Speedboat June 2016

s p e e d b o a t . c o m

JUNE 2016

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NO PROBLEM!

SEXXYSEXXYSE7EN

Eddie Knox is Back on Top

Our Sizzling Swimsuit Special!

SPEED SPORT SHOCKER!

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50 years of serving the custom boat industry.

The 29 Deckboat with twin 400s. Luxury and style at 100+ mph!LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA 800.279.5398 E-MAIL: [email protected]

www.NordicBoatsUSA.com

9Roomy, reliable and 100+ mph on GPS.Welcome to the quintessential deckboat. Your next boat purchase is an investment in both your family and yourself. Make the right choice.

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COLUMNS 8 RAY LEE10 WILKES14 INDUSTRY NEWS60 NEW PRODUCTS

FEATURES16 LAKE HAVASU BOAT SHOWThe biggest and best display of muscleboats on the West Coast suffered a cruel dose of wicked weather.

24 SEXXY SE7ENOur editors took seven girls to Lake Elsinore, CA, for their latest swimsuit shoot.

34 THE TRUTH ABOUT ETHANOLSpeedboat dispels the myths surrounding boat racers fuel of choice.

40 ROLLING THUNDERSome of the wildest rigs on the East Coast play fast and loose on the Chesapeake Bay.

46 TREK TO TAMPAFlorida Powerboat Club President Stu Jones gives the lowdown on his groups latest adventure.

54 SPEEDBOAT LEGENDSIn the fourth edition of our Hall of Fame series, we salute Eliminator Boats founder Bob Leach.

speedboat.com 6 S P E E D B O A T | June 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTSJune 2016

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BRETTS COVE64 DEWEYS DAYTONATattoo artist Mike Dewey gets his go-fast fix in his beautiful Eliminator tunnel.

68 THE SKAGEN SOCIETYCustomers of the legendary Seattle shop gather annually at the MarDon Resort.

74 PURE INSANITYThe 2016 Lucas Oil Drag Racing season gets off to a bang with fierce competition in Chandler and Parker, AZ.

Editorial: Speedboat Magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. All manuscripts, materials, photographs and artwork submitted are at mailers risk and must include self-addressed envelope with proper postage if requested to be returned. All letters sent to Speedboat will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes, and are subject to Performance Boats right to edit and comment editorially. All rights reserved. Reprinting in whole or part is expressly forbidden, except by written permission of the publisher.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Postmaster: Send address changes to Speedboat Magazine, 9216 Bally Court, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730.

Cover photos by SeanKelly-Photography.com (top) and Ray Lee (bottom)Table of Contents photo by Randy Nuzzo

Speedboat.com

To find your nearest location to purchase a copy of Speedboat Magazine go to:

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speedboat.com S P E E D B O A T | June 2016 7



OBSERVERS SEATRAY LEE

In my column last month, I wrote about my long-standing battle against the wind and how it most recently affected our swimsuit photo shoot in Lake Elsinore, CA. It is rare that we come out on top during these face-offs, as Mother Nature can be a ruthless female canine.

Well, she continued her wrath on the West Coast boating community, again with minimal signs of mercy. The orga-nizers of the Lake Havasu Boat Show had spent months planning the 2016 event. Exhibitor count was way up from the year before and the buzz was electric, partly because of the lackluster offering from the L.A. Boat Show in February.

The Havasu Boat Show was scheduled for a three-day run in the balmy month of April, where the weather is usually mild and comfortable. But not this time. Wind and rain threatened to spoil the party all week as invested individuals closely monitored various weather apps on their smartphones frequently.

The opening Friday was greeted with fi erce winds and sideways rain. As I was making the wet drive across the desert toward Lake Havasu, Speedboat photog-rapher Kenny Dunlop texted me a pic-ture of a once-functioning EZ-Up from an unlucky vendor booth, with its cano-py ripped clean awayonly the mangled skeleton remained. I knew then that the boat show would suffer considerably.

Exhibitors and the few attendees sought shelter wherever they could. Inside

vehicles, motor homes and even in and under the boats on display. The diligent ones braved the cold and wet elements with hopes of clearing skies, while the less patient ones left the premises to fi nd a warm meal and a cold beverage.

Saturday looked hopeful because the venueand the boatshad dried out and the sun made a much-welcomed appearance. It actually turned into a pic-ture-perfect day, and the show bubbled with activity. Deals were being signed, products were being sold and fun was being had. This was what the event was supposed to be like all weekend.

Inevitably, though, Saturday led into Sunday, which brought the rain and winds back with it. Some exhibitors and vendors had pulled up stakes the night before, anticipating the foul weather, while the rest of Team Optimism returned Sunday with expectations of a repeat of the day before. However, that was not to be, and the rest of the show was eventually cancelled.

Fast-forward one week later, to the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Races in Parker, AZ, where race fans were anxiously awaiting for the thunder to return to the Colorado River. Again, vendors and exhibitors set up for what was certain to be an exciting weekend on and around the grounds of the Bluewater Casino Resort.

But guess who showed up again to ruin the festivities?

Mother. Freaking. Nature. Sustained winds of 25-30 mph howled

Shelter from the Stormacross the dusty pit areas and caused the liquid race course to whitecap. Gusts of up to 50 mph tested awnings and cano-pies to their extreme limits. Race teams did their best to protect their engines and vessels from the windstorm, but most to no avail. I especially felt sorry for the PA announcer, who had the unenvi-able job of reporting the status of the non-existent races and attempt to keep the spectator fl eet from fl eeing.

For two days straight, the winds refused to lay down, keeping all boats on their trail-ers and securely in their pits. Some teams gave up and headed home on Saturday, with frustration riding shotgun. Time dragged on as everyone kept their fi ngers crossed for a calm, tranquil Sunday, as Saturday was obviously a lost cause.

And that is precisely what they got. Sunday proved to be a nice, breeze-free day, and the teams were fi nally ready and able to race. There was a lot to do, having lost two full days, so the racing started early and continued on through-out the day, keeping a feverish pace. Spectators on that day received the pay-off for having the rare virtue of patience. Some outstanding and exciting racing occurred until near sunset.

So between the two events in two weeks, Mother Nature proved to be gen-erous roughly about 33.3333% of the time. But maybe she will now fi nal-ly show a little mercy on the boating community. With the season ready to kick off in full swing and large events just around the corner and across the nation, I hope she will provide noth-ing but the best conditions from here on out. That is the Mother Nature I love. Because Id much rather be writing about actual boating rather than adding to my rsum for the position of local meteorologist.


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V-DRIVE TECHJIM WILKES

Gear Box InfoDear V-Drive Tech:Would you happen to know the make of the gear box in the attached photos? Are they reliable, and are parts still available?Thank you! Mark MacCollBaton Rouge, LA

The V-drive unit in your boat is a Casale top-loader style unit with a cast aluminum mounting bracket. Parts are still available for these units, but not all the parts are on the shelf items. I have parts for these units, so if you need anything, give me a call at Wilkes Marine, (714) 540-8908. Good luck with your V-drive!

Daytona Situation Dear V-Drive Tech:I am looking to buy or build an Eliminator Daytona V-drive. Did Eliminator not make many V-drives? I know that the jet guys are adept at taking the outboard boats and converting them, but can they be converted to a V-drive as well? What do

you think about the Eliminator V-drive setup in general? I am a novice, and I have heard that V-drives take up a lot of room in the interior. How many passen-gers can a 21' Daytona V-drive comfort-ably seat? Who in California could assist me with such a conversion? Finally, how much hp would I need to see low 100s?Much obliged,Gerard BarryRancho Cucamonga, CA

When Bob Leach first started build-ing boats, he did indeed build V-drive flatbottom-style boats. Since those days, Bob has built just about every style and type of boat, including a variety of 19' and 21' V-Drive tunnel Daytonas. Tommy Barron of the famed Barron family (Hallett Boats) did most of the V-drive installations for Eliminator Boats, although some V-drive Daytonas were rigged at the Eliminator factory.

