In the Lead: The High Powered Documentary Series from Speed On The Water
In the world of high performance boating there are a small number of people that help make that world go round. From the boat and engine manufacturers, the racing teams and the journalists that cover it all, it is a niche market to say the least. That is why when Matt Trulio and Jason Johnson of Speed on the Water told me about a documentary video series they were working on, I was really excited. Documentaries are hard to pull off, and Matt and Jason teamed up with Scrapyard Media to create an incredible in-depth look at some of the most interesting people in the the performance boat world.
Presented by Mercury Racing, the series is really interesting because it’s conversational, it goes behind the scenes and really lets the interviewees do the talking. Let’s take a look at some of the episodes and the people involved.
The series comprises 7 episodes of season one, and this year we get another 6 episodes to complete season two. Highlights from season one includes episode 3 with Shaun Torrente, episode 4 with John Cosker, and episode 6 with Tony Chiarmonte of DCB Performance Boats; among others.
Shaun Torrente is a world champion boat racer, has a high performance driving school, and has a line of racing and high performance boat products called STR.
Season two has produced some incredible episodes so far. The first was Boat building legend Peter Hledin from Skater Powerboats, certainly a great way to see inside the operation as Peter probably prefers to go about his businesses quietly. Hledin and the team at Skater build some of the most exciting custom performance race and pleasure cats.
Episode 2 is John Tomlinson of TNT Marine in Miami, who is one of the greatest offshore racers of all time and runs TNT with partner Mike Thomas. TNT Marine Center is one of the most renowned full service Mercury Racing dealers and custom rigging shops around. It’s really cool to be able to see the personal side of guys like John, whose success is no accident and you get a glimpse as to how he approaches racing and work.
Obviously coordinating these productions is very difficult and because Matt and Jason are such great stewards of the performance boat scene from the media side, it can’t be said enough how timely and important this series is. Often, in our industry, there are many important people who don’t get enough recognition and I believe this series does a great job of telling the stories of some incredible people who dedicate themselves to making the industry what it is. Follow Speed on the Water on YouTube to catch the next episodes of season 2, and be sure to checkout season 1 in full.
John Tomlinson of TNT Custom Marine is one of the winningest offshore racing throttleman, and also runs TNT Custom Marine with long time partner Mike Thomas. Tomlinson was also a test driver for Powerboat Magazine for over a decade, with Matt and Jason. The series touches on his career and how he also became the go to guy for Hollywood boat scenes. (photo: speedonthewater.com)
Talk about a great story, Tony Chiaramonte has worn every hat at DCB, and represents the brand known for some of the most incredible custom creations. With a great team, Tony is sales, testing, rigging and just a fantastic guy all around.
