CK Performance Marine Flush With Drive Service/Replacement And More
Just 18 months ago, CK Performance Marine moved into its new location in Norton Shores, Mich. Since then, owners Mike and Sarah Holford and their trio of employees have made the most of their 12,000-square-foot space by offering a full range of services including sterndrive repair and replacement, repowering and re-rigging, dash upgrades with new instruments/panels and more.
CK Performance Marine handled the Mercury Racing No. 6 drive rebuild work for the Super Cat-class Dirty Money team on a tight schedule ahead of the 2023 Race World Offshore World Championship in Key West, Fla. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
But drive work has been among the services most recently keeping Holford and his team busy.
“I have been doing drive work for more than 20 years now,” he said. “We can replace or repair anything—we are a certified Mercury Marine and Mercury Racing dealer and service center—from a Bravo to an M8. We also can handle anything in the IMCO SC and SCX drive line.”
Most recently, the shop rebuilt two pairs of Mercury Racing No. 6 drives for the Super Cat-class Dirty Money team just in time for the 2023 Race World Offshore Key West World Championship in early November.
“They did an amazing job on two sets and were very fair priced,” said Beau Renfroe, the owner of the Georgia-based team. “Not to mention, they were very fast.”
CK Performance Marine has stayed busy since opening its new facility.
Though he declined to name the team, Holford said CK Performance Marine is currently re-rigging another raceboat that competes in the Super Cat ranks. On the pleasure side of the go-fast boating market, the shop is going to re-rig a vintage 36-foot Apache V-bottom dubbed Rain Dance.
“We also just did our first repower job with Mercury Racing 500R outboards,” he said. “It’s a pretty easy conversion if you’re going from 450Rs, and we are certified in Mercury Racing outboards. But if you’re going from, say, 350 Verados it’s a bit more complicated.
“We know that there’s a lot of 500R repower work happening in Florida,” he added. “Now it’s starting to make its way up here.”
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