Can you take a outboard and convert it to a V-drive style boat? Yes, of course. The one critical part on the installation, in my opinion, is the cav plate setup.

The downside is going to be the expense. V-drive boats arent cheap to build. Even if you do the labor yourself, expect the parts to be pricey. You can eas-ily sink $20,000 into new quality parts for a conversion.

If you use a Turbo 400 transmission, you will have room for four bucket seats: two front bucket seats and two very small bucket seats in the rear. I have built four 21' tunnel boats with outstanding suc-cess. Sam Corbett used a twin-turbo 468 that we built, and my dyno test showed 876 hp at 6,000 rpm, 12 pounds of boost; with 32 gears, the boat ran 114 mph. This boat turned out fabulous. Set up correct-ly, they are the best 21-footers I have ever ridden in during rough-water conditions.

I would seriously consider trying to locate a used one. As a matter of fact, I know where is one for sale right now. Call me if youre interested: (714) 540-8908. It wont be for sale for very long.

Prop Choice Help Dear V-Drive Tech:I recently purchased a Sanger Mini Day Cruiser with blown BBC (600-700 hp) with a TH400 transmission. It came with 29 gears and 3 blade 12 x 13 pitch prop. The boat cavitates badly out of the hole and midrange when heavy footed. I need suggestions for a good all-around prop. Thank you!Ken FranklinMesa, AZ

I have rigged or re-rigged a number Sanger V-drive hulls of this particular model. For my style of installation, the best propeller I have found is a 12"x15.5" pitch model. Some guys like a 14" pitch prop instead of a 15+" pitch. Its really just a matter of engine placement and V-drive location. How the boat feels at speed is extremely important. You want safe pro-peller control for your rocket.


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Industry NewsBOB BROWN

To Wake, Or Not to WakeLake Havasu Boaters Face Possible New No Wake Restrictions

The never ending-debate between recreational power boating access/use and environmental protection has once again surfaced in the Lake Havasu Wildlife Refuge, the 18-mile stretch of Colorado River located just north of the I-40 bridge extending south through sce-nic Topock Gorge where the river meets Lake Havasu. And to complicate matters, the Refuge is administrated by multiple governmental agencies; the Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife. The newest struggle over access/use and environmental protection appeared about a year ago when USFW created a new no-wake zone in a backwater area of the Refuge which had been long used by wakeboarders and water skiers seeking smooth water. Acting on the complaints of non-motorized watercraft users that

boarding and skiing were harming the wildlife habitat in that area, USFW installed buoys making it a restricted no-wake zone. Naturally, the boarders and skiers strongly objected and were successful in getting the support of Congressman Paul Gosar (R) Mohave County to engage USFW in heated communication regard-ing the closure. Gosar, a staunch advo-cate and watchdog about governmental over-reach, objected to the lack of pro-cess (no public input or notification) used by USFW in imposing these new restrictions on boating. Now, fast forward to today. On April 12, 2016, USFW unveiled a Compatibility Determination (CD) to make additional no wake zones within the Refuge bound-aries. It also indicated that public meet-ings about the CD would be held on

Monday, May 2 at the Aquatic Center in Lake Havasu from 6 to 8pm, and Tuesday, May 3 at the AVI Resort & Casino from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. In addition, concerned citizens would also have an opportunity to make comments by email or mail on the mat-ter until May 12. All of this is troubling to power boaters who frequently travel the main channel of the Refuge, making lunch and dinner runs to popular destinations like Topock 66 and Pirates Cove Resort. Although it appears on the surface that the newly proposed no wake zones are primar-ily located in areas where power boats seldom go (Topock Marsh backwaters) there is concern that the marsh-like area at the southernmost tip of the Refuge boundary where river and lake converge may also be targeted for no wake desig-



nation under this plan. It appears on the USFW provided chart, that no wake would be restricted from the eastern shore (Arizona side) out to the middle (imaginary dividing line) of the lake on the California and Arizona boundary. This area has been largely unrestricted until now, and boaters routinely travel at moderate to fast on-plane speeds (above 35 mph) in order to avoid run-ning aground in shallow water. If in fact this is the case, the new no wake zone would undoubtedly have a det-rimental economic effect on up river restaurants, bars and resorts north of the I-40 bridge. Big picture: Restricting boating access and use are not something boat-ers should relinquish casually. Over-zealous conservation activists, dont consider recreational boating as a fundamental right. And it appears the USFW shares that sentiment given a statement contained within its own CDBased on the analysis within this Compatibility Determination, the Refuge proposes to limit boating to activities that support the prior-ity public useshunting, fishing, wild-life observation, wildlife photography, environmental education and interpre-tation. Conspicuous by its absence is any mention or reference of general recreational boating as a priority public use. Concerned boaters are urged to send their comments to:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceHavasu National Wildlife RefugeAttn: Draft Recreational Boating CD317 Mesquite AvenueNeedles, CA 92363

Comments may also be emailed to: [email protected].

More information will undoubted-ly be forthcoming following the pub-lic meetings at the Aquatic Center on Monday, May 2, and AVI on Tuesday, May 3. If possible, please attend and be involved in the process. Watch this space for further developments.


Photos by Kenny Dunlop

boat show


The biggest and best display of muscleboats on the West Coast suffered a cruel dose of wicked weather.

Lake HavasuLake Havasu

As chronicled in Ray Lees excel-lent column this month (see Page 8), the forces of nature did not smile down on exhibitors and attendees of the Lake Havasu Boat Show this spring, sending unseasonable precipitation and high winds in place of the typical clear and sunny skies. What should have been the usual impressive array of muscle and bling became a massive puddle with demolished EZ-Ups on the side.

Saturday proved the only worthwhile day, and the Speedboat team was able to photograph the sights in between monsoons. And what a display it was, howsoever briefly. Virtually every fast-boat builder in Southern California and Arizona were on hand with their always-impressive hulls, and there was no end of accessories and engines to be marveled at as well. Among the highlights: a terrific display from local builder Advantage Boats, which displayed its 25' Citation, 29' X-Flight and 34' Party Cat TRX; DCBs latest M35 masterpiece; and a Cobra 270 Python with a super-plush interior and a Teague Custom Marine 1025 engine under the hatch. Check out all of the goodies on the pages ahead.

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CobraThis plushly appointed 270 Python(left and below) is equipped with aTeague 1025 motor.

DCBThe El Cajon, CA-based builder of luxury muscle cats and vees displayed its popular M35 tunnel (left) along with various other models (above). DCB shared space with its dealer Horizon Motorsports, which has showrooms in Arizona and Colorado.

Caliber 1The Havasu-based builder showed off its 265 Silver Bullet deckboat atop an Extreme Trailer. The same model was also on display at the Los Angeles Boat Show only a few months early.



Lake Havasu Boat Show

HowardBased in Valencia, CA, Gene Willen andhis team brought an open-bow version

of their popular 28 SCS cat.

Domn8erThe Havasu-based builder, owned by Dory Sarafin, had its25 Deckboat (above) on display.

Jet RenuThe Corona, CA-based maker of cleaningsystems for boats showed off its full line ofenvironmentally friendly sprays and waxes, including the popular Clear glass cleanerand Pink spray and shine wax (left).



Lake Havasu Boat Show HallettNick and Jerry Barron cel-ebrated their 285 Party Cruiser 2.0.

EliminatorThe legendary Mira Loma,

CA-based builder displayed its classic 280 Eagle XP.

GatorStepT.J. Ayres educated show-goers about GatorSteps nonskid surface systems, available in a variety of colors and designs (below left).

AMSOILThe maker of synthetic motor oils displayed Miss AMSOIL, an APBA Stock A hydroplane race boat (below).


