Spring is in full bloom, and boaters aren’t hesitating to take advantage of it. Central Missouri was no exception with powerboat owners flocking to last weekend’s Fun Run on the Lake of the Ozarks. The event, hosted by the Osage Beach-based Performance Boat Center, was blessed with sunny weather following spring showers in the morning. And thank god it was, because otherwise the ladies you see above may not have graced the water with their presence.
Helmed by Mark Waddington, a partner of Performance Boat Center, the 52 ft. Outerlimits pictured houses twin Mercury 1350 engines and was a fitting stage for the photo with its sleek, smooth form. Though it’s hard to rival a boat like that, models from Cigarette Racing, Fountain Powerboats, Skater Powerboats and more were also spotted on the water.
Brett Manire, one of the owners of the performance boat dealership/service/parts one-stop-shop said that he counted over 30 boats, including Fountains, Outerlimits, and Skater boats they had previously sold to happy customers. Considering they prepared to feed over 150 mouths at this Fun Run, we’re eager to see what other events Performance Boat Center has in store for its Redhead Yacht Club marina complex when its Redhead Restaurant & Pool Bar reopens in the summer.
For now, stay tuned for the Lake Race on June 5th – Performance Boat Center is the chief sponsor and generously supplying boats for the event. Then, the 2015 Cigarette Racing Team Rendezvous follows a couple weeks later, the first official Cigarette owners only event on the lake. We can’t wait to see what else they have in store.
Here’s the second in our new series, PBN Profiles, in which we showcase notable figures in the world of powerboating.
Myrick Coil is a man who wears many hats. He is a mechanic, shop foreman at Missouri’s renowned Performance Boat Center, multiple World Champion offshore boat racer, avid fisherman, Speedboat Magazine test team driver, loving husband to Missi, and father of four small children.
Originally from Mackinaw, IL, Coil moved to the Lake of the Ozarks in 2000. He was working as a swimming pool installer and electrician on grain elevators in Central Illinois when a friend got him interested in the world-famous Shootout. The experience left him so enthusiastic about powerboating that he vowed to do whatever it took to get involved in that world. So it was off to tech school, where he took up studies at a marine training facility called the Lake Career and Technical Center in Camdenton. While in school, he also worked on a variety of boats and engines at a shop called Advanced Marine. Upon completing his education on all boat and engine types—and doing extremely well—he competed in a Vocational Institute Clubs of America competition in mechanics and took first place in the national division.
During his stint at Advanced Marine, Coil got his first taste working on performance boats—Fountains, Skaters, and even some boats powered by Sterling engines. “The go-fast stuff was really the most exciting to me, but I’d get those in between bass boats and runabouts. It really did help to broaden my knowledge across the scale,” he says. During this era, Coil’s bosses included Matt Patterson and Steve Wallace. “They really took me under their wing,” Coil recalls. “Steve Wallace is still one of the best mechanics I’ve ever worked with, and Dave Scott was one of their customers.”
Working on Dave Scott’s boats proved to be a major turning point in Coil’s career. In the early 2000s, Scott owned a Sterling-powered pleasure boat—a 36’ Skater called Nauti Girl—that could go 180+ mph. Working with Coil, Scott decided to build a canopy-powered Skater to run in the shootouts, and maybe the occasional race. That boat attracted the attention of Anheuser-Busch, which offered Scott an opportunity to campaign it in offshore racing’s Extreme class.
With Scott’s star on the rise—and a growing number of boats to service and care for at his Nauti Marine facility, including Skaters, MTIs and a C5000 Mystic—he needed a full-time team member to put in charge of it all. “We were just constantly doing stuff,” Coil says. “Even though I was still really green, he invited me aboard as a full-time team member to take care of the boats.” Scott would eventually go on to become the world’s fastest offshore driver, his Budweiser Select teams sponsored by Anheuser-Busch. So Coil made the jump from Advanced Marine (with their blessing) to Scott’s Nauti Marine facility.
