The Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series is proud to present, “Thunder On The River,” Friday, October 11 through Sunday, October 13 from 8am to 5pm at Rotary Park in Lake Havasu, Arizona. General admission wrist bands are available; $10 for Friday (Test and Tune), $20 for Saturday, and $20 for Sunday. Guests can also purchase a three day pass for just $40.

Beginning Wednesday, October 9, cars will not be permitted within Rotary Park as Lucas Oil begins its transformation into a world class racing venue. Foot traffic through Rotary Park will remain open with restricted areas and no water access beginning Wednesday, October 9 as well. Parking will be available at the South entrance next to the Lake Havasu Aquatic Center.

Parking for VIP’s ($10) and those with disabilities will be located at the south entrance of Rotary Park in the new parking lot. Other offsite parking and shuttles service will be available. Due to the volume of the racing boats, Lions Dog Park at London Bridge Beach will be closed from Friday, October 11 through Monday, October 14 to ensure the safety of our pets. London Bridge Beach will also have limited access during race days.

Mooring passes will be available for $300, good for four people from Friday through Sunday, allowing you access to the designated mooring area. Mooring passes will also grant you access to the Rotary Park spectator area and pits during the event. If you plan on having more than four people on your boat, additional passes may be purchased prior to the race.

All mooring passes are available for pre-sell only and will not be available for purchase during the race. Boats without a mooring pass will not be allowed near Thompson Bay and will be kept behind Copper Canyon to the south, Site Six to the north, and at the dog park in the Channel. The lake will not be closed during the race except for the designated safety zones, established in conjunction with the US Coast Guard, in order to eliminate boat wakes from the race course to help ensure the safety of the racers.

Those without mooring passes may experience delays on the lake of up to 30 minutes during race hours on Friday through Sunday, 8am to 5pm. Boaters who need to transit between Site Six and Copper Canyon will receive an escort through this temporary no wake zone. Please be mindful of these delays and plan to avoid the area when at all possible. No boats will be permitted into the Thompson Bay area during race times unless they have a room at the Nautical Inn a pass from the Lake Havasu Marina or are renting from Wet Rods Jet Ski Rental.

Please exercise additional caution when traveling in these areas, and pay special attention to all signage, markings, and volunteer and law enforcement boats. The diagram shows the US Coast Guard safety Zone. The perimeter of this “Safety Zone” is critical to the safety of the drivers at this event. The zone will be patrolled by 24 Volunteer patrol boats two Mohave County Sheriff Boats and Two Lake Havasu Police boats. The US Coast guard may be there pending the government shut down. If you do not have a Mooring Pass prior to Thursday October 10th please AVOID this area if at all possible. If you need to transit through the area, expect possible delays of up to 30 minutes and you will be escorted through the zone at a NO WAKE speed. To obtain a mooring pass please e mail ttaylor@Lucasoildragboats.com prior to Thursday October 10th.

Today In modern professional engine building, the ante has definitely been raised. In order to lead in the the elite marine engine market place, one needs to be innovative and specialized in several aspects. An engine builder needs to look outside the box and develop tomorrow’s technology – today. With OEM power levels setting the bar for OEM packages, it leaves the custom engine builders to develop their own unique performance edge and alternative to the mainstream.

This very methodology is exactly what drives the folks at Boostpower USA Marine in Southern California. Owner, professional engine builder, and designer Alexi Sahagian is not new to the world of forced induction EFI engines. Alexi has been building turbocharged and supercharged engines that have changed the landscape of marine performance engines. Whether its 2200 horsepower mountain motors or compound supercharger/turbocharged packages, innovation of their own product offerings have always set them apart.
With this being said, most cannot begin to imagine how much time and engineering is involved in these types of products. Boostpower Marine has spent the last decade focused on their own supercharger offerings from intake manifold design to the smallest of details all the way to the custom throttle blades. These products are what has separated their custom engines from those of others using standard shelf bought products.

Boostpower Marine has been building these supercharger systems for many years and the new B-3 is merely the evolution of their product offering. Some highlighted technical facts of their systems are that they are fully fuel delivery sequential (metered at each cylinder for maximum efficiency), port fuel injected, intercooled with minimal restriction, boost adjustable via ecu and/or driver control at dash,custom rotor design (Eaton) million mile rotors, 2000CFM funnel throttle billet body assemblies, state of the art secure track serpentine belt systems, and best of all-tested and perfected in house on their own test engines.

