With a single unfinished bucket seat bolted behind the helm station in the gutted-for-renovation interior of his 1986 Chaparral Villain project sportboat (see related story below), Chris Uzzolina of Charlotte, N.C., reports that he water-tested the V-bottom for the first time a couple of weekends ago. Uzzolina ran the 23-footer, which is powered by a 650-hp engine, with Bob Shutter of Boat Repairs Plus, the outfit that has handled much of the boat's restoration work.
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100-Mph Chaparral Update: First On-Water Tests Promising
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Skater 28 Made New—A Family Affair
When the Lake Cumberland Poker Run in Kentucky kicks off this coming weekend, a freshly restored 1997 Skater 28 catamaran with twin 300-hp Mercury OptiMax direct-injection two-stroke outboards will be in the mix and looking sharp. In roughly four weeks, this classic 28-footer has been transformed by its owners Corey and Krystle Shutter—as well as the rest of the crew at Boat Repairs Plus In Denver, N.C. and others—into a real stunner.
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Project: A New 'Over Time' American Offshore
One of my highlights from Super Cat Fest, the Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., event I wrote about in last week’s OffshoreOnly.com column, was getting a chance to sit down and talk with Justin Wagner of Waves and Wheels in Osage Beach, Mo., and Andy Imhof of Maryland Offshore Marine Center in Rockville, Md., albeit if it was only for a half hour. The two, who have collaborated on a few projects together, are among the nicest, smartest, hardest-working people I’ve met in the business.
Thanks to an all-new appearance, this American Offshore 3100 catamaran looks nothing like a 14-year-old boat.
Wagner had his Ironman-themed Hustler Powerboats 377 Talon on display at the docks of Camden on the Lake Resort, the host location of Super Cat Fest, and Imhof was in town to talk business with some customers and hang out with Wagner. About a week prior to Super Cat Fest and the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, I spoke with each of them regarding a project they teamed up on earlier this summer—an update of a 2001 American Offshore 3100 catamaran dubbed Over Time.
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Project Allison: From One Best Friend to Another
With exceptions of course, restoring a pre-owned boat costs less than buying a new one. But budget—or the lack of it—isn't the only reason to give an old boat new life. Sometimes, the restored boat has sentimental value to the owner. Other times, the reasons go even deeper.
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Rare Unleashed Cigarette Gets a Facelift
In February, Michigan performance boaters Kevin Kaczan and Kristy Vandenplas purchased their 2003 Cigarette Racing 36 Gladiator—one of only three produced by the legendary Miami company with a canopy. In less than a year, they've turned what they expected to be a minor graphics project into a complete cosmetic overhaul of the 36-footer, which was converted into an open-canopy pleasure boat several years before they bought it.
The Unleashed Cigarette 36 Gladiator received a fresh makeover from the crew at Boat Customs in Michigan.
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Gentry Turbo Eagle: A Classic Project Begins
In offshore racing lore, it'd be difficult to find many boats more notable than the first 46-foot Scarab V-bottom built by company founder Larry Smith. Why? Because it's the famed triple-engine raceboat campaigned by the legendary Tom Gentry, which he built in 1985 specifically to tackle the Miami to New York endurance race.
Team Archer Marine in Southern California is planning to restore the Gentry Turbo Eagle, a 46-foot Scarab, back to its original 1985 form.
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SOS Venezuela ‘Going Bigger’ For SBI Nationals
In Super Boat International's Stock class so far this season, it's been a dogfight primarily between two 32-foot Doug Wright catamarans, SOS Venezuela and The Hulk/Redline. Heading into the upcoming National Championships in Clearwater, Fla., The Hulk team leads by 98 points but Chris Schoenbohm, the owner and driver of the SOS cat, has made a dramatic move he believes will give him an edge over The Hulk and the rest of the four boats—the current number of Stock-class entries for Clearwater—in the field.