Coil started out as a crew member on Dave Scott’s fleet, meeting numerous current and future offshore superstars along the way. One of them was John Tomlinson, who had launched his own offshore career in 1986 and whose list of speed records, national and world titles is seemingly endless. Coil worked hard to prove himself, and the team quickly took notice of his abilities. “So they’d give me bigger and bigger jobs, and when their crew chief left to work in the NASCAR circuit, they moved me to crew chief.”
Working closely with a crew that included Lowell Bodenbach, Mike Powell and Clinton Milas, the team took care of Scott’s fleet for years. “We won a lot of world titles and national titles,” Coil says. “Eventually, as Dave got older and wanted to get out of the boat, he started putting me in there with Johnny every once in awhile. A lot of the time, people didn’t realize that I was the driver. But I really didn’t care, because I just thought it was so cool being in one of the baddest boats on the planet.” Back then, Coil was in his late 20s and participating in both the Superboat International (SBI) and Offshore Super Series (OSS) groups. “OSS really had it going on back then in the SuperCat class,” he recalls.
Crucial to Coil’s success was learning from a wide range of talented individuals, from Scott, Tomlinson, Bodenbach and Milas to folks like Peter Hledin of Skater Boats, John Cosker of Mystic Powerboats, Gary Stray at MTI, Randy Scism of MTI, Mike Thomas (Tomlinson’s partner at TNT Marine), Mike D’Anniballe of Sterling Engines, Chris Hanley (“a great fiberglass and carbon-fiber guy”) and many team members at Mercury Racing. “You meet all these people and you learn a little bit from all of them,” Coil says. “Then you can start to use their knowledge because they’ve opened your mind or different things.”
In 2008, the economy took a nosedive, and the team lost its major sponsor, Anheuser-Busch, when the company got sold. So the team focused on their service work at Nauti Marine, where their customers included owners of bass boats, as well as a few high-end customers like racer (and Anheuser-Busch heir) August Busch IV and his amazing array of go-fast machines. “For a little shop, we had a lot of cool boats there,” Coil says.
In 2014, Mark Waddington and Brett Manire, who had launched Performance Boat Center in Osage Beach, MO, the year before, needed some more skilled service people to join their team. Coil demurred, being loyal to Dave Scott, but then a deal was struck to buy out Nauti Marine—including the property, the assets and the employees. It was a giant step forward for Coil, who not only helped PBC grow its business, but rejuvenated his offshore racing career. “I think I started working here in December, and in February, Mark Waddington said, ‘Hey, what do you think about going racing again?’ I said, ‘Oh, that’d be cool!’ It had never been mentioned during the whole purchase. I was just going to be one of the service guys.”
Coil’s 2015 was a banner year: he not only launched his legendary stint racing the brand-new 388 Skater Performance Boat Center/Jimmy John’s (initially throttling with driver Lance Sutton), but winning the Top Gun award at the LOTO Shootout, driving Don Onken’s American Ethanol Mystic to 208 mph with Mystic owner John Cosker on the sticks.
With Coil driving the 388 Skater and Tomlinson on throttles—and with unending support from crew members Greg Hillmer, Dave McInytre and Craig Amptmeyer—the team would earn back-to-back World Championship titles in 2016 and 2017, along with three consecutive National titles.
After campaigning the Skater for three full years, Performance Boat Center discontinued selling Skater and took on MTI as a new dealer line. PBC is also a dealer for Sunsation, Cigarette, Tiara Yachts and Princecraft pontoons. A few years ago, PBC also joined forces with Melbourne, FL-based Doug Wright Designs to create a new muscleboat line known as Wright Performance, first launching a 360 cat, followed by a 420.
With MTI and Wright Performance in the mix, it was time to shake things up on the race course. First, the company had a new 42’ MTI catamaran (also called Performance Boat Center/Jimmy John’s) with crew chief Greg Hillmer for the 2019 season, racing OPA’s APBA Championship Series in Super Cat class and finishing the season in the third-place position.
