Speedboat August 2016

SPEEDBOAT MAGAZINE

SMOKIN’ JETBOAT ACTION!

OUTLAW & ORDER Gone Again Triumphs In

TEXAS Florida Powerboat Club’s Historic Run to

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TABLE OF CONTENTS August 2016

COLUMNS 8 RAY LEE 10 JET TECH 14 ALEXI SAHAGIAN 18 V-DRIVE TECH 20 INDUSTRY NEWS

36 VIAJE A CUBA Stu Jones and the Florida Powerboat Club head into previously uncharted waters.

42 CATALINA CALLING Chris Camire re-christens The Lavey Fun Run by heading to California’s historic destination.

48 SPECTRE FIRST LOOK

FEATURES 22 OUTLAW & ORDER Sure, things are bigger in Texas, but that’s no reason why the Texas Outlaw Challenge can’t get even bigger.

30 MEMORIAL BAY The Chesapeake Bay Powerboat Association remembers its departed members in total style.

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With Chris Ivey now at the helm of Spectre Powerboats, the company is poised to make a serious comeback with their 32-footer.

52 JURASSIC SPARK High-energy upgrade is made easy by Pertronix Performance Products.

56 SPEEDBOAT LEGENDS We salute circle-boat driver extraordinaire Julian Pettengill, whose exploits on the race course are truly the stuff of legend.

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Speedboat.com To find your nearest location to purchase a copy of Speedboat Magazine go to: www.WheresMyMagazine.com

Published by DCO Enterprises, LLC Publishers Ray Lee ray@speedboat.com

Chris Davidson chris@speedboat.com

Editor Brett Bayne brett@speedboat.com

Senior Tech Editors Jim Wilkes jim@speedboat.com

Alexi Sahagian alexi@speedboat.com

Tech Editors Greg Shoemaker Jim Wilkes Valerie Collins National Sales Ray Lee Director ray@speedboat.com Art Director Gail Hada-Insley

BRETT’S COVE 64 RISEN When Jim Penner decided to buy and restore a Youngblood TX-19, it was all about the therapy.

Helicopter Services Fred Young fyoung@live.com

Photographers Todd Taylor, Pete Boden, Randy Nuzzo, Kenny Dunlop, Paul Kemiel, Jeff Girardi, Mark McLaughlin Operations Manager Michele Plummer

70 DUST-UP FOR THE CUP It’s all-out warfare as National Jet Boat Association racers clash on Lake Ming.

michele@speedboat.com

Subscriptions Valerie Snedeker valerie@speedboat.com

Webmaster Craig Lathrop

76 FEELIN’ THE BURNS The father-son team of Chad and Willie Burns capture the World Jet Boat Championship, held on Idaho’s scary rivers.

craig@speedboat.com

Web Design Wes Nielsen wes@speedboat.com

Editorial Offices 9216 Bally Court Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 (888) 577-2628 (BOAT) Cover photo by Todd Taylor; inset by Frank Mignerey.

Table of Contents photo by Randy Nuzzo Editorial: Speedboat Magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. All manuscripts, materials, photographs and artwork submitted are at mailer’s 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.

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SPEEDBOAT MAGAZINE (ISSN#1941-9473) is published 8 times plus a bonus issue this year by DCO Enterprises LLC. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Domestic $34.00 for 8 times plus a bonus issue, Canada $56.00 for 8 times plus a bonus issue, International $60.00 for 8 times plus a bonus issue. All prices are for one year and in US funds. For subscription info: call (888) 577-2628.

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OBSERVER’S SEAT RAY LEE

Lone Star Shinin’

In late June, Speedboat photographer Todd Taylor and I traveled to Texas, near the Houston area for our second consecutive visit to the Texas Outlaw Challenge. Having been impressed by the event the year before, we definitely had high expectations for this one.

Organizer Paul Robinson and his staff had been hard at work trying to entice more participation in the previous months by including more boaters and increasing the prize money for the Shootouts and winning Poker hands.

They succeeded on both counts. A unique and separate “Pony Express” Poker Run was established for the smaller, less powerful boats and the purse for the winners grew to an impressive $25,000 in cash.

We arrived midday Thursday of the event and set up home base at our hotel room. The “Stampede Street Party” was only a few hours away in downtown Kemah, so we met up with West Coast Drives guru Vern Gilbert and Bruce 8

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Bullock of Bullock Marine for a late lunch and some friendly catching up beforehand.

The “Stampede Street Party” seemed smaller than I had remembered it from the previous year but it was just as impressive. Derek Wachob’s display stole the show with his stunningly sexy 52’ Black Diamond MTI with twin Mercury Racing 1350’s and accompanying tow rig. We have seen this setup before at other events but this time he upped the ante by also bringing his black and white 42’ Cigarette Huntress Center Console with quintuple 350 SCi Mercury Verado outboard engines, a gorgeous jet black-on-black Ferrari convertible and a custom three-wheeled, dual-seater vehicle (also black and emblazoned with the Black Diamond logos) that can only be described as an ebony moon rover with glowing teal accent space lights and a booming sound system that seemed partial to country music. Kenny Chesney, I believe.

The next day brought us into the Shootouts. There was a lot of buzz and anticipation in the air, as all of the teams prepared their vessels to perform at their absolute peak within that one-mile stretch of the unpredictable Texas waterway. It is an open water track, where wind and boat ripples can grow into something much more menacing by the time it travels across the spectator line.

Teams were having difficulty staying in control at WOT and a small but mighty 22’ black Donzi almost lost it completely towards the finish line. Somehow he managed to regain control and cross the final buoy – in one piece.

Team Gone Again, a 32’ Skater with twin 1650hp Sterling engines, owned and driven by Kenny Mungle and throttled by Lee Lockwood, were the odds-on favorite to take home the coveted “Top Gun” honors and a bulk of the $25,000 cash prize. While they were indeed the fastest boat that Friday morning, clocking an impressive 167 mph on their third and final pass, their number could have been higher had they not had to pull off the sticks due to an unexpected roller wake near the finish line.

“I’ve never felt out of control or uncomfortable in that boat… Until today,” said Lockwood shortly after calling it a day.

The conclusion of the Shootouts generally means that it is the commencement of the infamous Pool Party at the home of the eccentric and incomparable Kenny Armstrong, owner of DH Tech in Houston, Texas.

His residence rivals any Las Vegas resort you can think of, only everything is complimentary. EVERYTHING! From the gourmet food, to the ice cold beverages to even the top shelf cordials

[Continues on page 82] speedboat.com

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4/29/16 9:12 PM

JET TECH GREG SHOEMAKER

Various Problems Dear Jet Tech: I recently purchased a California Performance hull powered by an Indmar 502 and Legend pump. It is a custom one-off with the bow opened up and with an engine cover.

Issue #1: The boat started perfectly when I first purchased it. Later, my son was sitting in the cockpit and was hitting the throttle when he got in. Now it will not start. I let it sit for a day, came back and still would not start. Inspected the wiring, etc., and saw nothing loose. It turns over fine and there’s a good charge on the battery, but I do smell fuel like it was flooded.

It’s got a 850 carb and there are no visible leaks. The boat has 33 hours on it.

Issue #2: The bilge pump has a switch on the dash and runs continuously when turned on. However, in the off position, it comes on for a short 2-second run every 15 minutes or so. Why? Thanks for your help.

Alan Edwards Phoenix, AZ All of the Indmar engines have an oil pressure switch. Until the engine shows 20 pounds of oil pressure, the electric fuel pump will not come on. After a boat has been sitting, it is very common to have this problem. With the 850 Holley, 10

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you can remove the sight plug on the side of the bowl and use a squirt bottle to fill the float bowl; this will speed up the process in getting the fuel system full again. You have a water witch bilge pump switch that will cycle every time you turn on the key. Once water hits this switch, the bilge pump will come on automatically and shut off once all of the water has been pumped out.

Adding a Place Diverter Dear Jet Tech: I was hoping you could help me with a project. I have a 1974 Regatta 18’ jetboat with a 455 and Berkeley pump. I have been wanting to put trim on it, so I have started looking at the Place Diverter website and a couple questions occurred to me: 1. How do I know what pump I have? The serial number starts H-****.

2. I don’t have a lot of experience with manual vs hydraulic. Is there any reason not to go hydraulic?

3. How much of a performance difference will I see? Currently, the boat will run about 65 mph at 5,000 rpm.

Thanks for any input.

Jack Rubin San Diego, CA To find out what pump you have, look where the driveline slides into the

front of the pump.

Right above that is a small silver tag.

This tag will give you the model number and the year the pump was built, and also the impeller size that the pump left the factory with. A Place Diverter is the best bolt-on item you can add to a jetboat. When it comes to a control for the diverter, as you have noted they come either hydraulic or manual. Hydraulic diverters do not take up any cockpit room, whereas the handle will generally be mounted on the stringer or the floor right next to the driver’s seat. The manual handle has notches so you always know where the nozzle is. Depending on your current setup, a diverter is usually good for an increase in mph, and this number will vary among the different hull styles.

Garden Hose Technique Dear Jet Tech: I want to fire off the motor in the driveway for a maybe five minutes and check for fuel pressure/leaks. I have never really run it on the garden hose, so I don’t know if you should turn the water on first and let it start to fill the block and then fire the motor or fire the motor first and then let the water in? I have wet logs, if that matters. Should the motor be running to keep the water out of the exhaust ports?

Mine are the log style manifolds with the internal water jackets cast inside them.

Thank you!

Theodore Burrows New Orleans, LA When running the boat on a hose, the rule of thumb is to always start the engine and then turn on the water, then shut off the water and then the engine.

Even with log manifolds, this is just a good habit to get into. The packing in your pump is water lubricated, so running the engine on the trailer for long period is not advisable. speedboat.com

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SETTING RECORDS Cat Can Do, driver Keith Holmes

Predator II, driver Gary Smith

388 Skater, driver John Tomlinson

Need fuel?? Call

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Phone: 765.733.0833 Dial 911, driver Don London

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ON THE DYNO ALEXI SAHAGIAN bers stall during running with no change, or going all over the place.

