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On Performance Boats

On Performance Boats by Eric Colby

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During his 25-year career Eric Colby has served as Senior Technical Editor at Boating Magazine as well as Editor In Chief at Powerboat Magazine. Read full bio
[ October 30, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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The Return of the Baja 30 Outlaw

Baja’s introduction of the 2013 version of the 30 Outlaw brings back some fond memories because I ran an older version of the boat in my last offshore race in Point Pleasant, NJ, sometime around 2005 or 2006. The idea of the article was that I was playing the role of a poker runner who wanted to step up and try his hand at offshore racing. Boating’s Associate Editor at that time, Kari Snyder, who had barely been faster than 50 mph in a boat, agreed to strap on a Lifeline vest and orange helmet and ride along with me. She was a trooper the whole weekend.

[ October 12, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Superboat

Longtime performance boat builder Superboat of Lindenhurst, N.Y., is hoping to revive business by going back to its roots.

[ October 9, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Go Fast Blog
Photo by: Sharkey Images

This time of year, you can guarantee that when it comes to one question about winterizing, you’ll get more divergent answers than during a political debate.

So I asked some of my local dealers the following question: “When you winterize a boat, do you put it away with the gas tank full or empty?”

[ October 2, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Tyson Garvin

NOTE: Before Fabio Buzzi set a new speed record for the Bermuda Challenge last week, Chris Fertig and his throttleman Tyson Garvin had established a new benchmark in August, in a diesel powered boat no less.

[ August 31, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Bravo I Prop
Photo by: Courtesy of Mercury

When you think about Mercury Racing Propellers, you imagine a technician/artist carefully sculpting custom wheels for Skaters or OuterLimits high-performance powerboats that blast through the water at triple-digit speeds.

Guess again.

“I’m looking for a performance prop with more durability,” said Scott Reichow, Custom Propeller Manager at Mercury Racing in Fond du Lac, Wis.

[ August 9, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Glasstream 360 SCX

In the recent July "Speed" issue, we ran a feature called Five Fast Center Consoles. Actually, we had six. Here is the last of the outboard-powered performance center consoles we reviewed.

Glasstream 360 SCX, www.glasstream.com

Base price with triple 300-hp Mercury Verados $249,500

[ July 31, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Go Fast Blog
Photo by: Sharkey Images

In the first half of this story, Rich Hamilton was a guy with one of the smallest boats entered in the Atlantic City Overnight Poker Run staged by the New Jersey Performance and Powerboat Club on June 22 weekend. He was excited about seeing how his 29’ Fountain, Big, would work as a poker run ride. The day before the event, he said, “It might be a bumpy ride, but that’s all part of the fun and excitement.” Little did he know how prophetic his words would turn out.

[ July 10, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Go Fast Blog
Photo by: Sharkey Images

Rich Hamilton’s boat has a simple name, Big. It’s a little ironic because it’s a 29’ Fountain and it was one of the two smallest boats in the New Jersey Powerboat Performance Club’s Atlantic City Poker Run on the weekend of June 22. The only one smaller was a 28’ Mannerfelt that tops 100 mph with an Ilmor V-10 engine and looks more like a raceboat than a pleasure model.

[ May 30, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Engines like these Mercury Racing sterndrives are popular candidates for “flashing.”

With gas at $4/gallon or thereabouts and the economy still struggling to bounce back, go-fast enthusiasts are spending smarter, especially when it comes to upgrades. For example at Whipple Industries, which makes some of the most popular supercharger kits for marine performance applications, customers aren’t knocking down the doors for blower kits, which can cost a minimum of $5,000.

They are, however, sending in their Electronic Control Modules (ECMs) for their engines to have them re-programmed or “flashed”, as it is commonly called, to boost performance.

[ May 15, 2012 ]
by Eric Colby
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Tres Martin(L) and Brad Schoenwald(R) of the Tres Martin Performance Boat Driving School.

For the second-straight year, the elite members of the United States Navy’s special operations teams received training in boat operation from the performance-boating world’s elite teachers, Tres Martin and Brad Schoenwald, of the Tres Martin Performance Boat Driving School.

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