Then, as if breaking in one new boat weren’t enough, Coil also spent the current season dialing in another new hull with crew chief Andy Sanders: the 32’ Wright Performance hull Performance Boat Center/Auto Alert, with rookie driver Rusty Williams (his PBC coworker) at the wheel and Coil and throttles. The first season out yielded impressive success for a new team in a new boat: winning the National Title in the APBA Championship Series.
After racing for a full year in “double duty” mode, Coil doesn’t regret doing it for a minute. “I never felt fatigued to the point of saying, ’This is stupid. Why do I do it?’ After the end of the race day, I could tell I was more tired, but during the race I never felt like I was jeopardizing how good I could do. Test days were probably the toughest, because you’re working out problems, and you keep hopping from one boat to the other six different times. But I’m a guy who lives and breathes boats, whether it’s a bass boat or one of the fastest boats in the world.”
Coil says he has relished the experience of being part of the Performance Boat Center team with Waddington and Manire. “It’s been an enormous thrill,” Coil says. “And now I’m also working closely with the Wright Performance crew as well, including Doug Wright Sr. and Doug Wright Jr. It’s really a dream come true.”
A couple of years ago, Speedboat Magazine invited Coil to join its test-team crew, so the last few rounds of boat tests have included valuable input from him and his co-pilot, Teague Custom Marine owner and fellow World Champion offshore racer Bob Teague.
“At first, it was very exotic going to Havasu,” Coil says. “I wasn’t used to going there, and I rarely get to run the West Coast-style boats at the Lake of the Ozarks. One of things that really made an impression on me was how professional Ray Lee and his crew were doing all of the prep work, like setting up the tent, and arranging for all of the boats to be ready at 6 a.m. There’s all this stuff that the readers of the magazine never see. You just look at photos of the boat and think, ‘How fast did it go?’ But we’re literally running boats from sunup until we just can’t go anymore. I really enjoy it.”
The girls of PBC: Missi Coil, Jessica Moore (Rusty Williams’ girlfriend) and Rachel Waddington (Mark’s wife)
Coil gives an appreciative shout-out to Missi, his wife, the love of his life and his biggest fan. “She’s amazing for putting up with everything I do,” he says. Together, they have four kids: Preston, 11; Kennadie, 7; Jaxon, 5; and Camden, 1.
The Tres Martin Performance Boat School is at full throttle, since 2004 Tres and I have provided our instructional designed, “Hands on” training programs to a few thousand participants and we are now in the middle of our busiest year ever. We have grown these instructional designed curriculums to a much broader market covering all boat types. The Center Console Performance Course now accounts for about one third of our annual course load and we are now presenting our yacht training program. This program enables new yacht owners the ability to operate without a professional crew with much greater confidence and exceeds the insurance requirements which only require a dictated number of hours of operation by a U. S. Coast Guard licensed master but do not require prescriptive or defined human performance criteria. In April of this year the course was presented to two yacht owners in California, a 65 Princess in San Diego and another new F55 Princess in San Francisco. These new programs provide in depth coverage of everything onboard and beyond safety provide the operational skills which allow these new owners to maximize the enjoyment of the boats with much greater confidence as a result of their ability to perform the skills sets required to navigate the boats from quick day trips to extended voyages.
We are also now set to grow our commercial operations beyond the current U.S. Navy program to local, state, and Federal Law Enforcement as well as small combatant craft in other countries.
The center console craze; In October of 2016 I was again asked to speak at the Fort Lauderdale Mariners Club, this is the annual mass gathering of marine insurance executives from around the world which coincides with the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. The theme for this 27th session was ” What was old is new again” and this was perfect for the discussion around center consoles and multi outboard powered watercraft. In the late 1980’s large new outboards brought a surge in new large center consoles; the Donzi F33, Scarab Sports, Cigarette 33 Open, and many more. While center consoles have always been a strong market as non-fishing sport boats in Florida, Caribbean, and The Bahamas this new push has really put the pendulum hard over. With today’s new higher horsepower outboards, the ability to load 10 or more souls aboard and run in the 80’s is easily attainable, this now has the senior level executives in the insurance industry paying attention because they have seen in the dramatic increase in losses and while not highly publicized these losses are happening. The BLUF (bottom line upfront) is the multiple of lives onboard along with higher speeds increase the risk exposure and the executives responsible to establish underwriting rules are looking for ways to mitigate these risks and engineered experiential training has proven to be a very good option.
