Gallery: Fort Warren, Georges Island, Boston Harbor
The grid continues to grow, and with the addition of 100 new sims, the time has come for work to continue creating a replica of Boston Harbor in a virtual sailing experience. Script development continues, and as an early test powerboat physics are working wonderfully! The most Southerly island in our group is Georges Island, home to Fort Warren and part of the Boston Harbor National Recreation Area, one of the projects of the National Park Service, and a signature part of the Boston Light project, the Kingdom of DeMolay. Following is a few snapshots taken during the rebuilding of the fort.
Gallery: Fort Warren, Georges Island, Boston Harbor – Kiku*Craft
Velocity Powerboats developed from the skills, dreams, and ambitions of a young man who started racing powerboats over forty- two years ago. Steve Stepp’s first taste of speed on the water was in a 14-foot Speedliner with a Scott Atwater outboard when he was only 14 years old.
from high school and began racing his own Crosby in that summer of 1962. During this summer, Steve and partner, Jim Lester, bought a boat dealership on the Ohio River. Steve’s life during this period was rather hectic. A normal week would consist of: working construction during the day, tend to the boat dealership at night, and traveling all over the country to boat race every weekend- not your typical 19 year old man.
was not enough for Steve; he knew he could develop a better product for the boating world. By applying lessons he had learned from racing small boats, Steve developed and built by hand the first Velocity prototype. In only two years, he had built and tested various hull and transom designs, and once his product was perfected, Steve introduced the first 30-foot Velocity to the world in mid February of 1978 at the world’s largest boat show, the Miami International Boat Show. From then on the offshore boating industry would never be the same.
The Stepp Transom and Pad Bottom Steve developed proved to be the biggest change in offshore boat design since the first deep V introduced in 1964 by Ray Hunt. The boat’s superiority was apparent from the beginning- it ran 10 to 15 mph faster than its competitors. The first Velocity was purchased at the Miami Show, as orders rapidly began to roll in for more boats.
of Gulf Wind Marine in Sarasota, Florida. Before long, the two men became fast friends and started racing together. In 1981, two very significant events in Steve’s life occurred and the history of offshore boating was changed forever. In that year, Steve and Gene were the first men to break the 100 mph barrier in a V-bottom boat at the annual kilo trials with a 30-foot Velocity. And secondly, in that year, Steve and Gene finished production on the first
41-foot Velocity named “Big Red,” ironically named after Steve’s favorite color. The two men raced the boat successfully for years.
Two years later their one and only daughter, Amanda Vel-Anne, was born; and she was daddy’s little girl.
In 1989, Steve started Thoroughbred Powerboats, which consisted of 3 models: 26- foot Summer Squall, 35- foot Majestic Prince, and 41- foot Bold Ruler; it was Kim’s idea to name the boats after legendary thoroughbred horses. Four years later, Steve regained control of what he started years ago- Velocity.
Steve decided to retire, focusing his attention on racing through customers with race boats in factory classes. His only racing regret was that he unable to race with his world famous cousin, Hurley Stepp before his unexpected and devastating death in 2000.
Velocity Powerboats is located just off Interstate 4 in Sanford, Florida with an office manager Libby Kinnaird, CFO Kim Stepp, general manager Kenny Hohwiesner, assistant PR/marketing and webmaster Sarah Kinnaird, a full line of sportswear and accessories, and a name and reputation built on ethics, values, hard work, and determination- brought to you by Steve Stepp.