Another item I might look at is the shift bracket switch, which is usually white with two purple wires. At times, those can fault, causing a rev limit neutral function to happen while in gear instead of the designated neutral safety limit preprogrammed in the ECU. This never really logs a code, as it is not set to detect this as easy. Please check it out, and I hope that sets you straight on your project.

EFI Sensors Dear Alexi: I have a 496 Mag HO in my Eliminator. It runs well. Every once in awhile, it seems to limit my power. Just off idle, it occasionally hesitates. It is totally random. It’s so bad I can’t plane the boat and need to idle back to the trailer. I have taken it to a few shops and they have scanned the computer and do not see any codes. Please help, as it is a well-maintained boat. Thanks!

Frank DeMario Los Angeles, CA At times the more modern EFI engines have certain things that go on with sensors that can be annoying. However, they are there to help protect your engine. At times when certain sensors do not register or log a trouble code, it can be an intermittent sensor or one that is stuck within a socalled “safe range.” I would look at a realtime view of your water PSI and your fuel PSI senders. Usually the fuel PSI will log a code quickly; however, the water PSI sensors tend to stick into a range easier, causing havoc. That’s because they are more likely to corrode. Remove your water PSI sensor, which is located on the backside of your Merc water pump or on the rear top left of your oil cooler at the rear of the engine, depending on the year. Spray some cleaning solution in the tiny hole and see if it is clear. If you have any doubt, simply order a new sensor, or have the existing sensor tested. As they corrode, the sensor may work intermittently, or it may just freeze or go out of range, causing this type of undetected fault. If you are scanning it at real time, you will see the water PSI num14

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Starter Havoc Dear Alexi: I have a pair of big block 540s with superchargers in my twin-engine 38 Hustler.

They run well and seem to be fine. The problem is that I am eating starters left and right. I am on my fourth starter within a few months! They are all cracking the nose off. It’s so bad that I find the nose broken off in the bilge. My mechanic says not to buy the cheap starters. I listened to him and ordered the best one we could find, and no change other than crank speed. And yet they still break! It is an EFI on top, and I did the tuning on it. Other than starting, it runs smooth and fast. I am going bonkers…please help!

Joe Wynn Fresno, CA Changing a starter in a twin can be a big job, depending on the access. Well, if you keep breaking starter noses, the engine must be trying to backfire upon startup, surging energy to the starter nose. The first thing I would do is review your EFI ignition sync files and be assured you are cranking at a safe 8-10 degree spark timing with no intermittent changes during crank. At times, modern EFI engines need to be synced and reviewed properly to assure this does not happen. Also on EFI engines, cranking speed is a big deal. If they crank too slow, they can get out of sync on the start tables and do weird things until they are up and running. Imagine that the engine is trying to start at the normal 8-10 degrees with an occasional 0 or 40 degree intermittent swing at times. It will always

bang a starter.

So review those EFI tables and make sure battery connections are good going to the ECU. If you have a switching ground upon cranking, it can pose this issue as well.

Injector Maintenance Dear Alexi: My 38 Scarab has a pair of 500 Mercury Racing EFI engines in it. It runs decent. At times after letting my boat sit, it seems to startup and misfire for approximately 30 seconds to one minute. After that, it clears up and runs well all day, if not all weekend. If I wait a week and cold start it again, it does the same thing. It is more pronounced on the port engine, but both do it—and pretty bad, at that. If I start to rev the engines, they seem to clear up quicker, but I do not like to rev a cold engine. Please give me your take on this. Thanks!

Kevin Montgomery Las Vegas, NV Nice boat, Kevin! This can be common problem in any EFI engine. It can especially be a problem depending on the type of fuel and additive you may or may not run in your fuels. I would guess that your injectors are gummed up and require service. Usually when the injectors get dirty, they start to do this and need a flush. Perhaps you can use an additive to clean injectors out and perhaps a different fuel station for the easy attempt to clear this problem. The best way would be to remove the injectors and send them into a place that services injectors. From testing injectors here, we see that the fuel gums up more often than you might imagine. If you leave this alone, it will be possible to have a fuel injector running at minimal flow capacity and the result will be an unhappy lean engine, which can lead to big dollar repairs. My recommendation is to fix it now. Your ear will hear it clear up; however, your ear will not hear if some of the cylinders are 20% off in fuel flow. So fix it fast! Thanks for writing. speedboat.com

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7/11/16 5:31 PM

V-DRIVE TECH JIM WILKES

Shaft Alignment Dear V-Drive Tech: Is there any specific way to align the Casale case and the shaft? Or should I just hook it all up and tighten bolts down? I’m a beginner on these units.

When I got the boat, the prop shaft was in and coupled, but all of the V-drive mounts were loose. So before I get her out on the water, I want to make sure everything is properly put together. There is about 3/4 of an inch between the Casale output shaft and prop shaft inside the coupler. Should they butt up together?

My Casale mount is an old-style rigid 4-point, and I’m not sure how much I can get out of it. Thanks for your help.

Mike Vance Phoenix, AZ Your prop shaft is definitely not in alignment with your V-drive. The first thing I would look at are the bolt holes in the V-drive mounting brackets. Most of the time, a 3/8" hole is required for the mounting bolts. If the bolt holes are enlarged, than you will need to install an alignment pin the size of the larger holes, one on each side of the V-drive to center it. Keep in mind these oversized holes may not let you put the V-drive in the proper location. You may need to move your alignment pins to a different set of holes.

Once you have located a good set of alignment holes, install the remaining bolts and tighten securely. Remove your 18

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alignment pins and repeat the process with the remaining two bolts.

You will need a protractor to do the next step in the alignment process. If you don’t have a protractor, go over to Sears and buy one for $10. Don’t worry; you will use it many more times. Once you have your protractor, you need to level your boat. A floor jack will work well in leveling your trailer.

The next step is to get under your boat and install your protractor on your strut barrel. Check to see what your strut angle is. Let’s say your strut angle is 10 degrees. Go inside your your boat and see what your output V-drive shaft angle is. Ideally, it will be the same 10 degrees. If isn’t, you will need to readjust your side bolts to try and achieve the same 10-degree angle.

Now for the next step. You will need to cut a piece of 2"x 2" wood about 6" long and place it under your prop shaft, sideways inside your boat. Push your prop shaft forward until it makes contact with your output shaft. Place your protractor on the prop shaft and move the wood until you achieve the same 10 degrees as the strut angle. Now check your prop shaft to see if it is in the middle of the shaft log. You will need to move the shaft log seal assembly forward to check this part. If everything looks good and your prop shaft is in the middle of your shaft log (and it’s still at 10 degrees), you have done a good job.

It might help if you go to the hardware store and buy a 1" I.D. piece of PVC pipe. Cut off about a 4” section and install it on your prop shaft and your V-drive output shaft. See by spinning it how much resistance you feel while turning the PVC pipe. The easier it spins, the better the alignment.

Sometimes you might need to loosen the bolts and tighten one at a time while checking the PVC pipe.

I hope this gives you an idea on how to check and align the V-drive to the prop shaft.

This is how we do it at my shop. The only difference is that we use different material for shaft alignment. Good luck with your rocket!

Oil Pan Conversion Dear V-Drive Tech: I am converting a 10-quart Dooley V-drive pan to a circle boat (jetboat) pan. I cut out the way trap doors and will turn it around and move it to the back of the pan. But I’m confused about how far from the back of the pan I should weld in the trap doors.

Can you provide some guidance?

Thanks, Lee Farrow San Dimas, CA

The best advice I can give you is to call Rick at Dooley Enterprises, (714) 630-6436. He is one of the best sources on the planet on the subject of oil pans, and he also happens to be a great guy. I have never personally tried to convert a jet pan into a V-drive pan; I always buy a new oil pan—that way, I know the windage tray will fit properly, and the oil pump pickup is in the proper location. That’s just the way we do it here, Lee. Good luck to you!

speedboat.com

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6/9/16 2:15 PM

Industry News BRETT BAYNE

USFW Drops Havasu Boat-Restriction Plans The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFW) has backed off from its proposal to limit boating activities at Havasu National Wildlife Refuge on Lake Havasu, AZ—at least, for the foreseeable future.

Following a barrage of protests during a formal public comment period—and a strongly worded letter from Arizona Senator John McCain—the agency backed off its plans to implement proposed no-wake zones in Lake Havasu.

“After reflecting on input we received at public meetings and the great numbers of letters and comments submitted, I have reached the conclusion that more communication is needed before any additional changes are introduced at Havasu National Wildlife Refuge,” wrote

USFWS Southwest Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle. “I have decided to withdraw the current draft at this time to allow for further discussions with the community and other stakeholders.”

McCain called the outcome “a big win” for residents of and visitors to Havasu and the Colorado River area. “This decision shows that when communities come together against an agency that has overreached, their voices can be heard,” he said. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of local and regional officials, business leaders, and citizens writing, calling, and protesting these misguided restrictions, USFWS heard loud-and-clear that the community will not stand for such unilateral actions.”

AO Coolers Debuts Carbon Stow-N-Go

AO Coolers of Corona, CA, has introduced the Carbon Stow-N-Go—a new cooler it designed in response to customers demanding a lower-profile unit that can fit underneath a boat seat and in other tight places. The cooler is a modification of AO Coolers’ popular Canvas series Stow-N-Go product.

“With help from some of our customers, we’ve designed a cooler that will fit in those not-so-tall, tight places,” said company owner Brian Hatch. “And with the carbon exterior, this is a step above everything else. It matches the carbon seats in your boat or UTV.” The dimensions of the Stow-N-Go are are 8.5" tall, 23" long and 15" wide. It will hold 38 cans plus 14 pounds of ice.

For more information, visit aocoolers.com.

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Wake Effects Clinches Marathon Offshore Race

Rusty Rahm and Jeff Harris took their Superboat Unlimited competitor Wake Effects to victory in the Florida Keys for the 9th Annual Marathon Super Boat Grand Prix.

