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Performance Boats Forums - Blogs http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php Performance Boats.com is the online presence for Performance Boats Magazine en Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:04:37 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Performance Boats Forums - Blogs http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php SBRA Puddingstone Circles, March 2010 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=81 Thu, 20 May 2010 07:30:58 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

Below is the deck of Charlie Marquardt's K-150 machine. The boat is pretty impressive.

Famous painter Billy B check in below

Below, Tony pretends to be doing something useful on the K-69

The SS-80 crew. John Avery (left) (below) is the brains behind the tune up on this front running boat. He is a master of Holley carburetors. Go see him at his shop in Baldwin Park, Engine Dynamics (shameless plug), he is one of the best tuners out there.

Below, Bobby Miller ("The Doctor" of the pb forums) and his grandson visit with Tony Scarlata (Jetboatguru) in the pits.

Below, flatbottom legend Truitt Beal looks on as Paul Fitzgerald wrenches on his boat. Truitt towed all the way from the midwest to race at Puddingstone.

Below, Paul, Marty and crew make adjustments on the "April" Superstock boat while engine ace Bubby Wilton looks on from the safety of his chair

Below is Dan Bertone's "Broad Minded" SS-29 boat.

Paul Fitzgerald gets around the pits, here helping the Bertone's check the engine.

Below, the Suncoast Racing team of the P-9 and the P-92 Crackerboxes always has an impressive pit presence.

In the unlimited “K” class, a unique mix of entries made for great racing. Tony Scarlata in the K-69, owned by Gordy Jennings and Dave Rankin was running a new type of cavitation plate control with hydraulic power assist. There were some bugs encountered as with most things new and different but it seemed to work well by the end of the weekend.

Gordy also brought out the K-69 open cockpit “Freedom” boat (labeled K-80 for the weekend) and Ty Newton drove it impressively as he does in most every boat he races. Tony and Ty had some impressive laps in between some mechanical gremlins. John Guthrie in Patrick Brazeale’s K-66 “Blown Brothers” would take the high points for the weekend. A boat from up north owned and driven by Charlie Marquardt, the K-150 would mix it up with these guys and it was a nice addition to see him. The boat is quite fast and immaculate as well. Unfortunately a window in the oil pan would send Charlie to the trailer prematurely. Lilrick, as he’s known on the Performance Boats forums, was in his recently acquired K-17 building his skills driving the boat. I have no doubt he’ll be a contender in the near future in his all black K-17 rocket.

The K's prepare for battle below

Lilrick decides to terrorize some ducks near the ramp. His strategy seems to have worked. Now if he can only do this with the other K-boats...

Tony Scarlata in the Rankin and Jennings K-69 capusuled "Freedom Child" locked in a rare dual with Gordy's other record holder, the K-69 open cockpit boat, "Freedom", with Ty Newton at the wheel.

Some more of the K-69's dual from Mary Beth with the Nikon, below.

Below are some shots of Rick Ortega (Lilrick) in the K-17.

A few more of the K's below

Below, Charlie Marquardt trying to chase down Scarlata. Both boats are very impressive.

Unfortunately below, Charlie and his K-150 would end the day early with the dreaded green goo out the back of the boat along with a window to match in the oil pan.

Moving on to Super-Stock, Dave Rankin’s SS-80 “Wild Child”, always a top competitor would prove no less this weekend, with Ty Newton at the wheel.

Paul Fitzgerald in Mike Smith’s SS-24 Bezer “April” out of Baltimore, MD would make the west coast trip again two years running. Paul and Ty would battle it out for first place all weekend. In the end, Paul took the points win. The “April” team made some changes over the winter one being a conventional set of headers vs. the 180º set they ran last year. Paul says it gave them a bit more on the top end. Both boats were impressive as always to watch.

Below is a wide shot of Paul with Mount Baldy in the background. (Yes there are big mountains with snow in So Cal too).

Also present was the very consistent Dan Bertone in the red SS-29 boat, “Broad Minded”.

The SS-126 entry driven by Dennis Rankin took the third place points slot. Not many boats in the class, but again, great racing between those that were there.

Next we have the Grand Nationals (GN’s). Its always exciting to watch these endurance races when the faster boats show up. This weekend produced some great side-by-side racing between Bill Wheeler in the GN-7 and Heath Hiebert in the GN-369. These guys have been going at it in recent events and Puddingstone was no exception. At the end of the weekend, Bill would take the points with Heath taking a close second. The final on Sunday was one to remember. Rounding out the GN field was Dan Bell in his immaculate GN-29 “Priceless”, the GN-6, and the GN-47 of Robbie Devine. Dan and Robbie’s boats are quite fast but mechanical gremlins unfortunately would end their day early.

Now to the Cracker Boxes... These guys and girls always seem to make the show, so to speak. They are quite impressive to watch with 100 mile an hour straightway speeds while simultaneously performing aerobatics. The boats are direct driven with fixed cavitation plates unlike the flatbottom style boats, which typically run a v-drive, and have movable cav plates while underway. Amy Ottinger is back in the seat of the P-96 “Arizona Girl”. This girl can drive a boat and showed the guys the way around the lake all weekend, again winning all heats and the overall points. Tony Lombardo in the P-100, put up an impressive fight but ultimately it was Amy, passing him from behind in the final race and dominating the weekend. There are some fast boats in this class so it’s no small achievement to pull this off event after event that she attends. The P-9 was in the house with Scott Schatz at the wheel and Bob Williams riding. Also the P-21, “Gramps Cracker” showed some impressive speed. The P-92 out of the Suncoast Racing team, and the P-53, “Krackers Inna Box” rounded out the field. A good sized field in today’s economic world and great racing.

Below is a sequence I shot of Amy in the P-96 putting it to Tony Lombardo in the P-100 and passing him on the outside.

Puddingstone Lake quietly sits nestled in the hills in San Dimas Ca. It’s primarily a small skiing and fishing lake owned by LA County. Racing events are part of the little lake’s history, having hosted many circle sprint races up to eighteen years ago, IHBA drag races a couple decades back, and ski racing still continuing today. It’s nice to see the sprint boats back at Puddingstone following a seventeen-year hiatus prior to last year’s race. It’s a great venue and freeway close to all of Southern California. I encourage everyone to come out and watch the next event.

Ok finishing up the results for you we have the rest of the class wins:

SST 45 - #10 Jason Williams
NOSTALGIA - #3 Rob Devine / owner - Truitt Beal
CLASSIC OUTBOARD RACING (COR) - #88 Rod Zapf
45SS - #55 Chris Chamberlain
CSH - #230C Jeff Conant
ASH - #20C Tammy Dawe
20SSH - #20 Tammy Dawe
AXSH - #60C Kevin Curtis

Here are some pics of the racing stars of tomorrow.

Ross Wallach and his son Jared prepare for their race

My shot of Mary Beth's shot of Amanda Rich (note the camera to the left)

Our unimpressive photo encampment on the west side. We were joined by Tom Timm and his buddy Ken. They were smart and brought bikes. :)eh:)

And finally a shot of the photographer behind the madness

As this article goes to print the next events coming up that feature these boats include the Idaho Regatta in Burley Idaho held in late June and the Long Beach Sprint Nationals held in August. Both are great events to attend and have very nice spectator-friendly venues.

Link to our photos for Puddingstone 2010

Less than half the photos appear in the above blog so please visit this link to see them all. ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=81 Motor Oil http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=80 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:11:12 GMT Motor Oil is soon changing its contents, Stay tuned for an Informational article!:) Motor Oil is soon changing its contents, Stay tuned for an Informational article!:)

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]]> BOOSTPOWER http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=80 On The Dyno Column Blog http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=79 Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:46:53 GMT Hello Everyone, we will be Posting Cool misc. Engine-Drive related pics and fun stuff on this Blog soon. Have a great day!:) Hello Everyone, we will be Posting Cool misc. Engine-Drive related pics and fun stuff on this Blog soon. Have a great day!:)

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]]> BOOSTPOWER http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=79 Thanksgiving Regatta SCSC Circle Boats 2009 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=78 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:55:47 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

53 foor cat build for Al Copeland JR. It was started by his dad who unfortunately was taken by cancer before the project was finished.

4 turbines

]]> Todd Taylor http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=77 Long Beach Sprint Nationals 2009 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=76 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:11:41 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

I have been a boater for the better part
of 40 years and owner of Rex Marine
since 1981. In my blogs I will attempt to
tell a story of each event I cover,
from my perspective and through my
photos. I hope more people will become
involved as spectators or racers as a result
of my coverage. Enjoy

Needles California... It’s one of the hottest places on the planet in summer and probably was one of the most unlikely for a boat / car show of any magnitude to ever be held. Against all odds after trying for many years, Billy Berkenheger organized and convinced the City of Needles to host this event at their freshly updated and improved Jack Smith Park in late February. Billy is known as Billy-B on the pb forums and is a renowned custom painter of boats, cars, and race vehicles. Billy sold the deal to Laura Zingg (city planner for Needles) & Jeff Williams (the mayor), who both embraced the idea. The rest is history as the inaugural Needles Boat and Car Show is now in the record books.

Billy then promoted the event on our own Performanceboats.com website’s forums and it quickly took on a life of its own. Enthusiastic v-drive and jet owners from as far away as Northern California and Idaho answered the call and a “roll-call” list was formed over several weeks totaling about one hundred boats. At least a couple dozen clean show quality vehicles including some 55 Chevy’s, trucks, old Fords, and roadsters also showed up. Drag boats, circle boats, and jets owned by pro racers and river racers all came together the last Saturday of February in the middle of the desert to show off their stuff, share stories, drink a few beers and run their boats. The alcohol and the boat running rules were laid out by Billy well in advance and simply stated, you drink you don’t run. Everyone was in full compliance. Law enforcement was on hand and I never saw a cop doing anything except standing around enjoying the event.

I arrived on Saturday morning around nine. Everything was perfect with the exception of a moderate to semi-strong desert wind howling through the trees and blowing dust around. Within a couple hours there were hundreds of people in attendance who traveled from Southern California, Phoenix, Havasu, Las Vegas and beyond. A live band and several vendors including food services were ramped up and in full swing by late morning. I spent the first hours talking to boat owners about their boats and shooting a lot of pictures. Around noontime, Chris Davidson, owner of Performance Boats Magazine, showed up from Vegas and began a photo and video shoot down in the inlet cove area by the launch ramp. He had models, a video crew, two photographers, and Jim Wilkes interviewing boat owners. This content will appear on the website and in future issues of Performance Boats Magazine. We took some pictures of the photo shoot and tried to stay out of the way… These guys arrived a little late and were on a mission to get as many of these fine machines shot as possible before dark. I spent a little time watching the shoots and interviews then migrated back over to the show in the parking lot.

There was a wide array of boats primarily consisting of flat and runner bottom v-drive entries, with a handful of jets, and a few daycrusiers. Several of the NKRA K-boats were in attendance along with some actual competition K-boats. The NKRA is the Needles K Racing Association… a loosely organized group of guys with very fast circle race type K boats which run on the river in the Needles area a few times a year. Some also participate in actual KRR racing competition as well. Billy B, the event host, had his immaculate 140+ mph Bezer “Krazy Kolors Express” in attendance. It looks good and runs hard. Unfortunately Billy would end his day Sunday with a broken gearbox. Tony Scarlata had his Revenge K-5, “Shazam” there and made some blistering laps as well. Tony’s Saturday would end however with a blown up engine. Wayne Herbert with the pristine K-50 Biesemeyer, “Ghost of Coldfire” also heated up the river several times. Jack Landers was there with his K-27 Spitfire. There were several other vintage K boats in attendance. Dave Bryant brought his great looking and hard running SS boat out and he and Landers scored photo shoots with the Performance Boat’s crew. All in all there were more blown boats than I recall seeing in any one place ever, outside of an official race event. The lineup was impressive.

Several vintage flats were in attendance too. Pat Minegar’s 1968 Nordskog flat is a striking piece of history sporting a 427 Ford and Billy B custom paint. Acquired, sold, and reacquired by the Minegar family over several decades, multiple times, this boat has some great history which I’ll write about in more detail in a separate piece later. Its bright yellow paint and immaculate rigging by Dave Sammons made it a real standout at Needles.

Rolf Sammons’ 1976 Litchfield runner bottom, “Licensed to Thrill” who was runner up in the ten second class in NJBA in 2004, 2005, and 2006, was there. The boat runs 110 mph with a best ET of 9.90 running a 496 c.i. single carbureted Chevy. Who says old boats aren’t fast? Damn…

Rick and Mike Pelphrey’s 63 Stevens flat… this boat has been in the family since it was new in 1963 when their dad originally put it together. It is unique in that it sports a hand-built reverse flow blown 401 Buick “Nailhead” engine for power.

I’ll stop there in listing all the gorgeous flats because I always forget somebody and the editor will not be happy with me if I try to describe 100+ boats in detail here.

Several blown alcohol jet boats were in attendance as well including Tom Peterson’s immaculate Placecraft. Tom is a former work associate of mine. I had the opportunity to ride in Tom’s boat one time several years ago. I’ve never been in any vehicle that accelerated like this animal does. I’m sure the racers are used to this but it was an experience for me. There were a couple more Placecrafts there that Tom has built for others that he states are faster than his including Mike Porter's PSI supercharged machine.

Several of these boats hit the water on Saturday afternoon as the wind subsided slightly. The deal was, to stay below the waterfront homes on the Arizona side and make your laps or passes in front of Jack Smith Park. Oh, and no side-by-side racing. The park has a great new launch ramp, four lanes wide with 2 docks. It’s a vast improvement over the old setup I experienced having launching there myself many times over the past three decades. I’m sure the City of Needles is very proud of this new facility and rightfully so. The drag guys were fighting the wind and water conditions a bit but the circle boats seemed right at home for the most part ripping up the river.

I wish I’d gotten the opportunity to talk to everyone who showed up but there simply was not enough time. Before I knew it dusk was setting in and some boats and show cars were pulling out. I shot photos of most the boats and vehicles and these photos will appear online in my blog section on the Performanceboats.com website. I’m sure two to three hundred of these photos will make the grade out of the roughly twelve hundred shot by me and my girlfriend and assistant, Mary Beth.

