The last week of October and first week of November are always fast and furious in Fort Lauderdale for those of us active in the boating world. The move in for the Lauderdale show has been much easier this year because the Performance Boat dock looks much different than it used too but the prep for the Key West Poker Run is business as usual. I ran into Tim Gallagher from Marine Technologies at the 15th Street Boat Ramp on Friday and again late Monday at the show. Tim was casually waiting for his load in signal to take the beautiful new 42V over to the dock. Tim was kind enough to let us catch him on Camera for a quick Interview:

The Performance dock is dominated with center consoles with many outboards hanging off the transoms. Formula does have a 382 on the dock and Nor Tech is showing their diversity with a 40 Roadster Cat, a couple of Monte Carlos, and a variety of their center console offerings. The other brands brought their outboard boats. Sunsation, Concept, Midnight Express, are all blended in with the fish boats on the docks. If you can’t make the show, check back often to PowerboatNation.com for updates and more news coming from the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. Take a look below to see the images we’ve captured so far:

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Well to go along with all that we’ve been telling you about the industry being in a full swing of product development, here is another example of a key performance brand focusing its sights to improve some already great factory engine packages. Whipple Industries located in Fresno, California is in the process of finishing the fine tuning and calibration of some new packages for the new Mercruiser 8.2L MAG and MAG HO.

According to Dustin Whipple they are seeing 35 (With Catalytic converters) and 45 horsepower gains (Without Catalytic converters) on just the most basic stage 1 kits. With new products like the CAT-Eliminator from Maxvolt Ignition Systems there are a world of opportunity’s arising.

Whipple is known amongst the industry as one of the key tuners when it comes EFI tuning and development of both naturally aspirated and supercharged kits . Whipple also will be offering additional Stage 2 kits as well as a Stage 3 Kits ( require’s camshaft change) for even more power options for those looking for even more power while retaining the engines naturally aspirated characteristics.

Powerboat Nation has been lending a hand to help move Brand X Hi Performance Marine into a new shop in Pompano Beach Fl.

The new 10,000 square foot space gives Jason Ventura and his crew a great new place to take on the many projects coming their way and have more room for their growing fleet of poker run and race boat customers. Brand X Hi Performance Marine is home base for Bill Pyburn’s 388 Skater “Pure Platinum” and houses a large stable of loyal customers from around the world. The move was really a move of necessity, Jason was occupying three smaller shops and had to continually move boats around to be able to do the service and repair work. The existing Brand X space that adjoins BAM Marine will be retained and used for some of the upcoming special rig jobs.

The new facility is a full hurricane rated concrete structure housed within a secure industrial complex with state of the art independent security systems. The Brand X crew is Mercury TEAM certified and certified to service the entire Mercury and MerCruiser product line including the new QC4v Turbo Motors.

Engine work, drive rebuilds, repowers, welding ,full rigging, interior, paint, trailer, repairs, detailing, hauling everything is done in house or carefully managed by Brand X Hi Performance Marine. Integrity, Honesty and Dedication are the core values that guide and drive the goal of complete customer satisfaction. Things are so busy at the shop; the wall that adjoins the empty space may have to come down to give the Brand X crew additional room.

Look for Brand X at the Key West Poker Run and many more in 2014 with their complete on site service and repair rig.

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Well as we have watched the pendulum swing in the sport of power boat racing for the last couple of decades. The common thread between the success and failures has always had legions of people pointing their finger at one person or another. AS we ran across the video recently released as a short comedy “Boats” — written, edited and directed by Justin Dec — We just couldn’t help but laugh and wonder if any of the meetings ended up just like this. So here’s to the weeks “Hump Day” it may not be a talking camel but its a great laugh and one of our new favorites…

You must have been hiding under a rock for the last couple of years if you have not recognized the ongoing demand for turbo-charged marine engines. Mercury racing has certainly laid the ground work with their incredible offerings. Their leadership has opened a new door for new players. Independent engine builders, and now some of the aftermarket guys are ramping up to bring out turbo packages. Until now the only after market company really working on a production system has been Hardin Marine. Hardin states they are bringing the industry’s most revolutionary new stainless steel water jacketed turbo exhaust housings, but that delays in manufacturing have pushed consumer release dates back.

