Well the 2016 Needles Boat show has come to a close, and this year did not disappoint! Before we get started on the article I wanted to take a second to thank the main sponsor for the show this year, and in particular the one man behind it. In a testament to how much this show has grown over...
The Dam Run is one of those events that has been going on for over a decade. It has been going on before RDP, and will likely be going on after RDP. It's a "good time" event with little to no organization, but to put it as someone did in the thread "It's amazingly organized for something that...
Every now and again you have to do something a little out of the box. I have wanted to make a night run down the river to Havasu, and every time I get close to doing it something always comes up. I have tried to do it several times since we moved here four years ago, but something always comes...
This weekend offered a little change of pace to the usual boating, floating, and hanging I usually find myself partaking in. A month or so I was approached by former World Champion Jet Ski racer, Chris "The Fish" Fischetti about shooting some pics of an event he was putting on. Having always...
I happened to drop by Advantage earlier this week so I figured I would take some pics of some pretty cool builds they have going on over there. First up they finally popped the giant 34 Deck Boat out of the mold and it's in Rigging! These boats are so massive it's hard to get the whole...
The 2015 Ultra Regatta was the first regatta held in the last seven years! It should also be mentioned that this was the first regatta since the new owner Rusty has taken over the company! I'm not sure that anybody knew what to expect going into it, and there was quite a few doubters that the...
It's tuesday afternoon and for the most part the mass influx of people that came to Havasu for the event have gone home. I have been a spectator of the event for a decade, a vendor at the event for 4 or 5 years, and as said in a post on RDP heavily involved with some minor aspects of it, and...
I had always heard less then impressive things about the Big Boys Toys show in Lake Havasu. It used to be on Main St. and from my friends that went to it, they exhibited at it because they felt they "had too" or it was a "local show" so why not take a chance and exhibit there.
This year...
written by Zach Bale
I was bit by the performance boating bug early on. Through Powerboat Magazine I studied the boat tests, offshore race reports and poker run articles for hours. In addition to the typical areas like Key West and Miami, there was a lake often documented in the magazine...
DCB is getting an early jump on the show circuit for the second year in a row by exhibiting at Barrett Jackson! Over the Holidays I took a trip down to San Diego to meet with Jeff Johnston (their new marketing manager) and to see what DCB is doing during the "Off Season."
Upon walking in...
Four years ago Lori over at the Pirates Den Resort had an idea to take Parker back to it's V-Drive roots and have a get together of V-Drives and Hotboats at the Pirates Den. The first one was wildly successful, and I'm happy to report that now in it's third year the event has only grown better...
Written by Barry Oblier - Obnoxious Racing Engines
I had never been to the Burley Regatta prior to this past weekend, but this year I was able to combine a trip to dyno a friends Comp Jet engine in nearby Twin Falls, Idaho with the weekend of the famous race.
In order to not have to...
Mid last week I was forced with a choice to either go to the Parker Tube Float, or an event that I had just recently heard about The Extreme Machine show at the AVI Casino. It's no secret that I'm a Parker Rat, and we go to the Tube Float every year, but this year with the kids being so young...
We are now more than a week removed from what has become the unofficial kick-off of boating season on the west coast and I have had some time to decompress and reflect on the events of the 2014 Desert Storm Poker Run in Lake Havasu, AZ. This year brought with it a slew of changes that some...
I have been reading the forums, and one question that has come up several times is "Why do they do it on this weekend? StageCoach and the bike run are on the same weekend?" To answer that question I want to take you back to a little over a decade ago, when I first attended one of the AZHB...
Take a look at this footage edited by Carter Bahde for RDP! Shots from Parker Strip / Glamis with Pfaff Engines / and even a quick glimpse of a 12' Schiada with a 60 HP Merc Race motor!
Tomorrow Morning Bob Russel and John Rodgers will be attempting to set TWO new World Records! The boat will be leaving at 7:00 am and making it's way south to Marina Del Ray in an attempt to break a record set by Bob Nordskog, Norm Teague and Bob Teague on September 13th 1988! The record...
RDP had it's very own staff photographer Daren Van Ryte aka OCPhotographics shooting this weekend at the Thanksgiving regatta! Here are a few of the pics from the weekend.
Note to Race Teams - All photos will be uploaded and available for purchase later tonight (tuesday). Click here to...
It's just passed 4am on November 16th in Baja California. Our team, bedded down around a small crackling campfire, recharges it's weary batteries as the grim news comes in over the radio... Race number 842 is at zero miles per hour just shy of race mile 600. No radio contact from the race...
Typically when I write about my experience at a given event or trip of mine I try to give everyone who wasn't able to attend a front row seat to the festivities by telling a little story and adding some of my pictures to reinforce the words. This past week a friend of mine made a post about my...
As kids we learn at an early age that humans have a built in desire to compete with one another. We raced our Schwinn Orange Krates, challenged each other to see who could eat a slice of pizza in the least bites, got to the bottom of who could spit water the farthest, and later in life may have...
Fall brings with it thoughts of colorful turning of the leaves on the trees outside; cool, crisp morning air; smooth, glassy, water on the river; and every chick on Facebook talking about Pumpkin Spice Latte and yoga pants. Of course, in addition to the usual musings of this time of harvest...
I've been to four of them so far this year with one more to go at Lake Havasu on November 2. So who doesn't like to look at beautifully restored high performance classics and appreciate the craftsmanship that each so elegantly displays. What I've also noticed is that each Show and Shine...
As a frequent visitor to the lakes and waterways along the Colorado River it's nearly impossible to go to the water without hearing the adrenaline spiking sound of a high-horsepower big block as it thunders along the surface of my favorite stomping grounds. For all intents and purposes, Lake...
For the majority of the boating community, seeing Labor Day come and go marks the end of summer and boating season. September means winterizing the boat, uncovering the sand and dirt toys and prepping for the cooler weather of the upcoming desert season. For the grass-roots performance boating...
A couple weeks ago I dug up the old Desert Storm file and talked a bit about the Street Fair and the activities surrounding it. This time around I'd like to select some photos of the Poker Run and Shootout and let the pictures do the talking. Desert Storm is a high octane weekend of fun...
So now we are in the boats, my heart beat is about back to normal and our fearless leader Campbell Carl has arrived in Enen's 32 Schiada. The boats all came onto plane and we started heading north up the lake. The picture became very clear very quick that we might have come...
I have been hearing about the "Dam Run" on various forums for years now. I have always wanted to make one, but lets be honest it's hard to break out of my little shell called "Parker." It always came down to the choice of venture into the great unknown or hit a nice dinner and...
With all of the boating I've been doing, both on Havasu and the Parker Strip my life has started to resemble that Groundhog Day movie with Bill Murray. The difference, in my case, though is that instead of a huge marmot predisposed to seeing his shadow, and a sleepy Pennsylvania town in a...
I was sitting in River Dave's garage the other day trying to figure out how I wanted to write the Park Moabi article and my mind was wandering so, I started going through the pictures on my laptop. Now, bear in mind, this typically means imminent doom for my productivity. I'm what you might...
Starting this week out I didn't know what to expect from a week of working with the crew at River Dave's Place. Obviously I had met all the players at this point and was well acquainted with the goings on of RDP when everyone is in party mode, but I was having a hard time wrapping my mind...
Saturday we were moving a little slow, well everybody but Nord, go figure . Lol... The idea had come up to hit Topock and Pirates Cove as neither Nord or I had been up there by boat. Stacy was the deciding factor and put her foot down and told us we were headed to Parker. Either way was fine...