PowerboatPro.com keeps fans informed and engaged throughout the season by allowing them to follow their favorite class of powerboat racing in one single location.  Powerboat racing classes that will be featured on PowerboatPro include U.I.M. Grand Prix of the Sea, F1H20, Class 1Zapcat, Powerboat P1 Superstock and Powerboat P1 U.S.A. News from the governing bodies of the sport including Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) and Offshore Super Series (OSS) will also be published.

As the world’s central hub for all powerboat related news, PowerboatPro.com will include the latest information on racing, gear, teams, sponsors, boat manufacturers and venues.  In addition, there will be current interviews with some of the leaders in the sport, product reviews, photo and video galleries, and spectator feedback. Everything powerboat related, including the parties, the controversies and the lifestyle.

As a longtime fan of powerboat racing, Peter VanGameren, CEO of Ambition Lifestyle has an excellent understanding of what spectators, participants, race promoters, teams and governing bodies want to know. “As a fan of powerboat racing, I had been walking around with an idea to one day make an outstanding powerboat news portal.  It is our firm belief that all parties involved will benefit by having all of their news and information from global powerboat racing together in one central hub, and our current partners see the value that PowerboatPro.com can bring them.”

I am very much looking forward to having a place where we can get the message out about what we’re trying to accomplish in the sport of offshore powerboat racing and the philanthropic organizations we are partnering with,” said Maisy Page, Founder and Program Director of OSS Cares. “As a fan of all things fast, I’m very excited to have a place to go for all of the latest news and events in marine motorsports.”

“The VSConnect™ platform is perfect for the sport of powerboating,” said VS Executive Producer Curtis Worthy. “I’m looking forward to great relationship with Ambition Lifestyle and applying the technology to powerboat spectators and partners worldwide.”

Virtual Spectator gained a reputation as an innovator of 3D tracking technology for the Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup.  The company has now applied the technology to VSConnect™ allowing fans to follow powerboating.

VS tracking technology will eventually allow users to track their favorite class or with VSConnect™ interactive maps, complete with geo tagged photos, schedules and video updates. Countdown timers to each event will allow fans to find out when the next race is, in any participating class- anywhere in the world.

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Bio-Kleen Parked @ Captian Rons

Finally, the day had come to witness the largest unsanctioned racing event of the season. What started as a friendly battle among lake residents to see who had the fastest machine on the water has become known by many as the fourth holiday weekend of the summer. Today, professionals and amateurs compete against each other and clock their speeds for the Top Gun honor. Boats more than 22 feet in length are allowed to run in classes by length, hull design, size of motors and number of motors. Proceeds from the Shootout benefit the Lake-area rescue teams, Habitat for Humanity and other charitable organizations.

Mikes Thunder Marine @ Dock

The temperatures are the highest we’ve seen yet since heading into Missouri and the day looks like it should shape up to be beautiful, calm and sunny. The day is sure to be action packed. A majority of the buzz around the lake is of course centered around last years Top Gun winner; David Scott and his 50ft Mystic racer with throttle man John Tomlinson (then sponsored by Bud Light). The crowd is also quite intrigued to see if the Miss Geico boat will be on the list of competitors this year. The boat passed up the Shootout last year for another race, but up to this point has been seen as Scott and Tomlinson’s biggest competition.

Other Characters @ Shootout 2009

There’s also a lot of hype about a brand new addition to the Shootout, a head-on-head drag race; two boats running down the course at one time. One world class racer and well known lake member, Bob Morgan, is an advocate for the drag style boat race for the shootout. He’s finally gotten his wish for 2009 as race officials have approved the head-on-head competition. Bob Morgan himself in the Bad Moon Risin boat will go nose to nose with Bob Bull in the CMS boat. The talk is they’re scheduled for the best of three races.

Nauti Marine's Saturday Shootout Run

Dave Scott and Nauti Marine, 2008 Top Gun, holder of multiple world speed records, nearly a dozen national titles and almost as many world titles, is the team to try and beat this year at the Shootout. For the past eight years, Scott and all the Nauti Marine boats have raced under Anheuser Busch sponsorship. About this time last year InBev, the new owners of Anheuser Busch, announced they were no longer interested in sponsoring powerboat racing; which left the team looking for sponsorship elsewhere. Instead, Scott decided to race under his own Nauti Marine banner.