SETTING SETTING RECORDSRECORDS

Phone: 765.733.0833 1766 Acoma Blvd W Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403Phone: 310.995.1670 westcoastdrives.com

igniteracingfuel.com follow us on

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Cat Can Do, driver Keith Holmes

Gone Again, driver Kenny Mungle

Predator I, driver Vern Gilbert, West Coast Drive Service

Dial 911, driver Don London

Predator II, driver Gary Smith

388 Skater, driver John Tomlinson

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Lake Havasu Boat ShowShockwaveIntroduced in 2008, Shockwaves 22 Deckboat was recently redesigned. A jet version of this model was reviewed in these pages earlier this year; the boat earned stellar marks for its superior ride, han-dling and ability to nego-tiate the rough water in Lake Havasu.

Mercury RacingThe ubiquitous powerhouse displayed its 520 sterndrive, an 8.6-liter multiport fuel-injected V-8 engine that features a premium forged microalloy crankshaft. This package has been induction hardened and precision bal-anced for maximum perfor-mance.

AdvantageThe Havasu builders24 Party Cat TRX (above and right) has been its biggest seller thisyear, with several currently on order.



ConquestThe Havasu-based builder Group One Marine had its 28' Top Cat model on display.

Boat BlingZack Bale and Patrick Jones showed off their line of detailing products, including Hot Sauce, Vinyl Sauce, Condition Sauce

and Quickie Sauce. The company is currently celebrating its 10th

year in business.

NordicThane Tiemer proudly displayed Nordics 28SS, beautifully appointed and powered by a 1350 Mercury Racing engine.


Photos by Ray Lee & Brett Bayne


The Speedboat team took seven girls to Lake Elsinore, CA for our latest swimsuit shoot.

Th S db t t t k i l ttSEXXY SE7ENSEXXY SE7EN

Six of our girlschill on Caliber 1s

beautiful new265 Silver

Bullet deckboat. From left: Akacia,

Rupa, Angela, Emily, Tatiana

and Tiffany.

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caption

Greg Duff did a full restoration on his Daytona Sprint.

Look for it in an upcoming issue.

Were not going to mince words. This was the windiest shoot weve ever done.The weather in Southern California

is usually picture perfect, and although the sun never stopped shining down on our venueLake Elsinores Weekend Paradise RV parkit turned out to be one of the most blustery of days of recent memory.

For this years swimsuit extravagan-za, we rounded up seven of the sexiest gals we could find and deposited them in some of the bitchenest rides in the SoCal area. Youll notice that most of the boats never even touched the waterthats because the water was too rough, so we just shot the girls on the trailer, where none of them could lose her balance and break a nail.

Special thanks to Wade Addington of Weekend Paradise for hosting our shoot. Lets do it again sometime!

Olivia poses on White Trash, David GiacominosMagnum.



SEXXY SE7EN

Emily digs Mike Deweys 1978 19' Eliminator Daytona. To see more of this boat,turn to Page 63 of this issue.



Wesley Morgans 1971 Southwind fits both Tatiana (above) and

Tiffany (left) to a T!



SEXXY SE7EN Our model Rupa is seen

here with Dennis Capognis 1978 18' California Performance hull.

Inset: Rupa shows offDave Stehles helmet,

which matches his immaculate 2002

Biesemeyer K-Boat (inset).



SEXXY SE7EN

Right: Akacia enjoys theview from the transom ofDave Tilleys 1970 Hondo,Misbehavin Again.

Below: Olivia hopes to catch a ride on Keith Cummins 1977 18 Hondo GT.



Tatiana and Emilylook smokin hot

on Mike Mouzer Pierces equally smoldering 1965

Stevens Drag Hydro,Gods Speed.



SEXXY SE7EN

Tiffany braves the wind on Steve Faists 1986 Cole Factory Boat, Spooky.



Tiffany is all smiles on Larry Spriggs1994 Ultra jetboat.

Our Sexxy Se7en models with Bryan Strucks 1982 19 Howard.


Story by Brett Bayne


Youre at the marina. Youre ready to fill your boat with gas. You approach the pump and you see that familiar slogan: Does not contain ethanol.

That sounds like something bad, doesnt it? Like Contains no gluten, or This product is non-toxic.

So whats so bad about ethanol? Myths about ethanol fuel have run rampant, and for many, it can be difficult to dis-tinguish fact from fiction. So lets take a closer look at this biofuel: What it is, how it impacts boaters, and whether or not you should be using it.

Lets start with the basics. What is eth-anol? Well, if youve ever treated yourself to a distilled beverage, spirit, or liquor, youve consumed ethyl alcohol. Thats ethanol. The substance is produced from organic matter, such as corn, wheat, sugar cane, grass, et al. Ethanol was used in fuel more than 100 years agoin fact, the Ford Motor Companys first car, the Model T, was powered by ethanol gaso-line made from corn, which is still the #1 ingredient of gasoline containing etha-nol sold in the U.S. today.

In the early 2000s, the popularity of ethanol began to expand as an oxygenat-ing agent for gasoline, replacing MTBE.

Its typically added to fuel in order to reduce the hydrocarbon emissions that cause air pollution. Ethanol/gasoline blends are now available at most service stations around the United States; nearly all of the gasoline sold in the U.S. con-tains about 10 percent ethanol, and it burns safely in all cars, trucks and boats.

Then there are the high-level ethanol-blended fuels: E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gas), E15 (15% ethanol) and the popular E85, which can refer to an ethanol-gas-oline blend that typically contains any-where between 51% and 80% ethanol. E85 is intended only for engines that have been specially geared to accommo-

EthanolEthanolSpeedboat dispels some of the myths

and misinformation surrounding boat

racers fuel of choice.

The Truth About

Signs of the times: fuel pumpsthat offer high-ethanol fuelsand that dont. Above: The American EthanolMystic, winner of the Top GunShootout prize at LOTO.

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The Truth About Ethanol

Dan Schwartzkopf

What the experts say:Daniel Schwartzkopf

A pioneer in the marriage of ethanol and racing, Schwartzkopf started racing ethanol with a street car and progressed into drag racing. He was owner of a six-car NHRA drag-racing team, and was GM/shareholder of an ethanol plant. He has helped get ethanol approved for other motorsports, such as a compact series, Indy car, tractor pulls, and raceboat series. Today he works directly with race teams and helping them transition into etha-nol-based fuels.

As someone who brought ethanol into the the rac-ing world, I think weve proven it to be a superior fuel as far as power, octane and emissions. Emissions is a critical part of the equation, because its so much healthier. Its not a carcinogen. Gasoline and methanol fuels contain a lot of carcinogens; ethanol does not.

Im working right now with a group of people who compete in road rallies on a 27-mile course. Right now, some are using a methanol/gasoline blend, and were working on converting them

over to ethanol because of the power enhancement that they gain. With etha-nol, we have a slogan: Good for the air, good for the engine, good for the envi-ronment. But we also work with boats, so we should add: Good for the water. Because if you happen to tip a boat and the ethanol goes into the water, its biodegradable and non-toxic, so its not going to kill anything.

We absorb ethanol when we toss back a Jack Daniels. Thats a grain-based alco-hol. Unlike gasoline, ethanol does not carry the high intensity of hydrocarbons, which helps it to be easier on parts for with less carbon deposit on parts for less wear. Its a low-risk fuel as far as health factorsnot only for us, but for the air, plants and the rest of the environment. Thats probably the most important fac-tor, aside from the performance gains you get. And were not just talking about little gainsin the performance world, some of these racers are recognizing any-where from as little as 40 hp on a real pre-cision motor, clear up to 300 hp. If youre building an engine from the ground up,

we consider a number of specific issues: air-fuel ratios, ignition that it takes to light the fuel, crankcase pressures, etc. Every motor is differentturbo, natu-rally aspirated, blown. Each individuals setup is different.