Rahm, of Olathe, KS, along with throttleman Jeff Harris of Greenville, NC, averaged 110.39 mph during the four-mile course, beating current World Champions Bob Bull and Randy Scism in CMS by one second.

Meanwhile, in Superboat class, driver Myrick Coil and 30-year veteran throttleman John Tomlinson captured the Superboat class victory in Performance Boat Center/Jimmy John’s, working their way past WHM Motorsports for their second top finish of the year.

The Superboat Vee win went to Sun Print, with driver Steve Fehrmann and Steve Miklos on the sticks.

“It was good, hot Florida Keys weather all weekend, and we had a great turnout of race teams and fans,” said Super Boat International president and owner John Carbonell. “This year was a fun-filled event and all our race teams really enjoyed coming here. The turn out for boats and fans was great and, as we spoke with many residents in the community, it was evident they really appreciated us coming here.”

The next race on the Super Boat circuit is the 8th Annual Great Lakes Grand Prix, Aug. 5-7. speedboat.com

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Photos by Todd Taylor

An aerial view of Kenny Armstrong’s pool party.

Outlaw & Order Sure, things are bigger in Texas, but that’s no reason why the Texas Outlaw Challenge can’t get even bigger.

F

or organizers of this year’s Texas Outlaw Challenge, held in Clear Lake, TX, the real

challenge was trying to improve an an already perfect formula. And that goal was achieved—not just by breaking the attendance record, but by adding an all-new poker-run category that allowed folks to participate in a new group for boats 28 feet and under.

This ninth edition of Texas Outlaw drew about 225 boats, with 1,800 registered participants. “The actual buzz was that there were so many new boats that people hadn’t seen before,” said event organizer Paul Robinson. “We had lots of new people, which was interesting—a great influx of new enthusiasts.”

The event’s proper start is Thursday, with the Stampede Street Party, comparable to Desert Storm’s parade of bling in Lake Havasu a couple of months earlier. Friday’s spectacle includes the big Shootout event, featuring speed runs in various classes, followed by a pool party, Texas tiki dinner, bikini contest and dock party. Saturday brings the two poker runs, followed by a VIP dinner and awards ceremony. The pace is relentless.

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whose route veers into the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, this year’s new “Pony Express” run may have consisted of all-new attendees in smaller craft, but their passion was Texas-sized.

“It was well attended—and boy, what an enthusiastic group they were,” said Robinson. (The $25,000 winner’s purse may have contributed to the enthusiasm.) This side event—held on Saturday, simultaneous to the Gunslinger run—was sponsored

by Hooters and restricted to the inland waters of Clear Lake, but included plenty of waterfront saloons and stops with swimming pools to visit. Tom Dryden, owner of a Nor-Tech, was the winner of this year’s Gunslinger Poker Run. The swimming pool scene is part of the Challenge’s unique charm; there are numerous parties held in private swimming pools, most prominently the one thrown by Kenny Armstrong, a local resident and longtime participant (see Observer’s Seat, Page 8, for more on “Casa de Kenny”). All told, Texas Outlaw filled a total of four pools during various times and locations. “It was two things going on consecutively, and both of them overflowing with people and excitement. It was amazing,” Robinson said.

Friday’s Shootout events tend to grab the lion’s share of attention, as competitors vie for the weekend’s speediest mph. speedboat.com

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An X-42 Cigarette at the Gunslinger Poker Run.

Relentless, a Cigarette owned by Ray and Stacy Andrus.

This year’s honors went to Kenny Mungle in Outlaw Class; he hit 167 mph in his Gone Again Skater. Other winners included Kenny Armstrong in the Mercury Powered class (146 mph), Art DiNick in Custom Engine Cat class (133 mph), Tyler Crockett in Custom Engine Vee class (106 mph) and Alana Pirrello in Outlaw Outboards class (87 mph).

Participants came to Texas from all around the country—Michigan, Miami, Los Angeles, etc. “It’s a truly national, coast-to-coast event,” Robinson says. “We brought over a million dollars in revenue to the Clear Lake area businesses—this event represents a million-dollar-plus weekend of tourism revenue to the Clear Lake area businesses and cities. It really helps the growth of the event because we do it so responsibly.”

Robinson says he is already hard at work planning next year’s Texas Outlaw Challenge. “It’ll be the 10th anniversary, and just wait until you see what we have planned!” We can’t wait.

Outlaw Pool Party #2 at Harborwalk.

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Texas Outlaw Challenge Poker Run Jake Nossaman drives his 38' Statement SUV, powered by triple 400 Mercs.

Left: Event PR/Communications director Jolanta MazewskiDryden, and producer Paul Robinson enjoy the Harborwalk Pool Party.

Below: Bullet Proof, a Cigarette owned by Jason Oddo.

Bottom left: Kerry Buch in his 29' Fountain.

Nate Michel in his 47' Outerlimits GTX, Remote Acccess.

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Justin Digiovanni drives his E-Ticket cat, powered by twin Mercury 300XS.

Bad Cat, owned by Matt and Colette Jones.

An outboard-powered 38' Statement SUV with triple 400s.

Sponsor Legend Marine’s 41' SV Cigarette center console.

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The 30' Spectre Trust Me, owned

by Anthony Hollier.

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Texas Outlaw Challenge Shootout

Left: Howard Davis in his Motion Top Cat, clocked at 156 mph.

Below left: Jeff McCann nearly lost control in his 22' Donzi toward the finish line.

Below: This 29' E-Ticket with Teague Custom Marine 1050s is driven George Ogden and Bruce Bullock.

Below: Paul Robinson Arlette and Baudat with Custom Engine Vee class winner Tyler Crockett (left, driving his Crockett Marine Engines entry). Crockett’s boat is a 26' Joker with a single 2,200-hp engine.

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Texas Outlaw Challenge Shootout

Producer Paul Robinson and Arlette Baudat with Art DiNick, Custom Engine Cat class winner in his American Offshore (left).

Top Gun winners Kenneth Mungle and Michael Lee Lockwood of Gone Again (right).

Above: Alana (second from left) drove the boat; it’s owned by Thaddeus Findley (fourth from left, pictured with friends and family).

Right: Alana Pirrello drives Ragamuffin, a 30’ Skater.

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Texas Outlaw Challenge Street Party Left and below: Black Diamond, a 52' MTI owned

by Derek Wachob, was the winner of Best Display at the Street Party.

Left and bottom left: Jake Nossaman’s 38' Statement lights up the Street Party, and is towed by a Sport Chassis.

In front are a pair of matching Outerlimits GTX models belonging to Michael Pierce and Nate Michel. Nate Michele’s Below: A tricked-out Polaris side-byside customized by Legend Marine Audio.

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Right: The poker run took boaters under several bridges in Perryville, MD. Far right: Club members dock at Lee’s Landing Dock Bar, located in downtown Port Deposit, MD. Below: Britt Lilly’s 1985 40' Fountain, Lilly Edition, sports twin 650 engines.

Memorial Nuzzo

The Chesapeake Bay Powerboat Association remembers its fallen members with total style.

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Photos by Randy

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R

egarded by many as the longest-running powerboat club on the East Coast, the

Chesapeake Bay Powerboat Association pulled its ranks together recently to spearhead a Memorial Day run to pay tribute to members who have “crossed the Great Divide.” It’s one of four poker runs organized by the club, and this particular event was produced by board member Jim Jernigan.

“I put on the funnest runs,” Jernigan

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boasts. “I always stage a great show. It’s a fun time and definitely worth it—as long as we have great weather,” he adds with a grin.

What started out as a low-key fun run has continued to expand with each passing year. Each run is organized by one of 10 board members who take turns pulling his or her event together.

“So one guy has to do our Crab Feast, one has to do our raft-up, one puts together our overnight trip, another does a poker run,” Jernigan explains.

By his own admission, the Memorial Day run was nothing out of the ordinary: all that matters is that members have a fun but safe experience. His crew also participated in a special event called the Chesapeake Bay Swim, where club members keep the waters safe for marathon swimmers on a course more than 4 miles long.

The winning poker hand—four kings—was snared by Kevin Palumbo, whose 36' Concept is powered by Mercury Racing 400R outboards.

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Memorial Bay

Steve Daly of Pasadena, MD, in Staggering, a Fountain 38 Lightning with Mercury 565’s

Pat Dolan of Edgewater, MD, drives Too Spicy, a 36' Nor-Tech Super Cat powered by 850 Mercs with #6 drives.

Billy Anderson’s 35' Cigarette Flat Deck sports a pair of Anderson Marine 950s.

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Jimmy Jernigan’s 35' Fountain Executioner.

Poker run winner Kevin Palumbo’s 36' Concept is powered by Mercury Racing 400R outboards.

Above: Brian Hetrick in his 2011 Checkmate ZT 244, powered by a 502 with Stage 2 PCM tuned by Whipple.

Mark Simpson of Arnold, MD, drives his 32' Velocity with Mercury 496 engines.

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Memorial Bay Mike Boss in his Baja Outlaw, Chillin the Most.

Joe Schmidt of Essex, MD, drives his 1998 26' Scarab, powered by a single 502.

Ken Bolinger of New Cumberland, PA, pilots his 43' Black Thunder, powered by twin 502 Mercury engines.

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Cuba

VIAJE a

by Stu

Jones as told to Brett Bayne

A

fter 50 years, Cuba is quickly moving toward a more promising future for adven-

turous boaters who want to explore this vast cruising ground, which has been off-limits due to political and legal restrictions. The FloridaHavana Powerboat Rally is the Florida Powerboat Club’s first step to opening the doors to new destinations and immersion to the Cuban culture and the unique lifestyle of this island Republic.

