Hurricane Sandy left a $650 Million bill for the 65,000 boats lost or damaged in the great storm. Sandy surpassed Irene as the most destructive Hurricane since Insurer BoatUS started keeping records in 1966. Last Years major Hurricane Irene racked up $500 Million in damages, while previous hurricanes Wilma and Katrina together caused $700 million in damages. Most of the damage was centered around the Tri-State area in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Nearly 60,000 of the damaged boats came from this area, the remainder came from other areas on the eastern seaboard and the Great Lakes area.

Scott Croft of BoatUS had this to say: “Like we said before – we’ve never seen anything like it, Sandy was such a huge geographic area — 900 to 1,000 miles wide at one point. The topography of where the storm hit the hardest played a major role. The lowlands in the tri-state area have little elevation above high tide. So when you take that topography and combine it with a record surge of 14 feet there was no place for those boats to go except up off their blocking and out of their cradles and into yards, other marinas and neighborhoods.”

The storm struck at lunar high tide which allowed for a massive tidal surge, which set records in many places, including Lower Manhattan where it rose to 13.8 Feet, 4 feet higher than the previous record. The extra high surge was responsible for most of the damage, as is typical in most hurricanes. Many of the boats damaged were set up for winter with their drains unplugged which led to their ultimate demise as they got floated in the storm surge, took on water and sank. The one silver lining to this disaster is the work that will need to be done to rebuild, repair and replace boats lost in the storm will help jump start the boating industry.

View the Thread of Sharkey-Images Sandy Photos

Fineline Industries Inc., producers of Centurion Boats, has announced the acquisition of Ski Supreme Boats. Fineline Industries will begin immediate production of all current and new Supreme boat orders.

Les Clark, vice president of manufacturing, said, “It is an exciting time of growth for the Fineline family as we welcome Supreme back to the factory floor. There’s a rich heritage of Supreme in this factory!” From 1994 until 2009, Fineline Industries manufactured Supreme alongside its Centurion brand in its Merced, Calif., factory. The existing 2013 Supreme lineup will again be coupled with Fineline’s commitment to building boats with the highest degree of quality craftsmanship, attention to detail, fit and finish.

Fineline Industries will market Supreme boat models as a separate brand. Centurion and its divisions, including World Championship Towboats and the Commercial Flight Division, producers of water taxis and parasail boats, will continue to be marketed separately.

Since the 1970s, Centurion Boats has pioneered tow sports and continues to lead the industry with towboat technology and innovation. Rick Lee, president of Fineline Industries, said, “Introducing our innovation practices, efficiencies in manufacturing, best-in-class warranty and customer service will translate to immediate value to our existing and future Supreme owners. The entire organization is committed to building strength in the Supreme brand by holding these new boats to the highest degree of Fineline’s standards and quality.”

News from Dave Hemmingson

Congratulations to the whole crew at DCB!

Message from Dave:

170 PLUS FIRST DAY AND STILL GOING LOTS LEFT IN HER , BEING EASY ON HER STILL NEW , PERFECT AT ALL SPEEDS !!!! ABSOULTE HOME RUN

The Silver Arrows Marine 46-foot luxury motoryacht is a sight to behold. Taking style from Mercedes-Benz luxury automobiles – This first Gran turismo of the seas has come another step closer to launch after its first sea trials were successfully completed.

“This was an exciting moment for Silver Arrows Marine and I am pleased to say the boat showed all the potential we expected, and more,” Silver Arrows Marine CEO Jacopo Spadolini said in a statement. “The boat looked solid, powerful and like nothing else afloat.”

The sea trials provided the first taste of how this new hull performs in a variety of trim, load and sea states. To get the bet possible information, high-tech data acquisition techniques were employed, with the results providing a basis for future development work. Since this is a project that merges the marine and automotive worlds, many of the techniques used, including automotive-style data acquisition, that have their origins in motor racing.

Silver Arrows Marine engineering director Giorgio Stirano, who has run with Formula One motor racing teams, said in a statement: “Boats are not racing cars, but to use F1-style telemetry for data logging makes a great deal of sense. With equipment such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, along with GPS positioning, we have been able to build up a good picture of the boat’s abilities.”

The prototype used in the sea trials is an not finished, it features an open hull and lacks the distinctive superstructure. The final model, with its many new design features, will be part of the finished yacht. The trials included an offshore “racing circuit” complete with virtual corners so that comparable lap times could be taken to gauge how different setups affected the boat’s performance, handling and comfort.

Insurance is a large and important part of our Powerboat life. Powerboat Nation now has the credible STAFF of Total Dollar Insurance onboard to guide us all through the myriad of insurance options and issues that come up. So now we can enjoy the colorful online antics of Mr. Sy Goldberg in addition to having the entire firm as a information resource for Powerboat Nation members. Under the Leadership of Arthur Buhr III, Total Dollars’ Full Throttle Program brings an experienced and versatile staff of marine insurance experts. TOTAL DOLLARS boat department knows the difference between a Rhumb Line and a Dock Line. They insure all boats and yachts but have a particular specialty in the performance boat insurance with their Full Throttle Program.

