Street Heat Magazine                                 Story by Greg Brindley

It's bad, mad and mean, a boating enthusiasts dream. But only if you like the adrenalin rush of pure grunt. Then, instant devotion is a foregone conclusion.

I mean, Gassa's so potent, so strong, when you nail the accelerator it's capable of digging such a deep hole, the boat could fall into it and sink.

With a smooth throttle the mega-horsepower machine pushes itself onto a plane in no time. The prop spins so fiercely it's like Moses parting the waters.

So it's careful, careful with the accelerator pedal - unless you're prepared to accept the consequences. Granted, there maybe faster more powerful boats, but few carry Gassa's credentials. The story goes that David Bradford's old man was heavily into boats, owning around eight incarnations of the Gassa Variety.

"Dad was into ski racing," said David, "so I jumped on the skis while he did the driving, and it worked for several years.

"In fact, when I look back at it I realise how long it was. Like 13 years, from age 15 until 28, at which point I decided to get out of the water and into a boat."

Along the way, dad owned many a power machine - resulting in Dave's desire to have as much power as possible under his right foot. The easiest fix was to buy dad's big-block Chev-powered 18-foot Stephens V-bottom, but it still wasn't enough.

"The boat went well," said Dave, "but wanting more I dumped the ram in favour of Enderle injection and methanol."

Mind you, in dad's hands the boat was no slouch; it won four consecutive Victorian eight-litre ski-racing titles.
But, hey, a few more ponies never hurt, right? In fact, the newly configured engine meant Gassa number seven was the first methanol-inspired big-block ski racer in the country, enough to ensure its competitiveness.

"I decided to move away from the ski-racing scene for a while and move to circuit racing and drags competing at Patterson Lakes, Glen Maggie and Melton.

"Unfortunately, I was forced to run in the blown-alcohol eight-litre class, which made life difficult. "Suffice to say we pulled second place at every single event we competed in. So I guess that's not to bad." Finally, in June 1999, thanks to a massive push from Adrian Reville of AR Marine, David upped the ante with a centrifugal supercharged engine package.

Unfortunately, teething problems saw the boat melt a blower belt in the 1999 Southern 80, while at Robinvale the air intake disintegrated at speed.

"I guess I really had to face the fact that, engine problems aside, the boat simply wasn't up to the power of the engine. So I sold it for an 18-inch longer Stephens V-bottom."

The new boat's a work of art, from the incredible War Paint-applied House of Kolor paint scheme (over $2500 for the paint alone) to the Rex Marine running gear. We're talking the ultimate in quality here, including the cavitation plates, rudder, steering and even steering wheel.

The 19-foot Stephens V-bottom hull is highly regarded in the industry as a top line-racing product capable of success in ski circuit and even drag racing. It incorporates balsa core lamination and a fibreglass, 300-litre fuel tank, and is equipped with the highest quality Stephens underwater gear.

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