Following the show, most of the participants migrated up to the Elks Lodge for an all you could eat taco dinner Billy had arranged with long time friend Dick Pyle. There was some serious taco consumption going on here along with some happy bartenders. This group can pack the chow away. The stories were flyin and Mike Minegar (Rattle Can Lou on the pb forums) commandeered the mic a few times with his antics. Mike and his brother Pat came clear from Boise Idaho to attend the event. Darnell Taylor also took the mic thanking the VFW Hall for the great dinner and reception of the boating community. The only problem was we were at the Elks Lodge which was quickly pointed out to Darnell as everyone pointed to the large Elk head mounted on the wall directly to his right. It was one of several pretty amusing moments the evening would produce.

Although the show was on Saturday, many stayed over for Sunday to run their boats. This day, unlike Saturday, produced ideal conditions. The wind had moved on, as well as the light cloud cover that we’d had on Saturday. The dragboat and runner bottom guys that were still there got after it on the relatively flat water as well as several of the circle boat drivers. The people that had stayed overnight started thinning out around noon and we headed for home shortly thereafter. I have to give a little plug to the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Needles. We stopped there for lunch on the way out of town and the food was great. In three decades of boating in and around Needles I’d never eaten there. I’ll start making up for it now and will no longer consider Needles a fast food only option when traveling the I-40.

Billy tells me the event was a huge success with the city and expects this to be the first of many to come for the Needles Boat and Car Show. I look forward to next year’s event. My guess is that the word will spread and the attendance will nearly double if the economy permits. That would be a great thing for the city of Needles and performance boating in general, and a testament to Billy and his wife Janice’s perseverance in making this all happen.

Thanks Billy, see ya next year.

Pictures are presently being re-hosted and will be posted here soon (10/22/09) ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=71 SCSC Bluewater Spring Classic, Parker AZ 2009 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=70 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:15:37 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

I have been a boater for the better part
of 40 years and owner of Rex Marine
since 1981. In my blogs I will attempt to
tell a story of each event I cover,
from my perspective and through my
photos. I hope more people will become
involved as spectators or racers as a result
of my coverage. Enjoy

Ah, Thanksgiving in Parker, AZ. Can it get much better than this? Well I can envision a few tropical islands perhaps. Actually it was Thanksgiving in Havasu for me this year with my brother. Very enjoyable time spent. And a cheap hotel to boot, which was helpful after covering the Phoenix IHBA race the prior weekend. After driving out from So Cal Thursday afternoon, we stopped at Bluewater, the race site, on the way to Havasu. It had rained pretty heavy the night before so the pit area was a bit flooded. I navigated my two wheel drive Suburban through the pit area carefully so as not to incur a tow truck charge pulling me out of the mud. Not too many teams were staged, but a few diehards were out there testing and tuning.

Forty hours later on Saturday morning much of the mud was dried up and the beach at Bluewater was alive with race boats. The driver’s meeting was underway when I arrived so we slipped into the pits to talk to the racers and shoot some pit photos. While a few photos are here in the print magazine, dozens more can be found on the Performanceboats.com website. My forum screename is Rexone. Just click the blogs section adjacent or access them from the home page. I’m not a pro photographer so don’t expect platinum or gold… silver perhaps, with a sprinkling of bronze.

Ok back to the subject at hand, the Parker 2008 Thanksgiving Regatta put on by the Southern California Speedboat Club (SCSC). Although at the end of the calendar year, this race is actually the first race for points of the SCSC 2009 race season. As a result it’s generally pretty well attended, not to mention Parker being a popular racecourse in the world of circle boat sprint racing. I was pleased to see a lot of boats there as I’d been concerned with the poor economy it might affect the attendance dramatically. I believe it was down a bit from 2007 in boat count but there were plenty of boats for good racing all weekend. The one notable exception was the absence of the blown alcohol burning K-Boat class. They were missed.

Following some of the hydro class heats the Grand National (GN) boats hit the water for their warm up. It was a good field of boats assembled and the racing was superb all weekend in GN. A friend of mine, Ben Marrone, returned this season after taking 2008 off, to race the “Plan-B” GN-305. The 1959 wood-deck 20 foot Rayson Craft is in great condition considering it’s age. Paul Grichar, is the oldest active driver, pilots the oldest boat racing, the Plan-B, like few others could. A little side story about Paul or “Grich” as he’s called in racing circles. Since Ben purchased the Plan-B boat in 2004, he has completely re-rigged the boat himself. They went out and won the 2005 Parker Enduro overall, and were 2006 & 2007 GN High Points Champions. Also in 2007, at Burley, Idaho, Grich and Ben won the Moyle Mink & Bill Faulkner trophy running 108% of the previous course record. Grich was inducted into the Hall of Champions in 2006 & 2007. He has a long history of winning and has raced just about every class of circle boat in existence including a brief stint in Formula One. I’m not sure if he’s the driver with the most wins in the history of circle racing but I’m certain he’s near the top of that list. And at over 70 years young, he’ll still go out and beat many guys forty years his junior on any given day. Grich is an amazing and highly talented racer.

In GN race setup mode, the Plan-B sports a 461 c.i. Chevy with an 871 Mooneyham Blower, a HUGE injector and 43% gears inside a 12º Casale box. This old boat flat hauls the mail.

There was a great field of GN’s beyond the Plan-B entry and the racing was intense. Duff Daily brought the GN-333 clear across the country to race Parker and hoping to qualify for the kilos the following week at the Salton Sea. Ted Kolby’s “Body Snatcher” with Joey Cucci at the wheel was present as well. The GN-47 piloted by Robby Devine, the GN-113, the GN-724, and the GN-790 of Lanse Haselrig. The first heat would have Greg Gluck in the GN-113 pitted against Joey Cucci in the GN-24 Body Snatcher up front. Greg would take the win with Joey second this round.

The Comp-Jet class had at least six entries in the first heat. The CJ-53 external rudder entry driven by Toby Clark was there. Harold Bruce in the CJ-313, Lance Nicholls in the CJ-426, Scott Dayley in the CJ-637, Jim Rich in the CJ-72, and the CJ-21 rounded out the field. Again, the photos will be online.

One of the premier and favorite classes is the Super Stocks. This weekend would not disappoint. The first heat would have Dave Rankin driving the SS-80 “Wild Child” in close contention with Skip Tuttle in the SS-711, and Paul Fitzgerald in the SS-24 “April”. Paul traveled from the east coast and Mike Smith brought the boat clear from Maryland to race Parker. Rankin got out front on the second lap and Paul and Skip duked it out for second and third in the heat. Rankin came back later in heat two and walked away with that one as well solidifying his lead for the weekend.

In Pro Stock once again Rankin and Fitzgerald would square off pulling double class duty and running close for several laps. Rankin and the Wild Child would prevail in this heat, out accelerating “Fast Lane Fitzy” as we call Paul, off the turns. A short side note here, Paul and I go way back as Paul used to work with an early partner of mine, Mike King, at Rex Marine in about 1981, rigging boats. Paul was also involved heavily in ski racing during the same era I was. We hung out a lot back then. It was good to see Paul again in Parker and he definitely hasn’t lost his touch as a driver. A bit more power in “April” and Rankin might have seen some transom in this heat. But it wasn’t to be in heat one. However Paul returned the favor later in the day beating Rankin in heat two in a hard fought battle. It would be the only race Rankin would lose all weekend and a tribute to Fitzy’s driving ability.

The Cracker boxes would have the 44-P “Sparkler”, the P-550, the P-9 of Scott Schatz, the P-100 of Tony Lombardo Sr. & Jr., and the P-87 of Robert Arnold and Scott Dayley. Scott Schatz and Sheldon Ogg in the P-9 easily won the first heat with the Lombardo’s taking second.

Sunday morning we arrived a few minutes late and the Pro Stock class was just starting. I grabbed my camera and sprinted over to the beach at the north turn to get some shots. As had been the story on Saturday it was Rankin and “Fast Lane Fitzy” goin head to head in the lead. Paul had the inside and they went back and forth for several laps. It was close. When I say close I mean really close. The boats actually touched at the south turn putting a small hole in the side of the SS/PS-80. Rankin went on to win the heat. Unrelated to the minor collision, the SS/PS-24 boat called “April”, that towed all the way from Maryland, went in a hole and up on the chine hard and separated the deck from the hull for several feet. After the race Mike and Paul elected to not try and repair the damage on scene. So their race weekend ended here. Rankin on the other hand quickly patched up the small hole in the “Wild Child” to race again.

The Crackers would hit the water again shortly after and a repeat of Saturday would produce Scott Schatz in the P-9 the winner again with the Lombardo’s in the P-100 second.

With Fitzgerald on the trailer broken, the first heat of Super Stock would find Dave Rankin going head to head this time with Skip Tuttle in the SS-711. It was very close back and forth. Dave got a little lead though with the off-the-turn acceleration of the SS-80 and Skip couldn’t quite catch him. Rankin scores another heat win.

The GN final would prove to be one of the weekend’s best races. A 20-lap race allows a lot of time for change of position and attrition. The GN boats have to be able to not only run fast, but also be capable of going the distance. You can’t win if you don’t finish is the old saying. Shortly into the race, the GN-790 of Lanse Haselrig and the GN-47 of Robby Devine would emerge as a 2-boat race out front. These two went at it for what must have been over a dozen laps, trading leads, and trading lanes. I had not witnessed either of these boats run at this level and was impressed to say the least. Lap after lap these guys couldn’t have been separated my more than a second. In the end, Robby got a little break and the lead. He prevailed and took the win for the weekend.

The Pro Stock final would see Dave Rankin slip Tony Scarlata in the SS/PS-80 for a spin. It was all Scarlata from start to finish and the Wild Child took the weekend Pro Stock title.

The Super Stock final came shortly after and Dave would resume the driving duties. It was almost a repeat of the earlier heat with he and Skip Tuttle in the SS-711 running a very close race from start to finish. The acceleration off the corners of the SS-80 ultimately would help Dave secure the Super Stock title also, outrunning Skip to the finish line.

The Crackers final would also be a repeat of their earlier heat with the P-9 boat dominating and taking the win. The Comp Jets were the last race of the day and unfortunately for me my camera batteries ran out of juice with the boats going in the water. It was a great race though with rookie Lance Nicholls challenging veteran Harold Bruce all the way. Bruce ended up with the win for the weekend but it was a close win and Lance drove like a pro in that one.

This was my second Parker Thanksgiving race in recent years. 2007 was great racing as well. At that race I was practicing with a new camera and also helping Scarlata with the K-5 boat. Well, maybe helping is a stretch. Probably more getting in the way of progress might better describe my role there at the time. This year with the K Boats not in attendance and the K-5 boat retired, I did a lot of camera time and chatted with the racers.

With the 2009 season just about upon us, check the website for race scheduling and come on out and watch these guys get it on. Most the circle races are free or very inexpensive to enter. You will see some serious hardware and meet some real nice folks.

Pictures are presently being re-hosted and will be posted here soon (10/22/09) ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=67 IHBA Phoenix World Finals - November 2008 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=66 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:51:42 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

I have been a boater for the better part
of 40 years and owner of Rex Marine
since 1981. In my blogs I will attempt to
tell a story of each event I cover,
from my perspective and through my
photos. I hope more people will become
involved as spectators or racers as a result
of my coverage. Enjoy

Long Beach Sprint Nationals 2008

Link to my photo gallery

The Long Beach Sprint Nationals circle race event put on by the Southern California Speedboat club has become the one current bright spot with regard to the rich history of drag and circle boat racing at the famous Long Beach Marine Stadium. The first weekend of August is now the only weekend of circle racing at this historic venue. It’s location, central to millions of people living in Southern California, is unique in boat racing, allowing easy access to thousands of circle boat racing fans within a couple hours’ drive. The Long Beach venue is very cool in that it is a long narrow stretch of water that has a sandy beach down the pit side of the entire course where fans can view the races right up close. Sand chairs and shade tents are the norm and there’s plenty of room for the kids to play. The opposite side of the course is set up for RV’s. The pits are accessible as is the case with most all the circle and drag boat race events. Fans can walk right in and view the boats, talk with the crews and drivers, etc.

Having been on the east coast for the week prior to this event and due to airline delays resulting in a 3AM arrival home, we arrived at Long Beach a little tired and a little late missing some of the first heats on Saturday morning. The action quickly made me forget I was a bit travel weary though as the Super Stocks thundered down the front straight as we walked in the gate. I hustled over to the shoreline and ripped my camera out of my bag and started shooting pictures. Fortunately I’d remembered to charge the batteries before I left New Jersey the day before. It was a bit overcast initially but quickly turned to warm and then hot. The August beach weather in Southern California is hard to beat.

For those not familiar with circle boat sprint racing, a typical race day consists of a series of qualifying heats of different classes of boats and then a final race between the qualifiers in each class toward the end of each day. The big races of this weekend would be Sunday’s finals, which would determine the APBA Summer Nationals Champion in several of the following classes, which were present. PWC, J-Hydro, SST-45, Comp Jet (CJ), Cracker Box, Super Stock (SS), Pro Stock (PS), K Racing Runabout (KRR) and Grand National (GN).

The course at Long Beach is considered a tight one and has very tight turns. Turning these boats on this type of course is an art. Spinouts in the corners are pretty common, as the competition gets a bit crazy to get off the buoy first. Many races are won or lost right at the first turn. This weekend’s racing would prove intense and in retrospect the racers navigated the turns this weekend pretty well for the most part. The turnout of race teams and fans was great considering the high price of gas and the slowing economy.