Saturday Night December 15th in Fort Lauderdale a small group of PowerBoat Nation Boating enthusiasts gathered at a member’s intercoastal home to take part in the 41st Annual Fort Lauderdale “WINTERFEST” boat parade. This gathering reminded and reinforced my thoughts and feelings that the true spirit and enthusiasm for what we do is with the people we surround ourselves with. While the Boat, Bikes, and Cars initially bring us together, the people we share this with is what keeps us together and ultimately feeds the machine. I also believe many of the core companies in the powerboat world don’t really understand this well enough and could do a much better job growing Powerboating by investing in the boat owners that pay huge amounts of hard cash to keep the machine feeding.

2013 is fast approaching and sitting on the dock at during this holiday with some of my great friends who just happen to be powerboat enthusiasts reinforced my cup half full of great optimism. 2013 is going to be an incredible year. We look forward to spending the coming year celebrating with and supporting all of you enthusiasts that choose to roll with us.

General Colin Powell teaches us “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. We can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best.” And we will, next year for the 42nd Annual WINTERFEST boat parade I look forward to participate on the water as PowerBoat Nation with the 100 or so other powerboats that create such a wonderful holiday gathering.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas !

Powerboat Nation

More about Fort Lauderdale’s WINTERFEST boat parade:

The Celebration primarily involves a series of events scheduled for December. Florida residents and visitors eagerly anticipate WINTERFEST each year. The events make the holiday season come alive in sunny South Florida. The WINTERFEST Celebration has grown throughout the years to include the Winterfest Boat Parade, The Winterfest Black Tie Ball, the Shoreline Decorating Extravaganza, the Grand Marshal Reception, Winterfest White Party, Golf Tournament and many other receptions and events. Winterfest is recognized as the 7th largest spectator event in the country and the largest event in Florida based on number of attendees. The Parade attracts over one million parade spectators and is televised nationally to millions of homes. Winterfest has had an economic impact on Broward County of over $42 million per year.

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By knew and understood the science of propellers and who had the ability to break it down and explain it to the rest of us. After 12 years with Mercury Marine’s service department and managing Mercury Racing’s legendary propeller laboratory, Brett opened the doors of BBLADES Professional Propeller in 2004. Along with Bob Lucht, a 30 year propeller artist and veteran of both Kiekhaefer Aero Marine and Mercury Racing’s labs, BLADES offers 80 combined years of professional propeller design, boat set up, propeller sales, modifications, and repair.

Anderson and his staff are well known for offering propeller performance and set up diagnostics in a one-on-one phone analysis BBLADES has become the elite go-to propeller facility for the performance minded boating enthusiast. With over 9000 square feet of propeller laboratory, BBLADES has the knowledge and equipment to provide any applications with the products and set up information you need.

BBLADES carries the complete line of their own propellers as well as the full line of Mercury, Hering, Hydromotive, Turbo, Signature, Stilleto and Acme propeller as well as many accessories and hardware.

Now you have the opportunity to get all special propeller information you need , directly from the best. Ask the questions to PBN’s “Ask the Pro’s”

Before leaving California Power Boat Nation stopped by DCB and caught up with the crew while they were finishing up the final touches on the M41. Waiting for tailpipes and running the final speaker wire for the stereo is about all that remains for this High-Tech Carbon Fiber Epoxy Masterpiece.

Now I have always been partial to the attention to detail that has come from almost all of the West Coast shops. The gelcoat sparkles, the trailers are immaculate, the trucks, rhinos, and sand rails are all painted to match. The art for the most part has always been in the graphic applied to the outside of the boats.

This trip out to DCB – Well, when I REALLY looked at this new boat and listened closely to the passion and heartfelt “all in” commitment from Dave and his crew it finally hit me. The art at DCB is in the build and it always has been. I am convinced (and this is a huge statement coming from me) there is no other builder that puts attention to detail, into, attention to detail like they do. The tooling on this boat reflects in the finished product. When you look down the sides of this one color hull, you see perfectly flat lines and absolutely perfect reflections in the GelCoat. The sharp lines on all edges and contours are perfect and perfectly matched port to starboard. The measurable difference is not left to the eye but is actually measured and less than 20 thousandths corner to corner. This is a rack measurement that some builders can’t get within inches let alone 20 thousands of an inch. Class A surfacing typically found in the automotive process to verify the fit and exterior finish of Bugatti’s and other high end automobiles is exact and used to bring these spectacular results. Each nut, bolt, washer, and billet piece is thought out, sourced from the very best, and polished before it is goes in the boat. The custom tilt trailer from Lugo Manufacturing, Inc was sent down, fit tested and exercised perfectly and then send back for finishing.

The M41 has an LOA of 41′ 1″, the 10’10” beam, and 66 inch wide tunnel is deeper than the other two M boats and has wider sponsons. The front wing extension will provide greater compression and the boat will offer some cabin configuration options for customer preferences. I expect the M41 to run hard in water that some traditionalists would believe it can’t run in. I also believe the boat will produce great numbers with the installed Mercury Racing 1350’s Turbo Charged Engines and M8 drives.

When DCB hits Miami for the boat show in February I look forward to being able to rip down Biscayne Bay and give this West Coasts Masterpiece a proper introduction to the east coast scene. If my pressure and persistence is convincing enough they will stick around for the Florida Powerboat Clubs Miami Boat Show Poker Run and the high end Cat group will have a new leader taking the pack down to Islamorada.

Congratulations to the entire crew at DCB and the new owner. We also note the tooling for the new M29 is completed and look forward to the full line of M boats-M29,M31,M35,M41 from DCB

http://dcbperformanceboats.com