Welcome to Luxury Center Consoles

Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional photos from Solace Boats In part one, we said Solace Boats – the newcomer with old school roots – leads the way in innovative and purposeful craftsmanship. What exactly did founder, CEO and boat-industry veteran Stephen Dougherty and his team do to make the Solace 345 and 41CS so sought-after? Take your pick, for example, Solace incorporated a hydraulically controlled windshield and similarly functioning stern sunshade; added magical (my word) magnetic technology all around; and then tossed in the massiveness of reinventing a newly configured outboard transom. Luxurycenterconsoles.com is not the only marine editorial outlet singing the Solace praise; the center consoles have been accumulating boating-industry accolades across the board since  arriving on the water. "It is a courageous design done with flawless execution," said Boating Magazine's editorial director, Kevin Falvey; Power & Motor Yacht crowned it ...
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Story and photos be DinaRella / Additional images from PBS & G. Beebe When it comes to skillfulness and commanding one's pleasure craft, boat owners are like today's twisted teenagers... convinced they know it all! Nevertheless, whether it's understanding modern technology or applying astute tactics of operation, the aces among us continue making catastrophic calls resulting in harming high-priced hardware and worse, endangering the safety and lives of others. Rule number one is: CAREFUL, COMPETENT and CONFIDENT operation of your luxury center console, and by taking Tres Martin's Performance Boat School course as a refresher on the "how-tos" or as an intro into your state-of-the-art, outboard-powered bundle of joy... the valuable insight gained might just prevent that next unfortunate incident. And for any hot-shot stepping out of a triple-digit-hitting V-bottom or catamaran who is not familiar with handling center consoles, according to PBS founder Tres ...
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Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional photos provided by Justin Wagner, Hamilton Marine Finance, Ben Robertson, Brian Correll Airshows & Lake Shots Photography Missing my connecting flight into St. Louis after a fab four-hour wait for Delta to Uber a backup flight attendant from Boston to Hartford left me Uber-pissed I missed opening day of the 33rd Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, but the drama stopped there! A packed powerboater program (regardless of Shootout participation); electrifying exhibits of raucous horsepower every which way eyes and ears veered; and the happy poolside party vibes from the tribes trying to stay cool and combat the Central Missouri triple digits, made up for my delay – the 2021 LOTO Shootout absolutely killed it on the slaughter meter of HOTNESS. Wednesday night’s Shootout on the Strip got the Midwest powerboat phenomenon cranking with event sponsor Waves and ...
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Story and photos by DinaRella The last time I hit the LOTO Shootout was in the early 2000s doing PR for AMF Offshore Racing, prior to the Day-Glo yellow turbine team securing its hefty “Day-Glo green” Geico-bankrolled sponsorship. Back then, when Shooters was home base for the horsepower happenings (until its 2008 demolition day when the hoopla headed over to Captain Ron’s in Sunrise Beach for its 20th Anniversary), I never had the time to venture far from Mile Marker 21; but fast forwarding to 2021, this year’s trip changed all that. A tri-fecta of boxes were ticked for some spirit sipping and pool dipping at Backwater Jacks Bar & Grill, Dog Days Bar & Grill and Redhead Lakeside Grill, and what I discovered – Osage Beach is just like ‘80s rockers Poison sang “Nothin’ But A Good Time.” Backwater Jack’s Bar & Grill 4341 ...
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Story by DinaRella / Photos by DinaRella, Tom Caruso and Fountain Powerboats When it comes to “meeting the wants and exceeding the needs” of its East Coast boating customers – Total Marine is a paramount player in the maritime world. Established five decades ago by John Caruso in 1971, the family owned business runs a pre-owned brokerage service, and offers seasonal seafarers a full yachting facility with docking capacity for 45 vessels in the SONO district of South Norwalk, CT. For aquatic aficionados on the Atlantic shoreline south of Long Island Sound, there are two additional dealerships at the Jersey Shore and on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland; and in 2018 a third location was opened at the home of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show inside the Bahia Mar Yachting Center. The prime Florida spot facilitates conducting sea trials year round and has become ...
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