When the Powerboating Elite wants a boat trailer that not only makes a statement but functions beyond all others they call Paul Lugo at Lugo Manufacturing, Inc. With roots in the truck and trailer engineering going back to the late 70’s, the crew at Lugo now builds the most exotic tilt trailers you can find anywhere. The rich and solid history in the commercial sector has given Lugo the ability and engineering background to bring the Powerboating world solid boat trailers that function well beyond the way they look and they all look good. Lugo trailers are not just boat trailers they are show trailers.

Lugo offers bad ass trailers at varied price points. So don’t be scared to call and talk to them about building a trailer for you. You might be very surprised at what you can get this type of quality for. Almost every DCB I have seen sits on a Lugo trailer and if you have not seen the 48 MTI ZR 48 Corvette themed boat then you really should put it on your boating must see list. The trailer itself is an incredible show piece that deserves special recognition. Take a look at Lugo’s new website featuring a gallery of their finest builds at www.lugomfg.com

When a long time boat owner decides to create a build to top all he has done before, Rather than dive into hours of details, review and approve renderings and proofs. Dennis Raia simply tells Randy Sweers of Fastboats Marine Group to build it and let him know when it’s done

Of course this wasn’t the first build for Mr Raia that Mr Sweers has accomplished, but by my estimation it is the very best, and arguably the best 48 MTI done to date.

The list of current and previous boats owned by Mr RAIA is long and distinguished: His current fleet consists of a 74 Viking Sportfish “Set in My Waves”, 42X Cigarette “Purple Haze”, with a matching 20 Cigarette,38 Jupiter with Triple 350 Yamahas, 30 Hinckley and of course the new 48 MTI “OUTRAIAGIOUS” catamaran. Starting out with a 36 Nor-Tech in 2004 then on to a 43 Nor-Tech with Mercury Racing 1075’s. The other two MTI’s were both 42’s with 1075’s. I remember being at the Key West Poker Run in 2009 just months after he had taken delivery of his first 42. A new 42 had been brought down to display in poker run village by David Woods of Pier 57 without power and was for sale. Even though he had just taken delivery of the his first 42, Mr Raia liked the paint on the new boat so much he bought it on site and had his engines and drives swapped to the new one.

The new 48 build had some special requirements and had to be done in a certain way. It could not just be another boat with a fancy paint job. This build had to be special, attention to detail, and a sophisticated style and look. This was achieved by using the styling cues from Fastboats Marine Group who has always brought a leading design and fashion edge to American Powerboating using the familiar black and white theme from their 40 foot MTI raceboat, the design of “OUTRAIAGIOUS” began. The end result was a meticulously detailed high performance cat.

The Fastboat Marine Group powerboating experience only begins with the build. The team at Fastboats brings the Epitome of “concierge” service. The hauler, the trailer, the scooters, everything is white and everything is spotless. Fastboats even has the mooring lines dry cleaned to keep it all fresh and ready. Under Fastboats care, Randy and Denis have finished every Poker Run they have started since 2004. Randy says his job is to get Mr. Raia and his quests through the Poker Runs “fast and safe”.

Attention to detail. Randy told me he compromised the design and reluctantly ordered grey material for the seats to be more practical. The decision literally kept him awake at night and at 2:30 in the morning he sent an email changing the interior back to white. A decision that Mr. Raia was very happy with, the design and style had to win over the practical approach. The styling cues and subtle elegance of the 165 MPH, 1350 Twin Turbo Mercury Racing Masterpiece. The M8 drives were custom painted to match the boat at the MTI Factory, the Heritage tilt trailer is immaculate.

I can’t wait to see what they do when this boat has 100 hours on it and its time to design a new build.