The Super Stock class of flatbottoms is always one of the most exciting. There were enough entries this weekend to require multiple heat races. Those in attendance included Dave Rankin’s SS-80, Wild Child, which would be driven by Dave himself early Saturday, and then Ty Newton. I spoke with Dave about why he wasn’t driving the whole weekend and he told me “I sucked”, with a laugh, referring to the tight course. Dave is probably one of the most knowledgeable guys in the sport when it comes to building, rigging, and testing these boats for maximum performance. It shows with the consistency his boats produce in competition. Next is the always competitive SS-68 Loud & Proud boat owned by Jeff Brochheseur, and shoed by Tony Scarlata. This black rocket would prove to be tough in every heat. Skip Tuttle in his SS-711 is always a hard runner as is Hal Jones in the Ray Pauli owned SS-501 Pegasus hailing from Utah. Mike Darner was in attendance coming off some impressive races in Burley Idaho a few weeks before with his SS/PS-8 boat. The SS-15 of Denny Bertone, Chris Kenner in the SS-741, the SS-29 with Dan Bertone, and the SS-7 boat of Greg Shirley rounded out a very competitive field. Several of these Super Stock boats are also legal to run Pro Stock, as the Pro Stock engine limitations are less restrictive. So several do double duty in both classes. The Super Stock class is limited to single a carburetor and 427 cubic inches so to be able to compete in a higher class successfully is impressive. This weekend not only did they compete, they won both classes. The SS-80 driven by Ty Newton won both classes, both days, and the SS-68 driven by Tony Scarlata took second. Skip Tuttle and Greg Shirley would end up with the Super Stock third place slots Saturday and Sunday respectively. Mike Darner took the third place slot both days in Pro Stock. There were a number of other very competitive Pro Stock boats in attendance as well including the always tough PS-89 boat with crew chief big Ray (Moneypit on the Performance Boats.com forums).

The K Class would prove to be no less exciting even with only a field of five boats. Unfortunately Steve Sequeira in the K-24 boat had mechanical difficulties on Saturday and would not return to Sunday’s competition. Tony Scarlata would take the seat this weekend in Dave Rankin’s “Freedom Child capsuled K entry. John Guthrie in the K-16, Ty Newton in the K-66, and Wayne Herbert in his immaculate “Ghost of Coldfire” K-50 would round out the field.

These teams have some real past racing legends within their crews. The Rankin K-69 entry includes Gordon Jennings Jr. as the engine builder and long time tuner John Avery. Gordy (the Real K-boat King on the Performanceboats.com forum) is a past “real” K boat king having won many championships in his “Freedom” open K-boat, K-69, and holding the Kilo record for the class. He recently briefly exited retirement and showed everyone the way home in Dave’s SS-80 Super stock at the shootout in Burley. He also won the Lake Irvine event in his K-69 open cockpit “Freedom” boat. Then there’s the K-50 crew, anchored by renowned K-boat engine builder Bubby Wilton, and one of the original K boat kings, driver and boat builder Julian Pettingill. I watched Julian many times on this same course back in the 70’s in the original K-50 Coldfire boats. The K-50 of Wayne’s is an exact replica of Julian’s original “Coldfire” which dominated K-boat racing 3-4 decades ago. A lot of K-boat talent was present in the Long Beach pits this weekend to say the least.

The K racing was intense and some of the best and tightest competition I’ve seen recently. Wayne Herbert in the K-50 boat drove his heart out and came very close to besting some of the best in the business, referring to Scarlata, Newton, and Guthrie. Wayne races only a couple events per year he told me… Burley and Long Beach. Both his driving and boat’s performance were impressive given his limited racing program. After some great racing John Guthrie took Saturday’s honors and Scarlata in Rankin’s K-69 “Freedom Child” won a very intense battle in Sunday’s final. There were several points within the first three laps where one error on Scarlata’s part could have easily put Wayne or Ty in the lead for good. It was a very tight back and forth battle with both Wayne and Ty right on the K-69 transom or side by side in some cases for three laps. It was not until the last couple laps that Tony opened up a substantial lead and claimed the APBA Summer National Championship title. Wayne Herbert was second and Ty Newton third.

The Cracker boxes are always one of my favorite classes to watch. Long Beach would draw about a dozen teams and many of the best in the class were on hand. These boats approach 100 mph and are like bucking broncos as they are front engine and direct driven rather than rear engine and v-drive driven. They are small block powered and have a two-person crew, driver and rider. They put on quite a show. The pictures of these machines pretty much tell the story and many are available in the online version of my Long Beach Blog on the Performanceboats.com website. I have several dozen pictures posted on the site that wouldn’t fit on these pages. At the end of the day Sunday these were your winners of the APBA Summer National Championship… First place was Jerry Ross/Nick Granger/Tom Sampson in the P 69 "The Enemy" out of Rolling Hills, CA. Second Place went to Mike Leach/D. F'Mayer/Dwight Moody Sr. in the P 66 "Mr. Magoo" out of Lake Havasu City, AZ. Third place went to Richard Rucki/Bob Williams/EJ Abner/Garland Privitt in the P111 "Quackers Box", out of Garden Grove, CA

The Grand National (GN) class is always a fan favorite. The blown simi-vee bottom boats haul ass in the 100 mph range and run a 20 lap main event. Sunday’s final and the National Championship went to Skip Tuttle in the GN-711 entry. Second was Greg Gluck in the GN-113 from Florida, and third was Ted Kolby’s GN-24 “Body Snatcher”. Joey Cucci and Dave Rankin shared driving duties in the GN-24 this weekend.

The Comp Jet class winners Sunday were… First place, Harold Bruce, CJ 313, out of Cerritos, CA. Second place to Ralph Brunt, CJ 812, from Long Beach, CA. Third went to the unique stationary rudder entry of Toby Clark, CJ 53, out of Lake Havasu City, AZ

If you’ve never been to the races at Long Beach you owe it to yourself to attend next year if you’re in the Southern California area (of even if you’re not). It has developed into a very nice event drawing many of the top teams from across the nation. Ross Wallach, who runs the SCSC events along with many unsung hero volunteers, is doing a very respectable job. They have good food vendors, several parts manufacturers and related booths that the fans can visit along with open pits to view and talk with the race teams. Mark your calendars for “The Beach” in the summer of 2009.

Link to my photo gallery ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=63 Irvine V-Drive Regatta 2008 - Part Three http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=62 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:12:42 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

An then we have “Quick Bucks”

And even “More Bucks”

Then finally “Inject This”

The turbocharged engine in Jon Cole’s Judgment Day Ski Racer

Ted Kolby’s GN-24 “Body Snatcher” normally driven by Joey Cucci

It was a bit unclear what this individual was up to…

John Cogan’s classic Sanger

A couple more shots of Billy B’s Krazy Kolor’s Express

Dave Noyes Eliminator

Danny Bell’s Rayson Craft again

Jim Wilkes interviews Gordy and his kids for a future video on Performanceboats.com

Jim Wilkes interviews Billy B and son Connor prior to Billy and Connor taking the K-11 for a little spin around the lake.

All in all it was a great event. Dave Noyes and Jim Wilkes do this each year and from what I’ve heard it just keeps improving. There was great attendance and it was obvious that everyone had a great time. I’m looking forward to the 2009 V-drive Regatta. If you live within range I highly recommend you come on over and have some fun. ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=62 Irvine V-Drive Regatta 2008 - Part Two http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=61 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:03:41 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

But enough about the K-boats, there was much more to this event that the racers.

The main part of the weekend belonged to the average v-drive boater who brought his rig out to run to his heart’s desire. And that in my estimation was the unique part of the event. You could run as much or as little as you wanted. Some guys brought race boats for testing. Others had their river runners just making passes. There were some stout pieces in attendance, and there were some stockers. The campground was full as overnight camping was allowed with reservations in advance. Many took advantage of it. Performance Boats was there in force with photography coverage (not only me but a pro also, I just play at photography), a videographer, with Jim Wilkes doing interviews.

A few vendors were in attendence including Prime Marine, Casale, Liporshio's Silk Screening, and others. A live band played before and after the K-boat challenge awards on Saturday.

Back in the pits Tony Scarlata (Jetboatguru on the pb forums) enjoys a lovely donut.

Brian Metcalf’s, Cole TR6, was the second to last boat that came out of Cole's shop. Brian bought his first boat when he was 16 years old when he didn’t even own a car. This boat is a TR-4 top and TR-2 bottom, blown gas, 500 lb hull, with a 559 ci Donovan engine. This is Brian’s 3rd Cole and he’s sponsored and been involved with numerous other drag boats through the years. Brian is currently racing in the NJBA with this boat.

This 64 Patterson, called Instant Madness is a real classic complete with 426 Chrysler hemi

Not only is Wayne's K-50 a showpiece, his helmet is pretty nice too…

Dan Bell’s immaculate Rayson Craft…

The K-11 Cav Plate Hardware is up to Billy’s bling level it would appear…

Dave Rankin and his SS-80 Wild Child were in the house…

This beauty runs an old nailhead Buick and a pretty unique blower system

It’s not all about boats

Scarlata is always up for a photo shoot

Scarlata and Jennings take the honors for the K-boat challenge at day’s end

Scarlata gets the cash for the fastest lap of the weekend in the K-5 from Dave Noyes

Gordy, Jim Wilkes, and Irvine Lake manager Dave Noyes as Gordy says a few words after receiving his trophy for winning the K-boat challenge.

Continued in Part Three... ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=61 Irvine V-Drive Regatta 2008 - Part One http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=60 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:55:42 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

This is Billy Berkenhager’s (Billy-B) immaculate K-11 machine. That is engine builder Rick King in the foreground (Blown to the Bone on the pb forums) and Billy beside the boat. The engine had just gone through a rework by Rick. It is a 475 c.i. Chevy, 11 to 1 compression, running on alcohol.

Some shots of Gordon Jennings Jr. (Gordy) tuning his K-69 Freedom prior to the K boat challenge.

Richard Van Beenan’s immaculate Bezer, Prime Time Live. The boat was sold to Tom Buckles before the event was over.

Forum Members Ben Marrone (Maximus) and Dave Sammons look like they haven’t seen each other since high school. In reality it had only been an hour or so.

I ran into Paul Miller (FC Pilot on the pb forums) out on the point. Paul shoots photography at many of the races and runs a N/A alcohol funny car as well in the 7.50 bracket. Paul’s dad (The Doctor on the pb forums) has a Schiada, and the family also owns a Hallett Flat, has a couple Beisemeyers (one in process), strictly hobby boats. Paul’s brother Buzz (Wannabe on the pb forum) also shoots photos at the races. We talked about cameras and boats for a few minutes, (Paul’s makes my camera look like a toy).

This Saturday would be host to the K-boat challenge. K-boats, for those not familiar are circle racing hulls primarily consisting of Biesemeyer origin or several derivatives built by others, commonly referred to at B-boats as general terminology. They are blown, injected, alcohol breathing monsters that are the kings of the circle boat class structure. There are some limitations on the engine displacement, size of blower and amount of overdrive, etc. They are some stout players. Most run a large bore and short stroke to accelerate off the corners quickly and down the straights. As the circle boat nomenclature would imply these boats normally race several to a heat in the normal sanctioned racing organizations on an oval course. At this v-drive regatta things would be different though as no side by side racing was allowed. The K-boat challenge would consist 8 boats running single runs on an oval course for time. Each boat would run 2 timed laps after one warm up lap, 2 times during the day. The fastest single lap from each heat for each boat would then be averaged together to determine the overall winner. A separate award would be given to the fastest lap of the day. These were cash prizes so these guys were all over it trying to get around the short tough single pin course in record time. In the end Gordy took the overall honors in his K-69 Freedom boat by fractions of a second. Gordy goes by the name of “The Real K Boat King” on the performanceboats.com forums. He proved he still is, at least on this day. Tony Scarlata took the fastest lap honors in the K5 Traffic Cone. Tony is “Jetboatguru” on the boards. Gordy is a proven veteran K-boat champion with a history of dominating the class for many years before retiring from racing after a serious crash. Tony is one of several more recent K-boat drivers and also one of the best out there. Tony also holds the Top Alcohol Flat ET record in the IHBA. Rounding out the field of entries… Billy-B in the K-11 Krazy Kolors Express. Steve Sequeira was in attendance but had mechanical difficulties and didn’t run. Scott Steele, Phil Gould, Jack Landers, Wayne Herbert & Rick King.

Here are some of the dozens of pictures I shot of the K boat challenge…

Scott Steele in his Biesemeyer with a 390” destroked BBC

Jack Landers in his Kelron Spitfire hull

Rick King’s “Blown to the Bone” runs a .030 over 454 Chevy on gas, stock crank, and TRW pistons. Rick runs this event and a couple river vacations a year. For a gas powered K boat it gets with the program.

An unidentified red beaked spectator seemed to be enjoying the K-boats

Phil Gould in his Eliminator. Phil runs a 540 ci BBC…

Wayne Herbert’s showpiece K-50 “The Ghost of Coldfire” takes to the course. The K-50 boat is a replica of the K-50 boat that dominated K boat racing in the 70’s with Julian Pettingill at the helm. Julian and engine builder Bubby Wilton attend many of the events Wayne takes the K-50 boat to. It is an impressive piece of hardware both on the trailer and on the water.

Gordy “The Real K-Boat King” Jennings in his K-69 “Freedom”. This is the same boat that Gordy set the K-boat kilo record in many years ago. Gordy still has the magic touch taking the title on this day also.

Here are some pics from the afternoon session. The light was not as good so I won’t post as many of these.

The bird lost

Tony Scarlata in the K-5 Traffic Cone. I missed his earlier run so I’ll post a few more here. Tony took the honors of the fastest lap of the weekend in the “cone”.

Continued in part Two... ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=60 62nd annual Thanksgiving Regatta http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=59 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:23:32 GMT What better way to top off Thanksgiving weekend than by heading to the races? Friday and Saturday the Southern California Speed Boat Club held their... What better way to top off Thanksgiving weekend than by heading to the races? Friday and Saturday the Southern California Speed Boat Club held their 62nd annual Thanksgiving Regatta in Parker AZ. The Blue Water Resort and Casino hosted the event on their beach which is perfect venue for racing.

Beach Pits and spectators lined the course on the Arizona side of the river.

There was nonstop action in the pits with all the race teams prepping their boats and repairing the damage caused by several crashes throughout the day. Fortunately there were only bumps and bruises mostly to their egos and bank accounts.

The more people who get in the water the easier they are to start? Looks weird pull starting a race boat but these little boats scream.

I just thought this looked cool.

One of the SST 45 boats being towed in after a crash. (We heard that this was a new boat.)

Spun out and flipped in the turn.

Rescue boat takes driver to ambulance with minor injuries.

Something about the exit of this turn seems to eat up the boats.

Two of the SST 45 boats tangle up exiting the turn.

#44 took the brunt of the hit with significant damage. One of the guys from the team took a header in the water after nearly being run over by the boat as it flew on the trailer.

Cracker Box 44-P suffered significant damage after a solo flip entering the turn. Luckily both Driver and rider walked away from this crash.

