The "New Powerplay"
 

Hello, my name is Tom Mason, in 2005 while I still owned Midnight Express, I bought the Powerplay molds for the 33 Openfish, 33 Sport Deck, and the 38 Super Sport. After Midnight was sold I signed a 5 year non-compete to pretty much stay out of the boating business. Let’s fast forward to last summer of 2011, I sold my 38 Powerplay, (the one with the outboards) to a gentleman from the Caribbean. He then inquired about representing Powerplay in and around the southern Caribbean. I flew to Martinique to do some market research and found there was a lot of interest in Powerplays because of their ride in the “big stuff” and their quality. Ok cliff notes: I get an inquiry to sell a brand new 33 O/B cuddy to a marine dealer in Martinique and I tell the gentleman that there is NO WAY to just build one boat. I also told the gentleman if we do agree to sell him a boat I would like to change some things on the boat. In other words, I did not want to build the exact same Powerplay that had been around for 25 years. I thought the boat could use some updating and, since it’s the first one for me it’s going to take some time. By the time I arrive back in Florida, there is a $25,000.00 deposit in my account... (I’m pretty sure at this point...he is serious)! We contacted 3 different boat building friends: one is in the middle of the state, one in Palm Beach, and one in Miami about building the first hull/prototype 33. The original carpenter that we used to build the molds for Midnight has a shop at Concept Boats. We talked with Luis at Concept who built a great boat. We explained to him that the first boat HAD to be built to “my standards” and proceeded to show him our requirements for laminate, gelcoat and coring. Luis agreed to all these standards and we started the first hull in July 2011. The laminate schedule for the bottom has 2 layers less than we used at Midnight because the hull panels are much closer together. Adding more glass does not do much for tensile strength except adding a lot more weight. All of this was shown to a naval architect and approved (as an off the record comment he said it was WAY over built). The gelcoat and the resins are even better because the technology has improved in the past 6 years. Here is a short list of what we changed in the boat: ALL of the wood is GONE, Air cell foam is used for the stringers, decks and transom, the new console design is able to hold (2) 10” Garmins, stand up head inside the console with a fiberglass floor, transom fish box that runs almost the entire width of the transom and, is bonded to the deck it also drains overboard, the 128 gallon fuel tanks and the 25 gallon water tank are moved forward to help carry the weight of the four strokes, the two jump seats are located in the forward part of the cabin interior so that the room to lay down in the cabin is now over 9 feet, the cabin has a fiberglass floor, the cockpit is self bailing for twin outboards, LED navigation and anchor lights, (8) flush mount cleats, battery switch breaker panel mounted inside the console, (2) new fish/ storage boxes mounted below deck that pump overboard, ALL stainless steel hardware and a Bowmar hatch on the cabin because I could not see any way that water could drain from the gutter. All in all, I think especially for the first one, she turned out pretty cool. We have already started to make changes on the second boat that will require some minor mold modifications (bigger hatches, recesses for hinges that we can thru bolt and a full fiberglass liner for the cabin). The hull weight came in with the gas tanks being 500lbs, bracket being 250 lbs and, misc interior parts at right around 5,500 lbs without motors. Total weight with twin four strokes between 9,000 and 9, 500 lbs. This first boat is sold and the dealer/customer requested Suzuki power. The boat will be at the Miami show this weekend, so if you have a chance stop by and see her in person! Please, tell me what you think. Also...If you wear something that says Powerplay on it, I will buy you a frosty adult beverage, and send you a license plate with the new logo on it color coded to match your vehicle! We should have pictures up by Thursday for those of you that can’t make it to ,the show. If I can answer any questions please do not hesitate to call me (954) 868-2021. Tom

Congratulations. What molds did latitude end up with?

This is great! Glad to see PowerPlay back in action, can't wait to see the new 33 sportdeck

I purchased a boat in 07 from Tom Mason. Def a stand up good businessman. Good Luck Tom!