The flood gates now seem to be opening with many professional engine builders looking to debut turbo packages in 2014. One of the first to push out new products will be Chief engines of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Chief will show off their new 1400 HP turbo charged engines in just a couple of weeks at Florida Powerboat Clubs, Key West Poker Run Village.
Some of the real excitement for the upcoming year is the new turbo-charged engines that are under development at numerous facility’s around the country. These engines will be built on numerous platforms that range from a new double over head cam turbo engine to traditional GM big block versions as well as the popular new LS engine family. There is also an aftermarket four valve, per cylinder cylinder head offering that is already being endurance tested.

The marine turbo market has opened up interest from outside the traditional market place. Today we are seeing the engineering and development standards being used in the automotive industry now focused toward the marine industry. This is exciting news as large scale engine builders who have been building and developing racing and endurance programs for the automotive market for years now have set their sights on the marine market.

The one common note among all of the new ventures is to achieve the four quality goals (Q4) of Savings, Durability, Serviceability, and Rebuild-able. After polling numerous consumers this has been identified as the key issues keeping the average power boater out of the turbo market.

The OEM production turbo engines are a work of art yet they have suffered numerous mechanical failures. Everything in this world does have the potential to break but customers expectations of reliability are high and the high cost of rebuilding the OEM 1350 power plants has lead the aftermarket shops in a race to identify some of the early production flaws.

Companies are now modifying the original 1350 engine packages to be easier to repair through the use of installing new engine block cylinder liners as well as aftermarket production replacement parts are under development as well. This is proof of the commitment of many vendors to keep our sport strong and healthy. These moves will really benefit the used boat market as it will afford dealers and new owners of used, out of warranty engine packages the rebuild options they currently have with all of the OEM supercharged motors. This move will make the cost of ownership of used OEM Turbo packages much more appealing.

It looks as if an entire new market and options are on the horizon for boat owners in the future!

A new luxury powerboat has been introduced to American Shores: Hunton Powerboats, a custom British performance powerboat brand is now offering it’s boats for sales in the US . The Hunton XRS37 was shown off at a media event hosted by Total Marine in Greenwich, CT. Total Marine is a dealer and servicer of high-end powerboats located in nearby Norwalk, Conn. Hunton plans to reveal further details of its offerings to the US market at a private show at the FT. Lauderdale boat show in the coming weeks.

Jeff Hunton established his Powerboat company in 1979. His vision was to combine the best engineering and performance with fine-finish luxury. Hunton Powerboats was ran more like a hobby than a business and in 2010 a group of four partners purchased and restructured the company into a international business.

Hunton’s boats don’t come cheap. Their base 37 and 43 foot boats start at $610,000 and $799,000 respectively. The company likes to make itself out to be the Aston Martin of Powerboats, after the British Luxury Performance Automaker. Hunton uses twin Mercruiser 8.2L Mag HO’s as it’s base powerplants in both models.

Hunton’s new ownership is looking to push out roughly 30 to 40 boats a year. Before the ownership change Hunton would commonly only put out about 10 boats a year. The new ownership partners wouldn’t skimp on quality, nor do they have plans to mass produce any boats in their product line.

Neglected after it’s owner’s death in 1993, this gorgeous boat sat untouched for many years, until it was found by a dutch collector and was sent to Riva World in Uithoorn in the Netherlands, to make her shine again. After a three year restoration project, Ferrucio Lamborghini’s Riva Aquarama speedboat looks good as new. The Riva Aquarama has two of Lamborghini’s 350 bhp 4.0L V12 engines that came from a Lamborghini 350 GT. The original engines were no longer available to use, so 2 engines were found in the US that could be converted to the same configuration as the originals. One of the original engines sits in the Lamborghini Museum in Italy. It was used as a reference for the various original parts that had to be copied to marinize the new engines. On the inside, white and turquoise leather covers all the seats. The woodwork was in dire need of attention and after repair, and sanding, 25 coatings were applied to seal it all up. The chrome work, already laid on thick, was polished up to a bright shine. All of the original switches and buttons wee disassembled and restored as well. The Lamborghini powered Riva Aquarama topped out at 55mph, while in comparison, stock Riva Aquarama’s fitted with V8 Engines could only muster 46mph.

