Commentary

2018 Stories Of The Year, Part I: Another Memorable Year

ByJason Johnson December 26, 2018April 16, 2020

The word “fun” gets thrown around a lot when people talk about my job, as well as my partner Matt Trulio’s job. To be certain, we do have enjoyable jobs, but it’s not all fun and games. In the case of our annual Stories of the Year columns—this is our sixth year compiling this list—coming up with the top stories is actually one of the fun aspects of the occupation.

All eyes were on the 40-foot Fountain Powerboats V-bottom in late February as the company attempted to set a new V-bottom kilometer speed record. Photo courtesy John Petry

It’s an especially fun exercise to look back on all that happened in the industry, including record-breaking donations made by events such as the Boyne Thunder Poker Run, the Lake Powell Challenge and the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, game-changing industry innovations and national and world championships—congrats Shaun Torrente on becoming only the fourth American driver to finish atop the F1 H2O World Championship standings in December. There really are so many incredible stories to choose from; coming up with just 10 is never easy.

What follows are my five choices for the 2018 Stories of the Year. Trulio’s selections will go live on the OffshoreOnly.com home page on Thursday, Dec. 27. As mentioned, these are our choices based on news value and general interest, not to mention website traffic and trends in the industry. You may have some better ideas, and we’d love for you to share those with us, but this is our list and we’re sticking by it. So without further ado, here are my picks for the top five stories—starting with one I wish I never had to report—of 2018.

2018 Stories Of The Year, Part I: Another Memorable Year

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