V Bottoms - Poker Runs America

Hustler 29 Rockit By Chip Fendt

Upon entering Hustler’s manufacturing facility, the company’s strength is unmistakable. New models are in production, boats are in molds waiting to be pulled, older models are being refurbished and a variety of new boats are awaiting delivery. Owner of Hustler Powerboats, Joe LoGiudice, along with vice-president of marketing and sales, Paul LoGiudice, are forging ahead and not looking back. Companies such...

Outerlimits SV29 By Eric Colby

At many poker runs event promoters give out individual awards to boats and/or teams for best boat graphics, best-dressed crew and coolest engine compartment. For the latter, the winner usually has the area finished in a brightly colored gelcoat with batteries in color-matched billet aluminum boxes, trim pumps adorned with custom filler caps and wires and hoses running in evenly...

DONZI 43’ ZR By Bill Jennings

Donzi Marine manufactures nearly 500 boats a year. From its Classic Series and fast offshore center console ZF models to its exciting new ZRs, these are the boats performance enthusiasts dream of. With 45 years of boat building experience, a large, experienced design team, and countless world and national championship titles to their credit, a new model from Donzi is something...

NORDIC 42’ By Eric Colby

Most 42’ V-bottom offshore boats weigh in the vicinity of 10,000 pounds, so you probably wouldn’t think that building one 700 pounds lighter would make much difference. Guess again. If you can reduce the weight of a boat by 7 percent and pack in 2,150 hp, you’re pretty much guaranteed to produce a 114-mph rocketship. That’s what we found when we...

VELOCITY 290 SC By Eric Colby

Designers look at many aspects of a boat when developing a model, but few pay attention to the flow of air to the motor more than Velocity Powerboats founder and president Steve Stepp. The Velocity 290 Super Cruiser is the perfect example. While most builders just use some air intakes cut into the decks or engine hatches and a select...

HUSTLER 41 RAZOR By Eric Colby

Every time people hear about a new boat, they ask one question. “How fast was it?” If you take that approach with the new Hustler 41 Razor, to coin an old phrase, you’re missing the boat. The 41 Razor is the epitome of a go-fast that was designed with the forethought of people who actually go out and use performance boats...

DONZI 38 ZRC By Eric Colby

Riddle me this, Batman. What’s the best way to make a boat run faster? Most people would say that you should put a stepped bottom under it. The question gets more complicated when the boat is already a stepped design. That was the dilemma Donzi Marine faced with its 38 ZRC. It was already a popular twin-stepped design, but company CEO...

FOUNTAIN 47’ LIGHTNING By Mike Burns

In New Orleans, La., in 1990, one of Reggie Fountain's biggest milestone achievements in offshore racing came when Fountain and longtime navigator Joey Detore used a 47’ V-bottom to defeat actors Chuck Norris, Don Johnson and Kurt Russell in their more powerful, high-tech one-design racing catamarans with his V-bottom. That boat was the predecessor of the boat that I was about...

LAVEYCRAFT 32 NuEra By Eric Colby

Let’s say you’re in the middle of the start of a poker run. Everyone is jacked up. Drivers have a heavy throttle hand and a twitchy second one on the wheel. Would you want to be in a boat that’s slow to react to change or one that’s quick to respond to your input? Obviously, you’d want to be at the...

FOUNTAIN 38’ LIGHTNING By Richard Crowder

The knockout gorgeous 38 Lightning you see pictured here was custom built for Randy Hartman of Lake Cumberland Marine specifically to win the 2007 “Boat of the Year Award.” Custom painted in a spectacular combination of almost a burnt orange with accents of gold and green by T.A.O.D. of Elkhart, IN, there is virtually no finishing detail left untouched throughout...

STATEMENT MARINE 42’ ULTIMATE By Bill Jennings

For many years, the new design and technology developed for racing and high performance, have found their way into the general marketplace. This is true for cars and it’s true for boats. For the past two years, Statement Marine has tantalized the boating world with big exclamation mark posters, promising a spectacular new boat in 2009. Well, the new Statement...

CIGARETTE 49 GRAND SPORT DIESEL By Richard Crowder

Cigarette Racing introduced its revolutionary 49 Grand Sport just two years ago at the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show. Equipped with Mercury Racing 700 SCi engines and NXT1 drives, it was also available with 850 or 1075 SCi’s and Dry Sump Six drives. With the twin 850 SCi’s, it ran 84 mph. That’s pretty impressive for an almost 17,000 lb. boat...

HUSTLER 344 CHEETAH POKER RUN EDITION By Mark Roth…

It was late in the day when Birchpoint Marina owner, Jeff Devolin, received a call from his good friend and customer, Brian Hoag. “We just broke 100!”, shouted an exuberant Hoag who for quite some time had watched his GPS speedometer read almost, but not quite, that elusive century digit. Devolin was thrilled. “Brian worked hard and tried a number of...