Technology and innovation rule our world and I lean way forward to look for any new tech to make boating safer. But no matter what tech brings, absolutely nothing is more complex than the human in charge and advancements in how we engineer and develop the man to machine interface must be improved. Charles Darwin said “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” In my world, this is the science of Human Performance and as an instructional designer our ability to improve the operational competencies, situational awareness, and proper action in the human operator onboard is true innovation in boating safety. Don’t forget the most remarkable and advanced ship in the world with sophisticated propulsion control and navigation systems can make a “Crazy Ivan Turn” hit a rock near an island and sink, until singularity is fully achieved the human is always responsible.
Stay tuned for more news from the Performance Boat School as we continue to expand our courses.
Since 2004, the Tres Martin Performance Boat School has been providing students the ability to go well beyond knowledge and bring actual measurable skills to the operation of their powerboats. Some of the unintentional by products of this instructional process have resulted in high retention rate and the procession to bigger and faster boats.
Tres Martin along with Brad Schoenwald have instructed thousands of powerboaters, from seasoned operators with lots of sea time to brand new operators as well as US Navy Special Warfare and U.S. Coast Guard operators.
The range of the type powerboats has also expanded since the beginning. Today the school has courses for small runabouts all the way up to 75′ Yacht where the owners intend to operate without professional crews.
Recently, one very happy customer produced a video of his boat running in his first Poker Run just after completing the High Performance Course. Matt Soper recently bought this straight bottom CIGARETTE Top Gun with big power and SSM #6 Drives. He said at the conclusion of this run everyone at the dock couldn’t believe he could run as fast as he did but also as comfortable as he did in what was otherwise uncomfortable Lake Michigan water. Matt’s answer was simple but strong.
The fun and excitement just keeps getting better! In this episode, we’re in for round three at the 2017 Miami Boat Show. After checking out the AMG–Cigarette 50 Marauder and testing out the awesome 426 SKATER from Performance Boat Center, we’re back on the water with a 32 Sunsation CCX. putting this super popular model through it paces. And we must say this versatile center console blew us away!
The 32 Sunsation CCX, rigged with twin 350 Mercury Verados is an amazingly solid boat. With a quick on-plane and slow planing speed of just 12 MPH, to a top speed of 75 MPH, this ultra versatile boat is hard to beat. Tres Martin designed the bottom and with its wider strakes and overlapping step design it really handles all water conditions really well. The deep, full stand-up center console cabin gives owners plenty of room to stow gear and even Remain Overnight (RON).
2017 continues to provide Powerboat Nation with more and more opportunities to deliver to you what has made us the leader in exclusive action packed, made-for-television content. While our editorial team is still bringing you the hottest happenings daily, we are most excited to share with you the true experiences of the boats as well as show you the sights and sounds of what its like to actually be there.
We hope you enjoy the ride and maybe get a couple of laughs along the way. Stay tuned!
Powerboat Nation is smashing through all barriers of the performance power boating world connectivity. On February 8th of this year we proudly announced we had reached the 20,000 fan mark on Facebook. (Read Here), and today we broke right through the 100,000 mark as we continue to blow everyone away within this space of power boating, as well as in other aspects of the industry.
Why? It’s the fact we socially interact and communicate with more boaters than any other entity and have multi platformed our entire presence which includes active participation in the very thing we represent. Powerboat Nation is the only online boating media enterprise that owns a boat, actually goes boating, suffers the same hurdles and obstacles as our readers do, and we have a full time staff behind the scenes dedicated to powerboating only. More and more readers look to us for the latest in power boating news and information.
