Speed On The Water

Ran into Craig Barrie, the vice president of sales marketing, of Donzi Marine last Friday during Michael “Doc” Janssen’s “Taste of Torque” party before the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. (Barrie’s 103-mph run in a Donzi the following day put him at the top of his class.) I’d heard about the relocation of Donzi from Sarasota, Fla., to Washington, N.C., but I decided to let Barrie enjoy the weekend and catch up with him about the move this week.

When I spoke to Barrie this morning, he was more than optimistic about the move. In fact, he said was excited about the change, although it will take him several months to relocate. The Donzi and Proline models will be manufactured in the same plant as the Fountain and Baja by Fountain, which makes sense as all four companies are majority-owned by Liberty Associates, a private-equity firm.

“If you’ve ever been to the Donzi plant in Sarasota, you know it’s pretty old,” said Barrie. “The facility in Washington is very modern. Donzi has delivered 129 boats in the past 12 months. It makes sense for us to bring our production all under one roof.

“It’s good for everyone,” he added.

While Donzi has fared relatively in the past 12 months, at least by Barrie’s numbers, Fountain has struggled. The builder reportedly hasn’t had an order for several weeks, though it should be noted that with dealer floor-planning gone fall is no longer a booming time of year for any production-boat builder.

Barrie said that all Donzi’s 30 current employees have been offered employment at the plant in North Carolina, and that several key team members have already committed to the move.

“We’re taking everyone who’s interested down there September 17 so they can check out the schools and the area, and see where they might live,” he said.

Barrie added that the Donzi employees who relocate will continue to build Donzi models, despite that they’ll be working in the same general plant as workers on the other boat lines.

“We’re going to keep the teams separate,” he explained. “The Donzi people will build Donzi, the Proline people will build Proline, the Fountain people will build Fountain

With powerboat racing struggling on most fronts this year, it’s nice to be able to report at least one piece of good news. After a year away from racing in San Diego’s famed Bayfair event—once a key stop on the Unlimited hydroplane tour—the H1 Unlimited hydroplanes will compete there again in the Air Guard Championship presented by Degree Men September 17-19.

“This is a fantastic moment for our sport,” said Sam Cole, the chairman of H1 (the Unlimited hydroplane tour organization), in a press release. “To be able to announce that we are racing in San Diego with the Air National Guard as the race sponsor and Degree Men as the presenting sponsor is awesome.

“We will be following the NASCAR Air Guard 400 on September 11 with the Air Guard Championship presented by Degree," Cole added.

According to Jeff Thomas, the chairman of board of directors for San Diego Bayfair, the organizers are “thrilled” to have the Unlimited hydroplanes returning to San Diego.

“Racing fans are in for an action-packed three-day event," he said.

Unfortunately, those fans won’t be part of a poker run that was scheduled to coincide with the event. At least for this year, plans for the run have been shelved. Still, Bayfair remains a fan friendly event with an array of spectator areas that present great views of the Unlimited hydroplane action of Mission Bay.

And as a partner in the event, the Air National Guard hopes to provide something of a bigger-picture view.

“The Air National Guard is proud to partner with the H1 Unlimited series at the San Diego Bayfair as we look to increase overall awareness of the Air Guard,” said Captain Rondal Perry, division chief of Air National Guard marketing and advertising. “We invite people to consider joining their local unit as a way for them to give back to the community and serve their country, and this event will help us do just that”

Just a few random notes from the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout last weekend. The next issue of Powerboat will have a more-complete story, with lots of photos, on the event. I say “more-complete” because you could fill an entire issue of the magazine with Shootout stories—and I’m not counting those that earn anything above a PG rating.  But here are a few things I jotted down on the endless plane rides from St. Louis, Mo., to San Francisco yesterday:

•Ron Dugan of Captain Ron’s Bar and Grill is more than a great guy who, with some help from his friends, saved the economically valuable event three years ago. He’s an eternally gracious host—and he’s already planning for next year.