I think ethanol has become a pre-dominant fuel of the future because of its characteristicslower cost, environ-mentally friendly, you get more power and torque. Unfortunately, people dont like a lot of change. But once theyre able to see the benefit of ethanol, its a whole new worldjust ask Gary Smith, Don Onken and Keith Holmes. Theyve all had huge success using Ignite Racing Fuel.

Most ethanol made in the United States comes from corn.



This year, American Ethanol is sponsoring Cat Can Do, owned by Keith Holmes (right).

date high-ethanol content fuel blends, and its availability at service stations across the country has grown briskly in the last few years.

If you operate a competitive raceboat, chances are decent that you have used (or are at least aware) of E85. Probably the most famous promoter of this type of fuel is Don Onkens 50-foot Mystic offshore competitor American Ethanol, powered by quad 1,700+ hp alcohol-burning motors. Its the boat that nabbed top honors at the 2015 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout with a top speed of 208 mph with driver Myrick Coil and throttleman John Cosker; the Top Gun winner was also pictured on the front cover of the November 2015 issue of this magazine. The term American Ethanol refers to the marketing campaign dedicated to increasing awareness of the performance capabilitiesand affordabilityof etha-nol made in the U.S.

This year, American Ethanol is spon-soring the Skater offshore racer Cat Can Do, with additional sponsorship from Ignite Racing Fuel of Marion, IN. Ignite makes and sells a variety of fuels and lubricants, including its own E-85 blend that offers what it describes as a true consistency (E85 can legally contain as little as 51% ethanol). In addition to its high-level ethanol fuels, Ignite also makes and markets a variety of high-performance lubricants.

One of the most vocal in persuading boaters to convert to high-ethanol fuelswhile dispelling the many myths about themis Ignite Racing Fuels President Jay Berry, who underscores that ethanol can accommodate significantly higher com-pression ratios than gasoline.



The Truth About Ethanol

The ethanol industry provides jobs in agriculture, construction,

operations and maintenance, mostly in rural communities.

What the experts say:Carson Brummett

The son of legendary Mandella Boats founder Lou Brummett, Carson operates Brummett Marine in Pasadena, CA. A builder of big-horsepower engines, he has converted several raceboats to accommo-date E85 fuel.

Ethanol has its pluses and minuses. For making horse-power in a turbocharged or supercharged engine, its very good. The boat has to be set up for it, with all Teflon fuel lines, and the filters and fuel tanks have to be compatible with ethanol and so forth. But every-things good with it. The downside with a pleasure boat is that youre going to use a third more of it than with regular gaso-line. So if your boat barely has enough capacity and youre going out for the day, you might be hurting with E85. And if you

have a big turbocharged motor, you will be changing the oil more frequently. But if the fuel mapping is correct, its not too much of a problem. It definitely works. Weve been running it since around 2001 and weve converted a lot of people over to using it. Sterling Engines was never going to use itthey hated itbut last year even they started using it!

Ethanol definitely has its applications. You can certainly make more power with it, but its like anything elseyou have to have the right combination to make it work correctly. We still do the PSI blown motors like Don London has. I believe this will be his fourth season using those. Last year we did Gary Smiths Whipple motors in the Predator, and were work-ing on some new turbo engines right now for a customer in Kansas. Those are all going to be E85-compatible.

Two 388 Skaters that run engines built by Carson Brummet: Don Londons (top) and Jon Roths (above).

Left: Jay Berry of Ignite (center) with Keith Holmes of Cat Can Do (left) and Kenny Mungle of Gone Again.


Ethanol likes to be squeezedthats why were seeing massive horsepower gains with the boat racing crowd. The more compression and the more air flow you can get to itthats where we really blow the doors off of gasoline or racing gas, he says.

According to Berry, many in the boating industry still resist going to higher ethanol fuels based on faulty information. We want to dispel the myths, he says. Among the misperceptions with ethanol and pump E85 is that its plugging a boats injectors. Its notits a cleaner. The real problem with E85, he says, is that its a misnomer, because the blend can contain as little as 51% etha-nol. As long as you have 51% ethanol, thats all the government cares about, he says. The oil companies can blend with it what-ever they want to blend. Thats where all these issues about ethanol being bad come fromthats all because of what the oil companies blend with it. A lot of oil compa-nies can get rid of waste out of their refinery by blending it with the ethanol.

The solution, he says, is to rely on true consistency fuels like Ignites, a true E85 blend containing 85% ethanol and 15% denturant every time, every barrel. It burns cleaner and cooler to extend the life of an engine while providing more torque and power for the speed.

Another misconception about ethanol is that its production reduces our food supply, Berry says. Thats actually not true, because a third of the corn comes back. Whats left is very high-protein feed, so dairy cattle who go on it actually gain an extra gallon of milk production because of it. All we do is pull the starch. The high-protein feed that the animals actually need and is better feed for them.

Among the benefits of ethanol: If a boat catches on fire the fuel gets dumped in the water, ethanol is 100% biodegradable. Ethanol has lower emis-sions than gasoline.

Other myths about ethanol: Ethanol requires too much water to

produce. Not truethe amount of water required to produce ethanol is on the decline.

Ethanol needs more energy to make than it yields. Again, not true: ethanol production has steadily become more energy-efficient.

better for the environment. Ethanol burns cooler, but it also burns clean-er, Berry says. And some racers have told me that it cleans your engine to look like brand new. Guys who used to have to refresh their engines two to three times a year that now can go a whole year without doing it. Some go as long as two years without having their engine torn down.

So should you switch over to a high-er-ethanol fuel? For boaters, some components (gas tank, fuel lines, injectors, carburetors) will need to be checked out by a professional and possibly converted. For offshore rac-ers looking for a competitive edge, that may be worth doing. Performance gains notwithstanding, boosting your ethanol levels will unquestionably be


Photos by Randy Nuzzo


Held in Northeast Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay, the Thunder in the City Poker Run wrapped up its ninth annual run last year, and pho-tographer Randy Nuzzo shares some of his best images with Speedboat on these pages. Owned and operated by Victor DiMarco of DiMarco Marine Performance in Newark, DE (302-455-1440), the event draws boats from all around the country and Canada, but most

heavily from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas. Home base is the Chesapeake Inn Restaurant & Marina (410-885-2040), with the sce-nic Chesapeake City Bridge providing an alluring backdrop. Participants typi-cally enjoy breakfast at the Inn before the run, with a first-class lunch at the Rusty Scupper in Baltimore and raft-up at Jellyfish Joels Tiki Bar.

Thunder in the City is a perfect place to see an array of big-muscle offshore boatseverything from Outerlimits

and Skaters to Fountains, Cigarettes, Apaches, Sonics, Formulas and virtually every other manufacturer you can imag-ine. In this issue, we throw the spotlight on five recent attendees, starting with the 2006 38' Ocean Express owned by John Pentz of Quakertown, PA.

Pentz, who installs sound systems and security systems through his company All About Audio, says his boat handles well through rough water, thanks to the way his 555-c.i. quad Whipple motors are set up. Each engine puts out 1,150

ThunderSome o

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play fast and lo

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Rolling



John and Amy Pentz (right, with friend Mike Abbott)and their Ocean Express (left).

The boat is powered by two555-c.i. quad Whipple engines

that put out 1,150 apiece (below).

hp for a total of 2,300 hp. The current top speed is 138 mph; after some motor changes this year, he hopes to see even more top-end magic. Were hoping to get 1,250 to 1,300 horses out of each motor after we do some head work, he says. Meanwhile, the sound guru assures us that his Ocean Express is equipped with a truly killer audio system.

Pentz is previously the owner of a 31-foot American Offshore, which was pushed by a set of 800s. He enjoys doing the poker-run circuit with his wife Amy.



