TBPNews #41 - June 25, 2003 
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>>>>>> Tunnel Boat Performance News >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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In this issue: 
1) Bombardier delivers non-gasoline burning outboard
2) Brunswick buys Land 'N' Sea for $52M
3) Buddy Babbitt, passes away 
4) UIM F1 Powerboat Homologation Committee Goes To Moscow
5) Mercury Marine to lay off almost 200 
6) Mercury wins magazines shootout
7) Cigarette may be shut out of new $5M plant 
8) RPI buys up Florida competitor
9) Cheating Death
10) NEW - Powerboat Links Pages!
11) FREE Powerboat e-book
12) 'Family & Performance Boating' magazine - Save 25%!
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1)Bombardier delivers non-gasoline burning outboard

Bombardier Recreational Products has introduced a new generation of Evinrude specialised, non-gasoline burning outboard engines (NBOE) at the Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC), held at the US Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, in Norfolk, Virginia.  Developed for use by armed forces, the first production-ready shipment of Evinrude 30hp direct injection (DI) submersible engines will be delivered to the navy in July. Bombardier is offering 75hp and 200hp NBOE models to the military.  Instead of burning gasoline, NBOEs are fuelled by JP class jet fuel, as mandated by the US Department of Defense under its single fuel initiative. 
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2)Brunswick buys Land 'N' Sea for $52M

The industry's largest manufacturer has acquired the No. 1 marine distribution company as a first step toward establishing its own boat parts and accessories business, paying about $52 million for Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Land 'N' Sea Corp.  Land 'N' Sea will become part of the Brunswick Boat Group. The Florida company is the largest distributor of marine parts and accessories in North America, handling more than 30,000 boat and engine items.  With 11 distribution centers throughout North America, Land 'N' Sea has the largest distribution network in the industry and offers same-day or next-day delivery to roughly 60 pcercent of the marine dealers in North America.Brunswick said it intends to extend those rapid delivery capabilities to virutally all of its network over time.  Land 'N' Sea has more than 400 employees. 
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3) Buddy Babbitt, passes away 

RICHMOND, TEXAS (June 13) -- A long-time member of the tunnel-boat racing family, Buddy Babbitt, passed away at his home in Houston, Texas, on Friday morning, June 13, 2003.  Buddy, 34 years old, was the son of former boat racer Bud Babbitt and operated two businesses in racing. His company called Helmet Graphics provided custom helmet painting for drivers in boat racing as well as other forms of competition, including Indy cars. He also was a web site designer and operated the web site for the Champ Boat Series.  Funeral services were held Monday, June 16, in Houston. Buddy was born with spinal cancer that required numerous operations throughout his childhood and adolescence. In a number of surgeries, Buddy's ribs were used to replace the cancerous bones in his spine. The complications of these operations left Buddy with lung disease that became more severe with time and forced him to carry oxygen for breathing support.  

In addition to his outstanding artistic abilities, Buddy was known for his deep knowledge of the history of tunnel-boat racing and its drivers. At the last race he attended, the Champ Boat Series event at New Roads, La., Buddy was called upon to fill in as an expert analyst to assist Art Eckman in announcing the race.  "I cannot even tell you how much Buddy has helped us with the Champ Boat Series," said Greg Jacobsen, an executive of Champ Boat. "Everything that he did with us for the web site was volunteered. I will miss him greatly  not only for all that he did for Champ Boat and boat racing, but also for his advice and late-night chats on line."
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4) UIM F1 Powerboat Homologation Committee Goes To Moscow

Abu Dhabi, UAE, Monday, 09 June 2003 - With the Federation of Russia Grand Prix scheduled for August 17, the UIM Powerboat Homologation Committee plans to visit the site of the race, not far from Moscow center, from June 16-20, 2003. The Federation of Russia Grand Prix is the fifth race on the 2003 UIM F1 Powerboat Championship calendar and the ninth time that an F1 Powerboat
Championship event takes place in Russia.  Organisers of the 2003 event plan a great show for an expected 50,000 spectators. Since 1989, FI Powerboats have raced in Minsk (1989), Leningrad
(1990,1991), St Petersburg (1995,1996) and Moscow (1997, 1998 and 1999).