Two SST 45’s running hard down the front straightaway.

Lil Hydro

GN 790

GN 305:

Kristan Racing:

Intense GN racing action:

Cracker Box P-100:

Note to self, plug your ears when standing behind 6 GN boats when they all fire up and romp on it at the start of their race, had to be one of the loudest things I’ve ever heard but pretty cool at the same time.

GN 47:

Lunchtime entertainment: a Skiing Santa!

7C:

Cracker Box:

I kind of hate to admit it, but the stand-up “Lake Lice” PWC class put on a great show.

Airing it out down the front straightaway...

Recyclable:

I’ve been wondering if anyone actually reads the blogs. Please let me know by posting a comment or send me an e-mail at Todd@performanceboats.com ]]> Todd Taylor http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=59 Key West http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=58 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:25:11 GMT Were here in Key West for the World Finals, so far it's been pretty cool. Yesterday Vicki and I hung out with Reggie Fountain on top of the SBI Rigs viewing platform. The SBI Rig was definitely the best spot to watch the races from and to be able to stand next to Reggie while he called the shots for the Cat Killer was awesome. Here are a few pictures from Race day 1.
The Boats heading to the start

Reggie calling the shots for Cat Killer

The Start

You just can’t beat the spectator friendly racing here in Key West

Rescue Copter

JD Byrider and Trash Talk

Reliable

Teague in the Amsoil Boat

]]> Todd Taylor http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=58 OSS National High Points Champions http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=57 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:29:48 GMT The banners are all gone, the teams have all made it home and are either preparing for the last race of 2009 in KW, or have begun the tedious task of... The banners are all gone, the teams have all made it home and are either preparing for the last race of 2009 in KW, or have begun the tedious task of de-rigging, and re-rigging their boats for the 2009 season. The lake of the Ozarks OSS Championship, had all a championship should have, drama, great food , great site, and most of all great racing. The OSS racers didnt let the crowds down.

In Super Cat 850, Team WHM With Billy "The Plumber" Mauff and Jay "Cocktails" Meuller won the Points battle and now have the priviledge to wear the US 1 on the bow of their 40 Skater.

In OSS Cat Lite, Logging over 250 miles in testing and racing, Amsoil with Paul Whittier and Bob Teague.

In OSS Super Vee, Team Miccosukee Gaming with Brett Furshman, and Billy Gluek.

OSS Cat Outboard, Fluid Sealing Products,

Ryan Beckley and Alan Campbell

OSS Super Vee Lite

Team Wild Ride, John and Larry Kostalac

OSS Cat Extreme

Team CRC, Mike Defrees and Jeff Harris

Turbine Extreme,

Miss Geico, Marc Grant and Scott Begovich

Congratulations to all the teams , Good luck in KW, and in 2009. ]]> Pete454 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=57 U.S Nationals OSS style, LOTO PT 2 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=56 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:04:57 GMT In Part 1 we covered the big dogs, in part two I will cover the dogs that bite, AKA as Super Vee Light! Super Vee light is comprised of 9 teams in ... In Part 1 we covered the big dogs, in part two I will cover the dogs that bite, AKA as Super Vee Light! Super Vee light is comprised of 9 teams in boats ranging in size from 27 ft up to 30, Single Mercury Racing 525 with Bravo Style drive, They start in two by two rows winner of the last race moves to the last row, last place to the front row! The competition is fierce, yet like a family in the dry pit area. Always willing to help one another out.

Going into the final race of the season the Brothers Kostelac, Larry(D) and John (T) in the 30 Extreme Wild Ride have a 15 point lead
over Team Typhoon, With Jim Natoli(D) and Randy (T-Bag) Schleuss ( T), A self proclaimed ruler of the sea!

On Typhoon's stern, The Husband /Wife team of Mark and Jenni Dunbar, in their Under - Destruction Phantom. In their Rookie season have had a win in Havasu, and are hometown favorites at LOTO.

With points being double in LOTO, anything can happen, Team Popeye's/Wild Card, Or Team IMCO with Jimmy Speros (D) and George Auriemma Jr (T) , could easily take the title with some slick driving and a little luck.

We will find out who will be crowned OSS Super Vee Light champion for 2008.

You can listen live via the internet go to:
http://www.talkoffshore.com/ ]]> Pete454 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=56 U.S Nationals OSS style, Pre-race matchups LOTO PT 1 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=55 Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:17:07 GMT Although I have never been to the famed Shoot-out, I did attend last year's National Championship. This year's race will have even more to offer as the "Horny Toad" entertainment complex is complete. Also complete are a couple new Race boat's that will increase the wow factor. First will be the New JBS Extreme turbine, which will square off with the 44 MTI GEICO. The JBS Crew of Jeff Stevenson (Driver) and Joey Skrocki (throttles) will control their new 50Ft Mystic, with 2 T-53 turbines and BPM drives.

As well, Bob Bull of CMS fame has a new 48ft, MTI which debuted at the shootout, powered by Mercury racing 1200's they will go head to head with Dave Scott's Bud Light, as well as Mike Defree's "CRC" MTi and Bob Morgan's 40 Skater " Bad Moon Risen" In what will surely be a high speed spectacle.

In Super Cat 850, the points are tied up at 472 between Team CRC and Team WHM, And just 17 points back Team Shocker with Richie Prince (D) and Bob Bull (T)at 455. Team Celerity, Steve Page (D) and Joey Gratton (T) have had a tough season, but can still capture the 2009 High Points championship, As LOTO will be double points. Also competing Team Fury, with Guy Costa (D) and Ray Delaney (T), can play the spoiler, having not run the whole season with the Mercury 850 package. Also in the mix and playing spoiler will be D&M Motorsports, a home town favorite running a MTI, With Brian Haupt (D) and Dennis Hillhouse.

In Super Cat Light The battle of the Oils, will have another round as Team Peppers/Lucas oil, with Father/Son team George and Micheal Stancombe maintains a 5 point lead over, Quoting Mike, "5 points arent enough to lock it down, we need to get in front and stay in front" Team Amsoil with Paul Whittier (D) and Bob Teague (T) are looking to double up their points and claim victory. While Popeye's Wil Ros (D) and Stan " The Animal" Ware Plan on running spoiler and taking some glory away from the points leaders, and avoid a spinning,

Team Propstop, will also be gunning for the checkered and making statement in Cat light.
With Ray Contreras(D) and Mark Kowalski (T).

]]> Pete454 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=55 What a Rack (quel)! http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=54 Sat, 20 Sep 2008 06:38:12 GMT Some girls make a lasting impression on you not just because of how they look, but how they behave outside of the photo world. Take Celeste Trinh,... Some girls make a lasting impression on you not just because of how they look, but how they behave outside of the photo world. Take Celeste Trinh, who talks to me candidly about her family and romantic life. Or Brandy Dahl, a voluptuous model who told me repeatedly that I resembled Newman from the Seinfeld TV show.

Raquel Borges was not one of those kind of girls.

The fact is, I never really got to know Raquel. Although I worked with her, she hung with a different crowd. I curse this fact, because I would have liked to get to know her more than I did. It was obvious, as you'll see from these photos, that she was an extremely outgoing person—"uninhibited" almost seems like an understatement in her case. Her freckled face, wild hair and ample bosom were fairly unforgettable.

One night, the test team had dinner together. The lovely Celeste was there, as well as Raquel and a few other girls. It was a great night. The liquor was flowing, and so too was her cascading hair. She really knew how to capture your attention—and she was more mouth-watering than anything on the menu that night. I ordered the chicken breast, and in retrospect, I think I know why I was in the mood for breast.

Raquel looked extremely nice posing on the boats. Here are some nice images of her on a Hallett; her makeup hides her naturally freckled face.

One night in Havasu, a bunch of us had been socializing at the Naked Turtle bar, adjacent to the Nautical Inn. It was nearly dusk, and Raquel and I were walking back on the beach toward our respective rooms when she hopped on a friend's Magic deckboat and asked if I wanted to take some photos of her while she posed on it. Not being a fool, I ran to get my camera. Raquel always struck me as a free spirit no matter what time of the day it was. This shoot was totally spontaneous and was never intended for publication in any magazine. She just wanted to have fun, and I was only too happy to point my camera at her and join in the fun. The girl positively oozes sexuality.

What do you think of Raquel? Why not take a few seconds to leave a comment in the box below? Because if you don't, I'll assume nobody is reading this blog and stop posting all these sexy photos. Yes, I'm resorting to blackmail. Deal with it. ]]> BrettDawg http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=54 Blond Goddess http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=53 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:50:41 GMT Of all the models I've ever worked with, Ute Werner might be viewed as the most "classically beautiful," a blond stunner in the Christie Brinkley mold.

Looking at some images from her portfolio, I'm sure you'll see why I considered myself lucky to have found her and negotiated a deal to photograph her:

We met in May of 2005 at Lake Elsinore, where I had her model on a few boats in the 18-foot range. Two of them were hydros, because I was interested in creating a section strictly devoted to hydros.

What I remember most about Ute is that she's a voracious fan of horses; she rides and grooms them, and also teaches horseback riding. She's extremely active in various sports and outdoor activities—everything from dirt bike riding, water skiing and snow skiing to kickboxing jogging, snorkling and surfing. A resident of San Diego, she has a page on IMDB, which lists among her credits something called Lingerie Bowl. (I must remember to add that to my TiVo wish list.) She also has her own website, ute-werner.com.

I first photographed Ute on a 1991 Carrera. She wore a very sexy black bikini.

Next, she got aboard a bitchin' orange/blue shovelnose hydro, wearing the same black suit:

The only "flaw" I ever saw on Ute was a medium-sized birthmark (or maybe it was a bruise) on her right leg. Obviously, it was fairly easy to Photoshop it out.

Finally, I had Ute change into a shiny purpleish bikini for some shots aboard an all-wood shovelnose Sanger hydro owned by Jon Pronzini.

A couple of years after this shoot, I contacted Ute about the possibility of working again. Initially she expressed interest, but later failed to return a message I left wanting to firm up the date of the shoot. Too bad—I genuinely enjoyed working with her.

What do you think of Ute? Should I attempt to make contact again? Leave me your comment below. ]]> BrettDawg http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=53 Oooo-ooohhh, Jackie Blue http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=52 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:36:43 GMT First-time models present a unique challenge for a photographer. Lacking experience and a set stock of rehearsed poses, these girls are often nervous... First-time models present a unique challenge for a photographer. Lacking experience and a set stock of rehearsed poses, these girls are often nervous and uncomfortable, and it's my job to guide them and make them feel at ease. I've shot a fair number of novice models, and the shoots have ranged from delightful to disastrous.

Jackie Couldert was one of the many first-timers I've shot on the water. Although she wasn't a seasoned veteran, she was extremely flexible and took direction surprisingly well. She was one of several models I worked with a couple of years ago at a shoot I'd arranged in Stockton, California. Although she was the only one lacking professional experience, she was by far the most professional—as well as the most fun and easy-going to work with. She was eager to take my direction, and happy to try anything I suggested.

While not a drop-dead "knockout" in the strictest traditional sense, she had a sweet, freshly scrubbed girl-next-door look and a winning smile. Wrapped in a pretty blue suit, she was the perfect model to drape upon Chris and Don Reid's 1977 Tarva:

As you can see, she appears very comfortable on board, even when I put her in the occasional risqué position.

Jackie was featured in the very first print issue of Performance Boats Magazine, appearing in my feature story "Warning Shot." The article was about Shiver Shot, a 1970 Super Sanger owned by Scott Corey:

As a nice contrast to the 18-foot V-drives, Jackie got a ride on the 44-foot all-aluminum boat Liquid Technologies, owned by Wayne Kruse.

Finally, I put Jackie aboard the 36-foot Skater Honker Cut Marine, owned by Rod Karnofel.

Our first shoot had gone so well that I had hoped to work with Jackie for a Performance Boats shoot in NorCal earlier this year. So I called her up a couple of weeks before a recent event I'd been planning...and she turned me down. The reason she gave? She was getting married that day! Man, can you believe some people?

So let's hear it. What do you think of Jackie? Post your comment below. ]]> BrettDawg http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=52 <![CDATA['Art' Attack]]> http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=51 Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:37:31 GMT *July 20:* I have met Dean Loucks several times. The wild blond hair, red Puma Ferrari tennis shoes and hip sunglasses help to give him an... July 20: I have met Dean Loucks several times. The wild blond hair, red Puma Ferrari
tennis shoes and hip sunglasses help to give him an undeniable rock-star flair. Dean had
suggested he fly us in his customized Engstrom helicopter from the East Chicago
Marina to his shop, The Art of Design (TAOD), located in Elkhart, Indiana (about 90
miles by air). Dean worked as the pilot the previous day at the Chicago Poker Run,
and Sunday was the only day he could give us the tour of his shop.

While waiting for him to fire up the chopper, Bio-Kleen President Tim Kowalski and his
bride, Denise, walked over to say hello. Bio-Kleen has a line of high-performance
cleaning products, which work exceptionally well. We saw them the previous day in Tim’s
1993 35’ Café Cigarette. Tim completely refurbished the Cigarette last year from top
to bottom, including a fresh set of Sterling 572 Dry Sump 700-hp engines.

Earl and I were stoked about taking the chopper instead of driving the 2.5 hours to
Indiana. Seeing the train yards and mills from above gave us a unique and fascinating
perspective.

After landing at a private airport, Dean drove us over to the shop. He considers the
roads near his office his own private racetrack for his Ford GT and Dodge Viper.

When we walked into the shop, there was an eclectic feel about everything. His original
artwork includes a painted woman, a painted mechanical leg and giant illustrations of
frogs. In addition, magazine covers featuring many of the boats he has painted are on
display everywhere.

Dean got his start by skateboarding semi-professionally. The Indiana native
spent a couple of years in California with the likes of Tony Hawk before getting into
airbrushing T-shirts, which eventually led him back to Indiana. TAOD is known for their
outlandish paint schemes on some of the hottest boats on the water. He sprays
exclusively for Outerlimits, but does a lot of retail work on MTIs and Skaters.

TAOD is really a comprehensive art and design facility. These guys can handle
anything, from simple projects like creating banners and business cards to elaborately
painted murals on buses, boats and helicopters. He recently started his own
signature series of paint with Akzo Nobel Sikkens Paint. Dean has been working with
the company for several years to develop a wide variety of custom colors. This painting
is a sampling of the variety of colors that Dean has created for his unique line of paint.

