ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702210106
SECTION: BOAT SHOW PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
Here's what you can get: automatic transmission, tilt steering, fuel injection, halogen headlights, a wider track. And we aren't talking about automobiles. Boats have gone big time when it comes to innovative design, better performance and even little niceties that mimic the automobile industry.
Boats even offer features you won't find on the vehicles at your local automobile dealership. Jet engines, for example.
The 1997 boating market contains more than 50 minijet boat models. Maybe the term ``minijet'' should be changed to super jet. Sea-Doo, by Bombardier, has stretched the minijet boat size to 18 feet with its new Challenger 1800. That's four feet longer than the biggest Sea-Doo last year, said Jim Mills, owner of Webster Marine on Smith Mountain Lake. The craft is powered by twin 110-hp rotary-valve Rotax 800cc two-cylinder engines, which can push it along better than 50 mph.
Who is buying the minijets?
``Young couples or single people who are starting out and who really don't want to get into big bucks for a watercraft,'' Mills said. ``They have light vehicles to tow them with. It is in a price range they can afford, say $9,000 to $15,000.''
Yamaha has a new 161/2-foot minijet called the Exciter, a name that describes its 55-mph performance.
Cornering is another automobile term that the boating industry wants to integrate into its vocabulary. It is doing so with the new Regal LSR series. These runabouts feature an innovative step-hull design, called FasTrac. Popular Mechanics Magazine said it was like riding ``on a cushion of air.'' Boating World called the cornering ``awesome,'' and the International Marine Trades Exhibit and Convention has given Regal its Innovative Award of the year.
``The performance is so extraordinary it is getting everybody's attention,'' said Dale Hanslik of Halesford Marine on Smith Mountain Lake.
Oh yes. The Regal also has halogen docking lights, a windshield defogger and a steering wheel that adjusts to five positions.
The boating industry also appears to have lassoed the automotive term ``wide track.'' At least, that's a credible description of Four Winns new hull design, which offers more usable space without additional length, said Mike Radcliff of Conrade Brothers Marine on Claytor Lake.
Don't even bother to ask Radcliff what length the 20-foot-and-under Four Winns happen to be.
``My best sales point is when they ask how long the boat is, I ask them, `Well, when you bought your last car, did you measure to see how long it was? Or did you get inside to see how much space it had?'''
Four Winns isn't bothering to to use the hull length in its model name, such as 190 for a 19-footer. Instead, letters replace numbers on the new 20-foot-and-under offerings. One way Four Winns gains space is by moving the steering wheel forward, minivan style.
The Sea-Doo, Regal and Four Winns are among the fleet of boats to be docked Friday through Sunday at the Southwest Virginia Boat Show in the Roanoke Civic Center. Joining them will be personal watercraft, pontoon boats, deck boats, johnboats, ski boats, center-console fishing boats and bass boats.
Yes, bass boats. Never mind that a group of dealers sponsored a bass-boat show late January-early February at Tanglewood Mall.
``Half of the boats I show will be bass boats,'' said George Welch of Bay Roc Marina on Smith Mountain Lake. Some of the viewers at the bass show, held at Tanglewood Mall, said they would be back to take a second look at the civic center.
One bass boat that should get second and third looks is the Triton, which isn't just the name of a new boat but also the name of a new company under the leadership of Earl Bentz. Bentz's experience in boating covers just about everything, from driving race boats to holding the No.2 position at the giant Outboard Marine Corp.
The Triton will be displayed by a newcomer to the show, Angler's Choice of Martinsville.
Sandi Loganadan, an owner of Angler's Choice, calls the Triton ``futuristic.'' There's not a splinter of wood in its construction. ``The materials are the same as used in the Stealth Bomber,'' she said.
Aerospace engineering also is a factor in the Skeeter bass boat line, to be shown by S&D Lakeside, Inc. of Dublin.
``It features composite construction - not a drop of wood in it - tilt steering, lights in the glove box, brakes on the trailer - all the bells and whistles,'' said Sam Phillips of Lakeside.
Sales of personal watercraft took a modest dip on the national scale last year after almost doubling the two previous years. Even so, these fun machines continue to demand major attention, and some dealers in this area say their PWC business is strong as ever.
The softer market nationally could benefit buyers, said Pete Peters of Berglund Scott Cooper in Roanoke, a Polaris dealer.
``I think it is going to be a buyer's market this year,'' he said. ``A lot of the boat manufacturers overbuilt. Some dealers are overstocked. There are going to be a lot of '96 products left over.''
Three-seaters are the most popular PWC in the region - they are a favorite of families and older riders - but that doesn't mean there has been a slowdown in speed and performance. Sixty mph speed demons are among the 1997 offerings, and the horsepower race is still just that, a race. Engine options this year reach out to a head-snapping 130 hp.
On the quieter side is the growing family of center-console boats, so versatile they can be used for angling on inland lakes one day and trailered to the coast to chase flounder or striped bass the next. Nearly every major dealership features at least one center console in its lineup.
No little influence has been the resurgence of striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay. Ed Graves, owners of Valley Marine Center in Roanoke, not only sells Neptune (by Sunbird) center consoles, but owns one for coastal striper fishing.
Jay Coleman of Smith Mountain Yacht Club likes an 18-foot Sea Ray Laguna for striper fishing in the bay and has had a 21-foot Laguna on the winter tuna grounds 25 miles off Hatteras, N.C.
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. The Regal LSR series features a new FasTrac hullby CNBdesign that has been winning high praise. 2. Triton, the name of a
new company and a new bass boat, is using space-age materials to
rocket into that busy market. 3. Fishermen looking for a boat they
can use on the lake or at the coast are choosing center consoles.
This Neptune is an example of the growing trend.