Last year Scott intended to race the Mystic fueled with methanol, but on the Thursday before race weekend a motor broke. So they spent the night changing the out the methanol motors back to gasoline. Obviously things did work out for them, still holding onto Top Gun status. They’ve still been testing methanol motors and plan on running the two 2,400-hp New Century alcohol-fueled engines for the Shootout this year.

The Nauti Marine boat seemed to be off to a great start on their first run on Saturday; but 2/3 of the way down the course something goes wrong. There’s a noticeable change in the sound of the motors and the output of the boat. They seem to blow another motor, but still finish the run with an impressive speed somewhere in the 160′s I believe.

CMS & Bad Moon Risin Drag

There was much more action for the day from the racers and the crowds. We captured video not only of the Nauti Marine first run, but impressive runs from Flight Club, the Mercedes Boat, D&M Motorsports, Mikes Thunder Marine, Shogren, Bob Bull and the CMS boat in a single run and the first drag between CMS and Bob Morgan in the Bad Moon Risin boat. CMS starts the head-to-head race out in front, but about mid way Bad Moon Risin easily coasts by. From our view it looks as if Morgan leaves Bull deep in his wake. Turns out it was close to a photo finish. The final details are debatable, but the word is this first race goes to Bob Morgan and Bad Moon Risin.

It was a great start to the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009. Beautiful weather, hot enough for the passengers of the hundreds of rafting boats to enjoy the water. Great speeds and action from the racers along with a few new twists. The opening day was not without its challenges though. There were multiple runs tainted with radar issues; forcing the racers to possibly fore-fit a great speed and run again later. There were also some staging issues, not allowing them to pack in all the desired runs for the day and sometimes moving at a slow pace in between runs.

Fire Rescue Team Lends a Hand

Then there’s the broken, wavy line of rafting boats that zig-zags the border of the entire course and then some. It’s really the only way to stay put safely with all those boats, but the number of boats with 30ft anchor lines in 75ft+ water definitely outweighed those that were prepared. Put that amount of boats and weight on not enough anchor and your bound to drag. And drag they did… into the course enough times the police and fire patrols had to discipline and assist the boats back out of the course boundaries or the race would not go on. Thankfully they do their jobs well and the spectators were very receptive. After all, everybody’s there to watch the boats and have a good time and if the boats can’t run there’s no race, and it’s all over for everyone.

Saturday had some smooth runs and good speeds, but there’s still a lot more in store for the final day of the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009.

• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Wednesday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Thursday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Friday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Saturday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Sunday
• Bio-Kleen Shootout YouTube Videos
• Bio-Kleen Shootout Flickr Pictures
• Bio-Kleen Facebook Pictures
• Bio-Kleen MySpace Pictures

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The sunshine and clear skies came out just in time to view the expansive wind power project south of Joliet, IL. The project must still be in the early stages as none of the massive turbines that were scattered across acres of soybean and corn fields were not yet turning. There must have been nearly 60+ already erected and more on the way. You could see large cranes in the distance piecing together these green energy giants. They seemed so small and fragile in the distance across the farm lands. That was until we bore witness to a single blade being hauled in on an extra long semi tractor trailer, the longest I’ve ever seen. That really put the size of the turbines and the project into perspective.

Down the freeway we learned just how skilled a crop dusting pilot must be. We first saw a small, single engine plane flying very close to the horizon. About a mile later the plane was just over the freeway, facing oncoming traffic. The plane then quickly pulled up and sharply cut back down to the left hand side of the road; making a pass across the length of the soybean field at speeds well over ours and at heights that wouldn’t allow a large truck to pass under.

When that row was finished, the pilot again cut over the freeway, making a large loop over the road, as if all the motorists came to a traveling aerobatics show; then on to the next row. The plane and it’s pilot continued to dance in the sky amidst the highway travelers, as if they were stuck to the pavement with glue and he was making up his own free flowing paths as he goes. Though the skies filled our excitement for the time being, we still had a very long road ahead of us and at the end of it is what’s really on our mind; the green waters of the Lake of the Ozarks.

We made it down just in time for a late dinner at Captian Ron’s where the Shootout is hosted for the second year in a row. Our goal for the next day was to set up our vendor booth, service some local dealers around the Lake of the Ozarks and get the biokleen boat launched to be ready for Friday’s pokerrun.

• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Wednesday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Thursday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Friday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Saturday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Sunday
• Bio-Kleen Shootout YouTube Videos
• Bio-Kleen Shootout Flickr Pictures
• Bio-Kleen Facebook Pictures
• Bio-Kleen MySpace Pictures

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The first goal for the second day at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009 was to put up the Bio-Kleen vendor booth at Captain Ron’s. This is the second year the Shootout is put on by Captain Ron’s and spearheaded by the owner, Ron Duggan. Last year was great, so we knew this year would be even better and well organized (always a huge plus). It was easy to find the biokleen booth space, as we’re in the same spot as last year, F21; a cozy spot nestled in front of a large tree, right in front of dock 3, just on the corner of Cannonball Beach.

We got the tent and booth all set up and after some lunch, we’re off to several marinas around lake of the ozarks selling bio-kleen marine & rv products. We took the winding, narrow, down-sloping roads from high ground of highway 54 to the marinas at the lake. We made deliveries to Millers Landing, Bidgeview Marine and Village Marina. We also had some time to demo some new products with Village.  Then we dropped the Biokleen Toter off at Excess Detailin’ for a wash. By the time we picked the toter up it has been a very long day and the evening is fast approaching. We had to first pick up the biokleen boat from Bob Morgan’s shop, then get it in the water.

We proceeded down the even windier, extra narrow and slightly steeper “road” to the launch ramp by the Niagara Bridge.  We knew it may prove to be a difficult landing with the toter and much to our surprise we had some extra help when we arrived. Bob Morgan and the entire crew was there launching the Bad Moon Risin boat. It also started to rain at this point and by the time we got the boat in the water… it was a torrential down pour, with cracks of lightening and high gust winds. It was difficult enough driving a motorhome down a paved road back to the rv park; I was just imagining Tim on the lake, getting the boat to the docks at Captain Rons.

We made it by land, and by water, safely back to Captain Rons. It continued to rain, blowing down branches, washing out roads and pushing all the fresh sand at Captain Ron’s beaches back into the lake. We were all soaked… completely, and were only interested in getting out of our wet clothes, drying out and starting fresh tomorrow. The biokleen boat is a pace boat for the pokerrun and the vendor booths open up as well. The official start of the Lake of the Ozarks 2009 Shootout is finally here.

View more blog posts, video and pictures from the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009:

• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Wednesday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Thursday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Friday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Saturday
• Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Sunday
• Bio-Kleen Shootout YouTube Videos
• Bio-Kleen Shootout Flickr Pictures
• Bio-Kleen Facebook Pictures
• Bio-Kleen MySpace Pictures

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Photo by Jamie Russell

The AMSOIL Offshore Racing Team set the Official Endurance Record sanctioned by OSS in 2008 in the Cat Lite Class from Miami, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas and back. This year, the team returned with a mission of defending and beating its own record in the 106 mile long race. On Friday, June 12th, Team AMSOIL #77 did just that by running the endurance event in 59 minutes and 40 seconds, which was a little over 5 minutes faster than last year’s record. The official average speed of the Team was recorded at 106.8174 MPH.

To further show the endurance and reliability afforded by using AMSOIL lubricants, Team AMSOIL participated in Saturday’s Thunderboat Rally from Sunny Isles Beach to Key Largo and back. The Team received a lot of recognition from other participants and fans as a front runner in the long range event. The boat was entered in the Sunny Isles Offshore Challenge on Sunday.

Team AMSOIL won the Cat Lite class easily in the wind blown Atlantic Ocean waters in front of fans on Beach and in the row of mega hotels along the front straightaway. The start-finish line was located at the famous Trump International Beach Resort Hotel. During the 3 day event, over 350 race miles were logged on the Team AMSOIL Skater with no problems of any kind.

Photo by Daton O. Fullard, HOA Digital Images

Joining Team AMSOIL for the weekend as an honorary team member was the current Miss Florida USA, Anastagia Pierre. We are grateful for Anastagia’s support of the AMSOIL Offshore Racing Team and for the sport of offshore racing.

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Team Amsoil Offshore Wins in Ocean City

Team AMSOIL attended the OPA season opener in Ocean City, Maryland which is the first race of the Geico Triple Crown series. Saturday testing required several setup changes including switching gear ratios to accommodate the rough conditions of the Atlantic Ocean.