It must be emphasized that the gates are not wide open, nor will the Cuban economy ever adapt to the system of free enterprise that we are so accustomed to in North America. Strict rules and entry requirements still exist, and tight controls by the Cuban government of all economic activity—particularly international visitation—place uncommon guidelines on all matters of entry,

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commerce, and daily activities of visiting groups. Even the acquisition of high-octane fuel and adequate marine services remain a large void in our boating agenda. Thus, all participants must be prepared, and come prepared, to deal with any mechanical issues or fuel octane needs, so that they can return to Florida safely.

For these reasons, our group had to adopt a new event model entirely, with a registration cap of fewer than 20 boats, a limited agenda of just two nights, and a fixed room inventory of only 50 hotel rooms. Additionally, all activities of our attendees, from arrival at Marina Hemingway, to dining plans, tours and activities, and hotel accommodations, were under the close scrutiny of the Cuban government, and the designated tour company that is managing our agenda.

This journey was historic not just for

our club, but historic for U.S./Cuba relations and for speedboating in general.

Preparing for this trip was fairly extensive. It involved getting the necessary documentation—each boat had to have its own personal set of papers and its own individual application, which was filed with the U.S. Coast Guard for permission to go into U.S./Cuba territorial waters. Each traveler had to acquire some type of an insurance binder to get an inclusion to go to Cuba; we also had to get qualification through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and qualify under various conditions that would permit us to travel under what they call the general license. In other words, U.S. Government had to accept the terms of our trips, saying they were not necessarily commercial, and did not affect the still-existing embargo. So there was no shortage of hoops to jump through. speedboat.com

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Below: Mark & Eileen Fischer in their 39' Deep Impact as they enter Havana Bay, with the landmark Morro Castle in the backdrop—a fortress built in 1589 by the Spanish to protect the harbor.

Right: Stu Jones enjoys a fried whole snapper at a local restaurant in Havana.

Complete with all the sides, just $8.50!

The Florida Powerboat Club heads into previously uncharted waters.

To further prepare for the journey, I made a “recon” trip about a month before the event to get the lay of the land, meet some of the people we’d be working with and to get things squared away for the run. I also wanted to take a look at the hotel and marine facilities.

Our host in Havana, Commodore Jose Miguel Diaz Eschrich of the Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba, played a big part in the event in terms of my planning. He is the reason we didn’t call the trip to Cuba a “poker run.” The Commodore thought that if we had an event that had the word poker in it, the Cuban government might not like the idea of hosting something that might have gambling involved. He felt that we would be better off calling it the FloridaHavana Powerboat Rally, so we agreed on that name.

The first part of the trajectory was heading from Miami to Key West. We speedboat.com

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decided that we would turn it into a double header, and make the Air, Land & Sea Poker Run the leadoff event. This would allow us to get boats into Key West, then make the trip from Key West to Cuba. We had about 15 boats to start with, and the weather was fantastic.

We left Miami on a Friday and spent all weekend in the Keys. On Sunday, some of the boats returned to Miami while others continued to come down for the second leg. In total, 20 boats registered for the event, but at the last minute, two had to drop out because of business conflicts, so we were down to 18.

On Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard performed inspections of all the boats in Key West. Afterwards, we gathered for a captain’s meeting Monday afternoon at the Westin Hotel, where I briefed participants on all of the details of the event. We departed at 8 a.m. sharp the following morning from Key West harbor.

The high-performance cats in our group, including three Skaters, took the lead and became the front runners on what ended up being 6-8 foot seas. The winds picked up, and the Gulfstream— which travels from the southwest to the northeast direction—seemed to be much more volatile here than when we drive to the Bahamas. It was a very rough crossing for all of us, but we spread out the boats quite well. After the first hour of the run, the front runners were no longer visible and the people at the back end were no longer visible either. We were spread out to a length of about 10 miles from the first to the last boat because everyone was running at their own speeds. I was driving my 33-foot Ocean Hawk center console, powered by twin Mercury 300s. The total length of the run was 112 miles.

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Viaje a Cuba

The FPC fleet was greeted by two decorated Sea Rays as part of an organized parade into Havana Bay. It was highly publicized within the Cuban media as the first American powerboat flotilla in more than 58 years. Note Havana’s Capital Building in the backdrop.

if you’d seen photos of Cuba before. It was hard to believe you were really there.

For a lot of us, our first experience was really the highlight of the trip: the grand entrance into Havana Bay, which had been set up in advance by Commodore Eschrich. I’ve known the Commodore a long time; he had made attempts many years ago to persuade our club to make this trip, and he seems to have a genuine passion for powerboats. I became a member of his group, and urged many of our participants to do the same. He and his group really bent over backwards to accommodate us. He had enlisted the support of local and international media, and had ensured that the event

John Cosker and the crew from Shogren Performance made the trip in this brand new Mystic 42, pictured here just moments before the start of the parade into Havana Bay.

Above: There are thousands of centuryold buildings in Old Havana that illustrate Cuba’s amazing architecture, yet in dire need of restoration. Government buildings and historic landmarks appear to be wellmaintained in the city center, but visuals such as this dominate the landscape.

Left: A billboard-sized map at the entrance to Marina Hemingway provided a guideline to visitors of four long canals that make up the marina community.

Far left: This classic building in Old Havana is near Chinatown.

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Viaje a Cuba

Thousands of 1940s and ’50s American cars are on every street, every hour of the day.

Far left: Ian Lehn and Dave Wessldyk had a crew of six on board the BOOSTane 40 Skater.

was advertised heavily in Havana so the locals were able to come out. The civilian presence was tremendous—tens of thousands of spectators had lined up along sea walls to observe our arrival.

They were up along the fort when we entered Havana Harbor. You could see people with cameras and binoculars, all waving intensely.

When we got in, they did a tremendous job of greeting us. The biggest boats in our fleet had waited for everybody else to arrive. Everything was well decorated with banners and flags. Two big Sea Rays were our lead boats for our procession into Havana Harbor as we cruised through the bay. We then proceeded to Hemingway International Yacht Club at Ernest Hemingway Marina.

We were ready to begin the clearance process at the Customs office. Every team, one by one, had to clear customs, much the same way they do it in the Bahamas, but with more paperwork and more scrutiny involved. They did everything down to taking our personal temperatures with an electronic sensor

so they knew that nobody was coming in ill.

After everyone was cleared, there was a huge party going on right as we arrived, and the Commodore and his staff had a big pig roast waiting for us.

He is bilingual, but travels with his own translator, Isabel. Many of the locals spoke surprisingly good English and were eager to help us. Everybody was very “American friendly.” They offered to assist us in any way, from helping wash the boats down to helping us with favors and so forth.

In the spirit of diplomacy, the Commodore had drafted up an official “friendship agreement” between the Florida Powerboat Club and the Hemingway Yacht Club. He invited all the media for a ceremony as the TV cameras rolled. In the broadcast, we greeted each other and expressed our desire to continue a long- lasting relationship that would be geared toward promoting positive U.S./Cuba boating relations and expand the amount of activity and the education between boating groups. This was an extraordinary example of their efforts to roll out the red carpet.

Some of our members feared that we

Left: Jackie and Stu Jones celebrate the four months of tedious event planning for the Florida-Havana Powerboat Rally.

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wouldn’t have good accommodations, or that we’d end up staying in a seedy hotel. That was not the case at all. Our superb location was right in Havana, adjacent to old Havana. It was on the water and close to a lot of things we wanted to see, so it worked out quite well. The photos illustrating this article are only some of the many exciting spots we were able to enjoy.

Unfortunately, the crossing back to Florida was even rougher for some people in our group. It was so choppy that we were actually forced to wait another day for calmer seas. I’m eager to do this trip again, but I believe it will be necessary to extend the minimum boat length requirements, leaning more toward boaters with cruisers or even yachts, because I just don’t think that it’s safe for smaller craft. In fact, judging by the conditions we experienced, we were very fortunate to be able to cross there and back without any incidents.

I’d like to thank all who participated, including Commodore Eschrich and everybody at the Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba for helping to make this such a memorable event.

The Cuban flag flies high above this rocky ledge near the Malecon, with the landmark National de Cuba in the background. It’s one of Havana’s most popular luxury hotels.

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Catalina Callin’ Chris Camire re-christens The Lavey Fun Run by heading to California’s historic destination.

Photos by Daren Van

Ryte and Erick Bryner

L

avey Craft Motorsports “We had a following of customers of Corona, CA, is a true who used word of mouth,” Camire survivor. Founded in recalls. “Someone would say, ‘Let’s go

1952, the company’s innovative bottom designs and quality production have remained at the forefront of Chris Camire’s third-generation regime. For several years, Lavey’s rich racing heritage—which includes national championships and world records—was fondly remembered with a “Fun Run” from the California coast to historic Catalina Island.

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to Catalina,’ and before you knew it, off they went.” He has fond memories of the first such run, more than a decade ago, in which as many as 40 Lavey owners showed up at 7 a.m. in Long Beach, ready to rock and roll.

This unofficial gathering gained enough traction to continue for three consecutive years, but tough economic times caused it, as well as numerous

other company regattas and similar events—to disappear. But with Chris Camire having taken control of the company following his brother Jeff’s retirement and downsizing to a smaller facility in Corona, Lavey is poised to make a strong comeback, with various new products and services in play (see Page 46). One of Camire’s maneuvers was bringing back the Fun Run—and all the fun that goes along with Lavey Craft.

“Now that I own the company with my friend and Lavey longtime Lavey speedboat.com

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Above, from left: Daniel Hafid, Ande Jo Stone, A. Jay Popoff of the rock band Lit, Dan Kleitz of Outerlimits Powerboats and Gary Smith, a past “King of the Desert” from Lake Havasu’s Desert Storm Shootout.

Left: The 52' Outerlimits piloted by Kleitz.

customer Dave Sampson, I elected to bring it back,” he says, underscoring his passion for keeping the rich Lavey name and heritage alive. “Through the pride of the industry and of our products, we’ve hung on.”

And so, this past spring, Camire led 21 boats—including a mixture of Laveys, Eliminators, Nordics, Fountains, Outerlimits and an MTI—across the Pacific to historic Catalina Island, a popular Southern California destination.

