Interested in any power boating events at Lake Martin, AL. Also recommendations on where to hang out. New boating area for us.

I have a house on Lake Martin and absolutely love the lake. It is a very large (almost 800 miles of shoreline), deep, and extremely clean lake. It used to be a lake with a lot of large fast powerboats (Skaters, MTI's, DCB's, Cigarettes, Fountains, etc) but the state passed a law banning boats over 26'11" and capable of over 60 mph. There were a lot of politics involved in that law and ultimately it only affected 3 lakes in the state and Martin was the main target. There are still some powerboats on the lake but most are smaller. They do have Lions Lake Martin Charity poker run but it is mostly just pontoon boats and wake boats participating. I really believe that if the state relaxed their law for a couple of days during the poker run and it was advertised correctly there could be some major money brought in to the charity and everyone would have a blast. The lake is that good.


If you are in the area defiantly take the boat to the Landing (amazing food and drinks), Chucks Pizza, Big Beach, Chimney Rock, and Kowaliga.

Thank you for the great information. I’ve got a 26 Baja Outlaw, so I’m under the length, but with the supercharger it’s good to know the speed limit. What are the other lakes with the speed limits?

There is no speed limit on Lake Martin. Man I miss the old days on the lake. Chimney Rock used to be the place. The water pigs broke all that up. I hear Big Beach is the hangin spot now. Chucks pizza and draft beer is a good spot to stop and eat. Peanut Point for boiled peanuts.

Yep, if you have a boat less than 26'11" you can go as fast as you want. If your boat is 27' it cannot be capable of over 60 mph. No speed limit but if the manufacturer rates the boat as capable of over 60 and over 26'11" it is banned. Yes, this might be the stupidest law ever written but I assume it was done to keep Fountains off the lake as the smallest Fountain built at the time was 27'. It is extremely interesting because one of the main backers of the law owned multiple boat dealerships and one of their lines was Fountain... They were not selling many at all at the time so I have always wondered if there was some language in the dealer agreement with Fountain that stipulated if the state or local laws prohibited the use of the boats then the dealer could walk away from the franchise agreement. As I understand it, Fountain required dealers to floorplan multiple boats and if they were not selling then the dealers ate the inventory. This is all my theory on why this language in the law was passed so don't take it as fact. It is just very convenient for it all to fall into place like this...

I hope to see you on the lake! If you are near The Landing please shoot me a PM and I would love to meet up with you. There are a small but good bunch of people who still run performance boats on the lake.

Rumor has it that things might be changing with the law finally, been dealing with this since 06!! If things do change, we already have an idea about some events that we will be doing on the lake here!! Keep this to yourself though please!!

Thanks for all the great information. We run most every weekend and a great deal between Panama City Beach and Pensacola. Love to meet up with others. Boats still down for repower, but should be a go by June.

Who's doing the repower?

RPM Performance in Ft. Walton Beach FL. Complete rebuild of my 496 HO with forged internals, roller rockers, HD springs, HD oil pump, porting, etc. Whipple Supercharger kit installed. External hydraulic steering, some outdrive work. Installing a DriveGuardien from Mike at Marine Design. New prop, vacuum boost, and fuel pressure guages. Trying to do the performance upgrade right.

I’ve read from many that it’s better to buy a faster boat, but when you have the boat you love, and it fits your needs, why change. For me, boats, like women, are more than just a commodity. Of course, you could chalk it up to the boats name, “Bad Influence.” You definitely won’t get any argument from my wife.