Velocity Powerboats, founded by industry-veteran and former offshore world champion Steve Stepp has been sold to a private Florida-based company, and the sale was finalized on Wednesday the 31st. Under the new owners, Stepp will stay at Velocity as a Design Consultant, using his veteran skills to continue to push Velocity concepts to new levels. The new owners, Brad Resch and Scott Tubbs are putting forward an expanded vision for Velocity, intending to broaden the companies horizon.
“Our direction and game plan right now is to diversify with a new model line for 2014 with some traditional models Velocity is known for plus some new models to expand into other segments of the industry,” said Resch. “Velocity has a great history and we don’t want to change that. The reality is that if we offer a broader line of boats, it will be better for our customers and better for us to grow as a company.”

Velocity’s 2014 product line will remain under the 40 foot mark, however expanding to the increasingly popular center console market will become one of the companies main directions. Plans are to utilize and modify current designs to bring this new line into fruition.

“The center console market is going to be a big part of our plan for 2014,” said Resch. “We want to combine some of these proven race hulls with the modern demands of center consoles, formulate the two and come up with new offerings. That’s really going to be the resurgence and growth of the company going forward.”

As part of the deal velocity will be relocating to a much larger 20,000 square foot facility in Sanford, FL, which will allow much more space for manufacturing, inventory and room to grow. Nearby Lake Monroe is just minutes away for ample testing grounds. The move is expected to begin at the end of August.

New owners Resch and Tubbs are passionate Boaters as well as capable businessmen. Resch has owned a number of boats including a Formula, Cobalt and a Baja. Resch has 25 years experience in his family’s Roofing supply business of which he is currently President. Tubbs has run a Cigarette 38′ Top Gun and has extensive Sales experience working for a number of fortune 500 companies.

“As both of us are avid boaters and also clearly understand what the market is demanding, we can take our concepts to Steve as he is the mastermind that can make it happen. He is the engineer that will take the design on paper and make it into a product,” said Resch.

Velocity Powerboats was founded by Stepp in the 1970’s. Stepp developed a number of innovations such as the Stepp Transom and Pad Bottom. According to the Velocity, the bottom was responsible for 10 to 15 mph gains over its competitors and in the early 1980s, Stepp partnered with Gene Whipp and officially broke the 100 mph mark in the APBA-sanctioned Kilo Races. After these impressive accomplishments the company made recent headlines with several race-bred entries including the new 390 SS that’s capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph.

Wherever you end up when you travel with your sportboat, careful preparation and planning are essential. As members of the “boating press,” we often dole out advice about boating safety and how everyone should listen to and apply our recommendations. But, do those of us who write about all this boating stuff really own boats and go boating? And when we do, do we take our own advice?

For as long as I can remember, I have been attracted to boats, boating, and reaching for the horizon as fast as I could get there— only to be attracted to the next horizon. For the most part I have succeeded in staying on the water. While my financial resources have limited how fast I have gone, I have been fortunate enough to maintain a fairly steady course afloat and so far—knock wood—I have been relatively trouble free.

I recently returned to Florida after completing a 7,125-mile cross-country boating odyssey. For whatever reason, I decided it would be a great adventure to trailer my ’01 Cigarette 38-foot sportboat with my ’01 Ford F-350 truck to the Northwest, down into California, then through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and so on, and finally back to Florida, my home state. Without question, my exposure to many different risks went up exponentially, and before I left, I recognized that I should properly prepare for this road trip to mitigate potential disasters before I departed. With prevention as the primary objective, we prepped the boat. Of course, I had just rebuilt both engines and all appeared to be good with primary power and drives, which were recently inspected. Now it was time to create a checklist to verify that all was operational onboard. Remember, accidents don’t just happen. The devil is always in the details. I went with the following list. Navigation lights, bilge bumps, and the anchor: All required safety equipment was checked before we left home and nicely stowed. Spare parts: If some is good, more is better. Water pumps, starters, header gaskets, fuel pumps, gasket material, plugs, and tools— we brought them all. Trailer safety: The idea of trailering anything more 7,000 miles justifiably had me thinking about the condition of my trailer. So I replaced all the wheel bearings, even if they didn’t need it, and the old ones went into the trailer toolbox for spares. New tires were installed as needed, and we carried four spares. The trailer brakes were checked, parts replaced as required, and everything checked and rechecked. The truck was serviced and received new brake pads and the addition of some extra gear to include emergency lights, markers, new bottle jacks, extra hitch balls, mounts, and straps. I also brought along extra trailer brake parts, just in case.

Traveling around the country and boating on different lakes, bays, and sounds presents challenges and potential safety pitfalls. I knew it wouldn’t look good for Sportboat’s safety expert to have an accident, so I was extra cautious and aware. Of the 30 days away on this trip, the boat was in the water for 15 of them. While we did experience some mechanical breakdowns with the boat, nothing was significant enough to cause more than about an hour’s delay.