“It was really fun,” Camire grins. “We speedboat.com

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all took off from Long Beach together and had a nice, easy run over. The water is usually relatively calm in the morning, which is really nice. We had a little bit of fog, but visibility was decent.”

After mooring in Catalina, the Fun Runners relaxed and then took a water taxi to the pier. From there, the group enjoyed sodas at Luau Larry’s before heading to the outdoor restaurant at Descanso Bay for lunch. “There was just a lot of nice talking and a lot of laughing and giggling,” Camire reports. “And it’s

right on the beach, with great scenery and a nice view of the Catalina Island Casino,” he says, referring to the iconic 80-year-old landmark that has acted as a premier venue for live bands and entertainers.

“Then, at about 1 p.m., the wind started to come up slightly, so we decided it was time to head back home,” Camire says. After returning to Long Beach, some kept the party going at the Yard House restaurant. Speedboat looks forward to the next LaveyCraft Fun Run! S P E E D B O A T | August 2016

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Catalina Callin’

Brad Stern pilots Panic Attack, a 21' outboard-powered LaveyCraft that has participated in the Catalina Ski Race.

New Lavey partner Dave Sampson drives this Lavey 2750 NuEra. Also on board: Chris Camire (back seat), Dave’s wife Nathalie (back seat with arms up) and Matthew Camire (shotgun).

Right: Brett and Jenn Franks own this Lavey 29' NuEra. Riding shotgun is Eric McCarthy.

Corey Vodvarka in his Eliminator 30' Eagle.

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Catalina Callin’

Lavey Craft: Behind the Scenes

Lavey Craft’s vee-bottom line has always been its mainstay, due to its deeper-degree vee and rough water compatibility. In recent years, the company has built three midsize models: the 24, the 26 and 2750 models. Because Chris Camire focuses on catering to a select clientele, he has expanded into other avenues, including restorations.

“Some of our customers have older boats, and those require a lot of upholstery work, polish and so forth. We’re singularly qualified to bring those boats back to spec.”

Most of his attention has been on Laveys, although he’s happy to bring new life to any tired or dilapidated hull or trailer. “Stuff tends to get neglected over time,” he says.

“With our capabilities and experience in meticulous fiberglass and gelcoat, we wanted to expand our products, not only with the boats in the summertime, but also the off-road market in the wintertime,” Camire explains. “We can provide custom bolt-on body kits and accessories for the off-road side-by-side market.”

Top: A glimpse inside Lavey’s shop in Corona, CA. Above left: Company owner Chris Camire.

Left: Merchandise on display in Lavey’s lobby.

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Some of the friends and family members participating in the recent Lavey Craft Fun Run included owner Chris Camire (center, in baseball shirt), his wife Lorraine (pink tank top) and their sons (standing behind Chris). Also pictured are Lavey employee Eric Williamson (second from left) and Nathalie Sampson (third from left), whose husband “Uncle Dave” is a current partner at Lavey (as well as this image’s photographer).

At far right: Pirate Cove General Manager Jim Nakashima, who drove from Arizona to attend the Fun Run.

Lavey Craft’s innovative 28' Evo design featured a curvy windshield, and this 28-R model came with an actuated closed cockpit that also had a removable option. All five of the 28' Evos built by Lavey are now owned by customers in Germany. speedboat.com

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FIRST LOOK

With Chris Ivey now at the helm, Spectre Powerboats is poised to make a serious comeback.

Spectre 32

This 32' Spectre is powered by twin Mercury Racing 400s.

by Brett

Bayne

W

hen our team tested experience, with superior speed, track- rechristened muscleboat has not only Spectre’s 32' cat ing, handling and comfort. We were for- retained its glory but doubled-down on upon its redesign tunate enough to test this beast several its superb performance characteristics.

11 years ago (under the auspices of Hot Boat Magazine), we found plenty to rave about. Tooled by then-company owner Jay Pilini, the 32' represented a new milestone for Spectre: It was an extremely fast and stable tunnel, a recreationfriendly ride with an interior design that encompassed a fully integrated liner.

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times, most recently in 2008, during a change in Spectre’s ownership.

Fast-forward eight years. Hot Boat is long gone, as are Spectre’s intermediate owners. Yet our team continues under the Speedboat banner, while Spectre Powerboats forges ahead under brand-new ownership. With Chris Ivey at the helm, Spectre may have made some subtle changes to its 32', but this

One of the main changes: The boat’s rear bench, previously designed for three passengers, has been reconfigured to accommodate four. Our tester also got some help from Brett Martin at Mercury Racing to help determine the optimal prop setup for the 400 outboards.

“We went through about five different sets of props,” Martin says. “Some of them wouldn’t coax the maximum speedboat.com

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Above: The 32’ on display at the recent Street Party in Lake Havasu.

caption

rpm out of it.” Among the props he tried were Mercury’s Max5, a custom fiveblade wheel developed and handcrafted by the Mercury Racing Propeller Lab for multiple Verado 400R/Sport Master applications. “It didn’t work for us,” Martin says. Ultimately, the best allaround prop turned out to be a set of 15¼"x33" cleavers, which not only provided us with a top speed of 115 mph, but also impressive holeshot acceleration and minimal bowrise.

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proved ideal for our latest encounter with the 32', which continues to perform marvelously, coming right up out of the water and getting on plane with ease; you’ll feel the pull all the way up to 115 mph. The ride is perfectly stable and very driver-friendly, and it turns quite well. There’s no porpoise at all in the ride, either—just a very responsive, easy-to-steer experience that handles well at all of the speed ranges.

Our 32' was the first of several in the newest configuration; two more are cur-

rently being built that will also be sporting the 400s. Unlike our boat, though, “they’ll be loaded up with options,” Ivey says.

“This first one is a basic boat, because we chose not to overdo it. But the next two will have the big stereo system, underwater lighting, and much more. They’re going to blow your socks off.”

For more information or to set up a demo ride in Los Angeles or Lake Havasu, please visit SpectrePowerboatsWest.com, email sales@SpectrePowerboatsWest.com or call (909) 285-7486.

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First Look – Spectre 32 The 32’ features Mercury VesselView with a Garmin display, Livorsi gauges, JL Audio sound system and eight speakers with subwoofers.

The four rear passengers have access to their own special Livorsi speedo (right).

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FACTORY TOUR

Above: The complete Pertronix kit, including coil, spark plug wires and dual spark magnetic pickup.

Story and Photos by Jim Wilkes

JURASSIC

SPARK High-energy upgrade made easy by Pertronix Performance Products.

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ll hot-rod boaters know the higher the ignition output amperage, the better the controlled cylinder burn rate. This higher amperage pushes the ignition charge through the spark plug wires—and to the spark plugs at a greater rate of speed, allowing for more precise spark rate discharge. In layman’s terms, a bettercontrolled spark plug discharge means more power. And more power sometimes means better fuel mileage. In the boating world with gasoline-powered engines, talking fuel mileage is a joke. I have a saying: “The throttleman’s hand or foot is related to the owner’s wallet.”

Boating is one of the last frontiers where speed is not always controlled by limits, and miles per gallon is not top priority.

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In the last 20 years, marine engines have improved with EFI fuel injection systems and high-energy output ignition systems. Boats built before 1980 had a few options, but most were not in the owner’s budget. Most EFI fuel systems were in the $3,500 range, and $700 for a complete ignition system.

Finding a reliable upgrade for the old points ignition system, which employed a stock distributor housing, was not readily available.

Enter Pertronix Performance Products, which allows you to convert your ignition from points to a magnetic pickup system. It’s a simple install for most shade-tree mechanics, with easy removal of the points system and installation of the Pertronix system. The pickup is mounted to a base place that bolts into the stock location, while the reluc-

tor presses on the distributor shaft. Easy enough, right?

To quote the famous Paul Harvey: “And now for...the rest of the story!”

Years ago, I purchased a few of these units over time and installed them according to the instructions. Simple, easy, quick. Everything seemed to work fine. I sent my customer to the lake, and after his trip he brought his boat back saying it had a top-end miss. He said he’d never had a miss before with his old point ignition system. Well...what could I say to that? I went through everything, inspecting the upgraded system, and found nothing wrong. I decided to take the boat to the lake to test if for myself.

Sure enough, it had a top-end miss.

I talked to my supplier, but they were no help at all. I took the new system out and exchanged it for another new unit, speedboat.com

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hoping that the first was merely defective.

After installing the new unit, I ran the engine on the trailer. Checking the timing one more time, I found a miss with this unit at about 2,500 rpm, and would not gain anymore rpm.

I was lost! I read the instructions again just to double check if I missed anything on the install...but it had seemed so simple and easy to do. Everything checked out.

By this time, I had only one recourse, and that was to reinstall the old points system back in my customer’s boat and refund his money.

Over the years, I have had customers ask about the upgrade to Pertronix, and I’ve told them about the results I had with the upgrade unit years ago. Obviously, I could not, in good conscience, recommend using this unit.

Enter Jim Hairston, Director of Marketing at Pertronix Performance Products.

I was in need of a conversion for a customer with an old 455 Olds that he wanted to convert from points to a magnetic pickup distributor system without the high cost of a complete distributor system.

During a long conversation with Jim, he schooled me about the New Pertronix Ignitor 3 system conversion kit. I was willing to give it a try.

Jim explained why he felt I’d had issues with the first systems I installed years ago.

His main concern was I had not changed the original coil and spark-plug wires.

One of the drawbacks of the old wires is that internal resistance creates internal heat, and over time, this ages the carbon core, causing resistance to increase. As resistance goes up, so does the chance for ignition misfire. It is also possible that there was a grounding issue, something that can be common on boats with all the electrolysis that can occur and that is not something that was checked out.

Although I had removed the ballast resistor to run the coil on 12 volts instead of the 9-volt point system, I had neglected to swap out the original coil and plug wires. Jim recommends that the coil and spark plug wires be changed. Many original equipment coils do not have the propspeedboat.com

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Aluminum distributor plates are stamped and forged.