Mark Hughes, his GM, keeps everything in the shop moving. The pair have been friends
since high school.

Tow rigs, gas tanks and helmets—there is no job too big or small. Dean’s philosophy is
refreshing, in that he never tries to get rich on a single job. He keep all 21 of his crew
working at the shop rate of $55 an hour.

TAOD is repainting the Superman II boat, giving it a new updated scheme; he’s also
painting the Superman III Outerlimits. Dean showed us a rendering of how the boat is
going to look.

While I was getting shots, Dean jumped into his bright orange Viper and drove down Rush
Court well in excess of 125 mph.
Driving straight at Earl, he hit the cul-de-sac
and began doing donuts on the pavement. Tread flew off the car. (This footage is going
to make superb B-roll for our video.) We wrapped the interview.

I needed to get back to the family, as they were stuck in the Merrillville hotel room. We
had to drive Blake and Blair back to O’Hare International.

Dean said we had to see his crib, and he was our ride back. We agreed, as it would only
take another 30 minutes. Upon entering the house, you immediately get it—he is an
artistic genius. One of the more notable creations was a sculpture of a frog holding a
skateboard, combining the past with the present.

There was a piece of artwork based on a $100 bill that Dean paintstakingly cut,
sanded and painted to showcase more of his special talents.

Additionally, he draws.

His fascination with frogs is apparently limitless. Another detailed piece of sculpted
three-dimensional artwork reveals the many levels of his artistic talent.

I called Dawnette and told her to put the boys in a cab. This was going to take
another three hours.

Downstairs, there's a design studio where he works late into the evening, creating some
of the world’s most unique designs. He showed us the detail in making a corporate
tour bus for Brassfield Estate Winery. Using the computer, he demonstrated in detail how
he had frosted the grapes and provided the 3-D effect for the customer.

While at TAOD, Dean had shown us a rendering of an amazing, painstakingly
drawn bed he had created in his head.

Seeing it in person was breathtaking. It must be a terrific conversation piece for the
opposite gender. This stellar piece of artwork looks like something the Imagineers
at Disney might have created. After Dean created the rendering, a Chicago-based
metal fabricator built the piece.

The heart with body parts coming out everywhere is surely a great conversation
piece for him and his female guests.

As we were about to leave, Dean—who is 45—showed us he still has it physically as
well. He stacked three skateboards atop each other and did a handstand down the
driveway.

The flight back was quick. Afterwards, we hauled ass back to Merrillville to pick up
Dawnette and the little ones. We stopped by Gino’s Pizza again for Earl to get a taste of
Chicago, then showed him Al Capone’s old hangout on Michigan Avenue and the Wrigley
building.

July 21: We visited Michael Schultz, president of Gaffrig Performance. His wife,
Mia, purchased doughnuts for the kids and went out of their way to line up the various
products that they manufacture.

Michael purchased the company from the widow of Jim Gaffrig, and is working hard to
reestablish the company’s product line and synergy. He had done his homework and had
laid out on benches the various gauges, shifter controls and steering wheels that they
distribute and manufacture. Lunchtime was fast approaching, so it was one of our
shorter interviews. We then raced from Huntley, IL, to Neenah, WI, to interview Joe
Zelinski, founder of Custom Marine Inc.

VP of Sales and Marketing Paul Cassata said we needed to be there by 3 p.m. to have
access to Joe, and we were more than 180 miles away. This was a slight detour from
our original itinerary, but we had met Paul the previous Friday, and had requested we
come up to the factory while in the Chicago area. This time slot was the only possibility.

CompX International, which purchased Livorsi Marine in 2006, then purchased CMI.
CMI has been the leader in stainless exhaust products for more than a decade.
Joe got his start at MerCruiser, and ventured out on his own in 1984, when he saw the
opportunity to build exhaust headers for engine builders, as well as custom
applications for boat builders. The company has flourished, and having Mercury Racing as
one of their biggest accounts hasn't hurt. Upon arrival, Joe was camera shy, but I had
to get him on camera. After getting the intro with Joe, we were introduced and were
instructed we would get the rest of our tour with Engineering Manager Mark Glodowski
and Operations Manager Bill Mahnke.

Because they're a publicly traded company—and work on many secretive
projects for MerCruiser and other clients—taking a guided tour through the
factory was almost a comical experience. We were cautioned to stay within the yellow
lines, and forbidden to venture into any real areas of production. The trio of men
continued to consult each other on what we could photograph and talk about on camera,
which became a little annoying at times—especially as we had driven a long
way to promote their company!

CMI builds some of the best stainless products on the planet, and due to the nature
of what they build and for whom, we finally had to accept the fact that we weren’t going
to get a complete factory tour.

Project Engineer Mark Blair walked us through some computer programming/design
work inside the offices. It was 5 p.m. when we finished. We drove four hours back to
O'Hare and swapped vehicles, as Budget didn’t want us to leave the Expedition in
Detroit. We grabbed a minivan and headed for Douglas, MI, arriving at 3 a.m. ]]> King Creole http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=51 LOTO Shoot Out Poker Run http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=50 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:55:00 GMT I just got back from the Lake of the Ozarks from the 20th anniversary Shootout. The Shootout was preceded by a Poker Run put on by Darrel Holcomb and... I just got back from the Lake of the Ozarks from the 20th anniversary Shootout. The Shootout was preceded by a Poker Run put on by Darrel Holcomb and the crew from PowerBoatParty.com.
There were an estimated 80 boats playing In the Poker Run that stopped at all of the usual LOTO hangouts. We started at host venue Coconuts Bar and Grill

Darrel got me into the PowerboatParty.com helicopter,

we started with the second group for the start of the Poker Run.

The second group was led out by the Darrel and the crew from Hawkeye Boats in their bad ass 40 foot Baja Split decision.

We never did catch up to the first group of boats we even hopped over a few of the hills but only caught them at the first stop at Big Dicks Half Way Inn.

Then we headed over to the second stop Captain Ron’s

which was also the Host venue for the Shoot Out that would be held the following day. The docks at Captain Ron’s were definitely the who’s who in Performance Boating. There was enough horsepower on the docks to send something to the moon. Canadian Thrust 50 foot Nortek Turbine

35 foot Nordic Flame with a single 1000++HP twin drive

33 Foot Eliminator Daytona with 1200+HP per side

Skater

Play Craft Pontoon with Twin 300’s

Then we headed over to Captains Galley,

Dog Days ,

Frankie and Louie’s,

Horny Toad then back to Coconuts for the stereo contest and party..

While in the air I was able to shoot a few pictures of some serious Performance boats in action.

Bud Light,

DONZI,

Nortek,

Cigarette 38,

and Slug Heffner’s awesome new Skater Dirty Duck. This picture was actually shot from the air, I thought we were going to get wet on this one.

Once again Darrel and his team did a great job with the Poker Run and I’m looking forward to the next Poker Run in Lake of the Ozarks. ]]> Todd Taylor http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=50 2008 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Poker Run http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=49 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:51:34 GMT I just got back from the Lake of the Ozarks from the 20th anniversary Shootout. The Shootout was preceded by a Poker Run put on by Darrel Holcomb and... I just got back from the Lake of the Ozarks from the 20th anniversary Shootout. The Shootout was preceded by a Poker Run put on by Darrel Holcomb and the crew from PowerBoatParty.com.
There were an estimated 80 boats playing In the Poker Run that stopped at all of the usual LOTO hangouts. We started at host venue Coconuts Bar and Grill

Darrel got me into the PowerboatParty.com helicopter,

we started with the second group for the start of the Poker Run.

The second group was led out by the Darrel and the crew from Hawkeye Boats in their bad ass 40 foot Baja Split decision.

We never did catch up to the first group of boats we even hopped over a few of the hills but only caught them at the first stop at Big Dicks Half Way Inn.

Then we headed over to the second stop Captain Ron’s

35 foot Nordic Flame with a single 1000++HP twin drive

33 Foot Eliminator Daytona with 1200+HP per side

Skater

Play Craft Pontoon with Twin 300’s

Then we headed over to Captains Galley,

Dog Days ,

Frankie and Louie’s,

Horny Toad then back to Coconuts for the stereo contest and party..

While in the air I was able to shoot a few pictures of some serious Performance boats in action.

Bud Light,

DONZI,

Nortek,

Cigarette 38,

and Slug Heffner’s awesome new Skater Dirty Duck. This picture was actually shot from the air, I thought we were going to get wet on this one.

Once again Darrel and his team did a great job with the Poker Run and I’m looking forward to the next Poker Run in Lake of the Ozarks. ]]> Todd Taylor http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=49 (Wet and) Windy City http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=48 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:35:11 GMT *July 19: *Unfortunately, this appeared to be a particularly bad day for the Chicago Poker Run, as the dark storm clouds made good on their promise... July 19: Unfortunately, this appeared to be a particularly bad day for the Chicago
Poker Run, as the dark storm clouds made good on their promise to unload an
ominous payload. The kids waited in the hotel lobby, even though I was sure
there would be no poker run today.

We drove to East Chicago Marina. Upon entering, we could see puddles of
water forming on the boats that were covered. The look of despair on the
faces of the many participants was palpable.

Although heavy clouds covered the skyline, the rain eventually began to subside,
so we decided to get to work. Scott Farley had towed his 44’ MTI, Spinetingler,
from Oklahoma. We spoke with some of his crew members, who were in good spirits,
given the circumstances.

We scoped out Chicago Powerboat Club director Mark Smith to get the lowdown
on the day's activities. We filmed him in the drizzle to help underscore his understandably
blue mood—which was evident in the faces of everybody in the crowd as well.

Fountain Powerboats appeared to dominate the run, and the charge was led by
Fountain’s largest dealer, Shogren Performance Marine. We were fortunate
enough to ride with Scott and Kelly Shogren in their 47’ Fountain.

Additionallly Shogren's GM, Greg Weber, had his own crew out in a 42’ Lightning with a
bright vinyl wrap.

Jeff and Jessica Zitzner gave us a thought-provoking interview about their 42’
Fountain, which they painted in their garage. They were kind enough to take Blake, Blair
and Earl on the run.

We interviewed Dan Davies in his 42’ Fountain, called Outlaw. The staggered
525SCi Mercs aren't quite fast enough for this enthusiast, who plans to upgrade into
another Fountain.

Dan recently started the non-for-profit Ft. Myers Offshore Club. The organization
recently raised $25,000 for survivor Jennifer Molter, whose family was involved in a fatal
boating accident off Marco Island in January 2007.

Keith and Mike Merritt got factory support in their 2009 42’ Fountain with Wyatt Fountain
at the helm. The stunning new yellow/blue/orange rocket stood out with the
custom painted 850SCis.

We began our journey northbound on Lake Michigan for the 75-mile run to Michigan
City. The rain lightened up and we were able to bring out the equipment.

The 47’ Fountain provided a great platform to shoot in the rough water. However, Scott
kept the throttle wide open much of the time, making it difficult to shoot at 100 mph.
Dawnette and the kids found it exhilarating nonetheless.

Many running shots had to be edited as I caught both water and sky, but nothing in
between.

The 43’ Nor-Tech O U Want Some ran circles around the participants while everyone was
staging.

Mike D’Ambrose was an exceptionally nice guy in his erotically painted 46’ Rough Rider
Cigarette Strip Poker, which features a curvy female lying on her back down the side of
the boat. It definitely captured people's attention.

Mark Smith and his crew in the Chi-Town Hustler looked great in his completely
refurbished 1996 39’ Ocean Express. Mark is looking to purchase a Skater in the near
future.

After returning from Michigan City to East Chicago, we floated while waiting for the
helicopter to refuel. However, the next rain cloud was moving in fast. Scott pressed
Mark for the group to takeoff. It’s a shame we hadn't left five minutes earlier.

The only boat to run with us was Elliot Wiczer in his 2007 Fountain called Looney
Tune. The 42’ Lightning with twin 700SCi stayed with us the entire run, acting as
our wingman.

We took off toward the Chicago skyline. However, the rain pummeled us as the fleet
of boats ran. Some of the faster boats swang eastward to avoid the onslaught. Scott
throttled down and returned to the entrance of the marina. The girls all ran for the
shelter of the cabin while Scott and I endured the relentless rain.

The ride back to the East Chicago Marina was uneventful. Scott blasted the 47’
Fountain through the open water. We said our goodbyes and prepared for the following
day with Dean at The Art of Design (TAOD). ]]> King Creole http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=48 Orange Beach Bash http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=47 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:42:52 GMT LA, Lower Alabama that is! Is host to the 5th round of the Offshore Super Series, to be more precise Orange beach, with its small town flavor, and... LA, Lower Alabama that is! Is host to the 5th round of the Offshore Super Series, to be more precise Orange beach, with its small town flavor, and its sugar white beaches, it is often refered to as the "Redneck Riveria".
But all long its coast, High rise condos continue to pop up. Making it a awesome place to kick back and let life's worries fade for a week or so.

But relaxing isnt what the Racers of OSS had in mind, as they decended upon Orange Beach. At last year's event 4 to 5 foot seas made for a show the fans loved. and this year fans were not disappointed. as Saturday testing saw 3 to 5 ft seas, many teams ran a quick lap and went back in to the wet pits to add weight, and smaller Props!!

Sunday would start out, with cloudy skies, I was invited to shoot from Turn Boat 1, a beautiful 108ft Broward, Miss Stephanie, which is now homeported in Orange Beach.
what a great platform to shoot from! Sunday brought a new look to Offshore Racing as well, as in the past, many offshore races would turn into a high speed parade, or a single boat due to mechnical failures. Taking a cue from Motocross, teams decided they would run shorter 6 lap heats, which would increase the action and give teams more than one shot to hit their set-up.

The first start had the OSS Cat Outboards,
and the Single Super Vee start, while the second start would be the always intense Super Vee Light class. In SVL, their is comraderie, smack talk, and great racing.
Team Typhoon's Throttleman the never outspoken Randy Schluess, claims to be the "Ruler of the seas" and was the first to pin one, and to say it was exciting as these 5 SVL's barreled to the pin at over 90 MPH, is a understatement.