Good luck Tom! Let us know if you need some paint. :drink:

The New POWERPLAY!
 

CONGRADULATIONS Tom! Can't wait to see all your new ideas applied to the new 33, and the 38! Hope you have a great Miami Show!

Awesome news, it's great to see Powerplay back in business...good luck!

Can't wait to see some pics

Will you have a new 33 sportdeck @ Miami??

Congrats. Keep us posted.

congrats!!! glad to see Powerplay back.......way over due!!

Congrats and good luck! Can't wait to see some roll out.

How light could you build a 33 with todays tech???? Steve said my hull and deck weighed in under 2k pound ready for rigging and that was in 93. Carbon/kevlar airex foam all vacuum bagged.

Cool news! Can't wait to see it and future boats.

As requested here are some pictures of the new 33'...let us know what you think... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...6002398&type=3

WOW! Absolutely stunning! Wish I was there to see it up close and personal.
Jim

very nice

Tom,
The boat looks absolutely amazing. The boat is first class. The rigging is top notch. Good luck with the show. Wish we were there...

Allstar Marine

AWESOME! God Luck Tom!!

Sportdeck? Interested in a dealer?

To answer a few questions, we will not have a 33' sport deck at the show due to the fact that we are working on tweaking "sportfish" and incorporating todays technology, however we will more than happy to build a sport deck 33'. As to what molds latitude ended up with because of our non-compete we had leased the molds to latitude but at this point they are all back in our possession. As to the weight of the boat, we weighed the boat with interior gas tanks and water tank and she came in at 5,200 lbs, after the boat was fully rigged we weighed her again coming in at 9,200 lbs. The weights seemed heavy compared to what we had read on previous posts on this forum so we weighed a 2004 model from Danny with triple 2.5's on it and it weighed in at 10,200 lbs, long story short we stripped all of the wood out of the boat replacing it with composite materials which shed anywhere from 500 to 800 pounds off of the previous weight. Anymore questions feel free to ask away!

Tom that is good news, If you can update these boats and keep the same quality and build as Dan did you will be successful. The 33 & 38 would be a great selling boat with a few updates to the bottom to make them a little faster. I would also make the hatches flush this makes for a cleaner and modern style boat.

Tom, my boat was the old PP racing B class boat, and was the second lightest PP ever built behind the OB race boat. I would just be curious to see what a carbon fiber or epoxy boat without a cabin would run with arnesons and 525's. Pretty fast for a straight bottom I would assume.

The 33 Sportfish looks AWESOME!!!

Can I ask where the 25' molds are?

Congratulations Tom, I buy the 38 O/B form Tom, this is a great man, I know he'll succeed.
I go to see you at the show Monday...

Great news! Boat looks fantastic. Best of luck.

Hey Charles, how is it going? Not sure if you remember me or not I am the guy that put you in touch with Tom on his 38 and the center console. They are sweet boats. 33 Powerplay looks great doesn't it. We are looking forward to great things with Tom and Powerplay. Hope you enjoy the show.

let me know if I can help you in the future.

Fred
Allstar Marine
[email protected]

As to the whereabouts of the 25'molds, I honestly have no clue as to where they are. Charles,thank you if you and your family will be in town let me know and I'll make sure to leave some tickets for you at will call.

