In an effort to remind boaters that DCB Performance Boats isn't only about the high-performance, high-dollar, high-horsepower 35- and 41-foot cats that have received tons of attention on social media and websites like speedonthewater.com, the El Cajon, Calif., boat builder just finished a firecracker F26 catamaran powered by a pair of Mercury Racing Verado 400R engines.
DCB's new F26 catamaran is headed to this weekend's Big Cat Poker Run in Discovery Bay, Calif. Photos by Jeff Johnston
With Mystic Powerboats' unrivaled history of success at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout—Mystic catamarans have taken home 11 of the last 13 Top Gun titles at the annual top-speed contest in Central Missouri—it’s only natural that Mystic will debut its latest C5000 catamaran there. The open-cockpit 50-footer is powered by twin Mercury Racing power-adjustable 1550/1350 engines and is owned by Slug Hefner, a well-known member of the performance-boating community.
“He can’t wait to get his hands on it,” said John Cosker, the owner and founder of Mystic based in DeLand, Fla. “Slug has owned so many boats, so many cats, that he’s just very easy going with the whole process. I enjoyed working with him.”
Mystic's John Cosker said he appreciates how the cat's pearl-white paintjob highlights its hull-and-deck lines.
DCB Performance Boats announced it is building a new M44 (above) as well as a new M28 model. All photos/renderings courtesy DCB.
With a focus on pushing the boundaries of design, construction and performance, DCB Performance Boats announced in a press release today that it is expanding its popular M-Series lineup in both directions with the new M28 and M44 models.
Buoyed by the success of its M4200 luxury center console—26 reportedly have been sold and 14 have been delivered—Mystic Powerboats of DeLand, Fla., is planning to unveil a 38-foot version of its 42-footer at the 2017 Palm Beach International Boat Show in March. As they did with the M4200, Mystic’s owner and founder John Cosker and Scott Sjogren, the owner and founder of global Mystic dealer Shogren Performance Marine in McHenry, Ill., had a meeting of the minds when it came to the company’s second center console offering.
There was an obvious sense of excitement amongst Randy Scism, the owner of founder of MTI in Wentzville, Mo., and Tim Gallagher, the company’s sales and marketing manager, earlier today at the docks of one MTI’s best customers when we were standing next to the very first 340X catamaran. And for good reason.
With model Nikki Cushman and speedonthewater.com's Jason Johnson along for the ride, MTI's Tim Gallagher runs the company's new 340X catamaran on Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks. All photos by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
Last Saturday morning, a full crew from Iconic Marine Group in Washington, N.C., and Big Thunder Marine in Osage Beach, Mo., climbed into a cruiser and two “soon-to-be-debuted” boats for a quick photo shoot on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks en route to Captain Ron’s in Sunrise Beach. The drivers of the all-new Donzi Marine 35 ZRO and Fountain Powerboats 38 Lightning soon realized as they made the long no-wake-zone-enforced idle toward the site of the 28th annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout that the boats were about to get an incredible amount of attention.
The new Donzi 35 ZRO and the new Fountain 38 Lightning on Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks. All photos courtesy Iconic Marine Group
Following last week’s test of a new Eliminator Boats 28 Speedster powered by twin Teague Custom Marine 1050EFI engines and IMCO Marine SCX4 drives on Arizona’s Lake Havasu, the 28-foot sport catamaran was loaded onto a flat-bed trailer and off it went to Ohio where it was delivered to Steve and Stacie Surmay, who are planning to run their new boat in the 10th annual Lake Cumberland Poker Run at Lake Cumberland State Dock in Jamestown, Ky.
This new Eliminator 28 Speedster was recently delivered to a happy customer in Ohio. All photos courtesy Gary Schueller.
Available in half-inch pitch increments from 23 to 33-1/2 inches, Mercury Racing’s stainless steel MAX5 propellers are on display today in the Mercury Marine exhibit trailer at the Desert Storm Poker Run Street Party in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. According to a press release from the Fond du Lac, Wis., high-performance engine, propeller and marine accessories company, the lab-finished 15-inch diameter wheels were developed specifically to excel with the Sport Master gearcase on the Verado 400R outboard engine.
Designed to reduce shift noise and vibration in high-horsepower outboards with heavy-duty 1-1/4-inch propeller shafts, Mercury Marine’s Flo-Torq SSR HD propeller hub system has been named a 2016 Top Product by Boating Industry magazine. The news was announced in a press release from the Fond du Lac, Wis., marine engine, propeller and accessories company.
The Flo-Torq hub also won an Innovation Award at the 2015 International Boatbuilders Exhibition and Conference.
In early 2015, Tuff Marine president Mark Weigl and a customer decided to build a Tuff 28 with twin Mercury Racing outboards. There were rumors of Mercury Racing coming out with what would be the new Verado 400R outboard engines, so the customer went down to the 2015 Miami International Boat Show to see the new motors.
“He knew he wanted the boat,” said Weigl. “It was going to be twin 300XS outboards and we were talking about the possibility of the 400s. “As the Miami Show got closer, the customer went down to order them right away.”
This 28-footer is the first Tuff Marine sportboat to be equipped with Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard engines.