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Jurassic Spark

Top left and above: The complete Pertronix kit, in the box and as installed on a 454 Oldsmobile engine. Top and center right: Pickups to the aluminum plates are installed. Above right: A complete Pertronix distributor system is installed. Bottom right: A hot press fuses the magnetic pickup in plastic to wire leads using heat and pressure.

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er resistance and turn ratio to work well with the higher energy of the Ignitor module. I was unaware I needed to replace any parts other than the points, but actually, the instructions say, “For optimum performance, purchase and install the recommended Flamethrower High Performance Coil.”

Jim explained that their new Ignitor 3 system features a micro-processor that fires the spark plug two times per firing cycle, from idle (where carbureted engines have excess fuel) to max rpm. The spark dwell time is variable throughout the entire rpm range; the Patented Adaptive Dwell maintains Peak energy, reducing mis-fires while improving engine performance. This by itself would help achieve a better fuel burn, increasing power and performance. The other advantage the Ignitor 3 offers is a user settable Digital Rev Limiter which will protect the motor from fatal over revs, especially beneficial to boat owners where a wake can cause the boat to get air and rev up very quickly.

I was invited to take a tour of the Pertronix shop, where I could see firsthand how the manufacturing process works. I was extremely impressed by the testing each part goes through—both before the plastic injection molding process, and after, for quality assurance.

Pertronix not only sells point conversion kits, they also build and sell complete distributor units for most engine models.

For engines that still use the old points system with a ballast resistor, this system just might be what you’re looking for.

The Ignitor 3 conversion kit, along with the appropriate coil and Flamethrower Spark Plug wires has a retail price of around $249.00. Two other things you may want to change while installing you Ignitor 3 system: a fresh set of spark plugs and a new distributor cap and rotor.

For more information or to order the system, visit pertronix.com.

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legends

by Brett

Bayne

In our sixth installment of our Hall of Fame series, we salute the circle-boat driver extraordinaire Julian Pettengill, whose exploits on the race course are truly the stuff of legend. His K Boat accomplishments—and his work with Rusty Biesemeyer (our second Hall of Fame recipient)—are a part of West Coast speedboating history.

Julian Pettengill

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number of extremely talented drivers filtered through the K Racing Runabout (KRR) ranks through the years. The class

pit a track full of 18- to 20-foot blown fuel flatbottoms in hairy, closedcourse action. But in the early 1970s, Julian Keenan Pettengill dominated it like no one before or since.

The K boat is the ultimate circle-track boat, mixing alcohol and full-on blower motors with 18- to 20-foot flatbottoms, essentially releasing a fleet of V-drive dragsters

The Biesemeyer Never Enuff, owned by Gil Suiter and driven by Julian Pettengill in Super Stock Class. In 1975 it won the Winter Nationals West; in 1976, it won the Summer Nationals West, the Summer Nationals East and was the Canadian Boating Federation record holder.

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caption

l Inset: Pettengill races Brent Serge’s Super Stock racer, Pride.

Above: Racing the Biesemeyer Angefire, owned at this time by Alan Demore. Pettengill won the Winter Nationals West in 1976 driving this boat.

into intermittent hairpin turns and 125mph straightaways. Pettengill won the K Nationals three times, averaging a recordshattering 102.857 miles an hour through five miles of competition. He was the points leader in 1973 and set a kilo record of 127.850 mph in 1972. In a field of the most talented drivers in circle-boat racing, Pettengill was practically unbeatable and universally revered, and the APBA inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1976.

Remarkably, Pettengill routinely climbed from his K boat into a carbureted SK racer and then into a Pro Comp flatbottom— competing in three circle-racing classes in a single weekend. He was a dual-class record holder, owning the Pro Comp five-mile competition mark at 94.12 mph, and won several national event titles.

He was known as a fiery competitor who would not back down, on the water or off, and drove the course like he owned it and was often accused of being over-aggressive. “It’s like anything else,” Pettengill once remarked, reflecting on his hardedged reputation. “If you win a few of ’em in a row, nobody likes you.”

At times, he made that easy. He towed speedboat.com

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Speedboat Legends

This boat, built in 1973 for John Robinson and shipped to Australia, was an nearly exact replica of Coldfire. The foot pedal system had three pedals that Julian used to control the attitude of the boat.

to Miami for the Nationals in 1971, won them, and was disqualified after his hull was proclaimed illegal by APBA officials. Pettengill hired an attorney and sued—and came away with his title and a mandated letter of apology from APBA. Pettengill promptly took out an ad and published that letter in Race Boat and Industry News, a tabloid predecessor to Hot Boat and Speedboat magazines.

He was later kicked out of APBA for six months for removing his helmet on the race course after an event. “Me and APBA had a rocky road of it,” Pettengill said.

The key to his success? “I had some good people around me,” Pettengill declared, correctly deferring proper credit to legendary engine builder Leon “Bubby” Wilton and a devoted support cast.

Early Days: Pettengill’s successes on the race course can be traced back to the 1960s, when Rusty Biesemeyer was building 17’ to 20’ hot-rod boats (including flatbottoms and daycruisers) in Phoenix, AZ. Pettengill was enamored with the Biesemeyer hulls, and was known to hang around Rusty’s shop quite a bit. Eager to fashion a K boat for racing, 58

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he put up the money for Biesemeyer to design and build the K boat molds. Rusty and Ron Ehde helped to alter the bottom of an AquaCraft to make the bottom molds for the K boat—a highly modified design, by all accounts. Six inches were added to the transom, the chines were changed and strakes added to the bottom. It was extremely unusual for a flatbottom boat to have strakes, but they knew it would stop the boat from sticking to the water. After working all day on the production on a 20-foot daycruiser, Rusty and Julian worked nights creating the mock-up and molds for the K boat deck. “Every morning when I came to work, I had the crew help me clean up the mess that was made the night before,” recalled Rusty’s late brother, Bill Biesemeyer, in his memoirs.

The first Biesemeyer K boats were built in 1967. The second K boat ever created was Julian Pettengill’s now-legendary Coldfire; the bottom was a collaboration between Rusty and Julian, while Rusty designed the top. (Julian later altered the deck to make it shorter so his legs wouldn’t get caught under the dashboard

if the boat crashed.)

Coldfire was built with balsa wood squares laminated on the bottom of the boat to keep the bottom stiff and the weight down. Andy Casale fabricated V-drive gear boxes for boats, and showed Julian how to use a straight driveline with no U joints. Coldfire was one of the first boats to have spring-loaded cavitation plates. It was fuel injected and did not have a supercharger.

Julian started racing Coldfire in the flatbottom class, and won virtually every race. Needless to say, this was excellent advertising for the Biesemeyer K boat, and sales of the hull spiked. In 1971, Julian raced in Seattle and took the National Championship in Seattle.

“I wasn’t all jacked up about the race,” Julian later recalled. “I figured a third or a fourth would be great. I was running a boat that we had skied behind for three years. On the first day of qualifying, I won my heat, and went over the record.”

Julian averaged over 90 mph that day.

But his chances for victory on Sunday seemed remote. “We were running a sick horse,” he said, remembering the sorry speedboat.com

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condition of his engine. “It was worn out before we brought it up there, and we knew it.” After a patch job, Pettengill jockeyed his “sick horse” to first place the next day.

Arizona Ski Boats: Unfortunately, Rusty was a pretty poor businessman.

After mortgaging his molds and getting behind on his payments, a crew of people showed up at his shop and promptly loaded them up and took them away.

“When they started to pick up the molds for the K boat, Julian said that he had paid for the K boat molds,” Bill Biesemeyer recalled. “He said he owned them and that they could not take them.

I was surprised that they didn’t think to take the patterns for cutting the wooden parts of the boats. They also didn’t take the gas tank molds, engine cover molds and other things.”

Rusty Biesemeyer was now broke and no longer in business. With the molds gone, Julian, his business partner, Paul Edwards, actually decided to launch a new business building Biesemeyer Boats in the same building! Up the street on Buckeye Road was a dairy farmer who had purchased a Biesemeyer hull. Julian approached him to ask if he would consider loaning him the boat so that a new mold could be made; in return, he promised him a brand-new boat. A deal was struck, a new mold was created, and suddenly the boys were back in business.

The new company was called Arizona Ski Boats.

Before long, they were back to building four models: a 20-foot daycruiser, a 18-foot jetboat, a 17-foot outboard, and the 17.5-foot K boat.

In 1972, after a Bubby Wilton supercharged motor was installed in Coldfire, Julian set the kilo record with a speed of 127.850 mph and won the Regatta of Champions.

Arizona Ski Boats enjoyed brisk sales in 1973, and moved to a larger facility.

Paul Edwards and Bill Biesemeyer ran the day-to-day operations, while Julian’s focus was on winning races and helping to popularize the Biesemeyer brand. He won the Nationals driving Coldfire and proceeded to set a five-mile competition record of 102.857 mph. No other boat— speedboat.com

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Speedboat Legends

Above: Pettengill in 1999.

Right and below: Pettengill build new deck molds made for the K boat because he wanted the dashboard moved forward so his legs wouldn’t get caught under it in a crash. Engine builder Bubby Wilton is shown with Pettengill. not even the hydroplanes—had ever gone that fast on a course that size, and Pettengill held that record until 1992, when it was broken by Gordon Jennings Jr., driving another Biesemeyer Boat named Freedom. (Jennings set the record at 104.950 mph, and also held the kilo record in the same boat at 146.649.)

The following year, Bill Biesemeyer had gotten so burned out on boats that he went to work building cabinets, leaving Edwards to run Arizona Ski Boats and Pettengill to continue winning races in Coldfire.

Although both Biesemeyers were technically out of the boating biz, Rusty had a shop in Phoenix and cut down a K boat so it would fit in the E boat class. He built it for Conrad Murphy, who went on set the kilo record for E boats at a little over 112 mph.

