MAY MADNESS

story and photography by Mark McLaughlin

National Jet Boat Association competition heats up as 78 registered racers endure one last race with Covid-19 restrictions.

Picture-perfect weather set the stage for NJBA’s third race of the season (and the last until September) at Lake Ming in Bakersfield, CA. Temperatures hung in the low to mid 80s with no wind to speak of, but Covid-19 restrictions would still be in effect for at least another week, meaning there was no way to change the no-spectator-and-vendor rules. A total of 78 registered boats came to haul ass and have some fun.

The Blown Gas Flats showed up with a nice field of 11 entries. Jim Shelton seemed to have his boat back under control after last month’s pass trying to drive from the other side of the boat during a wild ride. The #4 qualifier made it count in the finals when he needed it most. After running a sub 20-second pass in the semifinals against Tony Scarlata, he got lucky and got the win while Tony red lit. A holeshot victory for Shelton over Shane Westerfield in the final round gave him his first win of the season.

In Pro Comp Hydro, Dan Jensen qualified #6 out of 10 boats entered. He had a pretty good weekend finishing on the top in PCH, while also capturing runner-up in

the Quick Eliminator class. His elapsed times all weekend were between 6.11 and 6.04, with the breakout loss in the finals of QE of a 5.93.

After the April money race in Top Alcohol Flat, there were only half the boats left to race at May Madness. With blown-up motors and broken parts lying on the bottom of the lake, there were only three left in competition. Brian Nelson’s Rude Awakening top alcohol jetboat not only qualified #1, he won the race and set a new record in the class for elapsed time. At times it looked like he was going to take off like an airplane. Fortunately, he got her settled down and continued on for the victory.

Lance Gilbert was the season’s first three-time winner. Driving for Steve Raasch in the If Looks Could Kill machine, he drove to the victory in Modified Eliminator class for the third time in all three races, then doubled down for the second time this year in the Super Eliminator class also with the victory. Meanwhile, Pro Outlaw’s David Fuentes only comes out a few times a year—but when he does, all bets are off. His Money Shot hydro qualified #1, and went to the top of the class. PRO COMP HYDRO: This pass of Dan Jensen was his “bye” run into Sunday’s finals. He qualified #6 out of 10 boats. His third pass was just enhanced a bit so I could play with the right lane and add some sunlight to it reflecting off the water. Jensen finished on top in PCH; he was runner-up in the Quick Eliminator class as well.

BLOWN GAS FLAT: After running a sub 20-second pass in the semifinals against Tony Scarlata, #4 qualifier Jim Shelton got lucky and got the win while Scarlata red-lit. The holeshot victory for Shelton over Shane Westerfield gave him his first win of the season. Gary Riggens (far lane) qualifies alongside Shelton.

Shane Westerfield, the #2 qualifier in BGF, enjoys his time in front of the #1 qualifier, Tony Scarlata (far lane).

MOD ELIMINATOR: Lance Gilbert (above, driving for Steve Raasch in the If Looks Could Kill machine) was the winner in ME class for the third time in all three races. Tony Rossi (far lane) qualifies in his new flatty for the first time. Top Inset: Raasch and Gilbert display their trophies. Right: Newbie Perry Rennie brought out his new flat and qualified #2 in the Mod Eliminator group. The Day Dream entry finished up in the runner-up position for his first trophy with the NJBA.

TOP ALCOHOL FLAT: Brian Nelson’s Rude Awakening not only qualified #1, he won the race and set a new record in the class for elapsed time. Inset: Tony Scarlata, driving Ron and Joey Grose’s Wet Dream capsuled flatty, finished up in the runnerup position behind Nelson’s jetboat. Wet Dream also ran in the Pro Comp Flat class, qualifying only 13th and going out quietly in round 1 of eliminations.

PRO OUTLAW: David Fuentes only comes out a few times a year, but when he does, he makes the other guys in the class wonder, “WTF?” His Money Shot hydro qualified #1 and went to the top of the class.