The first heat 1A would have Typhoon on top, and the team to beat in the second heat.
Normally it would be a hour or so before the next race, but with the heat concept, the second race would be 15 minutes later, while the teams from the first heat could cool off and make weight adjustments and prop changes. It also gave team Popeyes/Wild Card a second chance to earn more points as their Mercury 525 had went into Guardian Mode, upon returning to the docks, the Mercury racing staff quickly fixed the issues and had them ready for round two.

Mean while Heat 1B Had Supercat 850, Super Cat Light, and Extreme. And from the start,
Team CRC took command, and lead entire heat, Team Fury suffered a broken blower belt on the last lap, again the Mercury racing staff were there to save the day and let Fury get to the second heat. Team WHM suffered a blown inline fuse at the start of heat, they would make the second of two heats, in past races this would have been the end of the day and the race.

]]> Pete454 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=47 A Working Vacation http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=46 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:53:21 GMT *July 16: *I won’t pay for first-class airfare, although I wish I had on this trip. I never recline my seat during the flight, and I always pray... July 16: I won’t pay for first-class airfare, although I wish I had
on this trip. I never recline my seat during the flight, and I always
pray the person in front will stay upright as well. My flight to
Chicago became insufferable when a heavyset Russian
woman spent the entire flight practically in my lap, using all
of her might to recline her seat to its full capacity. I was wearing
my CAM boot because of my broken foot and couldn’t manipulate my
left leg. It became a 3.5-hour-long battle.

Due to my extensive travel schedule this year, we decided this
would be the family vacation. Chicago is my kind of town. Dawnette
and I took the kids to one of our favorite local eateries, Gino’s
East of Chicago.

After having the best pizza on the planet, we drove out to Key Lime
Cove, a water park and resort. The kids went to bed early
because Dawnette had some sort of mysterious surprise
for me.

July 17: We drove 10 minutes over to North Point Marina in Winthrop
Harbor to meet Greg Weber of Shogren Performance Marine.

Based in Chicago, Shogren is Fountain Powerboats' biggest
dealership. I was thinking that Dawnette had lined us up for a
boat ride. Boy, was I wrong! Her surprise was that she had purchased
a 2001 38’ Donzi from Shogren for $125K. I was flabbergasted.

I guess I had complained once too often to her about having to
beg for a ride at each poker run we attend. We launched the boat
and Greg began filling the boat with fuel. I decided to be
expedient and politely refused the gift. We can’t possibly pull
a boat from event to event and still accomplish what
we are doing. I apologized to general manager, Greg
Weber, and left with the kids so they could play at Key Lime
Cove while I caught up on my blog. I immediately became
concerned that Scott would be mad, as many people had gone to
great lengths to get this boat poker-run ready and stickered
with our logo. Fortunately, he assured me that he understood
and that everything was good. I told him I would see him the
following day to interview him.

July 18: Earl and I arrived at Shogren Performance Marine
at 10 a.m. We drove around the area a couple times looking
for a traditional boatyard. We entered the professional building,
only to find out that the dealership was inside.

As soon as we walked through the doors, we were welcomed with
a nice sign. The only other client to do that for us was Mercury
Racing in Fond Du Lac back in January. It is a nice touch.

Inside the 35,000-square-foot facility, you can find virtually any
type of Fountain amongst the 17 different models on display.
Shogren believes in the product so much that he is exclusively a
Fountain dealer (although he does take in trades and purchases
used boats of various lines). I asked Scott why everything was
inside. “Chicago can get some rough weather," he explained.
"Inside a meticulously kept facility, boats can be purchased year
round and presented properly.” Smart businessman.

Additionally, they are an authorized MerCruiser service
center, but only service their own customers.

Shogren has risen to the top very fast. He got to know Reggie
after starting to race offshore in Fountains. He's one of those
unique individuals who is simultaneously perceptive, genuine
and aggressive. Having excelled in the audio
electronics business,
he jumped wholeheartedly into the boat business in 2003 and
procured the Fountain Chicago dealership. He has driven his Fountain
sales to more than $30M in those five years.

He is a devoted NASCAR enthusiast, to say the least, having
raced at private courses like the Chicago Autobahn with the
likes of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. He has some very rare
Earnhardt collectibles, including the last signed limited-edition
Warner Brothers/NASCAR licensed poster of The Intimidators,
signed by Dale Earnhardt on the day he was fatally injured
in Daytona. Of the 2,500 total pieces issued in the fall of 2000,
fewer than a hundred were signed by the late Earnhardt.

After leaving Shogren, we drove over to Grayslake, IL, and
met with Mike Livorsi at Comp X Marine.

Mike got his start more than 20 years ago making liquid-filled
speedos. He worked tirelessly developing a wide range of products
for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Livorsi Marine
is the industry leader in manufacturing a full line of gauges, throttle
shifters and billet accessories.

CompX International, a publicly traded company, purchased
Livorsi Marine in 2006, and built a brand-new facility on the original
site. CompX is best known for its security products related to
high-end locks. Additionally, CompX Marine owns CMI of Neenah,
WI, known for its custom marine exhaust products.

Mike introduced us to Zolly, who operates their new Haas Laser
CNC machine. This amazing piece of equipment can create
anything out of billet aluminum.

In the new 120,000-square-foot facility, Livorsi occupies 21,000
of that footage. Inside the facility, there are 12 full-time mechanical
and electrical engineers who create the latest and greatest.
Additionally, they maintain their own QC area, as well as tool
and die department. The new powdercoating machines put an extra
fine touch on all of their bezels and throttles.

It was late afternoon by the time we finished. We were
ready to head to East Chicago for the Chicago Powerboat
Club run. Mike warned us that traffic would be four hours of
frustration on a Friday afternoon. He spontaneously invited
us over to his home for brick-oven pizza baked in his one-of-a-kind
custom-built brick oven. He called his wife, Victoria, to notify
her that our gang would be storming the Livorsi residence shortly.

Mike's awesome house sits on Fox Lake, which is one of the larger
Chain o' Lakes. He immediately got to work stoking the wood to
exactly 1,050 degrees, while the kids played pool, Vegas-style slot
machines and with his 200-pound St. Bernard, Max. He has
the ultimate party house.

We had a couple shots of chilled tequila, which was enhanced
by Mike’s expertise in creating pizza. We spent several hours
there before reluctantly heading off to northern Indiana.
Before leaving, Mike showed us his customized black 2007
GT Ford Mustang with the Regency package.

Because we had the kids, we couldn’t stay at the aging Ameristar
casino in East Chicago. We stayed on the outskirts of Gary, IN,
which was scary to say the least, as we rolled down Broadway St.
at midnight to our hotel in Merrillville. ]]> King Creole http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=46 Burley Idaho Regatta 2008 - Part Four http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=45 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:12:08 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

Crackers anyone?… This time the tables turned and the P-96 Arizona Girl with Amy Ottenger and Missy Monroe got the lead early and the P-9 of Scott and Mike Schatz just could not catch em. It was a great race as was the one before it.

Once again the Nostalgia Flatties put on a great show…

The Pro Stocks take to the water for the final and this time it developed into a slugfest between Mike Darner in the PS-8 and Ty Newton in the PS-70. There would be no domination by Ty in this heat as they went neck and neck lap after lap. It was one of the best races of the weekend. In the end the SS-70 retired with mechanical difficulties and Darner took a hard fought win. Nice house in the background of pic #6. Maybe I need to move to Burley…

After a little hike up the hill I decided to take some overhead shots. First up was the Comp Jet final. There was no surprise here as Toby Clark in the CJ-53 easily took the win and the weekend in Comp Jet.

As the Superstocks lined up for their final there was a kind of electricity in the air. Some of the best boats and drivers in the country were all right here ready to duke it out. As the race progressed into the first lap it was Rankin and Scarlata side by side. Rankin got the edge and put the heat to Scarlata in lap two and never looked back. Unfortunately is was all in vain as the SS-31 boat flipped in the turn and forced a restart. The boat was heavily damaged, but the driver, Jeff Gibson was ok. It’s a shame as this boat was beautiful as you can see by the pictures I posted earlier in the pits. The rescue guys were all over it as you can see. They say the boat is fixable which is a good thing.

I will put the pics of the heat up as it was a good battle even though it didn’t count…

Ok now for the restart. This didn’t go quite as smoothly as the first turn got tight and a couple got washed down pretty hard. Rankin ended up with the lead again though and never looked back. The SS-80 continues to be a dominating force in Super Stock, this weekend with Dave Rankin filling in for Dave Bryant who normally drives it.

A feathered friend visits the course

The K final… This one was not much of a contest I’m afraid. Duff Daily in the K-69 showed everyone the way home from start to finish.

The last race of the day was the Crackerboxes. It set up to be a rematch of the prior heats early on the P-9 boat battling the P-96. In the end the girls couldn’t catch em this time and the P-9 boat took the win for the final and for the weekend with the girls in the P-96 taking a strong second.

The trip back Monday was a long one. The last couple hours taught me why I won’t ever have a Sonata as my primary long distance vehicle. I think the seats in this car had a hardening agent inside that activated after 10 hours of use per day. We took a different route down the I-15 on the home trek to visit briefly with some friends in central Utah, then on into Vegas and So Cal. A total of over 1800 miles for the two days of driving. Would I do it again? Certainly not. Until next June that is.

It was an impressive weekend of racing and an impressive venue. I would encourage anyone who digs circle boat racing to make the trip to Burley either by road or by air. The town and race organizers are hospitable and the large mile and quarter course really lets these boats air out their potential down the straights. You won’t find a nicer circle boat race and venue.

Tom Timm and I during a delay in the action. Tom shoots race photos and is much better at it than I am. Mary Beth shot the photos and used Canon Stitch Assist for the panorama view of the entire Snake River up and down from the race course.

]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=45 Burley Idaho Regatta 2008 - Part Three http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=44 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:33:38 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

My candid camera catches a couple of Performance Boats forum members… Mike Minegar (Rattle Can Lou) center, and Jeff (TBI…The Bilge Idiot) right center…
Jeff is responsible for many of the animated goings on posted on the forums. Mike lives in Boise and operates a auto body shop, restores old flats, and generally causes all the trouble he can get away with on the forums… (Just kidding Mike)…(well not really) :)

Back to the racing, another heat of Nostalgia Flats… These guys have a good time…

The final heat of Superstocks for the day. Scarlata takes the win with Rankin right behind. Good racin.

The K-boat final was a good one. Tony Scarlata in the K-5 Traffic Cone made the call for this round and took the gold for the Saturday final. It was a good race as he came from behind to overtake Duff Daily in the K-69 boat. The pictures tell the story…

Sunday’s program was much similar to Saturday’s in structure. Although Sunday started out heading for record heat, some cloud cover spared us and it was only low to mid 90’s.

During the day I had a chance to spend some time in the pits. A few of the boats that really stood out were the Faulkner’s PS-70 Canary Pride Pro-Stock entry driven by Ty Newton. Ty set a course record for the weekend turning the fastest lap ever run at Burley I heard over the PA. Dave Rankin’s team always seems to have it together and this weekend would be no exception. No one works harder than Rankin is what I continue to hear around the pits and it shows. The SS-80 boat is routinely in the winner’s circle, this weekend to be shoed by Gordy in the shootout and by Dave himself in the circle races. Dave showed the class he can still kick ass and take names. Dave’s K-69 entry is also a runner, this weekend shoed by the renowned Duff Daily also took the weekend’s K boat win overall. Ray Pauli’s SS-501 entry with Hal Jones driving was also very impressive taking the overall win in Superstock for the weekend.

Another hotly contested class all weekend was the Crackerboxs. The P-9 boat of Scott and Mike Schatz duked it out with the girls, P-96, the Arizona Girl team of Amy Ottinger and Missy Monroe in about every heat. In the end the P-9 got the weekend win but the P-96 boat put it to em this day. Both were very impressive.

In the Comp Jet realm, Toby Clark and Joey Cucci bested the rest of the field with their external rudder entry claiming the weekend win as well as the best of 5 class records broken thus taking home the Lance and Bill Faulkner Memorial trophy and the Moyle mink.

Here’s some photos to help tell the story…

Drivers meeting

The morning pit tour…

Starting with Jeff Brocheseur’s spare equipment…

Heat one, Superstocks… Rankin in SS-80 takes the win.

Heat Two… Scarlata in the SS-68 easily takes the win.

Jeff talking with Tony via onboard radio...

Heat Three, Skip Tuttle in the SS-711 takes the early lead

A hotly contested Cracker Box heat followed with the girls in the P-96 trying to run down the P-9, but no luck this round…

Another close heat of 2.5 Liter Hydros

Pro-Stocks on the water. In the end once again Ty in the Canary Pride boat easily handles the entire pack…

Jeff (TBI) contemplating his next animation project on the forum…

The moderating crew kickin back on the wrong end of the camera for a bit…

Rattle Can Lou’s hectic morning has taken a toll…

At the risk of waking Minegar up, the Comp Jets are at it once again… As was the norm for the weekend, Toby Clark takes the win…

Mary Beth preparing to shoot a little video. Some video she shot later in the day ended up altering a decision of a issue in the turn when the SS-31 boat flipped and was heavily damaged. What was initially ruled a cutoff causing the crash was reversed after the APBA turn judge viewed her video.

Continuing through the race program… the cloud cover had moved in making the light for photos pretty flat as you can probably see… Here come the Superstocks last chance heat… Scarlata in the SS-68 takes an early lead closely followed by Rankin. Both had won their earlier heats but apparently had infractions so here they were back on the water to get into the final. Only the top two from this heat continue on. In the end they finished in the same order they started with Tony tanking the heat win and Rankin second.

Sunday's action continues in Part Four... ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=44 Burley Idaho Regatta 2008 - Part Two http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=43 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:59:19 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

The weather was mid 90’s and predicted to be hotter for Sunday. Burley and the Snake River is truly a beautiful place to race. I will let the pictures somewhat tell the story of the racing action as I got so carried away shooting them I neglected to record several of the heat results. One nice thing about Burley in June is that you can race into the evening. Darkness doesn’t settle in around this neck of the woods until around 10pm.

The pictures start out with shots of the boats going in the water at the ramp for a test and tune session. My assistant and girlfriend, Mary Beth was on hand to help as normally is the case in our travels to the various race sites. Mary Beth is an accomplished amateur photographer and now race fan too. The background here is the end of an obstacle course the National Guard set up for the kids. It was a busy venue all weekend after things got rolling. The Guard was there with a display and recruitment effort.

