T2x
09-27-2010, 06:47 PM
We stopped by Performance Marine in Bolton Landing, NY (Lake George) over the weekend and wound up using their yard as our base of operations for the wing at the Vintage Regatta.
To say I was impressed is an understatement. A team of mechanics headed by Jason Saris, formerly with Keith Hazell's Harbour One back in the day, have an impeccable performance record. Jason worked on many of the iconic World Championship boats back in the 70's and 80's and took that experience home with him to upstate New York. He has built engines for everything imaginable from Blue Thunder DEA hulls to a few of our Shadow Cats. Today his projects range from high end 170 + mph Skaters (he's a dealer), to custom historic wooden runabouts with modern power and drives. For instance Chris Freihofer's fully matched mahogany Van Dam with an Arneson drive and a modern vee bottom is breathtaking and after a 2 hour ride I came away shaking my head in awe. Not only was the boat amazing but the 560 HP Saris engine was so well behaved and full of punch that I couldn't believe it was 6 years old. Also don't miss Tom Gentry's old roaring 20's era classic day cruiser with a pair of Gentry race engines in it......The shop has Keith Hazell's original dyno, and a full machine shop which when dealing with some of the retro hardware is a must. What impressed me the most about Jason was his attention to durability as the first priority......and the list of loyal customers who have relyed on him for decades rather than years is testament to that.
Frankly, now that Bobby Moore is semi retired, and so many of the other iconic riggers and race shops (with the exception of JT, Jim Dyke and a few others) have either retired, shut down or passed away, if I was building a boat for speed, big, bad water and endurance.......of any size...I would call Jason first.
No offense to the other great rigging and service shops out there...but Performance Marine...is something special. I can't wait to go back.
T2x
To say I was impressed is an understatement. A team of mechanics headed by Jason Saris, formerly with Keith Hazell's Harbour One back in the day, have an impeccable performance record. Jason worked on many of the iconic World Championship boats back in the 70's and 80's and took that experience home with him to upstate New York. He has built engines for everything imaginable from Blue Thunder DEA hulls to a few of our Shadow Cats. Today his projects range from high end 170 + mph Skaters (he's a dealer), to custom historic wooden runabouts with modern power and drives. For instance Chris Freihofer's fully matched mahogany Van Dam with an Arneson drive and a modern vee bottom is breathtaking and after a 2 hour ride I came away shaking my head in awe. Not only was the boat amazing but the 560 HP Saris engine was so well behaved and full of punch that I couldn't believe it was 6 years old. Also don't miss Tom Gentry's old roaring 20's era classic day cruiser with a pair of Gentry race engines in it......The shop has Keith Hazell's original dyno, and a full machine shop which when dealing with some of the retro hardware is a must. What impressed me the most about Jason was his attention to durability as the first priority......and the list of loyal customers who have relyed on him for decades rather than years is testament to that.
Frankly, now that Bobby Moore is semi retired, and so many of the other iconic riggers and race shops (with the exception of JT, Jim Dyke and a few others) have either retired, shut down or passed away, if I was building a boat for speed, big, bad water and endurance.......of any size...I would call Jason first.
No offense to the other great rigging and service shops out there...but Performance Marine...is something special. I can't wait to go back.
T2x