Originally Posted by Austin

The boat is better than I expected and ran like a dream in the ocean… Jo, Pepe, Linda, thank you! I’ve been boating since I was 9, but never really experienced “performance boating” until the other day. Jo took me out the cut in Miami for a test drive, on the way out the cut he says “ you see how it’s calm on that side- you can make it out that way if you want. Then, see how the waves are bunched up in the middle (with the tide going out)… yeah. We could go that way if you want?” OK. He throttles up to about fifty (still break in, so no full throttle) and we ramp off a five footer! The boat was definitely in the air… maybe not as far as the pictures on the Pantera shop wall- but as far as the story I’m telling, we were! The boat came down smooth and just crushed the next wave. We went about four miles out I was watching Jo drive… throttles, trim, drives. It’s a lot harder that it looks to get the timing just right. On the way back in through the inlet we shot off another one. The whole “air time” reminded me of a stunt a friend pulled in a Cessna 172 … he pulled the yoke up and stalled the plane, as it started to fall, we were looking around the cabin and there was a pencil floating off the dash board as we were free falling!! Pantera is one strong hull, my boat is a 1999 and no stress cracks.

I dropped Jo off at the ramp and idled back out to the inlet, the whole time trying to familiarize myself with the boat and remember the pointers from the pro. I didn’t jump the center waves on the way back out, although I wanted to! It was around 3:30 and I needed to make it to Sebastian Inlet 140 mile north. Driving in the ocean fast is much harder than it seems, loving boats, I enjoyed every minute, and averaged 40-50 MPH at between 3000-3400 RPM’s. I think the boat gets close to 3 MPG at that speed, which by any standard, in a boat like that is great. It’s a 120 gallon tank (filled up before leaving) and the gauge is on 5/8’s of a tank. That’s the test ride, 140 miles, and then four mile to a no wake zone that’s another 3 miles to the dock.

I was, and am, very impressed with the Pantera people and product. This is no Bayliner! The fit and finish of the boat is great, solid as a rock, no little sounds that piss you off. Don’t forget mines 10 years old…and I bet it’s jumped more than a few waves. When I picked the boat up they were there double checking everything, washing it up, doing everything imaginable to make sure ,when that boat left the factory, it was perfect.

I have much more respect for those who go out there and race at 90MPH. I got much better just in those three hours out there, so hopefully 50MPH will begin the feel slow and the rhythm will find my throttle hand… it’s as much fun as you can have without going to jail!!

I’ll post a few more pictures of the boat once I get back to the Bahamas.