Eliminator Boats had their 50th Anniversary party last weekend and it was one for the books! With over 200 people RSVP'ing to the event we made the decision that the juice was worth the squeeze.
Myself and Brad Stern (Stern Insurance) added it up and it was going to be Eight hours of driving for four or five hours at Eliminator. Brad being an Eliminator owner already had his eyes set on checking out the new 25 Speedster.
(Jake standing in front of the new Eliminator Speedster Plug that is nearly finished)
For myself it's pretty well known that you don't have to twist my arm to go to a boating event, especially down at Eliminator. I was genuinely curious to see how things were shaping up under the new ownership and what the vibe of the facility would be.
I am happy to report that the party itself was a huge success for Eliminator! Unfortunately due to traffic we showed up a little later in the day, but there was still a hundred plus people milling about the sizable facility.
What I was paying attention to was the staff members themselves interacting with the crowd and meeting new people as well as saying hello to customers and old friends. They were all wearing their matching 50th anniversary button ups, but more importantly everyone of them was smiling and having a great time.
Jeff Murray from Outlaw Boat Transport sponsored all the food for the event, and had his friend bring out a very cool BBQ / Trailer smoker combo. For this particular event the menu was kept simple featuring your choice of Hot Dogs or Hamburgers (with all of the fixings).
Do you know what's better than free food? Free Beer! They had a brewery show up that was providing free beer for anyone that wanted it! At this point you start adding in the fact that their's boats everywhere and it's not a bad way to spend a Saturday.
The hits keep on coming, with the Eliminator girls not only selling a variety of shirts and posters, but also walking around and intermingling with all of the guests!
After weaving through the crowd and saying hello to a bunch of friends (some of which I haven't seen in years!) I decided to go and check out some of the boats that are being built. I don't know what it is about fresh fiberglass under lights. They will never look as good as they do in the factory.
It always blows my mind when I see one of these motors just chilling on a shop floor. It wasn't that long ago that these things cost more than a decent house in Havasu!
I'm really enjoying some of the darker color schemes that are coming out of a lot of the manufacturers lately. That said I am hoping this boat is heading for cooler climates.
When I walked up to this my immediate thought was "Someone is building a fun deck to match their Skater." After looking it over for a couple of minutes I met the proud owner of it, and he explained to me that he saw a Skater that he liked quite a bit so he changed some of the lines and took out some of the cross overs (lines that cross the seam) and this was the end result. The gel does give it a more East Coast feel than you would see on most West Coast decks. I'm interested to see what they end up doing with the interior and how it's all going to flow together.
The new 36 Speedster (Bustle) tooling is coming along and should be ready soon.
This is the new bottom for the 30 that they are working on. The boat was widened 3 inches in each tunnel, and than an inch and a half on the sponsons making it a total of 9 inches wider than the original. This is going to be Eliminators first "Wide Beam" model, and the cockpit will be redesigned to take advantage of that extra width!
One of my favorite things about going to the various boat shops is it's almost like a small "Boat Show" but you get too see things in process as well. As you ventured closer to the show room the boats were either complete or in the last stages. (All these were completed)
Walking into the showroom there was quite a few people milling about, and these "Custom Harley's" throughout. I didn't get a chance to ask Jake what the program is for the bikes. I'm not sure if they are just there as decorations or if they were for sale? That said it's a nice touch to the showroom and breaks up the boats a little with additional hardware.
After we hit traffic on the way there our total drive time was bout ten hours round trip, and we spent about four at the facility. I can tell it was a great event and speaking for myself and Brad, I can say "The Juice was definitely worth the Squeeze."
Myself and Brad Stern (Stern Insurance) added it up and it was going to be Eight hours of driving for four or five hours at Eliminator. Brad being an Eliminator owner already had his eyes set on checking out the new 25 Speedster.
(Jake standing in front of the new Eliminator Speedster Plug that is nearly finished)
For myself it's pretty well known that you don't have to twist my arm to go to a boating event, especially down at Eliminator. I was genuinely curious to see how things were shaping up under the new ownership and what the vibe of the facility would be.
I am happy to report that the party itself was a huge success for Eliminator! Unfortunately due to traffic we showed up a little later in the day, but there was still a hundred plus people milling about the sizable facility.
What I was paying attention to was the staff members themselves interacting with the crowd and meeting new people as well as saying hello to customers and old friends. They were all wearing their matching 50th anniversary button ups, but more importantly everyone of them was smiling and having a great time.
Jeff Murray from Outlaw Boat Transport sponsored all the food for the event, and had his friend bring out a very cool BBQ / Trailer smoker combo. For this particular event the menu was kept simple featuring your choice of Hot Dogs or Hamburgers (with all of the fixings).
Do you know what's better than free food? Free Beer! They had a brewery show up that was providing free beer for anyone that wanted it! At this point you start adding in the fact that their's boats everywhere and it's not a bad way to spend a Saturday.
The hits keep on coming, with the Eliminator girls not only selling a variety of shirts and posters, but also walking around and intermingling with all of the guests!
After weaving through the crowd and saying hello to a bunch of friends (some of which I haven't seen in years!) I decided to go and check out some of the boats that are being built. I don't know what it is about fresh fiberglass under lights. They will never look as good as they do in the factory.
It always blows my mind when I see one of these motors just chilling on a shop floor. It wasn't that long ago that these things cost more than a decent house in Havasu!
I'm really enjoying some of the darker color schemes that are coming out of a lot of the manufacturers lately. That said I am hoping this boat is heading for cooler climates.
When I walked up to this my immediate thought was "Someone is building a fun deck to match their Skater." After looking it over for a couple of minutes I met the proud owner of it, and he explained to me that he saw a Skater that he liked quite a bit so he changed some of the lines and took out some of the cross overs (lines that cross the seam) and this was the end result. The gel does give it a more East Coast feel than you would see on most West Coast decks. I'm interested to see what they end up doing with the interior and how it's all going to flow together.
The new 36 Speedster (Bustle) tooling is coming along and should be ready soon.
This is the new bottom for the 30 that they are working on. The boat was widened 3 inches in each tunnel, and than an inch and a half on the sponsons making it a total of 9 inches wider than the original. This is going to be Eliminators first "Wide Beam" model, and the cockpit will be redesigned to take advantage of that extra width!
One of my favorite things about going to the various boat shops is it's almost like a small "Boat Show" but you get too see things in process as well. As you ventured closer to the show room the boats were either complete or in the last stages. (All these were completed)
Walking into the showroom there was quite a few people milling about, and these "Custom Harley's" throughout. I didn't get a chance to ask Jake what the program is for the bikes. I'm not sure if they are just there as decorations or if they were for sale? That said it's a nice touch to the showroom and breaks up the boats a little with additional hardware.
After we hit traffic on the way there our total drive time was bout ten hours round trip, and we spent about four at the facility. I can tell it was a great event and speaking for myself and Brad, I can say "The Juice was definitely worth the Squeeze."