Controversy: Meanwhile, as he continued to add trophies to his mantle in Coldfire (as well as Paul Edwards’ SK craft Angelfire and Brent Serge’s Super Stock racer, Pride), some folks began to regard Julian as a ruthless competitor who would do anything to win. Some competitors even called him a crude and reckless driver. “He’ll run over or through anything to win,” one K Class racer 60

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told a reporter. In his defense, Pettengill summed up his attitude by saying, “I’ve never hit anybody. I’ve never hurt anyone. But the object of racing is not second place. The second place guy’s a loser.

There’s only one winner in anything.”

This much is true: What he began doing in 1968 as a lark—a bit of fun, driving a green flatbottom—had become an almost addictive obsession seven years later. It was more than simple fun: by all accounts, the Pettengill of the mid-1970s was now the most serious, business-like driver on the course, fiercely competitive, almost unstoppable.

As Pettengill’s success began to snowball, he became both more serious and more sensitive, as the official rulings often seemed to go against his favor—at least from his perspective. For example, there was a race in San Diego when Julian’s water-line broke during the first lap of his heat. So he pulled into the infield, removed his helmet so he could fit his head to diagnose the engine. APBA officials objected to the fact that his helmet was off for a total of 15 seconds, and disqualified him from the race. As punishment, he was suspended from driving for six months.

“That’s the only time that’s ever happened to anybody,” he said at the time.

“I can show you photos of ten different drivers doing the same thing, with nothing ever happening to them. I felt it was a little stiff.”

This is just one example of a long string of incidents illustrating the contentiousness between Pettengill and race officials, which could occasionally boil over during a race. Among the offbeat rulings and questionable political decisions: during a circle-boat race in San Diego, Julian was disqualified for gun-jumping in the SK class. When he requested to see a photo from the race start—typically taken as each race begins to determine premature starters—an official replied, “You won’t believe this, but the photo of your start is the only one all day that didn’t print.”

But before Pettengill could express his outrage, he was warned to hold his tongue by another official.

“One of their big-shots jumped up speedboat.com

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Speedboat Legends Two views of Julian Pettengill racing Coldfire. At left, winning the National Championship in 1971; below, winning the Regatta of Champions at Long Beach Marine Stadium in 1974.

“I had the right boat and I had the right engine builder,” Julian told Speedboat. “Leon (Bubby) Wilton built all the motors. That was probably 90 percent of my success. The motors never broke.”

and said that if I said another word, he would beach me for the year,” he recalled.

“I almost jumped up and let it fly, but I didn’t. I’ve exploded too many times, and it’s just not worth it.”

There was plenty of anti-Pettengill scorn to go around, including from his fellow competitors. It got so bad that eventually certain members of the K Racing Runabout class began circulating a petition to ban Pettengill from racing, going as far as terming him a “menace.”

“It used to bother me,” he once said of the rivalry. “I used to get so damn mad, I was ready to punch their lights out. But now, I’ve learned to take it with a grain of salt.”

Spectators either loved him or couldn’t stand him. But the fact is that Julian was simply one of those people who refused to blend in with the crowd.

“I try to be honest with people,” Pettengill once said. “I’ll never say anything behind someone’s back that I won’t say to their faces. That’s one major thing I have against a lot of people who put me down when I’m on the race course.”

Despite the controversy, Pettengill remained a force to be reckoned with.

Fans flocked to the races just to see him maneuver the Bubby Wilton powered Coldfire like nobody else could. As one competitor remarked, ”Julian’s forgotten more about driving than we’ll ever learn.”

Pettengill and Coldfire went together like scotch and water.

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in July 1975, he found himself in second place, desperately trying to get into the lead, when his boat turned upside down. “I guess I was giving it too much gas when I turned the corner, and the boat flipped out at 110 miles per hour,” he said. “My parachute—we use one for deceleration—got tangled in the wreckage. Everything sunk, and I sunk with it.”

Pettengill was said to be underwater four minutes, but to him, it felt more like four hours as the rescue team tried desperately to save his life. After several hours in the emergency room at a local hospital, he was sent home, lucky to be alive.

“They hadn’t gotten all the water out of my lungs,” he recalled. “I woke up the next morning feeling terrible, and had to be rushed to the emergency room at Temple City. I spent a month on crutches.”

During the 1977-78 season, Julian was inducted into the American Power Boat Association’s Hall of Champions,

honored for the inboard category. At the time, it was merely the most recent acknowledgment of his achievements in a truly remarkable career that saw him racing around 40 weekends in a single racing season. This includes all Nationals and Divisionals, wherever they happened to be in the United States.

Pettengill and Arizona Ski Boats continued to build Biesemeyers until 1981, at which time the molds were sold to Norm Brown in Lake Havasu City, AZ. He then got into the cooler business after developing a round fiberglass evaporative cooler. After doing that for several years, he moved to Raleigh, NC, with his wife Grace to work at a Chevrolet dealership for his friend, racer Bobby Murray Sr. While working there, Julian raced a 1-liter and a 5-liter hydroplane with Murray and his son.

Julian retired in 1999; he and his wife Grace relocated to Payson, AZ, and live there today. He recently celebrated his 79th birthday. speedboat.com

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Brett’s YOUNGBLOOD TX-19 RESTO!

ALSO: • World Jet Boat Championship Race • NJBA Dust-Up in Bakersfield

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RESTORATION When Jim Penner decided to buy and restore a Youngblood TX-19, it was all about the therapy.

Risen Story by Brett

F

Bayne

or Jim Penner, restoring his speed- months of chemo. He was given a 50-50 chance of living another boat was about more than restoring five years.

new life to a tired hull. It was also about restoring new life to Jim Penner.

The 51-year-old boater was sitting in a chemo infusion chair, fighting colon cancer, when he made a crucial decision: He wanted a jetboat. Not just any jetboat, but a Youngblood TX-19. “I wanted one that needed to be restored, in order to keep my mind busy with other thoughts besides cancer,” he explains. “Your mind can take you to some pretty dark places when you’re going through treatment.”

Penner had to have a third of his colon removed, followed by six months of chemo. After a year, he returned for more surgery, and another foot of colon was removed, followed by six more 64

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The 1979 Youngblood he eventually discovered (via the SoCalJetBoats group, previously owned by Chris Lupo of Santee, CA) turned out to be the best possible therapeutic tool, because both Penner and the boat have risen out of a dark place together.

That’s why his boat is called Risen.

Two years ago, the Youngblood looked quite different: “It was brown and white,” he says. “It looks a lot better in the photos than it really was. It was in very poor condition.” By the time Penner got finished with his restoration, not one of its original bolts remained. It took three months alone to strip the hull (which he purchased sans engine) and repair all the fiberglass working nights after work. He painted all of the black pearl on the boat, speedboat.com

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Below: The Youngblood on the day Penner started his restoration. Above: Jim and wife Jennifer take the finished boat to a recent SoCalJetBoats gathering.

including the fuel tanks, seats and trailer. In addition, the trailer fenders had to be lowered, as they had rubbed the boat to bare fiberglass. Penner’s friend Dennis Capogni was instrumental in assisting him through the restoration, which consumed a year and half of his life. “I have no regrets,” Penner says.

The boat was painted by Sam Carlos of SC Customs, Huntington Beach, CA, with seating by Martinez Marine. The 496 c.i. engine was provided by Bostick Racing Engines; it features a 300 shot of nitrous and delivers around 1,175 hp for a top speed of 120 mph.

The jet pump was courtesy of B1 Racing.

“This boat means a lot to me and my family,” says Penner, who has been in remission for three years and says he has experienced the normal fallout from the chemo treatments. speedboat.com

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Risen Right: Penner purchased the boat without an engine; Bostick Racing Engines provided this powerplant.

Below: The hull was taken to Dennis Capogni’s shop, where the boat was sanded and fiberglass repaired.

Bottom: Various parts can be seen as Penner moves the forward and reverse controls to the floor of the boat.

The bottom of the boat was straightened and completely re-fiberglassed.

Penner begins the process of sanding the boat.

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The boat now primered, Penner filled numerous pin holes with spot putty. Four layers of paint had been on the boat; Penner says that removing them seemed to take forever.

Bottom left and right: Penner does final prep work the night before taking it to Sam Carlos’s shop to be painted. “I had been working until 1 or 2 in the morning every night,” Penner says.

Above: The boat is flipped over in the spray booth. The white area in the middle is gelcoat; the black toward the back is speedcoat; the rest is about to be painted white. speedboat.com

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Risen, now fully painted, gets its rubrail installed.

Above: The seats have come back from Martinez Marine (Corona, CA). Total cost was about $1,400. “I’m real pleased with them,” Penner says.

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Risen

Right: Graphics are added to the freshly painted hull by the team at SC Customs in Huntington Beach, CA.

Above: The 496-ci Bostick Racing engine (13.1 with a 300 shot of NOS) puts out about 1,175 hp.

Left: The seats and engine are installed in the Youngblood.

Right: The 496-ci Bostick Racing engine (13.1 with a 300 shot of NOS) puts out about 1,175 hp.

Right: The jet drive features a BC stainless steel Dominator.

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“When I first bought the boat, we were both in about the same shape,” Jim says. “We were both kind of in trouble.

I used it to keep my mind off the cancer, and it kept me more busy than I would have ever thought.” Here Jim and wife Jennifer enjoy the boat at the Avi Resort in Laughlin, NV.

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Unblown Fuel Jet

Story and Photos by Mark

McLaughlin

#1 qualifier in the Unblown Fuel Jet category, Kjell Adams drives Fluid Motion (below) to a blistering 5.41 elapsed time in round one of eliminations, eventually taking the class win. Right: Adams with trophy queen Michelle Childers.

Dust-up for the It’s all-out warfare as National Jet Boat Association racers clash on Lake Ming.