Just three and a half years ago, when we launched Powerboat Nation we knew then we needed to be different. We knew the media world was vastly different from the past and tomorrow’s customer would demand a different experience. That experience needed to develop a community where enthusiasts could share their boating experiences, likes, and dislikes without being crucified as was taking place in the old world of the fading and viscous forums. At PBN we didn’t let the patients run the insane asylum we managed the house and provided a welcoming experience not seen anywhere else.
As of late, the struggle and now almost inability for the powerboating world to attract new, younger customers has become a huge challenge. The major changes to modern media has been something the powerboating world had been resistant to as well as slow to adapt to on all levels. PBN’s ability to recognize change and continually be ahead of the curve has allowed us to dominate the industry on every level and bring the world of powerboating to a much larger and broader audience.
With the challenge of an entry level boat costing upwards of $200K, it is an even larger challenge to bring in new customers and keep them. The wake board or tow boat market is on fire, producing over 25 boats A WEEK, with an entry price of $100K. With the aggressive marketing of this segment, they have been pummeling performance power boating by attracting new boat owners with great value for the boating experience. We knew that in order to bring the excitement of the sport we love to new people of younger generations, we would have to be a company that lives in the now and not the past. For our sport, keeping a larger audience is vital to any chance of sustainability and how we are able to attract new buyers to this world is the key to much larger success for everyone.
The experience and support of our advertisers across our multi-platform media packages and social media is just one part of our winning consumer experience. We couldn’t have done it alone! We are extremely grateful to our legions of loyal supporters who have rode along with us this far and are sure to be around when we hit the next bench mark years ahead of everyone else!
Our local offshore racing club, OPBRA, short for Offshore Power Boat Racing Association, was formed in 1963 as an alternative to the Bahamas Powerboat Group. The Bahamas group was owned and operated by Sherman F. “Red” Crise, a cranky sumbitch who was very successful in sucking money out of the Bahamas Government, and keeping it. We all owe him a big “Huzzah” for starting up international offshore racing in 1956, with the first Miami-Nassau offshore powerboat race. I have always felt that the coincidence of my arrival in South Florida at that exact moment was more than chance, but I haven’t found any evidence to back it up.
The new club was wildly successful. Literally every offshore racing participant in the world was a dues paying member, and we created two new offshore races immediately. First was the Miami to Key West race, always held in November, when the winter winds were usually howling from the north, then the Sam Griffith Memorial race in February for the same reason. We could have used a club psychiatrist to find out why everyone pretended that they enjoyed getting the crap beaten out of themselves on a regular basis. In all fairness, I didn’t see that much leather or whips and chains…..
It turns out that managing a race was a real pain in the ass, and that Red Crise did it because he was being paid copious amounts of Bahamian cheese, which, of course, he stashed, since his races at that time did not pay a cent. We paid him for the privilege. Other venues sprung up around the country and the world, and each one made our club just a bit less important. The new racing groups were as enthusiastic as we once were, and finally, the club just wasn’t viable any more. We even elected Sammy James, a known hoot, as president. Although Sammy was a top guy in everything offshore, he couldn’t seem to re-light the flame either. Sammy and I were having a beer after on OPBRA meeting, and he collared me and said “Brownie, what shall we do? We don’t have a club-managed race anymore. Membership is way off, dues are off. I am at a loss at what to do”. Fortunately, I had been drinking during the entire meeting with David Gillmore, Paul Clauser, Don Pruett, Jake Trotter and Jim Breuil, most of us on the Board of Directors. One of us said “Sammy, how much do we have in the treasury?” “About $3500”. I said, “Screw it, let’s drink it up!” The place brightened up immediately. We built on that terrific idea, and came up with a “Fun Ocean Race” from Miami to Islamorada, with the finish line at the famous “Sunset Inn”. The owners were friends of mine, and my family and I had spent dozens of weekends there, enjoying the Keys. They had a private island there, on the bay, that was to be our party site. Rules for the race were “Run what you brung”, and club membership was required. Entries and new or re-fluffed memberships in the club soared. I do not recall the total number of entries, but do recall that we had 54 finishers, probably still a record for an offshore race.
