With performance center console sales still booming, it was only a matter of time before the Tres Martin Performance Boat School created a center-console-specific training curriculum. According to Martin, the course came out of demand from buyers of performance center consoles—many of which can top 80 mph—and their insurers. (The course description will be added to the school’s website later this month.)

With the continuing boom in the performance center console market, a Tres Martin Performance Boat School course for owners of those vessels was a natural addition to the school’s instructional offerings. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

“We ran 14 or 15 classes for center console owners in 2015,” he said. “We’ve done classes for owners of center consoles from Nor-Tech, MTI and Sunsation. It makes a lot of sense. After all, they ride on stepped hulls and usually have a higher center of gravity than a traditional stepped-hull V-bottom. They’re just as complicated to get through a turn.”

Martin’s next center console driving course will be later this month in Boca Raton, Fla., for a customer who recently purchased a 39-foot Nor-Tech model. “We also have several other people who’ve already signed up for courses later in the year,” said Martin.

In a related note, Martin said he’s following up on the success of a Lifeline jacket auction during the 2015 Buffalo Poker Run with another two-jacket auction online at Powerboatnation.com. As in Buffalo, proceeds from the auction of the jackets, both of which were used in his school, will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

“One of the jackets is mine—it has my name on it and I signed it—and they’ve both been used for seven years during our courses,” said Martin. “They’re a little worn, but still in good shape.

“It’s for a great cause, and every little bit helps,” he added. “We raised more than $1,000 auctioning off our jackets in Buffalo.”

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