Performance Boat School founder and hull design consultant Tres Martin is working today with Sunsation’s Wayne Schaldenbrand to perfect the setup on the Algonac, Mich., company’s first 32-foot center console powered by triple 400-hp Verado outboard engines. Martin, who stopped in Michigan on his way to teach a driving school course to the new owner of a 50-foot Statement Marine catamaran (read the story) in Ohio, actually designed the hull for the 32 CCX model.
Today's dial-in work for the Sunsation 32 CCX with triple Verado 400R outboard is focused on hull strakes.
BBlades Professional Propellers LLC is best known for its prop tuning and its test program. Now a boatowner can fine-tune his pride and joy with the BBLADES Spacer Plate Test Program. The Princeton, Wis.-based company offers spacer plate testing for Bravo, Bravo Sport Master or NXT6 drives. The program lets boaters change the depth of the propeller in the water, also known as X-dimension.
The trend among performance-boat manufacturers to set up a boat with an aggressive drive height—or X-dimension—in search of top speed has come with compromises. An overly aggressive drive height can hamper a boat’s overall performance, making it harder to get on plane or maintain plane at lower speeds and rpm.
Along with the news that Mercury Racing was in Fort Pierce, Fla., last week testing the new 32-foot catamaran from Sonic Power Boats and that the boat’s Fineline Interiors custom cockpit design is being installed this week, the team at Sonic announced that the 32-footer that is powered by twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R engines is going to embark on a poker run tour this summer in conjunction with its new dealer, Atlanta Performance Boats.
Sonic's new 32-foot cat should be all set for its upcoming poker run tour later this week. Photos courtesy Sonic Power Boats
Sitting pretty in Bimini—Vinnie Foglia’s second M4200 from Mystic Powerboats (click image to enlarge). All photos courtesy/copyright Shogren Performance Marine.
Scott Sjogren of Shogren Performance Marine and his longtime customer and friend Vinnie Foglia definitely took the scenic route yesterday in the delivery of Foglia’s Mystic Powerboats M4200 luxury center console from the DeLand, Fla.-based custom center console and catamaran builder. While boat’s ultimate destination is Chicago—Foglia’s hometown— the new owner and his guests put the triple Mercury Racing 400R outboard engine-powered boat through its first fun run yesterday when they headed from Miami to Bimini.
When Northern California boater Mike Avila first started thinking about buying an offshore catamaran to add to his collection of boats, he wasn’t quite sure what type of boat he had in mind. Fortunately for him, he had several close friends in his home away from home—Discover Bay, Calif.—that he could rely on for advice, as well as many people he’s met throughout his nearly 50-year ski-racing career.
In the end, it was one of his ski-race counterparts, who just so happens to be one of his fiercest competitors, who led him to the boat he took delivery of just in time for Memorial Day weekend—a 2012 Nordic Boats 43-foot catamaran powered by a pair Mercury Racing 1350 engines.
Mike Avila spent the Memorial Day weekend enjoy his new ride, a 43-foot catamaran from Nordic Boats. Photos courtesy Mike Avila
“We should have done it a long time ago.” Those were the first words out of Mike Goldbaugh’s mouth when asked what made him pull the trigger on a new 368 Skater Powerboats catamaran and put LATE FEE$, his well-kept Donzi Marine 38ZR, up for sale.
Mike and Angela Goldbaugh can't wait to take their new 36-foot Skater to events starting with the Jacksonville River Rally & Fun Run.
In what has turned into a busy production facility as of late, the Custom Marine Group factory in Washington, N.C., recently churned out a couple of new boats that the team was proud to deliver last weekend to Big Thunder Marine, the Osage Beach, Mo., dealer that signed on earlier this year to carry three of the company’s boat lines—Baja Marine, Donzi Marine and Fountain Powerboats.
Powered by a 300-hp Mercury outboard, this Baja 23 Islander is currently for sale at Big Thunder Marine. Photos courtesy Baja Marine
During its first on-water test session on California’s Lake Elsinore earlier today, the first M35 Widebody catamaran from DCB Performance Boats powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 1550/1350 engines impressed the team at DCB, to say the least.
DCB's latest M35 Widebody—the first with Mercury 1550/1350 engines—is headed to Oklahoma next week. Photos courtesy Jeff Johnston
In what he called “arguably the coolest blank canvas project” his team at Waves and Wheels has worked on, Justin Wagner said that everyone at the Osage Beach, Mo., marine audio custom fabrication and upholstery shop was honored to play a role in the production of the first Skater Powerboats 478 V-bottom from Douglas Marine in Douglas, Mich.
Waves and Wheels showed off its new bolster design in the first Skater 478. Photos courtesy Brad Glidewell/Brad Glidewell Photography
Tyler Crockett built a 2,200-hp blown-alcohol engine for his 26-foot Joker that he will be running in tomorrow's Outlaw Shoot-Out National Championship in Clearwater, Texas. Photos courtesy Tyler Crockett
A work-in-progress for the past couple of years, the 2,200-hp supercharged monstrosity of a motor from Crockett Marine Engines will make its official debut tomorrow (June 24) when offshore racer and engine guru Tyler Crockett runs his 26-foot Joker V-bottom in the revamped Outlaw Shoot-Out National Championship—the top-speed shootout portion of the ninth annual Texas Outlaw Challenge.