After some severe weather, the conditions on Sunday were even rougher, presenting challenging conditions for the offshore teams. Team AMSOIL started in the first start of the main event with the other top class catamarans. Team AMSOIL’s arch rival in the Northeast, Motley Crew, was unable to make the start, which enabled Team AMSOIL to run unchallenged in the Super Cat Lite class. Team AMSOIL ran hard anyway, finishing fifth overall against the higher class Turbine powered, Extreme, and Super Cat 750 boats.

During the race, the severe sea conditions provided for a lot of super air time. Team AMSOIL’s Skater performed flawlessly, enduring the brutal conditions. This was a great run to prepare for the upcoming attempt to beat our own endurance record from Miami to Bimini and back, which will be attempted on June 12th off Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.

After the Sunny Isles record run and race, Team AMSOIL will be headed to Sarasota, Florida to compete in the annually well attended race on the 4th of July weekend.

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PB has now forged a strategic partnership with Fox Sports Network to produce two episodes on offshore boat racing. These segments will highlight the season-opening race in Biloxi, Mississippi, as well as recent race in Lake Cumberland, Kentucky.

Each exciting half-hour show will focus on the race and be enhanced with in depth interviews with the teams. In addition, viewers will get a unique perspective by getting a racer’s eye view from behind the wheel of these powerful machines.

The Biloxi race will air on Fox Sports Network on June 15. This will be followed by coverage of the Lake Cumberland race, set to air on June 22. Although air times were tentative at press time, they are expected to be broadcast between 3 and 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Viewership is expected to reach a minimum of 50 million homes and a potential of 80 million.

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Team AMSOIL Offshore Racing made the trek to Biloxi, Mississippi for the Offshore Super Series (OSS) Smokin’ the Sound Biloxi Offshore Kickoff, held March 26-29. OSS estimates that about 45,000 spectators enjoyed the races by watching from the beaches or hotels that line the Gulf Coast strip. Local radio station 104.9 FM broadcasted the racing coverage with the popular Talk Offshore radio show all afternoon. The races were also filmed for television and will air on Fox Sports Network later this year.

The road to Biloxi was not an easy one, as the Team had to complete many preparations prior to arrival at the race site, including complying with the new OSS regulations for 2009 which require each race boat to have a class-specific color painted on the tips of the sponsons. The AMSOIL boat debuted its flashy new look with the tips of both of its sponsons painted a bright red, the color that designates a Cat Lite entry. Team AMSOIL’s crew also went through and thoroughly inspected both outdrives, which have been running AMSOIL MCF oil all last season. Virtually no wear was detected on the internal drive components after 100 hours of racing.

The OSS racing at Biloxi followed a Heat Racing Format for the first time in the series. Seven separate races were held on Sunday, March 29 since Saturday’s conditions were too rough to race, so racing commenced around Noon and ended around 5pm. The Cat Lite class raced in two separate heats, each consisting of 4 laps. Cat Lite proved to be the most popular class at the Biloxi event, with a total of 6 boats entered to race.

During the first heat, the AMSOIL boat was hit by the Popeye’s boat on the first straightaway. After this minor collision during the mad dash for the first pin, AMSOIL was left in last place. With the shorter race format, it was difficult to make up all of the lost time, so the Team finished 3rd in the first heat. The second heat provided to be just as manic for Bob Teague and Paul Whittier. During the second lap, Team AMSOIL was pinched at the turn and had to run through the rooster tail of Team Prop Stop, while simultaneously running over the turn buoy. AMSOIL was able to grasp the 2nd place finish position in the second heat, but due to being penalized a lap for taking out the turn buoy, the Team had a final finish position of 5th place. In spite of the final outcome, Team AMSOIL put on a great show for the spectators with the tight racing format.

Team AMSOIL captured virtually every title possible in the Cat Lite Class during the 2008 racing season. The Team is the current OPA Cat Lite High Points Champion, OSS National and High Points Cat Lite Champion, and SBI Super Cat World Champion. Team AMSOIL is also the holder of the OSS World Endurance record for Miami to Bimini and back, and captured the POPRA World Kilo Record in its class with an official average speed of 131.981mph.

