Paul Robinson, the primary organizer behind the Texas Outlaw Challenge coming up next month (June 20-23), has one rule for everyone coming to the Houston area for the sixth annual event: Bring the horsepower—all of it.

The Texas Outlaw Challenge kicks off on June 20 with the Stampede Street Party at Kemah Boardwalk.Once again, Robinson and company are adding a new feature to the event, which already includes the two-day Gunslinger Poker Run with a $20,000 first prize, the GPS Outlaw Shootout, the Stampede Street Party, the Miss Outlaw Bikini Contest and last year’s new addition—the Outlaw Corral, a boat buying and selling stockyard that had more than $1 million in deals in 2012. Joining the listing of activities this year is the new Steel Horse Stampede, a custom bike show contest at Endeavour Marina in Seabrook on Saturday afternoon.

“The custom bikes have taken off and half the guys who come to our event have those toys already so we figured why not make them part of the show,” said Robinson, adding that the event is way ahead of last year’s registration numbers, which saw a jump from 80 to 125 registered teams. “On Saturday, when we’re on the water with the boats, the vendor village is usually unpopulated. So this year we’re encouraging people to show off their motorcycles and compete for the $5,000 prize for the finest ‘Outlaw HP.’ ”

Read more: Texas Outlaw Challenge Expected to Be Bigger and Better

Sportboat builder Checkmate Powerboats in Bucyrus, Ohio, has halted production of its once-popular line of outboard- and stern drive-powered V- bottoms from 18 to 30 feet.

"The business just stopped—we haven't had enough orders to stay open full time,” said Doug Smith, the owner of the company, during a recent telephone interview. “We are waiting until we get enough orders to resume production."

In a telephone interview today, Checkmate’s former general manager Dean Reynolds confirmed that he, along with the rest of the company staff, was laid off six weeks ago.

Though the 260 Convincor appeared to be a popular new model, it wasnt enough to keep the doors open—at least for the time being—at Checkmate.

Read more: Checkmate Shut Down

Announced at a press reception in Cocoa Beach, Fla., during this weekend’s Super Boat International (SBI) race, the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and SBI reached an agreement to bring the offshore racing show to Qatar early next year.

SBI founder John Carbonell (left) and QMSF president Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani announce the Qatar Cup 2014 at Cocoa Beach in Florida on Saturday.“I am delighted to announce that we have reached this exciting new cooperation between the QMSF and SBI,” said Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, QMSF president and driver of the new turbine-powered Spirit of Qatar catamaran from Mystic Powerboats that is set to debut at the next SBI race in Orange Beach, Ala. “Two of the key factors in the decision-making process were the strength in depth of SBI and the solid calendar that is in place for the 2013 racing season. This is just another example of the increased cooperation between Qatar and the USA in the powerboat-racing world. We have discussed the format of the Qatar Cup that we will run in Qatar in January and we will host boats racing in several of the top classes.”

Discussions regarding the specifics of the new event are ongoing, but Sheikh Hassan confirmed that prize money spread across the respective categories is set to be in the region of $400,000.

“We believe this is a great opportunity for SBI to showcase the strength of its international sanctioning power along with giving teams access to lucrative purses,” said John Carbonell, SBI founder and president. “Various Superboat classes will each have a $100,000 purse and teams will benefit from the QMSF shipping the race boats to Qatar after Key West.

Read more: SBI-Sanctioned Qatar Cup Set for 2014 Season

Last Wednesday, photographer Jay Nichols and I headed to the Miss GEICO Offshore Racing Shop in Riviera Beach, Fla. For Nichols, that meant a trip across the state. For me, it meant a trip across the country. For both of us, the journey couldn’t have been more worthwhile.

That's because as it happened we arrived on the very first day of testing for the team’s 44-foot catamaran with its new twin Mercury Racing 1650 Race engines.

Pretty black outboards all in a row—on law enforcement boats in South Florida at sunset. Photo courtessy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

We scheduled the trip for a feature, which will run in the upcoming July/August issue of Speed On The Water magazine, almost two months ago. At the time I picked the date to visit the shop, neither the Miss GEICO crew nor I had any idea they’d be putting the cat through its first test session on the day we arrived. Timing, as they say, is everything.

One of the best things about working with Jay Nichols is that his photographer eyes never rest. He’s always looking for something to shoot—the images from the trip that you’ll see in the upcoming magazine are unusual and amazing—and it’s not always related to the subject. But he always finds something compelling. He oftens finds the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Take the image above, for example, of a group of Palm Beach County Sheriff boats powered by an array of Mercury outboards. Of course, this isn’t the first time you’ve seen a bunch of black outboards. But the symmetrical grouping of them hanging off the transoms of their vessels, all out of the water on lifts, in near sunset conditions is unusual—and in its own way, spectacular.

Related Story: Miss GEICO First Test Session ‘Beyond Expectations’