• Manufacturers and Dealers

    Published on 03-27-2012 09:41 PM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. Marine Tech
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    by SeriousOffshore



    We caught up last week with Steve Stepp, founder and president of Velocity Powerboats. Steve was kind enough to share with us a look into how this long-time boatbuilder has been weathering the storm of this tight economy and some of the things they’re doing now and in the future.

    In looking through the photos from the Miami Boat Show, something caught our eye. Among the million-dollar megaboats was one little, but very intriguing boat. Serious photojournalist Tommy Snyder happened across the Jack Daniel’s Velocity, appropriately named “Old No. 7” while navigating the vast Convention Center. Seeing this boat, we felt we needed to get the story behind what is arguably the smallest in the current trend of “theme ...
    Published on 03-14-2012 11:29 PM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. On The Water News
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    by Tommy Snyder



    While attending the Miami Boat Show last month, I took a break from the crowds and spent a day hitting some spots around Miami. First on my list was the place that seems to be “ground zero” of the South Florida performance powerboating scene, Johnny Tomlinson’s TNT Custom Marine.
    Pulling onto the TNT lot, I immediately found myself in a traffic jam, with forklifts buzzing back and forth launching and racking boats. This is not your usual middle America-style boatyard. With the price of land on the water these days, there are ...
    Published on 03-06-2012 11:31 PM
    Categories:
    1. Racing and Poker Runs
    2. Manufacturers and Dealers
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    by Jeff Dieringer



    One of the most respected teams on and off the water is Team CRC, sponsored by Columbia Rim Corporation. Their current MTI 850 Supercat has been a mainstay on the offshore racing circuit and has carried the teammates Tim McDonald and Mike DeFrees to more than a few podium finishes.

    Driver Mike DeFrees owns Columbia Rim and throttleman Tim McDonald is the owner of Oregon Custom Marine.
    A special thanks to our field reporter Jeff Dieringer. He called upon his existing friendship with the CRC team to bring us this inside look into their operation. Thanks also go out to our friends at Shoot2Thrill and FreezeFrame Video for their contributions to the story. ...
    Published on 03-01-2012 11:35 PM
    Categories:
    1. Racing and Poker Runs
    2. Manufacturers and Dealers
    3. Historical
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    by Charlie McCarthy



    Editor’s note: Banana Powerboats CEO and HORBA founder Charlie McCarthy had a long and unique friendship with Don Aronow. In this two-part series, Charlie revisits the story of that friendship.

    Meeting Don Aronow
    I fell in love for the first time in my life during my freshman year at Saint Leo University, just north of Tampa Florida. But this relationship was no ordinary one- the object of my passion was offshore powerboat racing.

    My roommate at Saint Leo’s, who came from a family of boat racers out of Chicago, introduced me to this great sport and I was invited to join the pit crew of Mike Gordon. Mike raced an 18 foot Rayson Craft endurance boat with ...
    Published on 02-28-2012 11:37 PM
    Categories:
    1. Racing and Poker Runs
    2. Manufacturers and Dealers
    3. Historical
    4. On The Water News
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    by Charlie McCarthy



    I am very excited to be working with the people here at Serious and look forward to sharing some great stories of the past with all the members.
    I know they had planned on reprinting an article I wrote about Don Aronow a few years ago and maybe that is a good place to start. Tomorrow, March 1st, would have been the 85th birthday of Don, had he lived. It has been 25 years since he was shot to death on the very street he made famous, NE 188th ST, ...
    Published on 02-27-2012 11:39 PM
    Categories:
    1. Racing and Poker Runs
    2. Manufacturers and Dealers
    3. Historical
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    by SeriousOffshore



    Reggie Fountain not only found his way onto our 11 from 2011 list, he missed a podium finish by just one spot, coming in at #4. Always the competitor, Reggie is off to a strong start in 2012 and it looks like he’s aiming to best his performance in 2012.

    Just a few days ago, the new Fountain venture, Fountain Performance Marine made a boat show splash with the introduction of their website.
    Reggie Fountain isn’t the kind of guy that makes any announcement that’s going to get lost in the ...
    Published on 02-23-2012 11:40 PM
    Categories:
    1. Racing and Poker Runs
    2. Manufacturers and Dealers
    3. Historical
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    by SeriousOffshore



    Charlie in the Top Banana 38

    We are exceptionally pleased to announce that boatbuilder, racer and HORBA founder Charlie McCarthy has joined us here in an official capacity at Serious Offshore. As the founder of the Historical Offshore Race Boat Association, Charlie has been at the forefront of keeping the history of this sport alive for many years.