T

CUP

he National Jetboat while Davis’s War Child hydro crossed Association gathered the finish line with a 6.032.

on Lake Ming in Bakersfield, CA, recently for the Jim Reeve Memorial Manufacturer’s Cup race. Last season’s high-points trophy winner—Arek Strohmenger of Menifee, CA—took first place in Quick Eliminator class; his name is now forever engraved in the overall perpetual trophy. In the final round of the QE division, he and Mike Davis paired up for an exciting race, with the champ getting the holeshot win; he nabbed a 6.087 ET, 70

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Craig Lucas, who owns and drives Little Blue, seems to like the Pro Eliminator class. Not only did he qualify #1 with an impressive 8.00 elapsed time, he ran in the low 8.0s all weekend for yet another win.

Kjell Adams, the #1 qualifier in the Unblown Fuel Jet category, drove his Fluid Motion jet to a blistering 5.41 elapsed time in Round One of eliminations, and eventually took the class win.

Tim Goodwin, driving for Jim Mobley’s

Outta Place jetboat (and qualifying #2) went all the way to the finals, only to runner up to Adams.

Meanwhile, in Pro Gas Hydro class, competitors Josh Hayden and Danny Day were going at it again. Hayden (driving for Mark Peters in Chump Change), and Day (driving his own Black Boat) ran almost the same reaction times— Hayden with a .032 and Day with a .031. At the end of the course, though, Hayden took the victory again.

Racers will return to Lake Ming on Sept. 17 for the Fall Classic. speedboat.com

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Unblown Fuel Jet Tim Goodwin, driving Jim Mobley’s Outta Place jetboat and qualifying #2, went all the way to the finals, only to runner up to Kjell Adams.

Quick Eliminator Multiple trophy contender Arek Strohmenger, shown at left holding the winning trophy and the High Points trophy from 2015 in the Quick Eliminator class. His name is now forever engraved in the overall perpetual trophy. In the final round of the QE class, Arek and Mike Davis paired up for a great race, with the champ getting the holeshot win with a 6.08 to Davis’s War Child hydro crossing the finish line at a 6.03 losing effort.

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Dust-up for the Cup Pro Eliminator #222 Little Blue, owned and driven by Craig Lucas, seems to like the Pro Eliminator class. Not only did he qualify #1 with an impressive 8.00 elapsed time, he ran in the low 8.0s all weekend for yet another win, taking the podium with Michelle (left) and his newest trophy.

Modified Eliminator ME semifinals paired #1 qualifier Ric Alvarado (near lane) against Mike Edmondson. Alvarado went on to win the class and picked up his first ever trophy on Sunday afternoon (bottom).

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Pro Gas Hydro PGH competitor Josh Hayden (below) drives Chump Change for Mark Peters, while Danny Day drives his own Black Boat (right).

They ran almost the same reaction times with a .032 for Hayden to Day’s .031. In the end, Hayden took the victory again.

Pro Unlimited Flat Brian Coin and Michael Torgerson had it out for each other all weekend, but in the end it was Coin in his Coin Operated black blown flatty taking out Torgerson driving for Don Hammer in the Big Red 1. It was just a fun heads-up race to watch in the Pro Unlimited Flat category.

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Dust-up for the Cup

Super Eliminator The class had a field of 12 boats. The #2 qualifier, David Poffenbarger (near lane) took on the #12 qualifier, Matt Hudson. Hudson took his first trip to the winner’s circle with his crew (right).

First-Time Winners Super Eliminator’s Matt Hudson (left) and Modified Eliminator’s Ric Alvarado (right) take their traditional First Win Dunk in the waters of Lake Ming.

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Top Eliminator The class had a field of 11 racers, with Bill McGuinn in his No Clue hydro as the #1 qualifier. Mike Miller filled the shoes of Eric Beyer, and drove James Bostick’s East County Express jetboat to the win over McGuinn. Right: Miller with owner Bostick and crew, along with trophy queen Michelle.

Reality Check Michael Welsh takes his Top Alcohol Hydro, Reality Check, down the course for some exhibition runs and testing for upcoming racing this year.

Pro Gas Flat Randall Docken’s Pro Gas Flat, UFO, is shown here qualifying against Mike Edmonson’s Bounty Hunter jetboat (far lane). Docken took home the PGF trophy while Edmonson bowed out in the 10-second class after two rounds of eliminations.

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Feelin’ the

Burns

The father-son team of Chad and Willie Burns capture the World Jet Boat Championship, held on Idaho’s scary rivers.

Photography by Frank

Mignerey

T

he World Jet Boat Championships returned

to the United States this year as fans gathered to watch racers in five classes compete for the ultimate bragging rights.

In the end, it was the father-son team of Chad (driver) and Willie (navigator) Burns of Peace River, Alberta, Canada, who schooled the field of nearly 20 teams in how to navigate the rough rapids of five different rivers, including the

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St. Maries, St. Joe, Coeur d’Alene, Grand Ronde and Snake rivers. They achieved a time of 4:12:10 for the 545-mile-long course that comprised eight exhausting days of racing.

The boats are divided into various classes (Unlimited, Unlimited Piston, A, CX and FX) according to the size of the engine and hull shape. Racers may receive penalties for not starting a leg (DNS) or not finishing a leg (DNF). It’s not always the fastest boat that wins

the race—more often, it’s the boat that finishes—and teams must be able to keep the engine running (and, naturally, to avoid penalties). This race is a real balancing act of horsepower and reliability.

Bad Habit, the U339 boat piloted by the Burns team, is powered by a 1,500-hp engine capable of reaching speeds of 160 mph. The Burnses were 6 minutes and 32 seconds ahead of their closest competitor, Unlimited Class racer Darren speedboat.com

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The U339 Bad Habit machine was the overall champion, with the father-son team of Chad Burns (driver) and Willie Burns (navigator).

They hail from Peace River, Alberta, Canada.

Weaver, also of Peace River. Weaver, with navigator Brian Steed, finished with a time of 4:18:42. During the race, Weaver did a 360-degree spin on the Snake River at Captain John Rapid. Coming in third in Unlimited—and in second place overall—was the husband-wife team of Rick and Jodi Hollingsworth of Valleyview, Alberta, Canda.

In Unlimited Piston class, driver Juan Antonio Quiroga Lozano and navigator Antonio Villafuere Vazquez traveled speedboat.com

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from their home country of Mexico to win the class in their U346 machine, Halcon (Spanish for Falcon). They’ve been coming to the United States to participate in races for more than 20 years. Darren Arave and Kevin Robb finished second in Unlimited Piston, piloting High Tailin’.

In A Class, driver Terry O’Keefe of Monitor, WA, joined navigator Russ Hoisington of Lewiston, ID, to finish with a winning time of 7:06:35 in Riptear.

They were followed by Keith Kendall and Michael Swim in Rude Awakening and Jeff and Jim Edwardsen in Fast Times Maniac.

Meanwhile, in CX Class, Kiwi Thunder finished first, with New Zealand natives Jason Young and Ross Court grabbing the glory away from U.S. residents Ryan Rogers and Chris Wendt in Pure Insanity.

Finally, FX Class was won by Leighton Lille and Cody Holzer, both of Lewiston, in Preventing Insanity.

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Feelin’ the Burns Unlimited Class Left: Little Smokey, with Rick and Jodi Hollingsworth, was 2nd overall. Below: Darren Weaver (D) and Brian Steed (N) finished second. Weaver did a “360” on the Snake River at Captain John Rapid.

Unlimited Piston Class Above: Driver Juan Antonio Lozano and Antonio Vazquez of Mexico finished first in the class.

Right: High Tailin’, with Darren Arave (D) and Kevin Robb (N) finished second.

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Rude Awakening, with Keith Kendall and Mike Swim, finished second in A Class.

Jeff and Jim Edwardsen were third in A Class.

A Class Above: Riptear, with Terry O’Keefe (D) and Russ Hoisington (N) fished first in A Class.

CX Class Kiwi Thunder, with Jason Young (D) and Ross Court (N) were first in CX Class.

Pure Insanity, with Ryan Rogers (D) and Larry Keatts (N) took second place in CX.

Hundred Proof, with Trevor and Chris Yochum of Lewiston, ID, were third in CX Class. speedboat.com

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Feelin’ the Burns Right: Know Idea, with Adam Steffes (D) and Shaun Fiamengo (N), both of Lewiston, ID, took third in FX.

Below: Rump Shaker, with Chuck Thompson (D) and Mike Albright (N), both of Lewiston, ID, came in second in FX Class.

FX Class Above: Preventing Insanity, with Leighton Lille (D) and Cody Holzer (N) were the class champs.

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OBSERVER’S SEAT RAY LEE [Continued from page 10] – All is included and gratis at “Casa de Kenny,” which just happens to be the first card stop of the event for the Poker Running fleet. The generosity and hospitality of this gentleman exemplifies why “everything is bigger in Texas.”

The next day, Saturday morning’s card stop took the Outlaws into Harborwalk in Hitchcock, Texas where there is yet another pool party. This is a welcomed aspect to these card stops, as the temperatures hovered in the low 90’s and the humidity levels were nearly 70% throughout the entire weekend. The pools provided a temporary but satisfying relief from the muggy Texas heat.

From there, the boats scattered to various other destinations to collect their cards and hopefully produce the best poker hand of the weekend. We did our best to chase the masses and got some great shots that appear later within this issue. The awards ceremony was scheduled for Sunday morning at Marine Max, complete with a complimentary champagne brunch where they handed out the coolest award in boating. It’s a replica of a working sixshooter or small rifle mounted onto a plaque, Texas-style. Congratulations to all the Outlaw winners!

So the event concluded with thousands of dollars of cash money being awarded, countless stories and tales being shared, barrels upon barrels of fuel being obliterated, gallons of beverages being consumed (mostly responsibly) and immeasurable amounts of fun being had. What more could an organizer hope for, out of an event?

Well, to make it even BETTER, of course! Head Outlaw Paul Robinson has already set his sights on making next year’s tenth Texas Outlaw Challenge even stronger than the one we just attended. I’m not sure if that will be possible because by all accounts, this was the biggest and best one yet. To top this year will definitely be a “challenge.”

But that’s just what these Texas Outlaws seem to enjoy.

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