The original production for this boat ranged from 1962 to 1996, and the Riva Aquarama was the top of the line for Italy’s Riva boat works. Hull No. 278 was built in 1968 under a commission by Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the Italian sports car company that bears his name. It took three months to build and Lamborghini didn’t just sit back and wait for his boat to show up. Dissatisfied with the standard V8 engine, he took a pair of 350 bhp 4.0 V12 Lamborghini engines from the Lamborghini 350 GT and adapted them. This made it not only the fastest Aquarama ever built, but an Aquarama with the heart of a Lamborghini.

After the restoration was complete, the Lamborghini powered Riva Aquarama was taken to Italy and put through its paces under the eye of its creator, Carlo Riva on Lago d’Iseo, where it was built.

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FASTBOATS.Com and AutoNation, America’s largest auto retailer, have teamed with Ryan Hunter-Reay to host “The Yellow Party,” a fundraiser to benefit Hunter-Reay’s nonprofit, Racing for Cancer. The event, set for Nov. 2 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Cocktail Barge Hi-Performance dock, will take place during the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show at Bahia Mar Marina.

Racing for Cancer is a nonprofit that promotes the importance of getting tested and catching cancer in its early stages. Hunter-Reay’s mother, Lydia, never had a colonoscopy when she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.

“That missed opportunity cost all of us the person we loved so much,” said Hunter-Reay. “If we can do anything to make people aware of the importance of early detection of cancer, we’ll save lives and others won’t have to lose loved ones.”

AutoNation has also partnered with Hunter-Reay on a national effort to raise funds for Racing for Cancer, matching up to $500,000 of all funds raised. The nonprofit has no paid staff, so any funds raised go directly to the mission of promoting early detection and general awareness of cancer prevention.

For more information about “The Yellow Party,” email Gail Butler at Butlerg@ AutoNation.com. To purchase tickets, visit http://www.blacktie-southflorida.com and click on event registration.

At the Clearwater Race we got a chance to talk to Jay Pilini and poke around his new 35 Spectre CC. Jay is back to building Spectre’s and right now he is hot on his new 35 Center Console. Measuring 34.8 feet long and with a 9.9 ft. beam the boat is perfectly set to fulfill a void in the market. This boat will run with many other boats costing much more money.

This boat has a large center console cabin with a molded lounge on top. The console contains a full head, large lounge, sink and shower. Jay said he has made the fish boat pleasurable by making sure there is plenty of room below and having room for at least two rows or bolsters for secure and comfortable seating. It remains completely versatile and includes, a large live well, rod holders.Two large storage/fish boxes and a innovative built in trash can something typically overlooked by other brands.

The best thing about this boat is you are getting a Spectre built by the Master behind the brand himself, all at a price point for under 200K for a well equipped boat. Jay told us in addition to building the new 35’s he moved to a new larger location and has put new paint on other boat brands and doing some re-rig and re-fit work on other boats as well. When you get to Key West in November be sure to stop by the Poker Run Village and take a good look at the new 35 CC. Check out the 35 CC’s specs here.

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SeaStar Solutions, which was formerly known as Teleflex Marine, expanded on its OEM replacement parts line with the acquisition of Mallory Marine from Prestolite Performance, a manufacturer and distributor of auto-racing products. SeaStar Solutions, a Marine steering and control manufacturer and distributor is also the owner of Sierra Marine, another large distributor of OEM replacement marine parts

Mallory Marine offers a full line of replacement parts for Mercury, Volvo, OMC and more, inboard and outboard engines, drives, oil and lubricants. The deal does not affect Mallory Ignition, the sister company to Mallory Marine, which will remain a core brand of Prestolite Performance.

“This acquisition adds to the extensive product line and distribution services we provide through our Sierra division,” SeaStar Solutions president and CEO Yvan Cote said in a statement. “It further strengthens our capacity to meet the needs of marine dealers for superior quality parts, extensive product availability and fast delivery.”

