Havasu Bound for Boat Testing

WiFi on commercial aircraft is a beautiful thing. I’m writing this somewhere around 30,000 feet above the Nevada desert on my way to Las Vegas. Once there, I’ll pick up John Tomlinson—that John Tomlinson—and he and I will cannonball down to Lake Havasu City, Ariz., to meet up the Powerboat magazine crew for boat tests tomorrow.

I think I’ll let Tomlinson drive. As you might expect from a world-class throttleman, the guy has as much lead in his foot and he does in his arm. Plus, my driving record and insurance rates really can’t handle another ticket for at least 18 months.

Among the boats we’ll be testing is a 31-foot catamaran from Dave’s Custom Boats. (You might have seen a video of it on this site.) The cat is powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 1350 engines. According to a reliable source, it tops 180 mph and “will pin you back in your seat when the driver nails the throttles at 150 mph.”

As with the car ride to the lake from Las Vegas, I won’t be doing the driving. That job falls to professionals like Tomlinson and Bob Teague. There aren’t many people I trust with my life in a go-fast boat, and dramatic as that sounds that’s exactly what Powerboat editor Jason Johnson and I do when we step into the really fast stuff with Tomlinson and Teague.

Of course it’s a rush—I’d be lying if I said it weren’t. But it’s also a risk. And without people I trust at the wheel and on the throttles, it’s not one I’d even consider taking.

While you can read the complete performance evaluation of the DCB M-31 Wide Body with a combined 2,700 hp in the next issue of Powerboat, I’ll let you know how it went later this week.

Time to put up my tray table and return my seat back to a full upright and uncomfortable position.