Outraiagious MTI

1 of 8

Powerboat Nation again breaks new ground with a feature guaranteed to be a hit among it’s members. While the forum has long been a very rewarding resource for support from its members it has also not been able to cover many of the more challenging questions. Powerboat Nation has recognized that, and to fill this gap they have assembled the ultimate team of marine professionals with a specialist in each field. Combine this powerhouse of knowledge and making these individuals knowledge available “FREE of Charge” to its members. Whether Rigging,Painting, Engine, or Outdrive technical support is what your looking for Powerboat Nation has got it. Go ahead and ask the tough questions. Now you don’t have to rely on opinions, you can get the answers from the experts who work on, rig, paint, build and rebuild powerboats everyday. http://forum.powerboatnation.com/ask-pros/

Engine Expert Alexi Sahagian   Boostpower USA Marine Alexi supplies the industry not only with some of the most powerful and most impressive custom engines in the world, but also provides thousands of specialty parts, accessories and hardware to the planet as well. Alexi will be bringing generations of experience as a technical guru from his long history of professional boat racing, magazine test driver and evaluator, custom boat rigger and the unparalleled experience dyno tuning and testing not only his impressive monster engines, but just about the entire industries as well! We’re very excited about Alexi as a technical resource. Alexi’s passion for EFI engines, boats and people in general gives him the very drive and positive vision of the industry’s future.	Drive Expert Brian Jackson Offshore Outdrives Quietly, understated working out of a meticulous shop near the Fort Lauderdale airport. Brian Jackson has earned a reputation for being the very best. When you ask the hard core enthusiasts and race teams where they go for drive work, the answer Offshore Outdrives. When I run in the 150-180 MPH range the person most trusted is the one guy at Offshore Outdrives. A lot of guys have the certificates and credentials just like Brian does, but he graduated at the head of the class and he is the one who works on the best.	Rigging Expert Jason Ventura Brand X Hi-Performance Marine Jason Ventura has been in the high performance business for nearly 25 years. Prior to working at Outerlimits he built and raced drag cars and his own powerboats. Working at Outerlimits for 7 years Jason was responsible for the racing program in the US and Europe, Poker Run Team, and all customer service work. In 2007 Jason relocated to Fort Lauderdale and is the guy behind what is arguably the fastest and best high performance powerboat every built, Bill Pyburns, Pure Platinum 388 SKATER. In addition to Pyburns thoroughbred Brand X maintains a stable of high end powerboats.
Paint & Graphics Mark Morris Visual Imagination Visual imagination has made its mark in the boating world by producing some of the most recognizable designs on the water. Speed Racer, Mercedes, Two Face, Batman, Ferrari, Hammertime, Looney tunes, are just a few of the incredible pieces of “Art”. Mark Morris has put on the water. His incredible eye, attention to detail, and survivable finishes make him the absolute king of floating art in the powerboating world.	Interior Expert Mike Mears Fineline Marine Interiors Mike Mears has been perfecting the art of marine interiors. The quality, fit, finish, and spectacular results are unsurpassed in the industry. It may take longer or cost more but no other interior shop can match the new, recover, custom, and restro work coming out of this South Florida Shop.	Engine Expert Tommy Hofstetter Chief Performance Engines Chief Engines, has for over the last 20 years ruled as one of the must prominent engine builders in the country. Today recognized as the home to the world’s fastest pleasure boat utilizing 93 octane at 186mph, and recently developing 1600hp. Founder Tommy Hofstetter, a South Florida native cut his teeth through the rise of offshore powerboating. Chief Performance is credited with developing numerous trademark products from their own Electronic Engine Management System to Twin Turbo marine engine packages. Tommy’s background wasn’t just hands on work. He invested wisely in the knowledge base that has brought him to here with credits in mechanical engineering, diesel technology, dynometer testing and developing at Florida Institute of Technology.

In today’s world of high performance power boating and boat racing, basic high performance and competition racing engines start out at approximately 500 ci(cubic inch) to 670 ci. For those in the hard core Drag racing or poker run extremists 700 plus cubic inch has become common these days. Unfortunately, we have all been pigeonholed due to the fact engines do not have the physical square inch needed to accommodate for the larger parts. In layman’s terms we need a larger engine block! Traditionally, standard style blocks just have never been built large enough to house the oversized parts needed.

Until now!

After being repeatedly goaded by his long time customer, Craig Olson, to build something bigger, Sonny Leonard did just that. He created a monster 1,005.8 CI engine. Sonny Leonard of Sonny’s Automotive Racing, is known for making “Big” engines; smallest being 611ci up to 940ci for the street.