Rolling Thunder

OUTERLIMITSScott and Tina Reiter of Pasadena, MD, bought their new 42 Outerlimits Legacy in 2006. Don Onken of Lightning Performance rebuilt their Mercury Racing 850 engines in 2013. The boat is called Tina-Cious.


speedboat.com 44 S P E E D B O A T | June 2016 speedboat.com

POWERPLAYBefore actually owning a boat, Ambrose and Lisa Fasolak would join several friends on the Key West Poker Run. While on one such trip to South Florida in 2003, Ambrose sur-prised his wife at a marina by announcing that he had purchased the boat they were currently looking at. Its a 33 Powerplay that Ambrose has completely redone, add-ing the same kind of gunnels, interior and styling of Outerlimits 44SL. The power package has also been upgraded to 700-hp (555-c.i.) fuel-injected motors. Top speed is around 95 mph. As owner of a machine shop in Pennsylvania, Ambrose has fabricated a number of custom pieces, including bezels, LED-lit nameplates and a full windscreen, to make it a better boat, he says.

Rolling Thunder



STATEMENTPreviously the owner of Sea Ray-style sport cruisers, Allentown, PA-based restaura-teur Donny Petridis stepped up in 2014 with the purchase of a new center-console Statement powered by twin 300 Mercury outboards. We took all of the rod holders out and put cuphold-ers in, he chuckles.

S P E E D B O A T | June 2016 45

ACTIVATORFrank Shorty Dziobczynski built his 2007 30' Activator brand new. Its powered by an 850-hp (632 c.i.) naturally aspirated engine built by DiMarco Marine & Performance; its coupled to a Mercury Bravo XR Sportmaster Drive. Its the best rough-water boat youll ever see, he says. Dziobczynski set the boat up pok-er-run style, with port and star-board side throttles and controls.


Story by Stu JonesPhotos by Jerry Wyszatycki


This year marked the Florida Powerboat Clubs sixth consecutive year doing the Tampa Bay Poker Run. We used to do events there in the 1990s, but we took a hiatus from Tampa about a decade ago, after Hurricane Dennis mangled the docks at the Rennaissance Viony Resort. After the docks were all rebuilt, we decided to go resume our events there. All of the action takes place in downtown St. Petersburg

waterfrontan amazingly vibrant part of town thats absolutely teeming with tourists. Parks are everywhere; there are about 20 city parks in just over a two-mile stretch. You can find all kinds of upscale shops, boutiques and nightclubs. This 12-15 block area is so energized with activity that having a poker run there makes perfect sense.

The only thing missing from the landscape was the entire landmark St. Petersburg pier, which has been a local

iconits basically the key visual refer-ence point of the entire waterfront. That had been completely obliterated; I pre-sume that the people of St. Petersburg decided that they didnt like it anymore and that it was time for something new. They have a massive project planned, so the entire pier was completely missing. It was kind of strange, because we didnt have that reference point when we were out in the water. It always helped us to make visual contact with that pierit

TampaTampa Stu Jones of the Florida Powerboat Club gives us a first-hand account of his latest poker run.TREK TO

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Tom Tucci of Upper Saddle River, NJ, pilots his 51' Outerlimits.

Opposite: An aerial view of theVinoy Place Condos in the North

Yacht Basin of Tampa Bay.Right: the crew of the Lady Lisa

expresses its delight in beingaboard the mind-boggling

80' Nor-Tech Roadster.

was your signal to take the turn and go right in to the Vinoy Resorts basin. But its no longer there for our reference point, and it definitely altered the format.

We saw a tremendous growth in our atten-dance numbers this year: Weve gone from about 40 registered boats last year to 57 boats this year, which is a 25% increase in just one year. Actually, the event started out smallless than 30 boats. It just seems like over the last two or three years, its doubled in size.

Text continues on Page 53



Trek to Tampa John Lasky in his 36' Apache

Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Below: Jim Archambault in his 34' Sunsationcenter console, Still Keepin It Real.Below right: FPC models Brooke and Loryn.

Bill Munyans36' Nor-Tech,Two Face.


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Trek to Tampa Bob Ladisin his 44' MTI

Below: FPC leader Stu Jones aboard his Ocean Hawk 33, powered by twin Mercury 300 outboards. This boat serves as the mas-cot for FPCs new class, called Sport Twin. This 50-mph class is reserved for twin out-board boats that are under 35 feet and have an entry-level price of around $150,000.

Above: Jorge Arellanoin his 32' Spectre.Below: Lane Christianson broughthis 52' Outerlimits, Fast Lane.


[Continued from page 50]


Tampa Bay Poker Run

Among the participating boats this year was the spectacular 80-foot Nor-Tech Roadster, Lady Lisa, and its owner, Red Reynolds. Hes transplanted from Wisconsin to Florida, and is now a Sarasota native. He loves that event because he can take that big 80' from his dock in Sarasota, and its less than a one-hour ride to come up to Tampa. He has made the Tampa Bay Poker Run his annual event with Lady Lisa. In fact, I believe its the only poker run he does anymore. Its one of his favor-ite events, and he always throws a huge party on the boat, with plenty of pretty ladies on board. I dont know where he gets them all! Incidentally, Lady Lisa is powered by a pair of 2,000-hp twin-turbo charged diesels and can achieve a speed of 70 mph. Its a pretty exotic ride.

Also taking part in the poker run was the boat I drovean Ocean Hawk 33 center console model powered by twin Mercury 300 outboards. It serves as a kind of mascot for Sport Twin, our new outboard class reserved for 50-mph twin outboard boats under 35 feet. This new class is our attempt to make poker runs more accessible for John Q. Public, who doesnt have a half a million budget for a boat. The Ocean Hawk is a center console with a traditional vee bottom and a large forward cabin and vee berth, so it has the best of both worlds. Its the same mold as the old Cigarette center console hull. Its a good-running boat, so I brought it out.

Also joining us on the Tampa Bay Poker Run this year were Jim and Lynn Archambault of Georgia in their 34' Sunsation CCX center console, Still Keepin It Real. It was the second year theyve done this run. They won the poker run last year, came back this year and they won it again!

We had good sponsorship represen-tation, including the center-console manufacturers. Boats Direct USA had a brand new Deep Impact and a brand new Blackwater model. Statement had brand new boats from their factory, and we had about four owners with Statements. Bruce Carvalho, who has worked for Sonic for

Continued on Page 82


legends

BOB LEACHBOB LEACH


Nearly fifty years ago, a Kelloggs cereal district sales manager in Southern California thought it would be cool to have one of those hot rod looking flatbottom inboard ski boats that were becoming so popular at local southland lakes and on the Colorado River. Little did Bob Leach realize then that his attraction to fast boats would lead to a lifetime immersed in the boat building business, setting standards, benchmarks and records establishing Eliminator Boats as an industry icon for more than five decades.

In the fourth installment of our Hall of Fame series, we salute one of the most recognizable and famous of all West Coast speedboat legendsBob Leach, founder of Eliminator Boats (Mira Loma, CA). Leach remains as much an innovator as ever; even today, nothing drives quite like an Eliminator.

by Bob Brown



Above: The overwhelming success of the 19' Daytona soon fostered the birth of the 21' Daytona seen here

with twin Merc V-6 outboards.

Right: If two engines are good, three have to be bet-ter. The 24 Daytona (right)

was a rocketship with triples.

Eliminators Mira Loma factory and the iconic boat in the pool is clearly visible to about 100,000 cars per day traveling the busy 60 Freeway.



Speedboat Legends

Eliminators step-vee Eagle XP line just got bigger and bigger. The 380 with integrated

cockpit canopy windscreens became a popu-lar model for the SoCal offshore market.

The full capsule cockpit option on the 36' Daytona makes it race or

poker-run ready.

Eliminator teamed with the Daytona International Speedway to produce

some awesome NASCAR-themed boats for the Daytona 500 race.