The Boostpower proprietary castings are crafted from tooling made in house at their own facility. Each Supercharger system is available in both cast and billet cases. Alexi is very passionate as he exclaims what and why these products separate them from others “We manufacture these products to allow us to elevate the products we deliver to our customers to the top level. Our business model has always been to lead and never follow.
The new B-3 supercharger system is designed to handle the demands of the large cubic inch engines (600+). Some say, why not one big supercharger! “Without getting bookworm technical, 3 smaller compressors will move and compress the air more efficiently for improved performance levels for the larger cubic inchs engines available today.

One of the things Alexi raves about in regards to his product is the drive by wire technology developed to handle on the fly horsepower adjustability. Alexi states “what supercharger system do you know of that can change boost and power levels with a flick of a switch or pre-programmed input from the dash and no pulley change?” With the design of the new H-bridge drive by wire driver controller we developed, the third throttle body can run programmable completely separate from the other two allowing the control of overall air being compressed into the engine. This gives adjustability of output hp a huge resolution! For example, you can have the two outer superchargers at wide open throttle and the center one just cracked to limit power!

Example 2 would be imagine driving on 91 octane and snapping the throttle and have all 3 throttle bodies open immediately and then after a pre-programmed time close the center supercharger to limit power yet allowing all of it for the pre-programmed acceleration time! It’s unlimited! We can virtually program a custom personality for each motor for its designed use!

Another key feature is that 100% of the fuel delivery is right in the intake ports, The air/fuel ratio can be tuned at each cylinder within 2% and to utilize 100% of the available supercharged air for the engine allowing for great emissions, efficiency and fuel consumption is at a minimal for its known output.
Boostpower Marine states that the final tuning and testing will be accomplished over the holidays and readied for a boat installation right after the new year. We will keep you posted as the numbers come in and the project finalizes

Stay Tuned for more!

Only 4 weeks to go until we all once again get to participate in what is arguably the best and biggest powerboating event in the world. Already over 100 boats are pre-registered and many more to come.

They Key West Poker run is unique in so many ways. It is a destination run with departures leaving Miami Wednesday November 6th through Friday November 8th. The run down from Miami is about 160 Nautical Miles one way. This 300 mile round trip powerboating adventure all the way through the Florida Keys is the Florida Powerboat Clubs signature event. Every year nearly 200 powerboat teams make the run from Miami to Key West and back again. No other event captures the excitement and senses of adventure like this event does.

Powerboat Nation will be on hand throughout the event beginning here in Miami to support and help the Florida Powerboat Club and all the members settle in Miami and prepare for the run

Look for Powerboat Nation to bring you exclusive updates directlyfrom the Florida powerboat Club, beginning with the Florida PowerboatClubs Fort Lauderdale Boat Show bash on November 1^st. Live from Fort Lauderdale!

This past weekend Dave’s Custom Boat owners from all over North America converged on Lake Havasu for the DCB Owners Regatta. Owners came in from as far away as Oklahoma and Ohio as well as some favorite Canadians who all towed down to Havasu. A wide range of DCB’s showed up, old to new and small to big. DCB’s sales and customer service guy, Tony Chiaramonte told us there were early Mach 22’s, outboard boats, and both of the new M41’s. All kinds of DCB’s everywhere, so many in fact Tony said they ran out of room at the Nautical Inn with at least 60 boats in attendance and over 300 people.

The DCB Pontoon boat lead the group through the channel before they cruised around Lake Havasu to random card stops at speeds all less than 100 MPH. Of course everyone was wearing a Lifeline Jacket, something that I think is now just expected.

The weekend was set up for fun and camaraderie. With a Friday impromptu lunch run and excellent food and a really safe event. The crew from DCB asked for everyone to chill on the run, keep the speed to less than 100 MPH, respect each other, and have a great time. The result was a great event with great people and it showed how committed Dave’s Custom Boat is to the promotion of performance powerboating. Moreover this shows how well they demonstrate leadership as a premier boat builder. They build a great boat, commit to teach their customers the skill to drive them, show them how to use them in a fun and safe manner and then continue that support by putting on events like these to further bolster the fun and enjoyment of boat ownership. Putting on any organized event requires a ton of work and commitment that is not understood unless you have to do it. The event coordination duties went to DCB’s new executive secretary Peggi Vincent. Peggi was responsible for the bulk of the work and deserves to be commended for a job well done! Bravo Zulu to everyone at DCB!

The event was also coordinated by our friend Todd Taylor of Lake Havasu Jokers Wild Productions. Todd is also credited with all the great photos of the event.