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Gentry Turbo Eagle Project Update: New Bulkheads and Transom
Following the installation of a new transom earlier this month, the crew at Team Archer Marine in Costa Mesa, Calif., finished bonding and installing the bulkheads late last week in the famed Gentry Turbo Eagle, the 46-foot Scarab V-bottom built in 1985. And while there is still some final fiberglass work to complete this week, Team Archer Marine's Dan MacNamara said the boat should be ready for paint in about a week.
The Gentry Turbo Eagle Scarab built is 1985 is receiving a complete restoration at Team Archer Marine in Southern California.
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Aero-Marine Quarter Canopy Design Showcased on Mariani Streamliner Bonneville Landspeed Car
In less than two weeks, Carmen Bélanger-Martin, president of Aero-Marine and its sister company AM Hot Rod Glass, will be joined by Troy Trepanier of Rad Rides by Troy as they display his newest build—the Mariani Streamliner—in Hot Rod Alley at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas (Nov. 4-7).
The Mariani Streamliner features an acrylic windshield based off Aero-Marine's quarter canopy design. Photos courtesy AM Hot Rod Glass
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Broken Arrow Apache Update: Interior Installation In Progress
Three significant tasks remain in the restoration of Broken Arrow, a vintage 47-foot Apache V-bottom, before its planned debut at the 2015 Miami International Boat Show in February. First, the interior needs to be finished. Second, the boat's triple 1,200-plus-hp turbocharged Chief Performance engines need to be reinstalled by rigging wizard John Pompi of Marine Performance in Port Orange, Fla., the same outfit that handled the gutting and rerigging the boat's engine compartment. Third—and here's the best part for project manager Marc Jacob, who recently joined BoatsDirectUSA in Key Largo, Fla., as the new- and pre-owned boat company's sales manager—the 47-footer needs to hit the water.
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42 MTI Receives Waves and Wheels Interior Makeover
Although there was some refinement of his boat's stereo system in the process, Jeff Howell didn't bring his 42-foot Marine Technology Inc. catamaran to Waves and Wheels in Osage Beach, Mo., for its expertise in audio equipment and installation. Howell, who resides in Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks but travels frequently for business between Colorado and Nebraska, took his MTI to Justin Wagner and company at Waves and Wheels to have the cockpit interior redone.
Waves and Wheels recently finished a new interior for this 42-foot MTI catamaran. See more photos in the slideshow below.
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Restoration Continues On Brad Smith’s Vintage Sportboat
As planned by Jeremy Strup and other friends of noted engine builder Brad Smith, who died in late 2013 during a high-speed boating accident, the restoration of Smith's 20-foot-long, 1987 Liberator sportboat with a picklefork hull began in September with dismantling of the vintage aquatic hot rod. Now the project is moving on to it next stage. Separate parts of the boat currently are headed to several vendors including FiberTek in Grove, Okla., which will handle restoring and painting the hull. The boat's 200-hp outboard engine is being torn down and rebuilt by Top Gun Marine in Nixa, Mo., according to Strup.
With its soon-to-be-rebuilt 200-hp outboard engine removed, Brad Smith's 1987 Liberator sportboat is ready for its makeover.
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Checkmate 43’ Punisher Shooting for Century Mark in 2015
Although his one-of-a-kind 43-foot Checkmate dubbed Punisher is in storage for the winter, Bill Reiffer of Grand Rapids, Mich., believes the stepped V-bottom, which was purchased for him by his wife, Monica a little more than a year ago, will top 100 mph in 2015. Based on 43-foot Chief stepped-hull tooling, the twin Mercury Racing 700 SCi, engine-powered boat produced a lackluster 85-mph top end when it hit the water for the first time in August 2012. A little more than a year later in October 2013, the boat's then-new owners reportedly were able to get it to 94 mph.