That first boat was a collaboration with George Verkamp, a fireman by trade with mad wood-working skills, who also happened to have a bottom mold for an 18-foot fiberglass flatbottom. Verkamp added his signature custom monkey-pod wood deck and sold the blank hull to Leach for rigging and engine install. The boat was a real attention-grabber, recalls Leach. Every time I took it out, people would ask where I got it and if they could buy one. It finally sank in that maybe I should be building and selling boats instead of working for Kelloggs. It definitely seemed like boats would be more fun.

Leach initially approached Verkamp about going into the boat business with him, but Verkamp wasnt really inter-

ested, however he was willing to supply Leach with blank hulls that he could finish and then sell. That was 1969, and Eliminator Boats was born in a small Huntington Park industrial building. It was also a time of boat building renais-sance in California with dozens of boat shops dotting the local landscape hoping to capitalize on the burgeoning demand for a variety of racy watercraft brands.

The early 1970s was also a period in the Southwest known as the jet boat era. Water pumps manufactured by Berkeley Jet Drive and Jacuzzi were suddenly all the rage thanks to their affordable cost, relatively low maintenance and pin-you-to-the-seat acceleration and overall performance with big block V-8 Ford, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet engines.

Being a shrewd observer of what boat-ers wanted, Leach immediately turned his attention to developing several new models to capitalize on the jet boat craze. Admittedly, his first attempt at a jet model was only marginally successful since it was a shallow vee-bottom which was soon modified to a more compatible deeper vee that better suited jet drive applications.

And then, 1973 was a turning point for Eliminator Boats. Leach teamed up with hull designer and tooling expert Ron Ehde on a hull configuration that would not only catapult Eliminator Boats to the top of the custom boat heap, but would leave an indelible mark on high perfor-mance hull design for the next half cen-tury. The introduction of the air entrap-


ment twin sponson 19-foot Eliminator Daytona with a center pod changed everything. In a matter of months, con-ventional vee-bottom jet hulls were rel-egated to also-rans at the boat drags as 19 Daytonas were virtually unbeatable. Greg Shoemaker of GS Marine, an early pioneer in the jet boat quarter mile drags with a 19 Daytona called Underdog, was among the first to achieve consistent 100+ mph speeds with an unblown gas engine, something only a year before was thought to be unachievable with a jet drive.

Unfortunately, the dazzling success of the19 Daytona jet model was short-cir-cuited by the end of 1973 when Americas first energy crisis slammed new boat sales to a near halt as lines for gasoline went around the block and the odd-even purchase plan was temporarily put into effect. Thankfully, the crisis ended nearly as abruptly as it started and boat sales slowly began to recover the follow-ing year. A couple of years later in 1976, the major outboard makers, Mercury, Johnson and Evinrude, debuted their new V-6 200 HP offerings. Always poised to be at the forefront of a red-hot mar-ket, immediately, Eliminator mated its 19 Daytona to V-6 outboard power on the transom with remarkable results. It didnt take the American Power Boat Association long to see the potential of a production Mod VP class for the new two-stroke V-6 powerplants and 19 Daytonas, both jet and outboard, began rolling out of Eliminators Anaheim, CA factory in record numbers. Just to prove it was still king of the hill, Fred Bowdens Eliminator 19 Daytona with an Evinrude 235 HP V-6 became the first Mod VP race boat to record an official 100 mph radar clocking at the Mod VP World Championships and Top Speed Shoot-Out in Alexandria, Louisiana in the early 1980s.

So dominating has the Daytona design been since 1973 that Eliminator as built one in virtually every length from 19 to 36-feet (19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 33 and 36). Obviously Mercury Marine recognized the poten-tial of Eliminators Daytona line because in 2001 they teamed with Leach on a


The new 36 Daytona Speedster is Bobs latest and favorite creation.

This 36' Daytona was a familiar sight and dominating performer on the West Coast offshore scene.

The Eagle XP 260: fast, familypractical and comfortable.


Boaters seeking step-vee hull excellence are never wrong when they select an

Eagle XP 280.

special project to enhance the introduc-tion of the new production 496 Mag HO Package (425 propshaft horsepow-er). A pair of the new 496 sterndrives were installed in a 30 Daytona with the express purpose to demonstrate the per-formance potential with stock Mercury power and Bravo 1 Drives. The goal was to become the first 100 mile per hour production boat with production power. It did that and then some. In fact, later a 33 Daytona was prepared with the same 496 Mag HOs and it was even a couple of miles an hour faster (104-106 mph) than the original 30.

About that same time, Powerboat Magazine came up with the idea to pro-mote a 100 mph Shoot-Out session on the Colorado River at the Parker Strip. Their test team would drive, evaluate and report on boats from manufacturers with the provision that they would reach or exceed a 100 mile an hour top end. Eliminator prepped one of their standard 25 Daytonas with supercharged Teague Custom Marine power and proceeded to take home single engine bragging rights against a stellar field of equipment with an eye-opening 144 mph radar clocking.

And then what might be considered the most astonishing demonstration of pure performance awesomeness by a production hull ever occurred at the 2012 Lake of the Ozarks (LOTO) Shoot-Out competition in Missouri. Greg Olson

pinned the throttles of his supercharged twin engine (GT Marine) 33 Daytona and shocked on-lookers and the entire boat-ing world with a flawless 192 mph pass to take home the coveted Top Gun honors for that year.

In retrospect, maybe Olsens remark-able speed run shouldnt have been that much of a surprise. Leach, who thor-oughly water tests every new model him-self before it is available to the public, jumped at the chance in early 2000 to campaign a 33 Daytona in the newly formed Factory III APBA offshore class. Powered by a pair of stock Mercury Racing 500 HP engines and Bravo Drives, the 33 Daytona demonstrated it was much more than just a lake boat. In fact, with Leach at the helm, the 33 Daytona proved to be a dominating offshore combination, winning the first Factory III world championship title in Biloxi, Mississippi.

There are lots of things that have enabled Eliminator to remain relevant as a top level performance boat build-er for almost a half-century. Obviously incredible performance is one of them, but exceptional quality has also been a well-documented trademark of the brand. Powerboat Magazine edi-tors probably said it best when one of their early Performance Reports stated, Nobody builds a better quality boat than Eliminator. And this ringing

endorsement was backed-up by multi-ple awards for Product Excellence under Powerboats highly regarded annual and much anticipated Boats of the Year issue. It also didnt hurt the Eliminator brand when it teamed up with the Daytona International Speedway build-ing, showcasing and demonstrating NASCAR themed boats on the in-field lake during Americas greatest race, the Daytona 500.

The boat industry, however, isnt with-out its cyclical swings, and in 47 years, Eliminator has encountered just about every type of economic condition imag-inable. At its peak production in 2003 to 2005, the Eliminator factory in Mira Loma, California was building and sell-ing approximately 250 complete boats each year with just over one-hundred full-time employees and pushed to its absolute capacity limits. In those years, it was hard to imagine a downturn in demand would be in the foreseeable future, commented Leach.

That confidence prompted Leach to embark on an ambitious business plan, expansion to an attractive fifty-acre piece of property in nearby Perris, convenient-ly located off the 215 freeway in Riverside County, a hot bed of growth at the time. The plan not only included building a 100,000 square foot Eliminator produc-tion facility but an adjoining 400+ unit self-storage compound and over 300,000


Speedboat Legends


square feet of additional commercial buildings. Given the economic tempera-ture of that time, the plan appeared to be on solid footing and the land purchase, necessary permitting process and sub-sequent construction began in late 2003.

What wasnt in the plan was the late 2006 arrival of the deepest economic recession in U.S. history since the Great Depression and stock market crash of 1929. Our annual sales plummeted over 90% in a matter of eighteen months and remained at about that level for the following seven years, remarked Leach. There was no possibility we could sup-port the cost of operating the Perris facil-ity. Fortunately, we still owned our Mira Loma plant and moved back there to weather the recession like the rest of the boating industry.