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This past weekend Powerboat Nation loaded up with BrandX Hi Performance Marine and attended Super Boat Internationals National Championship Race in Clearwater Florida.

This year’s race brought out 28 race boats from around the world and two of the entries were with Team QATAR. The big face off between Team QATAR and Team GEICO started out as expected with QATAR running hard down the strait only to be caught coming out of the turn by GEICO, unfortunately GEICO suffered a spin and had to end the race after only four laps. Team QATAR went on to take the win with a 112.69 MPH average speed.

The Superboat race was expected to be a closely contested event but propeller choice seemed to have gone the wrong way for all the teams except Team STIHL who finished almost a full minute ahead of the four other boats in the class and took the win with an average lap speed of 99.83 MPH. The guys who seemed to being having the most fun were the Super Boat Stock. We can only imagine what was going on in the cockpits of the Double Edge Motorsports team who is running a two boats and finished 2nd and 3rd in Sunday’s race. These guys are lucky to be living the dream and having great fun racing with and against each other.

Duck Dynasty goes boat racing

The City of Clearwater again showed the how well the local community supports powerboat racing. The entire weekend was filled with events for the spectators and racers parade down Cleveland Street and with a live band and free concerts. Saturday was test day and Saturday night we attended the VIP party hosted by the Chamber of Commerce which was billed as the official Super Boat Championships pre-party featuring a performance by Pitbull Toddler a local popular Top-40 cover band.

Full race results here: http://superboat.com/2013-race-resul…er-fl-results/

Check out the PICS we got here, and some more from Freeze Frame.

Black Pearl Racing, A boat that has been recently campaigned on numerous fun runs and poker runs won the P3 class at Clear water over the weekend. Complete with a full stereo, coolers, and cup holders, not only did the 38 ft. Fountain win, they dominated the rest of the fleet. Running on three year old 200 hour 525 Mercury Racing Motors that still have all the factory seals in place they maintained an average lap speed of 78.10 miles an hour running ahead of other P3 boats capable of higher speeds. In fact they won the three races they entered this year in between running some poker runs.

This 38 Fountain is a 2002 that was originally built as a race boat and shortly campaigned as UTZ racing. A few years ago it was converted to a pleasure boat and has seen many poker runs. Owned by Eldon Trimingham, the race duties are handled by the boats Co Owner Gary Jones- Driving and well known throttle man Billy Glueck. Billy told us he forgot how much fun running a factory boat was. Water conditions for the Clearwater race were really good over the weekend. Billy had to just keep the throttles pinned and Gary wrapped the boat through the course.

Both Gary and Billy were very happy with the win. The boat gets a flush, wash, and oil change before running on next weekend’s fun run and then ready for the race in Key West.

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Summer weather was slow to arrive in many parts of the country, and many boat builders had a slow start to the season. However things began to turn around quick as July and August rolled in. Boat sales increased dramatically in August and the cold and wet spring experienced by a lot of the country was quickly forgotten.

From the data gathered from 26 early-reporting states, most of the growth over 2012 was lead by sales of Aluminum pontoon and fishing boats and outboard fiberglass boats. Average sales in the main powerboat segments rose 11.8% in August, totaling 769 boats, bringing the total to 7,286, from the same month in 2012.

Pontoon sales had the largest gain, with a 23.1% jump. Sales of aluminum fishing boats gained 12.4%, and sales of outboard fiberglass boats from 11 to 40 feet climbed up 9.6. The only negative on the report remained slow sales of 14-30 ft. inboard and sterndrive fiberglass boats. This group saw sales fall 6%. Larger Cruisers and Powerboats of the 31-40 ft range saw larger gains of 44.3%, although the total sales on these and powerboats of the 40-62 ft. class were much smaller than the previous classes.

Industry wide sales in the 26 states where data was gathered totaled 12,732, which is an overall increase of 12.8%, totaling 1,445 more boats sold over last August. As usual states in warmer areas such as Florida and Texas were the best performers, reporting 1,989 and 1,977 sales, respectively, Fleshing out the rest of the top tens states, Michigan ranked third with 922, California (856), North Carolina and New York (both with 657), Georgia (643), South Carolina (532), New Jersey (466) and Tennessee (445).

Although final data from 24 states is yet to be available, the industry is looking like it will surpass the totals for August 2012, when 17,984 boats were sold.