We took enough booze to the island to knock the hard spots off the entire middle keys. For the first time, I saw Goombay Smashes being prepared in 30 gallon barrels, two of them, stirred by oars. Sammy decorated the men’s room door with an 8 x 10 photo of Don Aronow’s face, just below the word “MEN”. We had prepared 60 or 80 identical trophies, black on mahogany plaques, that said “Miami-Islamorada Powerboat Race. 1969. Winner”. We presented every finisher (and good looking girl) a trophy, except the winner, Billy McDonald, who received nothing. Billy had driven his 18’ Donzi with Mark “Big Dirty” Raymond. Neither was very adept at navigating, and I suppose they also won the Miami- Lower Matecumbe Race and a few others before they stopped.
One of the entrants was Roger Hanks, in his shiny new Nova 24’ pleasure boat. He never located the starting line, and we didn’t see him again for several weeks. He apparently liked the experience, as he took his Nova to the Offenhauser guys in California and got it all fluffed up. He later bought several 36’ Cigarettes, all named “Blondie”. He introduced tuned, stainless steel exhaust headers and a number of other important improvements to offshore racing in general. He has a permanent place in the colorful history of offshore racing as the guy who stuck his 36’ Cigarette “Blondie”, right through a 41’ Hatteras check boat, apparently knocking a lady right off the John in the forward stateroom.
My entry in the race was new 19’ Nova runabout with a big Chrysler V8 on Vee drive. For crew, I carried my wife, Deanna, famous racing throttleman Harold “Smitty” Smith, Delta Airlines pilot, “Pornographic Bob” Stothard, my dear friend Curt “Redneck” Leggett, and Sandy Chisholm, son of Donzi Marine President, Tim Chisholm. Leggett had brought a big bottle of rum. I was an American Power Boat Association Vice President, and I informed him that we would be disqualified if the rum was found on the boat. We were afraid to throw it overboard, being tree-huggers and all, so we drank it. Sandy was about 16 or 17 years old, and a couple of slammers did him in immediately. Upon our arrival, we had to hide him from his dad, who had ridden down in Jake Trotter and Jim Breuil’s 27’ Magnum. Leggett carried him around like a briefcase, leaving him behind bushes and such, until he sobered up.
The party lasted two days and nights, and near the end, was totally staffed by strangers who had just wandered by. The Lorelei Bar, a couple of blocks down the street, had their worst weekend ever. The OPBRA went into remission, and lasted another 20 years.
Mark Fischer has been a friend and fellow boating companion for years. Mark used to have other brands build his boats for him and now for a few years he has been building boats for others as the owner of Blackwater boats and Ocean Hawk. Mark and is wife Eileen are also the owners of the uber-successful Offlease Only car dealerships.
For sometime now the Miami rumor mill has been swirling about the opportunity of Deep Impact being for Sale. At the Lake Lanier Poker Run I spoke to Mark about it and kindly asked to keep it quite and he would call me to let me know when it was cool to let it out, but he had already at that time done the deal to acquire Deep Impact. He was running his 399 Deep Impact Poker Run Edition at Lake Lanier.
“Deep Impact was always one of my favorite brands,” Fischer said in a statement. “The opportunity to combine the customized beauty of Deep Impact with the fit and finish of Blackwater was like a dream come true.”
Mark owns the Blackwater and Ocean Hawk boat lines. The 33 Ocean Hawk’s are the familiar 33 Opens that were formally branded as Cigarettes as well as Ocean Hawks and were the first real Cigarette center consoles. The boats are fast and fit perfect with the Miami Powerboating Lifestyle. Blackwater fishing boats are tough, rugged and have incredible their fit and finish, quality construction and meticulous attention to detail. Ocean Hawk boats are associated with speed and pleasure cruising.