Across the nation and, I suspect, the world, boat ramps tend to bring out the usual less-than-competent suspects and the calamities they create. To help prevent such unfortunate incidents, I always walked the ramp before I used it. A stepped-bottom boat can hang up on the trailer bunks, for example, and if you

are not careful, you can drive beyond the end of the ramp to get your boat wet enough to launch. The ramp I frequent near my home in Fort Lauderdale has had numerous calls to recover boat trailers that have gone beyond the end. All the power in the world will not bring the front axle up and over the final underwater curb. So I always looked for the end of the ramp, the structural quality of the adjacent dock, and the depth of water beyond the ramp. It’s also a great idea to check the tides or, on lakes, the water level, as well as the current.

Likewise, mooring in unfamiliar areas can bring unique challenges. One of my goals on this trip was to go boating, not to plan much in advance but just figure it out as we went. In many ways, I wanted to see how accessible and ready the infrastructure was to support boating. I learned quite a bit. The complimentary guest dock at the Port of San Francisco, for example, is a great dock in a great location. But the surge coming from San Francisco Bay was significant. Appropriately sized fenders, long spring lines, proper cleats, and hardware allowed us to safely and comfortably moor.

When we did experience a problem, both on the water and on the road, the severity of the problems was lessened because we had prepared. We had two trailer tire blowouts, one at the beginning of the trip and one near the end of it. Both were insignificant because we had a proper wrench, jack, and blocks at the ready, and we were able to change tires in no time. Unexpected issues did occur, of course. After leaving Lake Tahoe in Northern California, for example, I did the customary double-check of everything, and we were off down Donner Pass to Sacramento. Of course, during heavy Sunday homebound traffic from the lake we lost the trailer brakes. Pulling over at a safe spot for a quick check, I found a broken brake line. I just happened to have extra brake lines in the trailer toolbox, and we were back under way with brakes in about 40 minutes.

The great takeaways from the trip were the people we met. Except for a few snobs we encountered on Lake Tahoe, everyone was wonderful. The brief effects of those who snubbed us at Tahoe were quickly erased by the many gracious people who went out of their way to lend a hand or eagerly recommend some don’t-miss stop along the way. Here’s something cool: The lakes of Northern Idaho, specifically Pend Oreille and Coeur d’Alene, had loaner life-jacket stands at each boat ramp. It’s a completely free program based on the honor system that enables sportboat owners to borrow a life jacket and return it later in the day or the weekend. Unlike what happens in South Florida, when we were stopped by the United States Coast Guard or the local police or wildlife services, all they wanted to see was our safety gear. No searches, demands, or speeches about speed and mammals, only requests for life jackets, fire protection, and visual distress signals. Environmental safety was also a highlight of the trip, as we
stopped at all the invasive aquatic species inspection areas along the way. Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Lake Tahoe all gave us the once-over to verify we were not transporting any live organisms to their pristine waters. Safety certainly prevailed on our trip, and the waterways, as well as almost everyone we met in our travels, was remarkable. The investment of time and money toward being prepared made the trip wonderful and eventful without unfortunate casualties. Being ready for anything enabled us to stress about nothing.

“If it don’t go Chrome it” and if it goes “Show it “

One of the biggest challenges for the builders and dealers who display at the show is to get ready for Florida Powerboat Clubs Miami Boat Show Poker Run. When the boat show closes Monday night some of the builders have to work feverously to get the boats out the door to the water and down to the Biscayne Bay Marriott in time for the departure Thursday Morning. Some builders like Dave’s Custom Boats didn’t have that problem since their new M41 is already in the water at the hotel marina. In fact the days between the show and the run give these guys a little time to relax in Miami and enjoy the Miami Boating lifestyle without the herd of about 70 other boats that will be participated on this year’s run.

The Miami Boat Show Poker run is not the biggest, the venue may not be the best, and the dock/rafting situation is tight. But as far as I am concerned if you are a player in this world then this is an event you can’t afford to miss, this is where all the new boats are splashed and if it’s real it runs, if it’s just boat show bling it doesn’t come.

“If it don’t go Chrome it” and if it goes “Show it “. If I was a new buyer I would almost insist the delivery of my new ride was to include that the boat be ready to run on the Miami Boat Show Poker Run. This is where you can see it all, inside protected waters, real offshore conditions and a destination venue that keeps everyone at one place to swap stories, tell lies and then be forced to prove them offshore or walk away

On this year’s run we saw show boats from Statement, Cigarette, MTI, Formula, Skater, and Nor-Tech. All the new owners had the double pleasure of showing their new boats off at the show and then running them on one of the best boating events of the year.

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