Outdoors

All about performance

Go-fast boats need more than speed. Baja builds a smooth ride, too

By TERRY TOMALIN
Published June 3, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Like most boaters, Steve Wacker looks for any excuse to get on the water.

"The wife is home with the kids, and I've got a two-hour pass," said Wacker, sales manager for Thunder Marine, as he motored his 30-foot Baja away from the dock. "After all, this is work."

Like most boat dealers in Florida, Thunder sells a wide variety of watercraft.

"We carry pretty much everything from an introductory package of a boat, motor and trailer for $10,000 to the big-dollar bluewater offshore fishing boats," Wacker said. "You have to in order to stay competitive."

Nonetheless, the Tyrone Boulevard dealership has carved out a niche in the performance-boat market.

"You can see by our name that we started out with "go-fast' boats," owner Mark LaPrade said of the speed boats. "Over the years we have carried all the big names: Cigarette, Fountain, Apache."

Performance boats, a catch-all phrase that includes both vee-bottoms and catamarans, are usually more expensive than a typical recreational model used for fishing, diving or pleasure boating.

These muscle boats have big engines, gobble gas and are capable of speeds in excess of 60 mph.

"It is not a huge part of the overall boating market, maybe five to eight percent," LaPrade said. "But it is an important part of the boating market."

As the name implies, Thunder Marine has had a devoted performance-oriented customer base. The dealership is the second largest Baja dealership in the United States.

"We have held the No.1 spot several times," Wacker said. "We got bumped down to No.2 by a dealer up on Lake of the Ozarks."

The lake in central Missouri probably has the highest concentration of performance boaters in the country. Its annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout is the largest unsanctioned powerboat race in the U.S.

"But we have our share of performance boaters here in the Tampa Bay area," Wacker said. "I think the reason is we have so much water."

Many people don't understand the performance-boat mind-set. Like personal watercraft enthusiasts, performance boaters suffer from a poor public image generated by a minority of operators who lack the skill or knowledge to share waterways with slower craft.

Big, go-fast boats are expensive to buy, insure and operate. A 30-foot Baja costs between $115,000 to $175,000.

"Our typical customer is male, 25 to 55 years old, and a professional or owner of an independent business," Wacker said. "It is definitely upper income."

A 40-foot Baja starts at $200,000 and can cost as much as $450,000 depending on what options the customer chooses.

Bajas are fast, but the boat's deep-vee hull doesn't make it as quick as some of the other performance vee-bottoms such as Donzi or Fountain that have built-in features, such as steps and pads, to help lift the hull on the water.

"The couple of miles per hour you lose in speed is made up in stability," LaPrade said. "The boat handles well in rough water. That is important for the recreational guy just out to have a good time."

Most performance enthusiasts use their boats to go to lunch, dinner or just hang out on a sandbar. The Tampa Bay area has numerous destinations that get packed with performance boaters, especially on a summer weekend.

Shell Key near Ft. De Soto is probably the most popular boaters' rendezvous. Restaurants such as Shephards on Clearwater Pass, Gators Cafe and Saloon at John's Pass and Bahama Breeze on the Tampa side of the Courtney Campbell Parkway are big draws. Beer Can Island in Tampa Bay is another hot spot, especially for Tampa boaters.

"There are a lot of people who will run from St. Pete or Tampa down to the Hyatt in Sarasota," Wacker said. "The Boathouse at The Quay has always welcomed boaters."

The increasing popularity of poker runs, where fast boats run from spot to spot, and the emergence of brand-owner rallies have helped the sales of Baja and other performance boats locally.

Boaters are always looking for new destinations where they can eat and socialize with friends.

On this warm May evening, Wacker and his buddies played with a 30- and a 38-foot Baja off waters of The Pier in St. Petersburg. Then they stopped by the dock at The Vinoy, another destination that welcomes boaters.

"Like I said, any excuse to get out on the water," Wacker said, stretching his legs on the dock. "I'll count this as a good day."

[Last modified June 3, 2005, 01:17:06]