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The 53rd Annual Los Angeles Boat Show opened February 7th at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where attendees were able to see Team AMSOIL’s silver Skater up close.  The show featured a staged indoor race compound, complete with the Team’s Freightliner that tows the boat and all support vehicles.  Many people enjoyed viewing the race boat in its titled position on the trailer, complete with a light positioned to illuminate the inside of the cockpit.  A large display of AMSOIL products were showcased as well as various checkered flags achieved by the Team.  Hero cards were given out to race fans and poster size versions of the hero cards were framed near the boat.  Team T-shirts were also available for puchase.      

Not to be outdone by the AMSOIL festivities in Los Angeles, the race boat was well represented in Teague Custom Marine’s booth in the Miami International Boat Show as well.  The Miami Boat Show opened on February 12th and continued through February 16th.  Banners featuring lists of team achievements and different photos of the AMSOIL boat were suspended over 10 feet in the air around the perimeter of the booth.  The most impressive display was a near life size photo backdrop of the AMSOIL boat for all to see. Bob Teague was on hand to answer questions and greet race fans during both boat shows.  

Team AMSOIL captured virtually every title possible in the Cat Lite Class during the 2008 racing season. The Team is the current OPA Cat Lite High Points Champion, OSS National and High Points Cat Lite Champion, and SBI Super Cat World Champion.  Team AMSOIL is also the holder of the OSS World Endurance record for Miami to Bimini and back, and captured the POPRA World Kilo Record in its class with an official average speed of 131.981mph.  

Team AMSOIL has been diligently preparing over the winter season and is almost ready for the boat and support trailers to hit the road!  Bob Teague and Paul Whittier are eager to start out the new race season, with the first race in Biloxi, Mississippi, scheduled for March 26-29. 

View Photos from both shows.

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Team AMSOIL #77 made the journey to Salton Sea in the Southern California Desert for the POPRA Salton Sea Speed Week Kilo Event.  The event was held Thursday, December 4 through Sunday, December 7.  Although not a usual destination for driver Paul Whittier and throttleman Bob Teague, The Sea has been host to many races and kilo runs over the decades.  Representatives from the city welcomed the event and positive press that it would bring to the Salton Sea Recreation Area, once a top destination for boating, swimming and family fun in the late 1950s.

About a dozen teams came out with high hopes that the unique environment would prove to be the ideal setting for squeezing every last drop of speed out of their boats.  The combination of below sea level air density, extremely high salinity in the water, cool desert air, and a perfectly undisturbed body of water made the perfect formula for world record-breaking speeds.  Unfortunately, the smooth as glass water conditions were not the best for the highest offshore boat speeds.  Kevin Cooper, President of POPRA, explained that the setting was also very safe for hosting kilo runs since the only other boats on the water during a participant’s speed run were the rescue boats.

The Team utilized Thursday as a test day and unfortunately ran aground near the crane in an area that was not properly dredged.  This occurrence brought on many unexpected challenges in order to have the boat in top shape for its speed runs on Saturday.  Most of Friday was spent in the dry pits area doing extensive repairs to the bottom running surface of the race boat.  Boats sanctioned under the Southern California Speed Boat Club were able to make kilo runs on Friday.  The course was open for POPRA offshore entries on Saturday and Sunday.

Team AMSOIL’s first run on Saturday proved to be good enough to break the previous world speed record for Cat Lite, which was 126.703 mph.  The Team tried various propellers and set-ups throughout the day in attempt to better their speed.  On a run towards the end of the day, Team AMSOIL was successful in upping their own speed record.  By the end of Saturday, the new speed record stood at 131.319 mph.  On Sunday, Team AMSOIL made several more runs and was successful once more at breaking their own speed record.  The final official POPRA World Kilo Speed Record was set at 131.981 mph, certified by APBA/UIM.  This speed is the best average of the Team’s north to south pass and consecutive south to north pass.  The Team made a one-way pass of nearly 133 mph but ran a little slower on the back up run because of a minor deviation on the course angle.

Team AMSOIL Offshore Racing has had a near perfect racing season and can now add POPRA World Speed Record Holder to its list of accomplishments in the Cat Lite category.  The Team has earned the 2008 titles of SBI World Champion, Cat Lite High Points Champion in the OPA Racing Circuit, Winner of the Geico Triple Crown, Offshore Super Series National Champion and High Points Champion.

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