SeaStar Solutions continues to pursue an aggressive growth strategy focusing on new-product developments and acquisitions. Its Optimus 360 Joystick Docking System for outboard and sterndrive boats and its Xtreme Steering System won NMMA Innovation Awards and have provided new OEM and aftermarket sales opportunities. The company has also made key acquisitions in the marine market, including INCA Molded Products and Detwiler Jack Plates.

“We continue to grow by providing our customers with an expanding array of world-class products and services,” Cote added. “Whether it’s exciting new products like Optimus and Xtreme or the acquisition of a company like Mallory Marine, our objective is the same — to provide our customers with innovative solutions, as well as the highest levels of quality, reliability and service that propel us all forward.”

Most of the time, in order to achieve something in life you must start with a vision. These visions are often what we dream to have, or dream to be, and if the vision is maintained it is usually realized and sometimes we don’t even recognize we have achieved what we had been dreaming of.

For Candice and Brandon Allen they started with a vision and made it into a reality. Brandon was kind enough to take the time are share his story with us on how his dream boat all came together like it was meant to happen all along. Join us as Brandon recalls the adventure:

t all started as a dream.

I remember going to Havasu for the first time with my buddy Ken. He had brought his DCB 26, which at the time we thought was the biggest boat in the world in our minds.Then on our way to launch crossing over the London bridge, was “Oh my gosh, a F34!” I mean really, the real Mother Mary flagship of the DCB’s. I remember it like it was yesterday, it was a poker Run Edition, white with red graphics. We were both out of our minds the rest of the day trying to find it on the water. Well later that day we found it just floating north of the channel upstream from London Bridge. We slowly cruised up to get a few quick pics, the captain gave us a quick wave and then started his engines and in a few seconds was gone, with a giant rooster of water and the crack of what had to of been some very large motors he was in another time zone!

Well some years later, I believe probably 8 or 10 years, I finally got financially capable of buying my own DCB F26 with twin 300 x motors .Wow what a boat! It was called Lime Time and it was built custom just for me. It had a white hull with green and purple graphics, what a hot rod she was! Well a couple of years passed and I found myself wanting to get a bigger boat. A couple of rough days on the water out in the big part of the lake with some big boats around changed my mind for me. I guess it really depends on what kind of boating you want to do! And for me, I wanted to go bigger. Someday I told myself, but for now still very happy with my boat.

I went on another great trip with my wife Candice and her brother Jody and his girlfriend. After a long day of boating, I was on the phone with one of my best friends AJ of Barrett Custom Marine. Which at that time was a mechanic on the side for a race team called Team CRC. Somehow we got on the subject of boat even though I was calling him to figure out where and what time we were all going to meet for dinner. He told me his good friend Mike Defrees had a 2002 F34 that has not been driven in awhile. Well of course after dinner we went to see the boat. AJ opened the door and there it was. Not the exact one I had seen years before but very similar graphics. In the storage locker she rested with one of Mikes race boats, AJ looked at me and said ”I bet if you talked to him you could strike a deal!”

I waited a little and I did end up giving Mike a call later the next week. I told him that AJ had shown me his F34 and that I was interested in her. He told me about some cool stories of Poker runs that he had taken her too and how his son was practically raised in the boat. After a few phone calls I was determined to get her. We settled on a price then I put my boat up for sale. It was not long before I sold my 26 and was collecting up the rest of the money.

About a month later I brought F34 home. Oh man was my wife not happy at first. She was not really into the graphics and some other things. But I had a vision! A vision of turning her into another similar looking Lime Time! Oh I had a vision all right. Big giant boat and not enough money to do what I wanted; What was I thinking!