The Deep Impact production will be moved to the Blackwater facility here in Miami and all boats will be offered through Marks boat dealership BoatsDirect USA.
Mark and Eileen are certainly the couple to make this move. The are incredible business people, active boaters, and Mark definitely knows what it takes to build a great boat and make it work for every type of boating lifestyle.
When you own a performance powerboat a proper hauler is a usual additional requirement. The extent owners go to make their boat haulers unique and custom varies greatly and some pull out all the stops to make them unique.
For Michael and Nikki Pierce who own a one of kind 45 Cigarette Maximus they did in fact pull out all the stops to make their Freightliner Hauler something special.
The first step of this great transformation was the interior which has an incredible JL Audio stereo, integrated I-Pad, and a CNC Illuminations LED Sign integrated into the console.
Next step was a custom wrap to match the boat. This job was handled by , Geaux Signs & Graphics of Gonzales, Louisiana. The wrap has special reflective logo’s that brightly reflect in bright yellow shades when illuminated and does an outstanding job replicating the boats paint theme.
Remote door locks, custom led lights, and other cool details were the work of KINGPIN AUTOSPORTS also of Gonzales, Louisiana.
A lot of thought and work went into this truck and it came out great. PowerBoatNation is very thankful for the recognition incorporated into the theme on the tailgate.
Like they say all things are BIGGER in Texas and The Texas Outlaw Challenge was no exception as it was BIG. Powerboat Nation took part in the Texas Outlaw Challenge this past weekend with 180 registered boats from all over the country experiencing this four day boating sensation and display of thousands of horsepower!
Starting out in Baton Rouge I was very very lucky to join Team Maxed Out for the journey to Kemah. These guys roll like rock stars rolling in a FreightLiner hauler towing a one of a kind CIGARETTE MAXIMUS plus their very our own limo for the girls set the bar even higher. The trip started out as a usual boating adventure with blown trailer tires and then a completely unexpected Limo tire failure. A quick onsite tire change and we all loaded back up for the hard charge on into Kemah, TX.
Thursday nights street party was a sight with boats, cars, and bikes on display at the Kemah, Boardwalk and a few crazy Outlaw parties around town. Friday’s shootout gave everyone who wanted to the opportunity to show just how fast they could run. Vern Gilbert and Gary Smith took the win with the 176 MPH pass in the 1991 SKATER“Predator”. Outlaw Win
TEAM MAXED OUT hosting PBN aboard took off for Kenny Armstrong’s home for an extraordinary pool party. I would estimate 120 boats, 100 cars, 2 helicopters and too many people to count took over the place and enjoyed the over the top hospitality of a true fun loving powerboating enthusiasts and all around great guy. I am not sure we can thank Kenny enough for opening his home to so many. I probably don’t have to mention this because it is so obvious but the girls on this run…. This has to be the best gathering of the most beautiful girls at one boating event anywhere!
Fridays run was another great showing of on water performance with a open start to run to all the cards stops and enjoy yet another pool party at the lunch stop.
The Texas Outlaw Challenge is certainly an event to put on your list. The effort led by Paul and Arlette is truly remarkable as they have put together something very special. Boats, cars, bikes, fireworks, logistics for trailers, motor coaches, docking, hotels, and the support of the local community. We had nothing but great help from law enforcement, local business owners and other event supporters. They even provided a police escort to bring the boat into the parking lot.
Another great event with great people!
I cant thank our Poker Run Hosts enough, TEAM MAXED OUT Michael and Niki Pierce, Nate and Robin Michel along with Heidi Esquivel, Jessica Lynn Sullivan and Peanut Butter! Thank you guys so much for supporting Powerboat Nation and helping us bring this event to those who couldn’t make the trip.