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Overhaul Begins for Outerlimits 47 GTX Remote Access
For Louisiana performance boater Nate Michel, his dream boat is on its way to becoming a reality. Michel, who lives in Saint Amant, La., purchased his 2003 Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats 47 GTX 13 months ago and enjoyed several poker runs throughout 2014 once Jason Ventura of Brand X Hi-Performance Marine in Pompano Beach, Fla., got his hands on the boat—dubbed Remote Access—as well as a custom set of 1,100-hp engines.
Nate and Robin Michel are excited about the upcoming transformation of their Outerlimits 47 GTX.
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XXX: The Next Chapter
Yesterday I wrote a story on Nate Michel, a Louisiana performance boater who purchased an Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats 47 GTX a year ago and is in the middle of updating the 12-year-old 47-footer to really make it his own. And I'll tell you what—it's not easy to write about Michel, who is a regular at poker runs from the Tickfaw 200 in his own backyard to the popular Emerald Coast and Key West runs in Florida, without mentioning his good friend and fellow powerboat enthusiast Michael Pierce, who lives in Prairieville, La.
Outerlimits built one for the ages with the iconic XXX 47 GTX. Photo courtesy Florida Powerboat Club
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Full House at Team Archer Marine with Lucas Oil, Gentry Turbo Eagle and More
Not only does Dan MacNamara and the crew at Team Archer Marine in Costa Mesa, Calif., have a couple of classic Scarab restoration projects going on at the moment, they have additional work on their plate after the Lucas Oil SilverHook boat returned from a rough go of it at the Key West World Championships in early November (see speedonthewater.com's complete Key West coverage).
The Lucas Oil SilverHook is currrently at Team Archer Marine in Southern California being worked on in preparation for the upcoming offshore racing season. Photo by Jeff Gerardi/FreezeFrameVideo
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Revitalized 38' Cigarette Gunning for Miami Boat Show Poker Run
Last month the talented crew at Waves and Wheels in Missouri wrapped up a serious upgrade to a 2002 Cigarette Racing Team 38 Top Gun, which is powered by twin Mercury Racing 500EFI engines. Now the 38-foot V-bottom is at Performance Boat Center in Osage Beach, Mo., having the paint touched up before its owner—Nebraska’s Casey Hackenkamp—brings the "new" ride to South Florida for the Miami Boat Show Poker Run organized by the Florida Powerboat Club.
Between the interior, LED lighting and entertainment system, Waves and Wheels went wild on the Cigarette Racing 38 Top Gun.
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Truly One of a Kind: Repowering the 42 Colledgewood
Late last year I happened upon one of the most interesting projects I've ever seen at Teague Custom Marine. And trust me, after many visits to the Valencia, Calif., company over the last decade, I've seen everything from classic offshore raceboats, Hondo flat-bottoms and Schiada hot rods to high-powered catamarans, ski-race boats and triple-engine wave-crushing V-bottoms.
The Colledgewood 42 owned by Northern California’s Gary Colledge is about as unique as performance boats get.
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Ruffled Feathers Skater Undergoing Transformation at Chief
After almost a decade of racing offshore—with a world championship to show for it, too—Miami's Frank Areces is switching gears and preparing to hit the poker run scene. Areces, who purchased a 2002 32-foot Douglas Marine/Skater Powerboats catamaran from GT Performance in Southern California last summer, has enlisted friends and engine builders Tommy Hofstetter and Scott Wilson of Chief Performance in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to bring the boat back to life.
Currently at Chief Performance in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Frank Areces' 32-foot Skater will be hitting the poker run scene this year.
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Project Update: Visual Imagination Laying Down DCB M35 Paint Job
The first painted DCB Performance Boats M35 Widebody catamaran is nearing completion according to Brad Kloepfer, the good friend of the boat's new owner—JP O'Donoghue of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Currently receiving an outrageous custom paint job from Mark Morris and company at Visual Imagination in Peculiar, Mo., the 35-footer is expected to return to the DCB factory in El Cajon, Calif., in the next four to five weeks.
DCB Performance Boats founder Dave Hemmingson and the new owner of an M35 Widebody currently being painted by Visual Imagination visited the Missouri paint shop in early February.
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