Downsizing isnt any fun. I was blessed, however, that many of my key employees stuck with me. Some have been here at Eliminator for 20, 30 and even 40 years. Without them, we wouldnt be here today.

One might think that after 47 years, some of Eliminators energy and enthu-siasm have been exhausted, but thats not the case. Were actually in a pret-ty good place right now, says Leach. Weve got a nice backlog of orders and a great workforce. I just wish we could find a few more skilled riggers and gelcoaters to accelerate the production process, but I think that will come. Well build 40 to 50 boats in 2016 and even more in 2017. Obviously the demand for cer-tain models has changed. Boaters seem to want more comfort and practicality than they used to but they dont want to sacrifice performance either. I guess thats why our Fun Decks continue to be so popular. Our Eagle vee-bottom line remains steady and theres always a demand for Daytonas, especially the newer Speedsters models.

Someone asked me the other day if our Eliminators are as good now as they were in the past. That was an easy ques-tion to answer..were building better boats today than we ever have, and the boats we build tomorrow will be even better than these.




New ProductsBRETT BAYNE

New ProductsBRETT BAYNE

Aqua Lily Pad, the Ohio-based maker of recreational floating foam pads, has added an array of fun new products to its growing lineup.

The company was launched in 2010 with essentially one productthe Aqua Lily Pad, a revolutionary item for the marine market that soon became the water-recreation toy of choice for boaters and beachgoers.

Unique in its offering, the Aqua Lily Pad simply unrolls for useno inflation required. Since its inception, numer-ous copycat products have attempted to horn in on Aqua Lily Pads action. Buyer beware: Most of these knock-off products are not even manufactured by the com-panies that brand them. Only Aqua Lily Products manufactures and distributes its own products. Thats crucial for a number of reasons:

Aqua Lily Pad Expands Offerings

Aqua Lily Pad controls the quality of all its products.

It employs a proprietary UV protection system, with a proven track record in California.

The company continues to research and develop the product and imple-ment improvements.

Aqua Lily Pads expanded product offer-ings include: Personal pads: One- and two-person

sizes are available. Giant Kickboards: In 2015, the com-

pany introduced its line of Giant Kickboards with patented Coozle cup holders.

Cocktail Drink Caddy: New for 2016 is the personal Cocktail Drink Caddy / Flying Disk. For more information, visit AquaLilyPad.com.

In addition to the new products, Aqua Lily Pad continues to innovate its exist-ing product line and offer additional accessories. These include: FlexCore Technology: This allows a

pad to be easily rolled and unrolled with no roll memory.

Engineered Marine Safe Tether System: Warrantied for the life of the product, this system features no metal parts. Thus, there is nothing to corrode, cut or burn feet like metal D-rings.

Accessory Storage Bag: Protect your investment year after year with this unique storage system.

Floating Roll Straps: Currently in the works. Watch this space for further details.

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New Products Commercial-Grade Pads: Aqua Lily

Pad has developed and offers commer-cial-grade pads for large families, kids camps, and lakefront resorts. These pads are marketed under the Bull Frog and Big Kahuna brand names.

With its superior products and reputa-tion for excellent customer service, Aqua Lily Pad has enjoyed a growing custom-er base and distribution network in the marine markets. As a result, the company has attracted a variety of other brands look-ing for access to marine market channels: Floaty Pants: In 2015, Aqua Lily Pad

partnered with Floaty Brands to intro-duce Floaty Pants to the market. This flotation device provides the buoyancy you need while kicking back in the water with a drink in your hand. New designs are being introduced for 2016. Visit FloatyPants.com for more information.

Aqua Ping Pong: Aqua Lily Products partnered with Just Add Aqua, LLC to manufacture and market the Aqua Ping Pong Table Set for 2016. This all-inclusive professional grade floating table tennis set is for use at beaches and pools. Visit AquaPingPong.com for more information.

To better service regional markets in both the Eastern and Western United States, Aqua Lily Products now manufac-tures in two locations: Phoenix, AZ, and Willoughby, OH. Foam is expensive to ship long distances, and with two strategic loca-tions, freight costs are kept low, allowing the company to retain its price leadership position in the industry.

Aqua Lily Products markets under the Aqua Lily Pad and Maui Mat brands. Theyre manufactured in the USA and sold in 48 states, as well as in Europe, Dubai, Egypt, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Turkey.

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Bretts

The Skagen Society Lucas Oil Drag Racing

ALSO:

DEWEYSDAYTONA



DAYTONAStory and photos by Brett Bayne

Deweys

Back on Page 26 of this issue, in our Swimsuit Section, we gave you a sneak peek at a 1978 19 Eliminator Daytona jetboat. Now take a closer look at the entire hull, owned by tattoo artist Mike Dewey, who plies his craft at Empire Tattoo (Upland, CA). When hes not ink-ing freehand, Dewey enjoys outings with

SoCalJetboats, of which hes been a mem-ber since the groups inception.

Previously the owner of a 1982 Eliminator Bubbledeck, Dewey acquired the Daytona in 2015 after spending 10 years bugging his friend Danny for it. Ultimately, Danny gave Dewey a great deal on the boat, which is equipped with a 700-hp big-block Chevy coupled to a Berkeley jet drive assembled by Greg Shoemaker of GS Marine. The

454 hydraulic roller motor was bored 60 over and stroked a quarter inch to achieve 496 c.i.; dual 750 Holley carburetors and Bassett headers are among the features of the Daytonas package.

When Dewey bought the boat, the pre-vious owner had already emblazoned the deck with the name Wet & Reckless; being an artist himself, its safe to say that nei-ther the name nor the lettering would be



caption

caption

Deweys #1 choice to represent his own personality. I dont really know what to say about, he chuckles. I was actually going to take the name off, but it had been there for 10 years and it wasnt coming off very easily, so I thought wed just leave it on for the photo shoot. The boat does feature some very attractive pinstriping art on the scoop, courtesy of Bob Coslett.

Tattoo artist Mike Dewey gets his go-fast fixin his beautiful Eliminator tunnel.



Dewey DaytonaThe Daytonas Berkeley jet drive.

According to Dewey, the Daytona can achieve 95 mph at wide open throttle, but triple-digit speeds are in this hulls futurejust as soon as its owner does some work on the bottom and installs a nitrous system. Next month it will prob-ably go 100+, Dewey says. For the time being, he says the ride is nothing short of astonishing. Being a Daytona, with the rideplate its got, the boat rides amazingly well, he says.

Dewey enjoys using the boat with wife Bobbie and their son Wayne, with a favor-ite destination being Big River, located in San Bernardino County, CA.



The scoops pinstriping wascourtesy of Bob Coslett.


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SKAGEN

Story by Brett Bayne

The

Society

The Skagen Boats saga begins back in the 1960s, when Jerry Skagen launched a family business in Seattle. He actu-ally started building rowboats in his dads chicken house at age 15. Eventually, he partnered up with Don Whatmore to build flatbottom V-drives and outboards under the Marlin Boats monicker until 1971, when the two men parted ways. Jerry then started building Skagen flatbottoms for

drag and circle-boat racers, as well as the recreational crowd.

This continued until 1974, when Jerry realized that he could buy other manufac-turers boats cheaper than what it cost him to make them himself. So the paradigm shifted, and Jerry became an official dealer for Eliminator, Kona and other brands like Hondo, Hallett, Sleekcraft, Hawaiian, Baker and others.

Skagen was one of our biggest dealers through the 1970s and 1980s, confirms

Bob Leach of Eliminator. Jerry was a really nice guy and had a lot of customers who loved him as a dealer.

After several years, Jerrys son Tony started working for Skagen Boats, and today, Tony runs the shop himself.

