.

We appreciate your confidence and loyalty, and wish you and your family all the joys of the holiday season.

Join BBlades On Facebook!— More Chances To Win

If you like playing games and winning prizes, check out the BBLADES Facebook page, because we do some there from time to time. Or, if you want to show off your boat, prop, a big catch or a checkered flag, send us some pictures and we’ll share them with our friends.

BBLADES also wants to get your word out. Poker Run, fishing tournament, boating-related charitable happening; just send us the info. Share and share “a like,” and hit up people from around the world.

Looking for the right gift for boating friends or family this holiday season? We’ve got you covered with some special holiday deals on all the apparel in the Powerboat Nation Store! Save big on Powerboat Nation and Go Fast Threads branded apparel.