CigDaze

First off, the show was awesome. Some of the finest offshore performance boats, lots of 'em, all in one place. We had a great time.

Of course, I spent a lot of time speaking with some of the Baja Reps present on-site and picked their brains as much as possible.

There were many new models and features present at the show, which I think all my baja brethren would be very interested in. Some new models not yet in the brochures or on-line as well as some things that will be available for 2003.

Baja re-introduced the 20 Outlaw(reminiscent of the older ones) but were completely redesigned. It looks a lot like the hammer but had a totally new hull and deck. It has a lot more freeboard and looked more like an outlaw would. It had a little crawl-through cabin much like the hammer.

There was a new 242 Islander present. It was modeled and styled after the 29 Islander and I actually thought it was at first glance. It was a very nice set-up with large bow-rider section and the walk-through was on the left side. The cockpit seating was not the traditional bench, two-bolster config. It had a double bolster by the wheel and a nice wrap-around rear seat.

The 25 outlaw, 33 outlaw and .38 Special were unchanged from prior years, except for the new 2002 steering wheel, graphics and "nicities."

The new 275 was also there and my first impression was that it looked a lot like the 272. The deck design certainly is different and the back sundeck was changed. The most noticible thing was the cabin. It is much larger with more headroom. Very nice set-up.

I also tried inquiring into the Douglas Marine/Baja joint venture was they were all pretty reluctant to give up too much information. They did indicate the the two boat-builders are diligintly working and testing the "project" and the results thus far are very exciting and promising. We can expect to see it on the race circuit maybe sometime this season but assuredly by next race season. He said it should put Baja consistantly into the top ranks. Although Baja does not have plans to immediately abandon their "true-vee" hulls, pending the results of their testing the performance on the race circuit of the new designs, it may become an option on future boats.

In addition, the 29 Outlaw will be nor more after this year. It will instead be replaced by a 30 Outlaw. This boat will be bad-ass. It is being designed as a competitive F-2 boat with performance and ride in mind. It will more closely resemble the rest of the Outlaw fleet, in that the forward fairing will not be curved. It will be more traditional like the others. This boat is exciting to me because it may very well be my next boat. I was planning on going to 33 to avoid the whole stringer problem(supposedly solved, but you never know) and of course I wasn't crazy about the curvy stuff. The 30 should be a very stout, strong and fast boat.

Baja has also been dumping a ton of dollars into research. Research and developing which will lead to new materials, new processes, lighter, stronger lay-ups and better hydrodynamic and AEROdynamic performance. I was told that Baja has spent significant time in wind tunnels perfecting their bows and decks to further decrease drag to lengths of testing "nearly a hundred" different hull and deck designs. They have already mad drastic improvements and the future is sure to excite all performance boaters.

The future is looking up and ahead. "No one out there has even come close to Baja within the last two years with the amount of time and energy as well as resources in the testing, research and development areas to introduce new and further current technology in the performance boating industry."

There you have it, folks!!! I would like to also add that the crew Baja had on hand was very receptive, polite and knowledgable. They went out of their way to welcome us, answer my prying and probing questioons to the best that they could(or were allowed to) and seemed more than happy to spend time with me.


I hope I was able to put into words everything we talked about. There was so much, I hope I remembered it all. Let me know if you have any questions....It might jar my memory!

Red Stripe

Thanks for the update Baja Daze!!!
Sounds like there is some exciting stuff on the horizon for Baja fans. Did you get any pictures of the new boats that are not online yet? I would like to see what that 20 Outlaw looks like and the 242 inlander too.

Sounds like you had a great time!!
Thanks again for the update
Todd

CigDaze

Red Stripe,
I did get a chance to snap a few shots. Two of the 20 Outlaw and one of the interior of the 33....I'm sorry to report that at that moment my battery life began to fade into nothing. I would loved to keep going and get some others but couldn't. Follow the below link to all of my Boat show pics:

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=91057993303&n=2138794864

thisistank

B.D.

Sweet pics! Those are some of the best pics I've seen yet. I like the variety. Looks like it was a good time. They didn't have any 40 outlaws there?? And did you take a ride in the OSO gladiator?

Tank

CigDaze

Thanks Tank!
No, they didn't have a 40 there surprisingly.
And No, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to experience the gladiator...However, had the barmaid at been just 2 minutes quicker, I might have made it on the final ride. Oh Well...
Sweet Boat!

Advantage

Great summary Daze! Thanks for the information. Man, I can't wait to see the new 30' Outlaw. I wonder what that will do for the resale on my 29' Outlaw, doooohhhhhh!!!

dirtlawyer

Nick -

sorry I missed the OSO party at Monty's - I partied like a rock star thursday nite at Mango's and didn't make it to the boat show until around 1:30 on Friday - by the time I got around the show, the next thing I knew it was 6:00 and I was at least 45 minutes away from Montys (given traffic, etc.).....

As for the Baja exhibit - a little lean, but the new 20 Outlaw was pretty cool. As for the 275, it is essentially the 272 with a new deck, but they did fix a lot of the little things I don't like about my 272 - the throttles are better positioned so that you don't hit the accessory switches when getting a litle aggressive with the sticks and the passenger dash looks a little better - I didn't like the "batman" sun pad - less functional that before, and they still need to put more power into the boat.... 425 HP isn't enough!

see you on the water...

CigDaze

Hey Dirt!
I'm also sorry we missed eachother at the party. I was looking for you, but now I know why I came up empty. Understood...
I did my fair share of partying as well and even by time we got to Monty's, I was well on the way to oblivion. Great thing cabs are so easy to find in Miami!!!

Hope you had a good time in Miami! I agree with what you said about the display. It would have been nice to have their entire fleet displayed, but of course at that show floor space does not come easily.

Take it easy...Until next time..............

29 OUTLAW

Yep, I had heard about the 20 Outlaw during my factory tour in 2000.

A 30 Outlaw running F-2?!?! They must be smoking crack. I don't see any 30 footer running in big water and being able to keep up with 38' Formulas running 90+