My father is the reason there are all these boats up here in the Northwest, Tony says. Hes the godfather of the per-formance boats up hereif it werent for him selling all these jetboats and build-ing flatbottoms, the go-fast boating scene

Customers of the legendary Seattle shop gather annually

at MarDon Resort.


speedboat.com S P E E D B O A T | June 2016 69speedboat.com D B O A T | June 20O A TD B J 20SS P E E D B O A T | June 2016 69OE D B A T 20e unJ 69 16P E E D BP E 0 696S PP ESS

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Above: Cole Billings 1986 Cole, named Brewski.

Right: Skagen Boats founders Jerry and Tony Skagen.

Opposite: Will and Robin Carsons pop a wheelie in their

1978 Sleekcraft SST while Mike Muffet pilots his Ultralight

aircraft above.

would be nonexistent up here. When jets got real popular, thats the

direction we went in, Tony says. We do more jets than anything else now. Very few V-drives, but we do still get a few.

Every year, Skagens team rounds up his customers for a big blowout at the MarDon Resort, an RV and recreation area on Potholes Reservoir in Othello, WA. Its a popular destination in central Washington that offers a marina, restaurants, lodging and awesome lake views.

We have often taken over the entire resort, Tony says. We used to scare every-one away, so by 2007, it was arranged that we would have our own weekend just for our people, because we bring such a big crowd with us. During such events, Skagen will bring in as many as 200 boats for some grudge drags, barbecues and live bands.

Tony himself races a 21-foot Phantom by Tom Papp Racing. Its been one of the fastest 21s that I know of, he says. It ran 134 mph at 860 E.T. on pump gas using

through-the-transom exhaust. Weve got-ten quite a lot of publicity with that.

Tony reckons that about 75 percent of the events participants are his own customers, although there are still a few of my dads V-drives that show up, Tony says. Those boats are still around. Folks come to party from as far away as Illinois, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho and parts of Canada. Every year, the event gets bigger and bigger, he adds. You can see Tony himself at the MarDon in his own 21 TPR or his I/O-powered 26' DCB.



The Skagen Society

Steve KnotsDiMarco Hydro.

Ray Hadacheks 1979 Nordic.

Jeff Bergquist in his 1973 Skagen (left) chats with Malcolm George in his 1979 Spectra.

Rydar Haugens 21' Eliminator Daytona, previously owned by Tony Skagen, reached a speed of 129 mph with a blown 632 engine.

Dan Olsen throws a rooster tail in his 19' Hallett while the Ultralight aircraft soars above.

Fred Swartz and friend on his 1983 Caribbean.



Chris Bennis make a rooster tail in his 1978 Rogers.

Jade Claar (driver) in his 21' Obsession.

Mike and Laurel Morgans 21' Eliminator Daytona.

Barry Paust catches some air in his 21' Eagle.

William Corky Batts in his1978 Centurion jetboat.



The Skagen Society

The Skagen crew beaches theircraft on Pancake Dune, part of

the Potholes Reservoir.

Steve Verdick in his 1975 Jetster.

Tony and Tracy Skagen in their 21' TPR.

The event is typically held the weekend after Labor Day, so the 2016 bash is sched-uled for Sept. 9-11. Most years, Skagen pro-duces a video that he distributes among his group.

At the time of Speedboats interview with Tony, his father Jerrynow 76had just undergone surgery to remove can-cer, and was recuperating at home. Hes doing real well, Tony says. Hes in good shape now. Until this happened, he was still working six days a week. Hes the master when it comes to building boats or gelcoating up in our area, for sure. My dad is my best friend, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to work with him side by side, Tony says of his father.

Donny Stevens21' Eliminator Daytona.



Travis Westers 19' Eliminator Daytona.

Pictured is girlfriend Nikki Lynn, who also

drives the boat.

Above and below: Aeriel views of Pancake Dune,

where boats hang out during the day.


Photography by Mark McLaughlin


Heart-pounding Top Fuel action, and a series of spectacular crashes, have gotten the 2016 Lucas Oil drag rac-ing season off to a typically breathtaking beginning.

Hows this for starters? Problem Child owner Eddie Knox, having parted ways with his 2015 driver, Todd Plate, has reunited with World Champion racer Daryl Ehrlichwho took the win and went on to take home the first-place tro-phy at the wind-delayed Colorado River

Challenge at Parker, held April 15-17. Ehrlich had gone up against his Evil Twin Top Fueler, driven by Mike Robbins, in round one of eliminations.

While wind was definitely a problem in Parker, fans enjoyed a full weekend of racing in Chandler as part of the season-opening NAPA Spring Nationals. Top Fuel Hydro racing was every bit as exciting at this venue, particularly when Jarrett Silvey, driving for Lou Osmans Speed Sport Special, blew the boat over, snap-ping in half and landing near the finish line. (Silvey checked out a bit groggy and

bruised up; the boat didnt fare nearly as well.)

Meanwhile, Nitrochrondriac (driven by Bryan Sanders) started out the weekend in the #1 qualifying position in TFH and went all the way to the winners circle.

Another nail-biter transpired when Dave Fergusons Big Trouble Top Alcohol flatty (with Cole Thurston at the wheel) corkscrewed twice before the engine came out of it. On the third flip, the boat landed upright, with the capsule still sit-ting in the boat. Fortunately, Thurston was OK, and the boat is probably fixable.

The 2016 Lucas Oil Drag Racing season gets off to a bang with fierce competition in Chandler and Parker, AZ.

PUREPURE insanity


Seeing Double? Are there really two Top Fuel Hydros here?

Problem Child, with Daryl Ehrlich back at the helm in the near lane, goes up against his Evil Twin Top

Fueler driven by Mike Robbins in round one of elimina-tions on Sunday. Ehrlich took the win and went on to take home the first place trophy in the wind delayed

Colorado River Challenge at Parker.

Top EliminatorWith an 11-boat field in the season opener, Bob

Prigmores Abracadabra jet had to go 4 rounds on elimination day, only to fall in finals to Bill McGuinn.

Pro EliminatorBrian Schmidl takes the

win at Chandlers season opener.

Top Fuel Hydro

Quick Eliminator Number 2 qualifier Jeremy Denny takes the win in the class at the NAPA Spring Nationals in Chandler, AZ,in March.

Steve Streeters Top Alcohol Hydro Untouchable had all kinds of problems on Saturday leaving

the starting line. It went up, down, left, right, and then started coming apart before resting and

slowly sinking, ending his weekend at theNAPA Spring Nationals

in Chandler.

Jay Haroutunians Whiskey River (left) had Mike Robbins shoeing the monster on Friday at the season opener in Chandler. Nitrochrondriac (right), driven by Bryan Sanders, started out the weekend in the #1 qualifying position and wentall the way to the winners circle.



Second round qualifying on Friday put Eddie Knoxs Problem Child with Daryl Ehrlich driving in the near lane against Jarrett Silvey, driving for Lou Osmans Speed Sport Special in Top Fuel. Right off the hit of the throttle, the SSS machine starting heading for the sky, blowing over, snapping in half, and landing near the finish line. Silvey was only a bit groggy and bruised up. The boat didnt fare nearly as well.


Pure Insanity


Dave Fergusons Big Trouble Top Alcohol Flat had Cole Thurston at the wheel, trying to har-ness this machines anger. The BT flatty corkscrewed twice before engine came out of it, and on the third flip, the boat landed upright, with the capsule still sit-ting in the boat. Cole was fine, and the boat is probably fixable.


Pure Insanity


Mike Collins got his final license pass under his belt Friday at the Colorado River Challenge, then got his capsule dunk test completed before going into Eliminations on Sunday in the Top Alcohol Flat class. His very first round of eliminations put him up against Bill Millers Party To The Max machine. The Flat Bootleggin boat got ugly real quick and never recovered. The crew and Mike are already look-ing to put another TAF together.



Long before hed established himself as an NJBA competitor, folks knew Jim Reeves as

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Speedboat June 2016