Powerboat Nation proudly welcomes PIER 57 on board as our newest Advertiser / Sponsor. Pier 57 is one of the most recognized giant performance boat dealerships and full service centers in the USA today. Pier 57’s reputation has been built on providing thousands of power boaters with boats as well as every boating need from the bow to well beyond the stern.
A lot of people have come and gone in the boating industry but the true test are of the leaders. The people that build more than a sales relationship but a true customer experience. These are the people that customers continue to come back to time and time again. This is not a sales pitch but a mere recognition to Pier 57 team as they continue to change the way modern boat ownership happens in today’s world. I personally have a number of friends who have bought and sold with PIER 57 and they have consistently provided top level service and shown the highest professionalism and integrity. But best of all, Pier 57 is committed to make the boating environment prosper, grow, and provide the level of excitement that makes their customers enjoy boating to the fullest. For that were really proud to have Pier 57 acknowledge the Powerboat Nation commitment to the sport and excitement that we bring to the industry.
We need to clarify something here and that is that not all boat buying experiences are the same. Some people just sell boats like some people sell perishable goods, as once its gone its gone. Pier 57 is the modern era of boat buying and ownership. Through the result of combining both Pier 57 and and Shogren Performance Marine, Scott Shogren’s vision of bringing the same consumer experience found at a modern premium level automotive dealership could be experienced in their facility in Waukegan, IL and alternate location in Tennessee
To be the best you need to sell the best and Pier 57 is the official dealer of the iconic Cigarette Racing Team brand of custom V-bottom sportboats and center consoles as well as the renowned Marine Technology, Inc., catamaran series. In addition to selling new models from Cigarette and MTI, Pier 57 carries the largest inventory of pre-owned, fully inspected performances boats in the world from almost every major builder.
Besides sales, Pier 57 operates an award-winning service center (Mercury Marine and Mercury Racing certified) as well as offering brokerage, consignment, full concierge, transportation service, and pre-owned boat inspection/certification and restoration.
Pier 57 prides themselves on the TEAM of professionals who work to make Pier 57 the very best.
Again we want to thank the folks at Pier 57 but most of all we look forward to sharing with you all that’s happening with Pier 57 so stay tuned as no one is more in touch with the pulse of powerboating than PowerBoatNation.com
In Miami cigarette style boats are seen gliding across the water at high speeds and moored to waterfront establishments being admired by the public at every turn. There is one King of Boat Art in Miami, Richy “Rich”Lucente. Rich has been applying art to boats, cars and bikes for years. Some of the best pieces he has created have been done when he hasn’t been working at a JOB but while he is on “Free Time”. While employed as the house painter at Cigarette Racing for 3 ½ years and at Fountain for 3 years he had to stay on script, but when he was free to be fully creative and apply art is when things really came alive.
Leave it to Richy to add a new dynamic to the world of cigarette boats! Rich helps boat owners differentiate themselves by painting customized designs that are sure to catch everyone’s attention. The arduous process of painting these boats can sometimes take weeks to months, but the results are nothing short of astounding. This is because Richy is meticulous in his work and second to none in quality.
For over 20 years Richy has been doing customized art for his clients. From boats to oil paintings, his artwork is both visually stunning and thought provoking. Ranked in the top ten up and coming artists by Powerboat magazine in 2005, Rich has broken all artistic boundaries by transcending traditional artistic genres, all while amassing a portfolio of artwork that spans across a variety of mediums.
Rich is different than regular boat painters in his approach, customer service, and artistic quality. Using a consultative style, Rich assesses the needs and desires of his clients, gathers all of the information and styling cues needed to design the piece. Then he works with the customer through the entire artistic process, providing updates and receiving feedback. Finally, Rich applies his artistic talent to create innovative and customized pieces of art that delights his clients. The style Quality and customer enthusiasm can be found nowhere else. Currently Richy is doing the art on a 47 Apache in Pompano Beach, Florida. Anyone can paint your boat. Only one guy can make your boat art.
See the work here:
47 Apache currently in canvas and being readied for this scheme:
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