Leonard hit the drawing board and came up with the “biggest big-block on the planet” a 1,005.8ci, 5.220-inch bore, and 5.875-in stoke monster called “Godfather”. With 2,150hp at 8,000 rpm and 1,500lb-ft of torque at 6,200 rpm on 112-octane fuel, this is one bad boy to be reckoned with.

With the help of pro marine engine builder Alexi Sahagian, of popular Boostpower USA Marine in California, Sonny and Alexi teamed up on the new 800ci product and soon 1000ci designed for poker run engines. Sonny consulted with Alexi on the block and popular wedge head and created an all new design for what’s referred in the marine industry as the 800 cubic inch monster. Boostpower Marine produces all of the parts for this monster with his partner/mentor in Big Inch, Sonny Leonard.

The question is “Does size really matter”? Let’s look at the size difference used to make this bad boy happen. The Godfather is 34″ wide at the valve covers’ out edge. From crank centerline to the top of the throttle body 26.5″. From the flywheel flange to the crank bolt the Godfather is 32″ in length. Making it only a merely 1.4 inches larger than a stock big block Chevy. Having that additional 1.4″ means the difference in allowing bigger and better parts to fit.

The Godfather uses a CNC-ported hemispherical head with a 680cc intake runner, volume ports flow at 740 cfm with 1.300 inch lift. While the standard Big Block Chevy uses a Brodix Big Block head with only a 475 cfm at 1.3inches.

The Godfather is 8 inches wider at the top of the valve cover. The cam bore is raised 2 inches just to accommodate for the crank’s monolithic throw. The Godfather crank centerline stands at a whooping 12.225 inches from the deck. The GM crank only comes in at 9.80inchs. The Godfather uses a cam with an advanced 121-degree lobe separation angle with a 118 degree centerline. With an intake advance of 3 degrees. Made from titanium the intake valve is 2.900″. The big block Chevy is 2.250″.

The roller lifters come in with a 0.950 inch wheels in a 1.095-inch body. GM uses a 0.842 inch body with 1 inch plus lift. The pushrods had to be enlarged from 3/8″ to 5/8″ to keep up with 11.30″ on the intake and 12.735″ on the exhaust. Just as the pushrods had to be enlarged, so did the Crank, coming in with a 5.875″ stoke. Making the crank 1.625″ larger then the standard 4.25″ crank in a 454. They did leave one thing in common with the Big Block Chevy, the bearing surfaces. The bearing surfaces still matches the main and rod bearings of the Big Block Chevy.

Made from titanium the intake valve is 2.900″. The big block 2.250″. Most 540ci Big Block Chevy’s strokers use a 6.385 rod. The Godfather uses a rod around 8″. The Godfathers pistons measures in at 5.220″ while a 454 big block measures in at 4.251″.

To help fuel the Godfather, the intake mounts four 2.750″(id) two-barrel Accufab throttle-bodies, with a flow of 924 cfm each, eight 65bl/hr main injectors, and eight 35-lb/hr supplemental injectors. Last but not least the cam. The Godfathers cam comes in at 1.300/1.315″ valve lift and 290/319 degrees of duration at .050. The standard Chevy? Only .700″ range. The Godfathers cam is definitely a beast.

Both the Boostpower Marine Big Inch Motor and the street Godfather are scaled up big blocks. Alexi designed a rod ratio to prove the fairy tale about big inch motors not revving! The Boostpower 800 ci engine revs 8000rpm with no problem as the rod ratio is one of a small block Chevy. A custom crank, rod and pin location is the answer to this issue Alexi states.

With Sonny the master of producing the engine blocks and hardcore big inch castings and Alexi producing the entire marine engine assemblies and specialty tuning, the future will be seeing some big thumpers out on the water.

For more information contact:

Sonny’s Automotive Racing
www.SonnysRacingEngines.com
434-239-1009

Boostpower USA Marine
2560 Calcite Circle
Newbury Park,Ca 91320
Boostpower.Com
877-Bpower-4-u

Brad is on the ground at Key West in the Poker Run Village. If you are at the show come on by! If you haven’t yet joined us as a member you can sign up on site and pick up a T-Shirt with your membership! Brad will be posting coverage of the show through the weekend so join us in here on the front page and in the forums to get all the latest updates!

Brad will be cruising around tomorrow and Saturday in his Cigarette with a special surprise for those on the shore! Keep an eye out!