"When
people think of offshore powerboats, they usually think of
Florida. What the general public is not aware of is that Long
Island, NY is in fact the most concentrated area of the country
that produces winning race boats. With teams like RC MARINE,
OCEAN OUTBOARD, EXTRACTOR, MEDIA MASTER, FEVER, TABU, ARMED AND
DANGEROUS, BODY GUARD, and OBSESSION, manufacturers like
Progression, Outer Limits, Hustler, Activator, and engine
builders and riggers including Ocean Outboard, East Coast
Marine, MRD, Falcon Hi-Performance Marine, and Zul Marine Power,
it is amazing that Long Island is not known as the high
performance capital of the world.
Coen's list of
winning race boats is impressive. MEDIA MASTER, a 30-footer and
his newest addition to date, just won the 1996 A-class World
Championship in Key West last November. RC MARINE, another
30-foot Superboat, was retired and entered into the US Offshore
Racing Association's Hall of Fame in 1993 as the winningest
A-class race boat in the history of offshore racing after
seizing four national and two consecutive world championship
titles. Coen's other Hall of Fame title came when class rule
changes dictated the removal of the Factory class in 1995, and
Mike Gagliano's 21-foot Superboat also racing under the name
OCEAN OUTBOARD was entered into the record books for obtaining
the final and unbroken kilo record with a speed of 72 mph in
1993.
One of the
oldest race teams on the circuit, the EXTRACTOR, a 32-foot
Superboat, plans a return to racing this year after a one-year
hiatus with his 10-year old cat. After placing second at the
world's eight times due to every possible scenario from sucking
in a crab trap float to never having had a sponsor, they finally
had their day in 1993 when they also won the world championship
title in the D class. Coen himself stepped in to drive the boat
to that success, while JAWS, another 32-foot cat, again sped to
victory this year in Pro-stock obtaining their third consecutive
national championship title.
Coen's other
winning race boats include the amazing George Peterson's 21-EAST
COAST RIDER, three other 30 footers, STONEHAM BOAT CENTER, OCEAN
OUTBOARD and FREEZE FRAME, two different 32-foot cats
custom-built for EAST COAST MARINE, the 32-foot cat AMERICAN
EXPRESS, and several hulls racing under the name SUPERBOAT.
Although racing is what perfected the construction of these
hulls, race boats only account for a very small segment of
Superboat's business. "The popular misconception is that we
only build high-performance speed boats," stated Coen,
"But as anyone who has ever been boating on a snotty day
can tell you, the real measure of any boat is its comfort and
handling in rough water. Every single Superboat was designed for
the best handling capabilities with the least amount of horse
power and an efficient lightweight hull also translates into
better fuel economy. All of our boats accomplish this task thus
making them suitable for any application be it speed, cruising,
fishing or pleasure.
A testament to
the structural integrity of the Superboat hull was again proved
at the 1994 Key West World Championships where Rick Robert's LAY
IT OUT, the 24-foot Factory-class Superboat placed second. To
the untrained eye, this was no magical feat, but the hull was
unique in its class. That hull was built 10 years prior as a
pleasure boat. After finishing two races off Key West in seas of
6 to 8 feet without a single modification to the hull, Coen
simply stated, "My product speaks for itself."
The desire to
build boats has been a part of John Coen's life since his
earliest memories. "I designed and built my first boat for
$40 with my grandfather when I was 12-years old, an 8-foot
flat-bottom pram made of plywood that we rigged with a 5 hp Sea
King motor," Coen recalled. But his real inspiration came
when he got his first taste of racing back in the mid 1960's
with a boat that he built with his stepfather. "The thrill
of building a winning race boat was the challenge that fueled my
desire to turn my skill into a trade, and my ultimate goal was
to build a quality, affordable boat aimed at the offshore
performance, fishing and pleasure boat markets." By the
fall of 1975, Coen was producing and racing the boat which would
make him a legend, the 24-foot Superboat.
Utilizing only
hand-laid fiberglass techniques, the strength and durability of
a Superboat simply cannot be compared to that of a mass-produced
boat. The attention to detail starts in the actual structure of
the hull and deck. Critical yet minor details like filling in
the gaps between the stringer and hull are performed even before
the structure is completely encapsulated in fiberglass. This
guarantees that there can be no movement in this area since this
is the first point of stringer to hull failure. The bulkheads
are then glassed into the hull. When the deck is finally
installed, all contact points with the hull and bulkheads are
glassed together. This ties the hull and deck as one unified
structure unable to twist under the severe stresses it was built
to withstand. This time tested method of engineering and
installation is one of the most important factors of the
lightness and indestructibility of a Superboat hull.
According to
Coen, "Most people do not appreciate or understand the
quality that goes into our hulls because these are the things
you cannot see unless you really look for them. We spend more
time assembling our hull than other companies spend building and
rigging their entire boat. Most of the mass-production boats are
not glassed together anywhere. The hull and deck are screwed or
bolted together, and this is why they twist and turn so much
when you run them. They literally twist themselves apart. There
is just no comparison to the way we build boats, and this is why
we have some of the best overall resale values in this
industry."
The Superboat
reputation for durability started in 1970. Today, the
construction methods are constantly tested on the offshore
racing circuit to guarantee the strongest hull available at any
price, and a Superboat will offer you the finest rough water
handling characteristics of any boat in its class.
Superboat
Powerboats enjoys the reputation of being one of the oldest and
most successful high performance boat builders in the world. A
legend among offshore enthusiasts, John Coen has been
responsible for perfecting the design of some of the winningest
boats in the history of racing." - OFFSHORE
RACING MAGAZINE, Spring 1997.
|