"After three years away, I am happy to see the F1 Powerboat Championship back in Moscow, thanks to the Moscow Government and to 7TV Sports Television Channel," said Nicolo di San Germano, promoter of the UIM F1 Powerboat series. "This Grand Prix is an exciting new event, even though the Federation of Russia has hosted F1 Powerboat racing before.  "The last Grand Prix in Moscow gave us a lot of action on the river in the city's famous Gorki Park. But the 2003 edition will take place in Strogino, seven kilometres away from the center of Moscow. Found by Pierre Bogdanov, President of the Russian Federation Motonautique, this new location will allow FI Powerboat racing on a much wider circuit, compared with Gorki Park."
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5)  Mercury Marine to lay off almost 200 

Mercury Marine announced that it will lay off approximately 190 employees from its Fond du Lac outboard manufacturing plants in order to align its workforce with current market demands.  Because the demand for outboard engines declined during the first quarter of 2003, Mercury said it is forced to decrease the number of engines being manufactured. All affected positions fall under the production departments in Fond du Lac, however Mercury Marine also said staffing levels at other locations are under review.
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6) Mercury wins magazines shootout

Mercury Marines OptiMax 250-hp outboard beat out the competition in a test conducted by bass boat maker Stratos, and Bass & Walleye Boats magazine.  The three-way shootout of 250-hp direct-fuel-injection outboards took place on East Lake Toho in Kissimmee, Fla., with identical tournament-rigged Stratos 201 Pro XL bass boats. The test featured Mercurys OptiMax as well as Yamaha and Evinrudes 250-hp 2-strokes.  In an article published in the March edition of Bass & Walleye Boats, performance-boat tester John Tiger Jr. gave the nod to Mercury Racings OptiMax 250XS.  Tiger concluded his article by proclaiming, Despite the Evinrudes superior warranty and smoothness, and the Yamahas strong acceleration, the overall performance and economy of Mercury Racings OptiMax 250XS gives it a distinct edge".
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7) Cigarette may be shut out of new $5M plant 

Cigarette Racing Teams plan to relocate its Aventura, Fla.-based manufacturing operations to a brand new facility being built in Hialeah Gardens is about to go up in smoke if the mayor of Hialeah Gardens has anything to say about it.  According to a report in the Miami Herald, Mayor Yioset De La Cruz claims the go-fast boat manufacturer misled the city by asserting it was planning to assemble  not build  its boats in the new 87,000-square-foot, $5 million plant.  
We were always told that the parts were manufactured outside the facility and assembled in their facility, De La Cruz was told the Herald. It is [Cigarettes] responsibility to follow our code and to research what is required by the city. But Cigarette president Skip Braver told the Herald it was the city that was doing the misleading. 

Cigarette now is threatening to sue Hialeah Gardens, asserting De La Cruz knew all along of the companys intention to build boats at the site. Your city inspected and approved these installations [and] now claims that it did not know that Cigarette manufactures boats, Braver was quoted as saying during a June 10 City Council meeting. [Hialeah Gardens] has caused Cigarette Racing to suffer millions of dollars in damages, which we fully intend to collect from your city.  Cigarette and Maco Group  the company building the facility  say the city assured them all the proper permits would be issued and manufacturing would be allowed, according to the newspaper.  But for now, the paper reports, Cigarette and its 100 employees must vacate the Aventura manufacturing facility by June 30 without knowing for sure if it will call the new Hialeah Gardens plant home.
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8) RPI buys up Florida competitor

Rotary Power International Inc. of Wood-Ridge, N.J., has acquired a 51 percent stake in Envirotech Rotary Power Inc., a Florida-based rotary engine company.  RPI makes rotary engines for marine and other applications. Envirotech has been developing a single rotor multifueled engine since March 2000. 
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9) Cheating Death

The water speed record hasn't been broken in 25 years - in fact, it's taken the life of just about everyone who's tried. Now two next-gen rocket jockeys are taking on the old guard.  American Russ Wicks and Brit Nigel Macknight believe death haunts the water speed record only because previous contenders didn't understand the design limits of their machines.  See the full article in "Wired Magazine"

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.03/cheating.html
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10) NEW - Powerboat Links Pages!

More every week!  Over 1000 Performance Boating Links!  Well organized in easy-to-find categories.  Use the Powerboat Links to find everything you need for high performance powerboating.  ADD YOUR LINK to Powerboat Links, so that everyone else can find you!

http://www.aeromarineresearch.com/pages/
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11) FREE Powerboat e-book

Obtain your FREE Powerboat e-book, by author Jim Russell, at AeroMarine Research's website:

http://www.aeromarineresearch.com/popup.htm
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See you next time!

/Jimboat