<img src=”http://images.powerboatnation.com/boatsales0924.jpg”>

On the 19th Matthew Gordon and Ed Dawson made their first attempt to break the ‘AROUND LONG ISLAND Record’ in their Hustler 377 Talon Cat. They started just after 8 am at Buoy 32A, located mid-sound between Greenwich, CT and Oyster Bay, NY.Things started off well and they maintained a 90+ MPH pace, but soon after running into mother nature’s ‘big seas’ as they passed Smithtown Bay, just northeast of Port Jefferson, NY the water conditions changed rapidly and they were forced down to a 40 MPH pace, which would be insufficient to make the challenge. They carried enough fuel in their 4 tanks to make it non-stop endure the full 271 mile challenge but the reduced pace and choppy seas would have made running short a strong possibility. They returned to port, frustrated…but not defeated. They will try again very soon…stay tuned. The course map and segments of the Kattack online GPS map have been added to the video. This run was sanctioned by the National Powerboat Association.

About 8 years ago Ron Polli wrote an article for Extreme Boats Magazine that set the hair on fire of many in the powerboating world. Many of those who were offended and upset were considered to be leaders in the industry, boat builders, engine builders, and anyone else who paid for advertising in the magazine. The rage over the article became so loud and furious my old friend Johnny Schaldenbrand who represented the magazine and did all of the advertising sales just stopped answering his phone as advertisers screamed at him and cancelled their ad contracts. Many believe what Ron did was just tell the truth and state the reality of what was really going on with performance boating events and paralleled the difference between racing and performance pleasure boating.

Then as now many individuals’ voice opinions as to what should be done and how it should be done. In 2005 I was contacted by the guys from Extreme Boats and they asked me to help do something different than just talk about what should be done. They asked me to help with a solution rather than just stating the problem. I agreed to help and noting the first problem would be to relieve the opinions, agendas, and politics of the many voices. The solution as I saw it was to develop a quality management system based with principles from ISO 9000 and the International Safety Management Code, (ISM). Of course since this was pleasure boating and the recreational market, I knew the process would have to be scaled down to make the effort reasonable and attainable. Moving forward we assembled a panel of subject matter experts (SME’s) and identified the list of gaps / competencies and requirements for organized boating events. From this the safety guidelines/best practices document was developed. We also established a registered 501 c 3 not for profit to attempt to get federal boating safety grant money to support these safety initiatives.

So what happened? “Let’s kill all the lawyers, let’s kill them tonight” Since the SME’s were identified and the not for profit had a board of directors, proper liability insurance was encouraged to protect everyone in the event of a lawsuit resulting from a potential incident on an event using the best practices document. Proper insurance for the board was unattainable and since the BeSafe model was designed to make ZERO profit and done completely as an altruistic effort and since the“Industry” (as defined by all of the players who make money selling you boats, engines, and parts) is so myopic and unsophisticated as compared to the commercial maritime industry we couldn’t find a way forward.

BeSafe was shelved and with the exception of the Florida Powerboat Club incorporating some of the best practices into their procedures has not been a benefit. Today’s issues are not new. This is ground hog day with a nightmare theme. Safety is a broad stroke and often spoken by the uninitiated with strong authority which misleads the masses. Action is what makes the difference and the only action required is personal accountability and responsibility.

The real difference between racing and not racing is the psychology each individual employs while running their boats. Meaning if I am racing I will open up my exposure to risk and take chances I would not otherwise take. If I am pleasure boating I will not place myself a position that will increase my exposure to risk and I will back down rather than bow up. This is what happens on any given weekend on the lake, street, or dune. Me and my machine will travel faster than yours.

To suggest these guys just go racing? That won’t happen until offshore racing is a unified and professional entity that is actually inviting. To suggest we just slow down is akin to Ferrari announcing for 2015 they will build a new cabriolet that will go slower and have less horsepower. The evolution of everything lends itself to more speed in almost every category. Modern engines and engine management systems are so much better than they were we can make old pieces of glass go so much faster today.

Speed does not cause incidents, speed dictates the severity of consequence and the causal factors leading to root cause are a sequence of many that usually directly links to the failure of the human.

Boating Safety classes and online courses bring knowledge but knowledge alone is not a substitute for safe operation. The unifying theory of human performance includes knowledge but it must have a skill component. To achieve high performance individuals must know how to do the job(knowledge) and be able to do the job (skills). The acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills create the ability for individuals, teams, and organizations to perform. Therefore,knowledge and skill are two basic elements of human performance.

The performance equation states that knowledge and skill are additive, Knowledge without skills makes you a consultant or a commentator-I know, but I cannot do. Skills without knowledge make you a “natural” But even the natural must acquire knowledge if they are to increase their performance beyond the natural capability that has been given to them. It is the individual who possess high levels of both knowledge and skill that will consistently achieve the highest level of performance.