TOP ELIMINATOR: Eight boats lined the holding rope for this competitive class with #3 qualifier Bill McGuinn up against Scott Dolezal, who qualified #8 going into eliminations. Rescue 1 quietly oversees the race in the background as McGuinn (far lane) takes out Scott. These guys are great competitors, that they will even stand together and get a picture with their hardware.

PRO OUTLAW: First round eliminations in the class saw Gary Bauer (far lane) up against Vic Esposito. The #2 qualifier, Bauer red-lit against Esposito, who would go on to face Fuentes in the final, where Fuentes’ 5.43 beat out Vic’s 5.46.

QUICK ELIMINATOR was the biggest class of the weekend. This 6.0 second bracket class had a 14-boat field after Saturday qualifying. Here comes Wes Conn of Arizona—he shows up, qualifies #3 and takes out the field to capture his first win in the class. Conn (shown at right with his trophy) is another fairly new driver to the NJBA; the regulars in QE are still wondering where he came from. Watch out for September, everyone. There’s more to come!

[Continued from page 56] others have been sold and were at various stages on the assembly line as this issue went to press. Boat #2, currently being rigged, will be powered by a pair of Teague Custom Marine 1400 engines, while another will be the first in an open-bow walkthrough configuration. The 33X can accept any I/O package, from a 565 on up.

The 33X is actually Merchain’s fourth Eliminator, following a 26' Eagle, 28' Eagle and 26' Daytona ICC. “They’re all great boats,” he tells Speedboat. “As a kid, we used to go to the shop to look at them. My Dad would always say, ‘These are the boats that the rich and famous people own. One day, we’ll own one of these.’ So growing up, it was always a goal to someday own an Eliminator. That was the dream.”

One day, Merchain says, he met Fraleigh at a bar, and the two started discussing ideas about twin-engine boats. Many of the Merchains’ friends had twin-engine boats, and they were thinking about buying their own.

“Jake started telling me about his idea about building a new model that was a bit wider and longer than the original 30, maybe with a wraparound windshield. It was just a thought—there wasn’t even a picture to look at. So the sky was the limit. Suddenly we had the opportunity to build something that wasn’t somebody else’s boat.”

Merchain says he appreciates the extra width of the 33X—it adds more room to the cockpit and is a solid boon to its drivability. “The width definitely adds something substantial to the handling,” he says. “The 33X handles like a dream, and it turns very well—going through the Gorge in Havasu, you can go into a turn at the elbow up there at 90 or 100 mph, and the boat stays nice and flat, which is nice. I’ve never been in a boat that lays flat and it turns as well. It doesn’t want to roll the front sponson or lift the back of the boat up—it stays true to itself. Of course,” he laughs, “being so wide, it does limit your ability to be able to park in some places.” Merchain reports a top speed of 151 mph (so far).

As for the boat’s amenities, the Merchains are big fans of the newerstyle seats, as well as the flatter deck they requested. “We got rid of all the scoops and tried to keep it simple and bring it back to the roots of the flat deck on a race boat,” he says. He describes his 33X as a fully functional pleasure boat with full bench seats and a bed below deck, with fans and an ice chest to keep his children cool—there’s ample headroom for the kids down below.

“It’s definitely a lower-profile boat,” he says. “We tried to keep the freeboard pretty low because we wanted a more riverfriendly design, similar, too a 28' Daytona LP, which has those lower, sleek body lines.”

In addition, there’s special lighting throughout the cockpit and the same walkup staircase in the back seat between the four individually molded rear seats—which, like the 31XO, is made possible by the boat’s extra width. “You’re actually able to walk up like a traditional wide body cat would have,” he says. “Otherwise, we didn’t do anything too crazy. We did no gauges—we kept it simple with all Simrad screens. It’s everything you should have in a pleasure boat, but still being able to go 150 mph.”

Merchain, who sells Snap-On tools in Orange, CA, uses the boat at Lake Havasu with his wife, Kelsey, where they also have a home.