In an attempt to keep all of the "Powerplay Nation" in the loop here is some feedback from Powerplay owners and new people looking for the boats for the first time . Let's start from the now, and work backwards. 50% like the Bowmar hatch on the deck. 50% like the look of the deck flush with the Powerplay hatch. We put a Bowmar hatch on the deck because the original deck mold ( lets refer to the original molds as Generation 1 [G1] and the ones we have modified as Generation 2 [G2] ). G1's had a drainage gutter around the opening but no place for the water to drain off. I don't care how good of a seal you put around the gutter water is eventually going to find a way to leak into the cabin. The Bowmar fits in the hole and there is no longer any place for water to stay it all gets she'd off the hatch because of the design. I thought it was a great fix (the hatch cost us $500.00) also I like the light it allows into the cabin. With the feed back from G1 owners we will work on making that gutter drain with the original G1 hatch in place.The G1 forward seats were pretty much not a real seat. A step and storage yes but a comfortable seat, no. So we did two things, first we used the G1 seats as a place to stick your feet while laying down inside the cabin that also doubles as a place to store some luggage so that it allows the full cabin to be useable and the luggage does not end up on the floor after your run. It will also allow us to be able to build a rear facing lay down couch in the the front of the cabin and still have over 7 feet of lay down space. Outside we made a mold for rear facing seats that fits over the G1 seats. We have to refine this design some but the next boat will have the latest greatest seats. Also these seats will be able to be installed on any of the G 1 boats. All of the hinges will be completely flush mounted and we will replace all of the piano hinges with flush mounted stainless steel thru bolted hinges with aircraft nuts.
99% of the people loved the new console design. The Garmins that are in the pictures are 4210's. The head in the console was also a big hit. We will continue to improve on the head set up. Most people noticed a lack of windshield. We built 3 different proto types and I hated all three. The console will have a windshield when we're done but not one that takes away from the look of the console.We worked with the interior guys on and off for 3 weeks to design the bolster seat. I thought it came out great. It's comfortable and you can see over the console while you are sitting down. Rear seat: I screwed up! This was the last mold we built, I went off the G1 seat and you sit too straight up without any reclining, this will be fixed before this boat leaves and we will make a new mold for the new and improved rear seat.Fish box / cooler was another hit. We eliminated the rear drop in box because they all leak and introduced water into the bilge but most importantly they drip water onto the trim pumps, batteries etc. We made it about 20% bigger and made it drain overboard. So it's a decent size fish box or a really long cooler.

I am not a powerplay cheerleader nor do I dislike the brand. I have heard of it ....heard the F4 was based off it etc. Plus I hate CC's!!!

But when I walked around the corner at Miami and saw this Powerplay I stopped dead in my tracks.....WOW! Awesome job. Congratulations and good luck!

I'd take a 38 PowerPlay over an F4 ANY day of the week... Besides, who wants a swim platform bolted on top of a molded swim platform?? LAME! (not to mention ugly ass HELL!!)

F4's are still sweet. We should be able to get a ride on wolgast's this summer. I'm ready to go over the 100+ mark!

mmmMMMmmm Ride in it I will (yoda voice) :lolhit:

105 is boring in that boat. Expecially on a flat pond like Higgins.

Good idea about the front seats. Many passengers of ours didn't feel comfortable sitting way up front without having anything to hold on to.

Gets pretty ****ty around flag point. Surely ill still be able to SIP my Budlight at top speed in the a/t tho....

[QUOTE=offshorexcursion;3623617]heard the F4 was based off it etc./QUOTE]

Yes it was a cut of the 38' smart idea to use an awesome hull for the new boat. The 38' was and is a great riding boat so IMO pretty smart to use what someone has already learned and apply it to your own.

There are a few boat companies offering this for thier customers that want to be past the props for thier kids . The F4 customer from Sunsation paid for the R & D and his platform to be made. Why would you not offer every option when selling a boat? I am sure they are making a couple G's off the sale of it. Not being a Sunsation Cheerleader just giving info.

Also very cool to see that Power Play is back in the business, I think the new CC is sweet and the fact it has no wood is awesome. I wonder why more companies are not applying this to thier current line with all the new materials out there. I wish them the best and can't wait to see the new 33' sport deck roll out. Power Play Jay needs to trade up and be the first, we are waiting on you Jay!:party-smiley-004:

[QUOTE=sunsation96;3623773]Lets see how they are built and rigged first. I sure would like a new stagger 33 with a cabin. :evilb:

The 25' molds are still in south FL and have not been used since the PP aution. Karl at Dolphin Boats has them and from what he has told me can be bought if someone was interested...

nice