This is Dave Chandler in his Barron Sprint “Mead Snake”. Dave hails from Las Vegas and I’ve known him for many years from my days in ski racing. Dave’s a great water skier too and participated on the U.S. World Team some years ago.

This is Ray Pauli who hails from Utah. Ray and his son campaign the SS-501 Boat with Hal Jones at the wheel. I met them in Red Bluff earlier this year. They are nice people and the boat runs hard.

Jeff Brochheseur and Tony Scarlata prepare for a radio check prior to the SS race and a little sequence of a test lap.

Some of the K-boats going in the water for their test runs. Pat Eason’s K-711 looking good in testing.

The Eason crew watches a warm-up lap of the K-711

The K-66 with Ty Newton at the wheel is always a tough contender.

The Minegar clan was in attendance. Brothers Mike (Rattle Can Lou on the forum) and Pat (vdriveforever) are spotted riding around on their scooters looking for trouble.

The SS-80 would be driven by Dave Rankin himself for the weekend races. His regular driver, Dave Bryant was absent to attend an Unlimited Hydro race. Here Dave drives to a first heat win in SS.

Second heat action has Tony Scarlata in the SS-68 taking the lead down the front straight. Tony however developed mechanical problems later and Hal Jones would take the heat win..

The Third heat lineup… the Soaring Eagle boat SS-31 with Jeff Gibson takes the heat win

The crowd favorite Cracker Boxes take to the water for heat one…

Some 2.5 Liter Hydro action…

The Pro-Stocks came out in force…

The Nostalgia Flats were well represented and had some real competitive races…

Part of the rescue crew that kept everyone safe for the weekend…

The Comp Jets really get after it…

The K’s come out to play… The K-5 doesn’t make the heat and K-66 with Ty Newton takes the win.

More Superstock action…

The Crackers…

The Snake River has some really nice homes…

Mary Beth trying her hand with a new friend's large body “machine gun” camera… Unfortunately mine’s a toy compared to these… But hey, it’s also much lighter to hold and haul around…

Saturday's action will continue in "Part Three" ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=43 Burley Idaho Regatta 2008 - Part One http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=42 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:58:11 GMT Image: http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mgpic-boat-300.jpg I have been a boater for the better part of 40 years and owner...

The town of Wells, Neveda just on the northern border was hit by a large earthquake last year that did substantial damage. Some is still obvious.

And I spotted this little jewel and we just had to shoot it…

A quick sandwich at McDonalds in Wells and we’re off again towards Twin Falls and Burley. Our 11 pm arrival in Burley after 15 hours on the road, with stops, was a welcome one. It was a good run for one day but was plenty of time in the somewhat marginally padded seat of my rented Hyundai Sonata. This was one of a couple times I’d wished I’d driven my Suburban and just sucked up the fuel cost.

A cool shot of a motel sign in Burley (my girlfriend shoots unique hotel signs). No we didn't stay there.

Friday morning brought to light the town of Burley for me for the first time. It’s a pretty cool little town with some obvious history just based on the age of the buildings on and near Main Street. The first order of business was a parade of several of the race boats through town. I knew this from checking out the website before I left home. What I didn’t know was where the parade was. The hotel clerk was helpful in getting me going in the general vicinity and driving down main street I spotted several race boats in a supermarket parking lot. I hung a sharp right and brought the Sonata to rest next to the boats. Several familiar faces were there to greet and more arriving by the minute. I had stumbled onto the parade staging area. The circle boat bunch is for the most part a family affair. Both in the context of individual families and one large family of racers. It was obvious this was going to be one of the highlights especially for the younger family members. Boats and trucks were decorated with balloons and stuffed animals and the kids had bags of candy and goodies to throw to the parade watchers. After hanging out here for a half hour or so, the parade was starting so I jumped in the car and hauled ass back down to the main drag to set up for some pictures.

Many locals were out for the festivities. I’m guessing this Regatta is one of the highlights of activity in Burley as the enthusiasm was pretty high for this small parade. The parade lasted a half hour or so and everyone was off to the race site including myself. Parking was free which was a nice surprise being a resident of So Cal. I picked up our press passes and proceeded into the pits for some pictures and conversation with the racers. It appeared there was a decent turn out although regular attendees told me that it was off quite a bit from past years in terms of boat count. Looking around there were several bare spots in the pits. I guess a result of high fuel prices and a tough economy. But I could already tell there were plenty of quality machines there to put on some great racing action. As the weekend progressed my expectations would prove to be correct.

I meandered through the pits talking with several racers I knew and a few I didn’t. I made my way over to Jeff Brachauser’s pit. Jeff owns the SS68 superstock boat. Tony Scarlata drives both this boat and the K-5 Traffic Cone. I hung around there talking for a bit then headed over by the ramp to set up for some photos. Mid afternoon started a test and tune session where the various classes were called up and they could go out and run a few laps. This was followed by single lap qualifying to set the lane order for the “shootout” race to come that evening. One highlight of Friday night would be the appearance of Gordon Jennings Jr (Gordy) in the seat of Dave Rankin’s immaculate SS-80 Superstock. Gordy showed everyone they should be glad he doesn’t race any longer, taking the lead over the field and never looking back. To follow are some pics both of some ramp action and some warm up and action shots of Friday evening.

Gordy prepares for some seat time in Dave Rankin’s SS-80 Superstock.

Some random pics...

Tony Scarlata prepares for laps in his K-5 Traffic Cone

Pat Eason with headset for spotting his K-711

Tony comes in after testing

Wayne Herbert takes off in the immaculate K-50 “Ghost of Coldfire”

Ty Newton takes off in the K-66

Dave Rankin (Freedom Child on the forum) all hooked up and spotting for Duff Daily in the K-69 via radio

Tony Scarlata, Joey Grose, and Jeff Brachauser

Tony also drives Jeff’s SS-68 Superstock

Dave Chandler running his PS-855 Mead Snake entry

Some more random shots...

Rexone's lunch break consists of a roasted turkey leg. It was tasty but somewhat cavemanish. I spent the balance of the afternoon wishing I had some dental floss.

A little sequence of Scarlata in the SS-68

A local crop duster takes a look at the race site. (Caution things may appear closer than they actually are)

Ty ends up with a course lap record in the PS-70 Canary Pride

To be continued in Part 2 ]]> Rexone http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=42 In a LOTO Pain http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=39 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:42:20 GMT *July 8: *While teaching our youngest son, Drew, how dangerous it was to climb up the side of our waterfall, I fell, broke my toe, tore the bottom... July 8: While teaching our youngest son, Drew, how dangerous it was to climb up the side
of our waterfall, I fell, broke my toe, tore the bottom of my foot and sprained my
tendon — an accident that would cause me no end of grief over the following weeks.

July 10: I limped through the airport in Vegas to board a flight to St. Louis. I met up with
JW and Earl there and then drove to Wentzville, Mo., for our morning appointment
with MTI owner Randy Scism. Marci Fortner, who had accompanied me on the flight, met up
with one of her friends, Mindy McCormick who lives in Wentzville. They went out on the
town. Earl and I worked on our laptops until 2 a.m.

July 11: I jammed my swollen left foot into a tennis shoe so that I didn’t look like a beach
bum when showing up at MTI’s door for the first time.

MTI’s new facilities, which they have been at for four years as of this November, sit on more
than seven acres. The 45,000-square-foot building warehouses some of the finest molds
and talent in the industry.

In Randy’s office, I noticed that he was using a couple of the latest Macintosh computers, so
giving him a tour of our website was a breeze. He was able to see the online magazine,
which featured Michael Craig in his 44’ MTI called Hammertime. JW took the mic, and Earl
shot video.

During his interview, Randy spoke about his 20-year background in performance boating, which
began with his purchase of a 20’ Hydrostream. This eventually led to him to going
overseas to Dubai and heading up the Victory Team Racing crew in Dubai, where they
compiled many wins and a UIM Class 1 World Championship in 1999.

Randy has created some of the most visually stunning and best-handling boats built, many of
which have elaborately themed paint jobs. Many of his boats are built for clients with seemingly
unlimited budgets; among a few of the more incredible works of art MTI has created are the
famous Batman boat, Ferrari boat, Speed Racer and Bud Light.

Each year at Miami, MTI debuts a new themed boat. Next February, MTI will unveil another
phenomenal-looking machine with a sports car motif. The crew was in the middle of building
it, and Randy asked that we not release any up-close photography that would spoil the surprise.
However, I was permitted to shoot a wide-angle view to give you a general idea.

Randy discussed his building techniques and what he does to make each and every MTI unique.

MTI builds a variety of both race and pleasure boats. The current models in their lineup
start at 36’ and work their way up from to a 40’, 42’, 44’ and 48’. The latest model is the new
55’ SuperCat. Randy explained the process of stretching the 55’ while maintaining a proper center
of gravity and strength in the process.

The 55’ monster we stumbled across was being built with four 1075SCi Mercury motors with
#6 drives. There is $600,000 in motors and drives alone, not including the hull, interior or
stereo. This will go out the door well above $1.5 million.

JW marveled at the sheer amount of cubic-inch power that was sitting beneath him.
He and Randy were positively dwarfed while standing across the engine hatch area on this behemoth.

Randy discussed with us the importance of not only the colors of the boat, but the type of
paint used. They use a variety of candy colors and pearlescents to give the boat its magical
appearance once out on the water.

Their paint shop is large enough to paint the largest boat they build, as well as all the other
parts.

Randy took us out back to show us the latest “tilt” trailer that MTI recently designed and
commissioned Heritage Trailers to custom build for MTI for their 36’-40’ hulls however a larger
version is coming. The trailer is an $85,000 option.

In the rigging area, they had two boats being worked on. One was an old race boat that was
being upgraded and the other was a boat that we had seen a drawing of in the paint shop.

We then went through the interior shop, where they were working on several projects for
both the Catagious boat, as well as one of the other MTIs in the shop.

We wrapped up our tour in the R&D center where they were working on several programs
to perfect the latest MTI projects, including the new trailer and 55’ Cat.

By now I couldn’t walk anymore, due to my broken foot, and hobbled to the car. Randy and
his wife Cherell were very nice and gave us a couple of hats and shirts for the girls. I
kept the old-school orange hat, which I thought was really “sick."

If there is a mad scientist behind the scenes at MTI, it is Gary Stray of Supercat Rigging, who
has a shop a 15 minutes away in Moscow Mills. Gary is an intregal part of MTI, even though
his shop is separate from Randy’s. Gary fabricates many of the custom creations and parts
implemented into the various themed boats. There is nothing the talented designer can’t make.
On this particular day, he was out of town so Sean Hanlon gave us a tour. We ran across a new
MTI that is being built with the Looney Tunes characters.

Gary had the dash section out of the boat where he was creating a steering column based
on the Tasmanian Devil.
It is astounding what Gary is able to create.

Many of the characters have related functions in operating the boat. They were also
working on a top-secret drive setup for a new MTI race boat, which we were again asked
to only show a side angle of the boat as to not reveal any of the engineering modifications
that are being incorporated to hopefully make this a champion.

While JW spent a couple hours going through the facilities, I stayed in the office as I could no
longer walk.

We left and began the 2.5-hour drive to Lake of the Ozarks for the Midwestboatparty poker
run. The girls followed in Mindy’s car. As a local, Mindy was supposedly familiar with the
area, as she and Marci Fortner had both visited Lake of the Ozarks before. While en route,
Mindy’s car blew a tire. We circled a couple of times, trying to find them despite bad directions
from Marci. Eventually, though, they were offered assistance after showing a little thigh on
the side of the highway. It was just as well, as none of us really wanted to get dirty. We drove
on to the Inn at the Grand Glaize in Osage Beach. The girls ended up getting a new tire and
driving two hours out of their way before figuring out they were almost to the next state
before turning around. As we checked into the hotel, my foot was excruciatingly painful and
more than double its normal size. We went to dinner at a Steak n Shake, which is a well-
established chain in the Midwest.

JW bought me a walking cane at Wal-Mart for the event the following day.

July 12: By now, I was in big trouble. I hobbled to the shower to get ready for the event.
I didn’t want to disappoint JW and I didn’t want to miss out on the action. But I simply could
not walk at all. So I stayed in my room while the team went to the event.
I slept
until 3 p.m. and then began working on my blog and watched Walk the Line in my room.

JW and the team returned at around 6 p.m. and we went to dinner. Even with the cane, I could
hardly walk. JW downloaded some pics from the event that he had taken.

After dinner, we went to meet Jeff Huebner and Ed Champion who put on the event. They were
very friendly and I met the owners that shuffled our crew around. We stayed for an hour
and then went home. I took several Loritab and went to sleep.

July 13: The drive back to St. Louis was long and painful. Earl had to carry my bags to security.
I hobbled through the St. Louis airport, where they offered me a wheelchair. I deferred,
but requested one in Vegas. Riding in the wheelchair through McCarran Airport was an embarrassing
experience. But thank God I did, because the monorail was shut down and it would have seemed
like a painful death march. ]]> King Creole http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=39 Miles to go before I sleep http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=38 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:17:05 GMT August 10th, for the past 5 weeks, I have covered race events from Sarasota to Detroit back to New Orleans. Sarasota Is just a hour drive from my... August 10th, for the past 5 weeks, I have covered race events from Sarasota to Detroit back to New Orleans. Sarasota Is just a hour drive from my crash pad in Ft Myers, Florida, No big deal even with gas at 4 dollars a gallon. The following weekend,
it was to Detroit to cover the Gold Cup, and the Pro Offshore series, which was a great event although the Hydroplanes were forced to cancel sundays races due to high winds.
When I Got to the airport, I was looking for a outlet to plug my laptop into, I found one near gentleman reading the paper, I didnt want to crowd him, so politely ask if he minded, he said no problem. As I was reveiwing my pictures of the Motley Crew roll over, he inquired If I knew Steve Page ( CelerityInvestments Racing), I said I actually work for him full time, covering races is just a passion and part-time gig!
He proceded to hand me a business card, and ask I give it to Steve, I said no problem.
Looking at the card, It was Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, it was time for our flight so I needed to pack up, after saying it was a pleasure to meet you, I assured him the card would be given to Steve.