•Must thank photographer Jay Nichols for capturing a photo of me, looking relaxed and ready for a cold one, on the bluff near the radar trap on Sunday. Photographer Robert Brown and I “worked” up there for almost eight hours. Is it my fault that I have a great job? Check out Jay’s photos on offshoreonly.com. He takes go-fast boat photography to an artistic level.

• Rob Brown and I were also captured “working” on television. Someone please remind me to push Willy, the video guy, off the cliff next year.

•The most impressive sight of the weekend? Had to be the 2-mile-long, uninterrupted and rafted-off spectator fleet.

•Greg Olsen’s run of 182 mph in an Eliminator 33’ Daytona with GT Performance engines didn’t just take a Top Gun award in its class—it set a record as the fastest Eliminator in history.

•The second most impressive (and scary) sight of the weekend? A pontoon boat running 100 mph. OK, call it a tie between that and 50-foot Mystic Nauti-Marine humming along at 208 mph.

•Must thank Michael “Doc” Janssen for Friday night’s “Taste of Torque” party at Coconuts, and congratulate him for his victories in several classes.

•Coming off hospitalization not even a week before the Shootout, Jeff Stevenson of JBS Racing, a turbine-powered 50-foot Mystic catamaran, definitely wins the “Suck it Up and Run Hard” award. The guy has—and had—serious stones.

•By the way, don’t bother trying to explain the difference between a turbine and a jet to the average innocent bystander.

•Last, a note to four big guys playing beach volleyball in Speedos during the Taste of Torque party: Yikes.

Just finished Day No. 1 of the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout and I could sum it up with one word: Wow. Of course, you deserve a little more detail than that so:

•Best Moment of the Day: David Scott and John Tomlinson run 208 mph in Nauti-Marine, Scott's 50-foot-long Mystic catamaran with twin 2,000-hp engines. That's one mile an hour off the Top Gun record of the 30-year-old Shootout, and a new record for the new venue near Captain Ron's. "With another half mile, we'd have been at 230 mph," said Tomlinson. "The engines never stopped making power." The question is: Will they run again tomorrow? The engines reportedly have one run left in them before they require a tear-down. Plus, Scott and Tomlinson are pretty satisfied with their effort so far. They remain undecided at this point.

•Second coolest moment of the day: Chip Romer runs 186 mph in his Skater catamaran, making him the man most likely to collect $10,000 from Skater principal Peter Hledin. If Darr reaches 190 mph tomorrow, the prize goes up to $20,000.

•Coolest nearby event: OK, so Skaterfest really isn't that nearby. Lake of the Ozarks is one of those classic "You can't get there from here" kind of places, which makes the 15-mile drive to the Camden on the Lake Resort, where Skaterfest is being held, a 30-minute trek from Captain Ron's. But with almost 40 boats and their owners, families and friends, and folks like Hledin, Mike D'Anniballe of Sterling Performance and Dean Loucks of The Art of Design on hand to celebrate the Skater catamaran brand, this Midwest version of Skaterfest is far and away the best to date. "This venue is just tremendous," Hledin, who was on his way to a boat ride to the Shootout (Peter Hledin on a boat ride?), told me this morning. Look for a more in-depth story in the next issue of Powerboat magazine.

•Coolest new product debut: Titanium propellers for Hering. OK, I've known about these for about six months and I've been keeping my promise to keep my mouth shut, but they're finally out. I have no prices. I have no pitches. I have no hard performance data. But according to Ben Robertson, Jr., of Hering, a Skater 388 with 1,550-hp Sterling engines reportedly picked up 9 mph in top end during a 30-second acceleration test. Looking for a more in-depth article in the next issue of Powerboat magazine.

•Most frightening moment of the day: Me on local radio and television this morning. First, I had to follow my long-time friend and colleague at Powerboat magazine, Bob Teague, who has forgotten more about high-performance boats than I'll ever know, on the microphone. Second, Teague is a charismatic guy with the gift of gab. Third, I was a case study in nerves and discomfort. Four words come to mind in regard to how I did: Deer in the headlights.

More tomorrow, WiFi allowing.