I soon started getting a plan together with my wife’s help. “You’re not going to take ten years to build this thing and I don’t want to have to ride in Mom and Dad’s boat for the rest of our lives!” she said. Soon after that discussion I brought the boat down to my good friend Kevin’s shop, KM graphics also known as KMG boats. Not to toot this guys horn because he was in my wedding but he is one of the best Gel coat repair guys period! Kevin took on the job, capped her front and back changed he Graphics from yellow purple and checkers to a brilliant green, silver, and purple! Let me tell you what a job he did! The before and after of this guys work! All I have to say is nothing short of amazing! In the mean time Dave of DCB had some cool Ideas about using some of the new seats that they were using in the newer M-Series boats. So Carlos, who does the upholstery at DCB built five new captain’s chairs and interior to give the boat a poker run theme. Carlos is the man when it comes to clean perfect stitching and the new seats came out flawless. Seeing the upholstery made me want to get the boat done that much faster. I remember Dave saying “let me know when you are ready they will be waiting here on the shelf”. What an awesome job they did on the interior, first class all the way. Also the original 3/4 canopies on the boat were originally real F16 Canopies and they had a bit of gold tint to them and were not very easy to see through, now what the heck was I going to do! So once again I went down to DCB and talked to Tony Chiramonte and with some incredible luck Tony said to me “You might just be inluck! We had a set of canopies that came in for an F29 that we sent back because they had some small blemishes in them”. So he called the company that makes all the DCB canopies and asked what was going to do with them. So I got in my truck and drove over to the company’s shop, I told them about my boat and the build, he then made me a deal I couldn’t refuse! He said “They either go in your truck or they go in my trash! “ I felt like I needed to go buy a lottery ticket that day!

While all of this stuff was going on we had the trailer to deal with. Being on a serious budget and to save some money I took the trailer over to my shop at work to be sanded and painted. The trailer was built buy Extreme Trailers in Fontana CA. What a beast of a trailer, triple axel dually, white with polished stainless fenders that look like they came off a semi truck. We sanded down the white powder coat finish that made a great base for a light metallic silver paint made by a company called Endura in Santee CA. This paint is almost as strong as a powder coat finish. Many thanks go out to the guys at work for staying late and helping me ut for the days I had it there and a special thanks to Louie Russo from our family’s company for shooting the paint. When he was done he looked like the Tin Man from Wizard of OZ! The bunks were next: I tackled them myself wrapping the fresh redwood boards with a thick marine grade dark charcoal carpet. Wrapping and gluing the carpet to the boards by yourself without getting any wrinkles was a feat. I It took a few tries but I figured it out, what a pain. If I ever do that again I will get help!

As Kevin at KMG was finishing his work I was still waiting for the stainless rub rail to arrive from back east. The boat had a white plastic rub rail all the way around the boat before and when we took it off we noticed a distinct mark from where the rub rail had been and a one inch stainless rail would not cover enough from where the old one was. To fix this I special ordered an inch and a half wide stainless rub rail. The ail finally showed up two weeks later and Kevin installed it in one day.

The repower was easier than it was thought it was going to be. The boat at one time in its history was really fast and ran 167 MPH with some giant power Defrees had in it. It was the fastest DCB on the water for a long time. When we got the boat it had some stock Mercury Racing 525 with about 40 hours on them. In order the make the boat a little more responsive we looked to do a Stage 3 Whipple upgrade. Online I found some used Whipple super chargers that came with dual intercoolers. The best part of the deal is they were already painted with matching lime green paint. So with a little extra polishing the whole deal came together like it was all meant to be. The motors make just under 800 HP and the boat has run an easy 131 MPH. All the engine work was done by Teague Custom Marine. Special mention to John Teague for all the extra effort and work he put into completing this project.

Then back to Havasu the boat went to wait at my storage so I could save up enough money to pay DCB for the rest of the interior without my wife killing me! A few months passed and it was two weeks before Desert Storm in Lake Havasu . I finally rounded up the money and went down to see Dave and picked up all the upholstery. The boys at the shop were super busy because of desert storm right around the corner so it was up to me to get this upholstery in and get this thing together. I had spent some time around there shop so with a little bit of guidance from Paul at the shop and some elbow grease I was able to get it done. Kevin brought over the seat backs, the panel inserts, and also the canopies that he painted. Everything he had apart in on this boat came out perfect! So a little elbow grease and we had her together and ready for Desert Storm.