    Charlie’s efforts go well beyond being a historian. One of his greatest accomplishments has been
    ...
    Published on 02-21-2012 11:42 PM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. On The Water News
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    by SeriousOffshore



    The cat is out of the bag at Checkmate. The Ohio boat manufacturer, now owned by ex-Baja CEO Doug Smith has now constructed the largest boat they’ve ever produced. This boat, dubbed the Punisher 43, is the first hull out of the original Apache-derived Chief molds. As everyone remembers, Chief was intended to be the progression of the venerable Apache 41. That hull featured some groundbreaking innovations such as a reverse step and a negative chine design that ended up on many a boat soon after the Chief’s introduction.
    ...
    Published on 02-17-2012 11:49 PM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. On The Water News
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    by Serious Offshore



    If one were to be told the story of the last year of the life of Powerboat Magazine, not knowing the story, they would surely think they were being put on. It is hard to believe that a magazine with the history of Powerboat would be purchased, pumped for upgrades and pushed to get more subscriptions, then be terminated, then be reopened with bigger and better plans with fewer issues, pushed for more subscriptions, then after investing in content for the 2012 year be closed once again.

    Judging from the disappointment among the magazine’s fans ...
    Published on 02-16-2012 11:50 PM
    Categories:
    1. Racing and Poker Runs
    2. Manufacturers and Dealers
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    by Serious Offshore



    One word. Reggie.
    No single name in this industry so rapidly conjures up such a wide variety of mental images and recollections at its mere mention. And you’ll never hear someone ask “which Reggie”.



    The saga of Reggie Fountain and his endeavors, past, present and future, is our number four story for 2011. While Reggie cuts a wide swath each and every year, 2011 will go down as one of his most dramatic yet.

    No story about Reggie Fountain is complete without at least a small glance to the past. A champion powerboat racer, Reggie founded Fountain Powerboats over three decades ago and swiftly gained a worldwide ...
    Published on 02-15-2012 11:53 PM
    Categories:
    1. Racing and Poker Runs
    2. Manufacturers and Dealers
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    by Serious Offshore



    In March of 2011 Powerboat P1 announced that the Liberty Associates production facility in North Carolina was in full production on the new 28SS Panther. For those of you that may not immediately recognize the Liberty name, this was the group in possession of the ex-Fountain production facility. The race sites announced were being led by the Madison Indiana joint venture with the Unlimited Hydroplanes. The second race for the series would be at the Detroit Gold Cup races, with the winner hoisting the Gar Wood trophy. Then in August, there would be a race in Morehead City, followed by an event in Huston, and finally ...
    Published on 02-14-2012 11:55 PM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. On The Water News
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    by Serious Offshore



    One of the bigger stories of 2011 was the dramatic market shift towards center consoles. What was a few years ago looked upon as a way to pick up a few extra sales by re-decking an existing sport boat, these boats have become significant profit centers for many builders. We believe there are several factors at play in driving this trend. There’s no doubting the utility of this type of boat. They’re not only capable of respectable speeds, they’re certainly more family and group-friendly.

    A strong factor in this shift is the change in how performance boaters view these utilitarian boats. We like to think of it ...
    Published on 02-10-2012 11:59 PM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. Marine Tech
    3. On The Water News
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    by SeriousOffshore



    An issue that’s definitely been putting the pinch on boaters everywhere is the general unavailability of ethanol-free gasoline. The issue’s roots dates back to the mid-90′s when Congress buckled to lobbyists in the 11th hour and saddled us with ethanol-oxygenated gas. The petroleum industry had long extolled the virtues of MTBE as an oxygenator. But agrobusiness saw dollar signs in this potentially enormous new market for their corn-based product and the rest as they say is history.

    In September, ...
    Published on 02-06-2012 12:11 AM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. Marine Tech
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    by Serious Offshore



    Our number 11 story in the countdown of the top 11 stories of 2011 is the launch of the 557HP Seven Marine Outboard. Introduced in February at the Miami Boat Show, the 557 could prove to be a major change in the marine-propulsion industry. Aside from the before unimaginable power packaged in an outboard motor, one very attractive attribute of this power package is it’s ability to deliver automotive reliability and ease of service to the outboard market.



    It’s lightweight aluminum, fuel-injected, supercharged V8 was not something we expected to see, especially in this tight economy. But ...
    Published on 02-04-2012 12:13 AM
    Categories:
    1. Manufacturers and Dealers
    2. Marine Tech
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    by Serious Offshore



    PF Marine is proud to announce the addition of the following items to their product lineup:

    • Custom cut inlets and outlets on Mark 6 & Mark 6 XTREME Intercoolers
    • Custom finishes on Mark 6 & Mark 6 XTREME Intercoolers


    PF Marine is now offering their Mark 6 and Mark 6 XTREME intercoolers with custom inlets and outlets. This allows any blower with an xx-71 bolt pattern to adapt to the PF Intercooler without any modifications or adapter plates. PF Marine sales representative Jason ...
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