Powerboat Talk

In this episode of Powerboat Talk, we visit with Bob Wartinger, one of the most accomplished powerboat racers of all time. With 148 world and national records to his credit, Wartinger has spent more than 60 years in outboard racing, setting his first record in 1971 and his most recent in November 2025 at age 80.
A University of Washington engineering graduate with a master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Wartinger also built a long career at Boeing while becoming one of the most respected figures in boat racing.
He is best known for setting the world outboard speed record of 176.556 mph on the Colorado River in Parker, Arizona, in 1989, a mark that still stands today. But Wartinger's story goes far beyond speed. He has won major international endurance races, earned six inductions into the APBA Hall of Champions, and become one of the sport's leading advocates for safety.
A past chairman of the APBA Safety Commission, Wartinger has also served as president of the UIM International Medical and Safety Commission (COMINSAFE) since 1990. Today, he continues to share his knowledge through consulting, writing, and his lifelong passion for powerboat racing
Follow Bob Wartinger on Facebook @Bob Wartinger or online at www.bobwartinger.com
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Harlan Orrin is a true legend in the West Coast performance boating world, with more than 60 years of hands-on experience designing and building molds, hulls, and custom wood decks. His roots in boat building trace back to World War II, when his father and uncle built wooden boats for the US military, an early influence that shaped Orrin's lifelong path.
From an early interest in drafting and sheet metal fabrication, Orrin got his start in 1957 at Mandella Boats after his uncle Ernie purchased the company. In just four years, they built 54 boats, and during that time Orrin even built Rayson-Craft founder Rudy Ramos his first race boat. From there, he went on to start his own company, Orrin Boats and did work with many of the most iconic builders in the industry, including Sanger, Hallett, Eliminator, Aqua Craft, Scarab, Tige, and Commander, contributing to numerous iconic and race-winning boats.
Known for innovations like the original Sanger bubble deck design and his unmatched craftsmanship, Orrin built his career designing by eye and experience rather than modern CAD tools. He also recreated the legendary "Banzai" drag hydro using only photos and historical references. Today, at 90 years old, he's still actively designing, restoring, and installing wood decks continuing a lifetime legacy in performance boating.
Follow Harlan Orrin on Facebook @Harlan Orrin
Visit our website at www.powerboattalk.com 
View the video for this episode: www.youtube.com/@powerboat_talk 
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In this episode of Powerboat Talk, we sit down with drag boat racing pioneer Mary Rife, the first woman ever licensed to drive a Blown Fuel Hydro and the only woman in history to surpass 200 mph in a boat. Long before women became common in motorsports, Rife was competing head-to-head against the sport's best drivers in one of the most dangerous classes in racing.
Often described as drag boat racing's answer to Shirley Muldowney, Rife built an extraordinary career spanning almost two decades without a major accident. In the episode, Rife talks about how the purchase she and her husband made of a 48-mph, 16-foot boat powered by an 85-hp Mercury outboard led to her quest for speed on the water.
The purchase of a Holman & Moody-powered Kindsvater flatbottom came next and led the Rifes to their first time on a liquid drag strip. When Rife outqualified her husband at that first race at Lake Ming in Bakersfield, California, it earned her a place in the driver's seat, one she never relinquished.
In 1973, the couple purchased a Howard hydro hull, rigged it in their garage, and named it Proud Mary after the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit song. The Rifes fit the boat with a blown 392 Chrysler Hemi and ran it on nitro, which Mary drove to its first pass of 155 mph.
An upgrade to a Keith Black 426 Hemi led Rife down the path to a list of career accomplishments that included a 206-mph pass, winning the 1978 NDBA Nationals at Firebird, earning Driver of the Year honors in 1977, appearing on national television with Billie Jean King, and even taking racing legend Mario Andretti for a 168-mph ride across Long Beach Marine Stadium.
Rife also shares the remarkable story of losing and later recovering Proud Mary, and the painstaking restoration that returned one of drag boat racing's most famous machines to its former glory.
Follow Mary Rife on Facebook @Mary Rife McCally
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View the video for this episode: www.youtube.com/@powerboat_talk 
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In this episode of Powerboat Talk, we sit down with offshore racing legend John Connor to explore a career that helped define the sport's golden era. As throttleman and crew chief for Paul and Betty Cook, Connor played a key role in Betty's rise to prominence as one of the most important figures in offshore racing history. 
In 1977, Betty Cook became the first woman to win a world championship in offshore powerboat racing (her first of two), and just the second female in any major motorsport to achieve the feat, alongside drag racing's Shirley Muldowney. Remarkably, Cook and Muldowney each captured their first world titles just one month apart, marking a groundbreaking moment for women in motorsports.
Working alongside the Cooks, Connor helped push the limits of performance and reliability while driving innovation behind the scenes. The conversation dives into the team's development of the groundbreaking 38-foot Scarab and the KAAMA surface drive, technologies that helped reshape offshore boat design and propulsion.
Connor also shares insight into his time with Tom Gentry, where he served not only as throttleman but as project manager and lead engineering force behind the transatlantic record setting Gentry Eagle. He discusses the challenges of developing its turbine-assisted powertrain and advanced systems, culminating in the record-setting 1989 transatlantic crossing, where the team averaged remarkable speeds over more than 3,400 miles. 
Like Connor's time with the Cooks, his partnership with Gentry produced world championships, record speeds, and cutting-edge technology, but it ultimately ended in tragedy following a devastating crash in Gentry's final race in 1994, which led to his death in 1998.
Connor is a fascinating and often underrecognized figure in offshore racing. This episode offers a firsthand look at the mindset and innovation that defined one of the sport's most influential contributors.
Visit John Conner online @ www.connormarine.com
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In this episode of Powerboat Talk, we sit down with Cade Wilson, the new owner of Sterling Engines, a name deeply rooted in offshore racing history. After a successful corporate career and a leadership foundation built through service in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Naval Academy, and as a Naval officer, Wilson set out to acquire and grow a business, ultimately landing in the one place he initially tried to avoid, racing.
We dig into how a calculated acquisition quickly became a hands-on rebuild of both operations and reputation, from restoring equipment and workflow to navigating early challenges like the loss of key Super Cat customers. Wilson also breaks down Sterling's technical direction, including partnerships with Ilmor Marine for marinized V-10 Viper engines, expanding work with Mercury QC4v and Outboard platforms, and the growing role of MoTeC electronic fuel injection across their builds.
From leadership and shop culture to race-day reliability and customer accountability, Wilson shares how that military mindset translates into the engine room and even into the cockpit through his unexpected partnership with Mike Howe and the Howe2Live Super Cat team, where he made his debut behind the wheel.
Follow Sterling Engines on Instagram @SterlingEngines and Facebook @Sterling Engines
Visit Sterling online @ www.sterlingengines.com
Visit our website at www.powerboattalk.com 
View the video for this episode: www.youtube.com/@powerboat_talk 
Follow us on Instagram @powerboattalk and Facebook @Powerboat Talk 
Contact me: [email protected]