After arriving home at 1:30 in the morning the next day monday, work was a drag, not enough sleep but the real entertainment would come, when the guys from Page racing, A sister company to the one I work for, they said hey your leaving wednesday for Michigan with the Lets Play again Racing's 36 Skater,
Which is Raced and owned by Derian and Kevin Hatcher, Derian is the Captain of the Philidelpia Flyers.

So as Wednesday morning approaches, I again pack up a bag and Camera equipment, when I arrive at the shop some last minute issues, have me sidelined, The boat just recieved a conversion from IMCO 4X4's to Mercury Racing #6's. By late afternoon I have not yet moved, and finally by 5;30 pm I get started, now mind you, this is a permited Wide load so 3hrs down the road and I am done for the night, Florida DOT, love to mess with wide loads after hours.

Well after a good night sleep, its up at 5:00 am, by 5:30 I am on the I-75, and feeling good that I got a early start, and should make the Kentucky/Ohio border by nightfall.
Around noon with my stomach growling, its lunch time, just so happens my girlfriend lives in the Atlanta area, so lets have lunch, find me a big parking lot, as the Tractor boat combo is almost 70 ft long. After a quick lunch, its on the road again , got to make my schedule. with atlanta well in the rearview mirror. I concentrate on driving in 6 lanes of traffic, I feel a slight jolt, do a quick scan of the gauges, then the mirrors, as I look down the right side, to my disbelief, smoke is pouring from the right side trailer,
After many OH Sh*t's, I was able to move over to the breakdown lane. I jumped out and went over to investigate, when I got there lo and behold the front two tires were gone!

Further investigation revealed the studs were completely sheared off.

Well this was going to screw up my schedule for sure, to make matters worse, I am talking to homebase of my situation when a guy comes up with his info, apparently when the wheels came off, they went into his car, and well pretty much totalled it. No one was hurt thank goodness.

Now to plan out how to get rolling again after many phone calls, 2 hours later the repair guy shows up, driving for today is done. Well at least my girlfriend was close by and rescued me, off to a hotel so I wouldnt be far from the truck repair guy says 730am.

Its now Friday, and many miles to go, keep in mind, this is a permited load, no running after dark, in Michigan, weekends no driving at all. its 800am, and no repair guy after a call he is busy trying to get the parts, as the minutes turn to hours, He finally calls at 1130 says he has the new studs pressed in, and will be there shortly. By 130 PM, I am rolling again but have many miles before I sleep.

At 845 PM, I am just 15 miles from Cincinati, Its time to pull the flags, and wide load banners, and run! Speed limit in OHIO for trucks is 55, which feels like 5 mph after running 75 all day, but I cant draw attention via speeding, like a 36 ft Skater doesnt attract attention.

At 2:30 am Saturday I arrived, my girlfriend flew in and was sound sleep at the hotel, and I would be sleeping soon as well.

To wrap this segment up, Saturday testing didnt go well, But come sunday the team got the checkered.

]]> Pete454 http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=38 M is for Marla http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=37 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:14:53 GMT This past Father's Day weekend (June 14-15, 2008), I hired four local models to work at
Camp Far West: two on Saturday, two on Sunday. I previously covered the New Year's
Day gathering of V-drives and jetboats at the lake, but it had been too cold to do any
swimsuit photography. This time, I planned to do a lot of it.

But the best laid plans of mice and men often go straight to hell.

First of all, only one of the models, Marla Gutierrez, showed up on Saturday. This
meant she had to do the work of two girls. Unfortunately, neither of the two bitches, I
mean models, whom I had hired showed up on Sunday — no phone call, no text, no
excuse, no apologies. Rassin', frassin'....

Still, thank God that Marla didn't flake. I had found her to be very friendly in our initial
email correspondence. Here were the photos she shared with me when she first made
contact:

On the day of the shoot, Marla showed up on time, which in my experience is practically unheard of in the world
of modeling. A Mexican gal, Marla was just as friendly in person as she was online, but there was definitely
something unusual about her: she didn't seem to have any recollection about any of the things we had
talked about via email! Time and time again, she appeared to be totally clueless regarding various topics
we had only recently discussed online. I was starting to wonder if maybe this woman was suffering from some
kind of serious memory deficiency. Finally, she admitted that it had been her boyfriend I was talking to for the
past month! In a way, I felt duped, but I was glad she told me...I was beginning to have serious doubts about
her mental faculties.

Here are some of my more flattering photos of Marla. I know there are many guys on the boards who prefer
natural to enhanced, but the argument could be made that enhanced is preferable to nothing at all.

Obviously, this was my first time shooting Marla, but we worked well together. She took direction extremely well, and was eager to try any pose I threw at her. One thing that surprised me was the large tattoo on her stomach. I don't mind small tats, as they are easy enough to erase in Photoshop. But this one was fairly large, not in an ideal position, and not the most appealing I've ever seen. It would be difficult to get rid of in every single photo I used, but I think most people would agree she looks better without it. What do you think?

From a distance, that tattoo just looks like a huge, ugly birthmark. I guess it was supposed to be a depiction of the sun, but it reminded me a bit of Sinistar, a character from a video game I played back in the late 1970s....

After shooting with a couple of different swimsuits, Marla suggested she change into a pink and yellow striped suit with matching leggings. Although our #1 model Cherie later said she didn't care for the stockings, I thought they looked pretty hot, and every guy I have shown the photos to reacted quite favorably to them. Obviously, I'd love to know your opinion.

One of the sexiest female poses ever is the "plumber's crack," which I frequently
see in magazines like Maxim and my personal Bible, Smooth Girl.
I think — I hope — we will see this more and more in publications. I'm doing
my part to popularize it, even if the model I'm shooting doesn't necessarily
look phenomenal from that particular angle.

Inevitably at these shoots, the bikini top comes off, and the boobies are hidden
to achieve an effect known in the business as "implied nudity." As far as I am
concerned, this is the next-breast thing to actual nudity. Marla seemed more
than happy to oblige.

When you've been shooting swimsuit models as long as I have, a few boobs are bound
to pop out of the tops. We came dangerously close to that happening on Father's Day,
as evidenced by this photo...

Look for Marla in the upcoming print issue of PB. It was great working with her...and
I hope you'll join me in actively praying for very horrible things to happen to those
lying liars who stood me up on Sunday!

Let me know what you think of Marla by adding a comment to this blog below.
Thanks!

]]> BrettDawg http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=37 Big Cat Poker Run http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=36 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:48:08 GMT Well I’m here at the Big Cat Poker Run in Discovery Bay California. So far we attended the out of towner’s party at Baja Bob and Cindy Patterson’s... Well I’m here at the Big Cat Poker Run in Discovery Bay California. So far we attended the out of towner’s party at Baja Bob and Cindy Patterson’s house on Thursday night after a 10 hour drive.
Angie, Baja Bob and Tony.

Friday we hung out at Tony and Angie’s bad as house

and went to the Registration party at the Disco Bay marina.

We got the opportunity to check out Terrible Herbst 46 Skater, they unfortunately trashed a transmission during the lunch run but Honker Cut Marine came to the rescue

Installing a fresh trans while at the dock.

We saw some pretty awesome boats so far in Disco Bay, Check out the sound system in this boat.

The poker Run is tomorrow and I’m looking forward to getting some good pictures and video . ]]> Todd Taylor http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=36 <![CDATA[Mead, Myself & I]]> http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=35 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:46:15 GMT *June 27: *Dawnette and I drove out to the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort to meet Jim Wilkes, who had driven up to assist me in covering the Southern... June 27: Dawnette and I drove out to the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort to meet Jim Wilkes,
who had driven up to assist me in covering the Southern Califorinia Offshore Powerboat Elite (SCOPE)
event on Lake Mead.

He found us a ride with Kevin and Charmaine Laney in their all-silver 382 Formula. Kevin is a SCOPE
board member, and he and his wife are one of the nicest couples we have met in our travels.

Traditionally, JW makes for a terrible passenger, as he strongly prefers to be behind
the boat's steering wheel. On this trip, he and I were both passengers, working together
as (and sometimes battling for) the role of host, photographer and videographer. The Laneys
decided to take their own vehicle and meet us at Lake Mead Marina. Driving along the curvy
road, I noticed that the entire marina and docks had been relocated further south to Hemenway
Bay. This was apparently done due to low water issues. While I was there, I met with marina
manager Bruce Nelson to distribute PB magazines at both Las Vegas Boat Harbor and the
Lake Mead Marina. His family has owned the property since 1957. He and his sister, Candice
are exceptionally nice.

After boarding Kevin’s completely refurbished silver bullet, we made our way out past
the Boulder Islands.

While waiting for several members to join us, JW and I wrestled over who was going to be
the commentator. I temporarily won the battle and got to interview the Laneys. Dawnette
and I almost simultaneously grappled over the rights to my camera, although she captured
these photos and did a good job. We were stoked to photograph Sean Clancy in See Spot Run,
a gorgeous Great American Concepts NuEra 38' (the first of only five ever built) with triple
HP500EFIs, capable of reaching 90 mph.

Unfortunately, the SCOPE members didn’t leave as a unified group, so the opportunity to shoot
a variety of running shots was kept to a minimum. But we did catch Brian Hakola in his
35' Fountain Lightning:

And here's Kevin Schulte of Simi Valley, CA, in his 38 Cigarette Top Gun, powered by twin 750s:

We took this great shot of Mike McFadden in his Formula 38 FasTech, powered by twin 575s:

As we made our way east through the narrows, it was relaxing to be riding amongst
friends on calm water. It was different compared to some of the other runs, where it is
often more of a competition in rough water. The backdrop of the rugged mountains made for
some incredible pictures. A military chopper flew low over the water in the narrows, which
was slightly intimidating.

I didn’t realize how vast Lake Mead is as we continued east toward our destination at Temple
Bar Marina.

Temple Bar has a couple of monumental rock structures that make it unique. According
to history, the structure reminded Daniel Bonelli, an early settler in the area from the late
1800s, of the Mormon Temple, thus the name Temple Bar.

We tied up the boats at Temple Bar Marina and immediately went to work. It was unnerving
shooting without the tripod or having much experience behind the lens.

John and Cheryl Glover in their new 2008 32’ Sunsation.

We unexpectedly ran into a friend of mine, Al Orton (better known as ChiliPeppergarage from
the forums), in his Baja 29’ Outlaw.

Al and his partner Mark Cline did extensive work on my 1957 Chevy Bel Air over the last three
years, including installing a new 350 crate motor in the 30,000 original mile classic.

We walked the half-mile stretch up to the diner in the blazing hot sun. Once inside the diner,
everyone inside was very friendly. There were several families there, as well as couples
with their friends.

I distributed both the Lake and Offshore editions, which were hot off the press.

Several wives commented on how pretty the girl on the cover was, which was a relief to me,
since I had just had a controversial public discussion with KAP in our forums about the choice
of the buxomous blonde. Kevin introduced me to Nort Alderson, who is one of the board members
and webmaster. He owns a 38’ Formula as well.

After lunch, everybody blasted off to Big Sandy Beach, where everyone socialized in the
water. It was more difficult to work the beach for video interviews compared to the docks
at a regular poker run. Additionally, it was initially more difficult to assimilate into the club
as they are a close knit group of friends versus a general gathering of boaters at a poker
run. JW remained in the Formula, speaking with the Laneys for most of the afternoon. Dawnette
and I met several interesting characters while floating on dock fenders for rafts.

After a couple of relaxing hours, we headed back to Lake Mead Marina. On the way, Dave and
Kimberly Davis blasted past us in their Formula 382 FasTech, which ended up being our
ride the following day.

At the marina, we ran into Greg Timmons in his spectacular new custom 41’ Hustler Razor.
The royal blue beauty was built at the Hustler factory by Joe, making several custom
adaptations for the Southern California Volkswagon dealer.

Greg was slightly miffed at me. He said it was because we had blown him off during the
recent Desert Storm poker run, and that we had failed to follow through on a photo shoot Kevin
had scheduled with him. I wasn't aware of all this, so I took numerous photos of his boat. Later,
I learned that Greg was the Hustler owner whose boat was erroneously identified as a Skater
in our debut issue, which led to a confrontation between him and me at the L.A.
Boat Show. Fortunately, I didn’t realize it until after the poker run, which is just as well,
because Greg seems to be a good guy.

June 28: The Laneys had some friends join them, so we lost our ride. Kevin lined us up with
Dave and Kimberly Davis, who were very friendly. We were very grateful for the ride! Dave
had just done an engine upgrade from 525s to a pair of new 700SCis with NXT1 drives, so he
thought it best to use the Desert Princess paddle wheel boat as cover as we exited the marina.
The sheriff was sitting in the bay waiting to bust potential boaters for violating the engine
decibel laws, which should be standardized.

After getting to Long Beach, everyone emptied out of their boats and prepared for the barbecue.
We spent several hours in the Davis’s boat from both heat exhaustion and feeling slightly
isolated from the group, which was my fault.

After a couple of hours, JW and I decided to get back to work. We interviewed Jeff and Debra
Russell in their 26’ Eliminator Eagle. The Russells are avid boaters, but are even more competitive
with taking their son to hockey tournaments.

During the barbecue, Chris Tashlin took several people for rides in Paraduxx, his 32’ Skater.
The flat-deck cat with twin 850SCis is maintained by Savage Marine in Lake Havasu.
I was mad that I didn’t figure out until after the event that he was one of our forum members.
I would like to have said hi. The boat later blew by us at 100+ mph as we headed home that afternoon.

After the barbecue luncheon, Dawnette and I were dying to get out of the heat. Al and his friend,
an emergency room doctor, had just relocated from Ohio in his Formula and also wanted
to leave early. On the way back to the Lake Mead Marina, they took us over to a beach area,
where exotic dancers from Vegas supposedly sunbathe in the nude. I asked if they would take us
over to the Hoover Dam to see the construction of the new bypass bridge being built.

As we came back to the marina, we noticed one of the few 39’ Aronow catamarans that were
originally built by the legendary Don Aronow for the U.S. government to catch would-be drug
runners off the coast of Florida.

The boat definitely looked the part of times gone by sitting in dry dock with an old boat cover
on it. We went back to the Loews Hotel and joined the SCOPE group in the pool and had a great
time in the cool water.

]]> King Creole http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/blog.php?b=35