The long term solution is to manage the risk through cooperative efforts and engagement. This requires the INDUSTRY to message safety and to be actual participating advocates rather than passive casual supporters. We are not going to slow down but we can manage where and when we chose to run at speed. Event organizers will ultimately be supported or not by the industry and the participants based upon how they chose to apply basic risk management principles and consequences for their events. Until the majors in the industry make a firm commitment and demonstrate leadership no one will really take action but the talk will continue.

A powerboat racing pilot was killed on Sunday the 15th after he collided with another competitor in a race in Italy. The accident took place just after the start of the race. As the drivers took their boats towards the first turn Zantelli’s boat went airborne and landed on its side and rolling over, trapping Zantelli underwater, unconscious. Rescue teams were quick to the scene and extracted Zantelli. He was quickly rushed to a local hospital via ambulance. Despite the fast response from emergency teams, Zantelli passed away from his injuries sustained in the crash.

The accident took place during a Grand Prix race at the Idroscalo, which is an artificial lake near Milan. 48-year-old Paolo Zantelli was a two time European champion, winning titles in 1996 and 2001 and was the current Italian champion. Zantelli was second in this year’s F2 overall World Cup standings. Zantelli was considered Italy’s leading expert of his sports category following a career in the UIM F2 division that spanned 17 years.

In a Press release, the National Powerboat Association has declared that on Wednesday, September 18th, 2013, starting at 7 am, Matthew Gordon of Greenwich, CT, will attempt to break the OFFSHORE II Powerboat Record of 3 hours and 59 minutes to circumnavigate Long Island, non-stop in his 37’ Hustler Catamaran Speed Boat. The 271 mile course was introduced in 1959, and has proved to be a tough challenge. The first race saw Jim Lacey win at 8 hours and 30 minutes in a 17’ Hunter with a only a 70 HP Mercury outboard as power.

Through the years, races around Long Island and “One-Off” record setting challenges have been an attraction for thrill seeking, affluent gentlemen of the sport. The Prestige of establishing a Record Run Around Long Island ranks high up on the bucket list for many speedboaters from North America and attracts the attention of boater’s throughout the world. This is a true test of Man, Machine, and the Elements.

Matthew is the owner of multiple business’ including “Graduation Source” and Avanti Systems. He has been an avid helmsman for over 20 years and an active participant on the National Powerboat Association’s poker run series and the Florida Powerboat Club’s poker run series…encompassing boating from Key West to Maine. His homeport is Beacon Point Marine at the Greenwich Water Club in Cos Cob, CT.

What caught Matthew’s interest was the re-introduction of the DON ARONOW MEMORIAL MARATHON AROUND LONG ISLAND, which was brought back in September of 2010 after being dormant for over 25 years, to honor one of the “Father’s of the Sport” of offshore racing and the creator of Donzi, Magnum, Formula, and Cigarette powerboats. The race produced a winner, Joe DeFusco, who completed the course in 6 hours and 15 minutes in his 30’ Sonic, and ignited interest within a fraternity of dedicated speedboat racers. Fast forward to last year’s “one-off” Record Run by Stu Hayim of Long Island, NY in his Class I MTI catamaran with 2,600 HP of Merc Power, the “Ferrari-Maserati Special”, Stu was able to establish a new open-class record of 2 hours and 11 minutes for the run and in doing so, raised close to $100,000.00 through pledges for his dedicated charity, “The Don Monti Memorial Cancer Research Foundation” of Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

In an endurance event where only 15% of the entrants are able to complete the entire course, Matthew has chosen a hi-tech, 37’ Hustler Talon catamaran equipped with twin 750 HP Cobra engines mated to B-Max outdrives. While the boat is capable of a 130 mph maximum speed, averaging 100 mph will be the objective to carry him and crew up Long Island Sound, around Orient Point, around Montauk Point, down the Atlantic Ocean, around the Rockaways, up the Hudson River, up the East River, and back on Long Island Sound to Buoy #32A, the Start/Finish Line off of Greenwich, CT. Extra gas tanks have been added to the boat to make it a non-stop event.

While Wednesday, September 18th is the target date, a window of time through September 24th has been reserved in case of inclement sea conditions. GPS transponders are placed on Matthew’s boat and a live webcast will take place at www.nationalpowerboat.com by means of Kattack Performance applications. Past event statistics are available at: www.nationalpowerboat.com/around-long-island-2.htm