Speed On The Water ‘In The Lead’ Video Series Returning In 2023

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In the News: Speed On The Water ‘In The Lead’ Video Series Returning In 2023

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Flashback from late 2020: Speedonthewater.com co-publisher Jason Johnson and I were driving back from a business meeting, meaning a mountain bike ride, when the idea for the Speed On The Water “In The Lead” documentary-style video series was born. Of course, most of the “business” we do in those meetings happens on the car trip to and from whatever trail we’re riding. This one—in Northern California’s Santa Cruz Mountains about an hour from our homes—was no exception.

For the third year in a row, videographer/editor Brad DiMaggio, his wife, Katie, and colleague, Ryan Wenk, will be joining the speedonthewater.com team to produce the “In The Lead” video series. Photo from the 2022 Kuttawa Cannonball Run by Matt Trulio copyright speedonthewater.com

A day later, we pitched the idea to Mercury Racing marketing manager Andrea Jansen, who had asked us for a video series proposal. She liked it and the seven-episode series launched—the first segment featured Grant Bruggemann of Grant’s Signature Racing—with backing from the Fond du Lac, Wis., company, MYCO Trailers and Hamilton Marine Finance in early 2021.

The series returned this year with six episodes and new sponsors, including CP Performance, Hardin Marine, Race World Offshore and Bluave Marine Audio in addition to its original backers. We also produced a shorter-format, companion video series dubbed “In The Know.”

And we’re delighted to announce the series will return next year with six new episodes.

In addition Bruggemann’s story, “In The Lead” series has captured the stories of STR Racing’s Shaun Torrente, John Cosker of Mystic Powerboats, Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats founders Trond Schou and Nils Johnsen, Mark Waddington and Brett Manire of Performance Boat Center, Tony Chiaramonte of DCB Performance Boats, Waves and Wheels’ Justin Wagner, Skater Powerboats founder Peter Hledin, John Tomlinson of TNT Custom Marine, MTI founder Randy Scism, Tyler Miller of M CON Racing fame, paint-man extraordinaire Stephen Miles of Stephen Miles Design and Bob Teague of Teague Custom Marine.

Captured at Skater headquarters in Douglas, Mich., with (right) speedonthewater.com co-publisher Matt Trulio, Peter Hledin was the subject of this year’s first Speed On The Water “In The Lead” series video.

That’s quite a roster, we know, but one that’s far from complete, which is why we’re bringing back the series for another six-episode season. We won’t reveal all of our plans for “In The Lead” 2023 but suffice it to say that more high-performance marine heavy-hitters, from Class 1 Huski Chocolate throttleman Steve Curtis to Fountain Powerboats chief operating officer Jeff Harris to Florida Powerboat Club head Stu Jones, will be featured.

Also next year? In addition to the “In The Lead” series and a longer-format documentary chronicling the build of the new M CON/Monster Energy Drink Class 1 Skater raceboat, we’ll be producing another interview-based video series next year. But that’s all we can say at the moment about that one.

And now we have a whole lot of work to do. But trust me, it won’t come at the expense of future “business meetings.”

Individual Episodes
In The Lead with Bob Teague of Teague Custom Marine
In The Lead with Stephen Miles of Stephen Miles Design
In The Lead with Tyler Miller of M CON Racing
In The Lead with Randy Scism of Marine Technology Inc.
In The Lead with Johnny Tomlinson of TNT Custom Marine
In The Lead with Peter Hledin of Skater Powerboats
In The Lead With Justin Wagner of Waves & Wheels
In The Lead With Tony Chiaramonte of DCB Performance Boats
In The Lead With Mark Waddington & Brett Manire of Performance Boat Center
In The Lead with John Cosker of Mystic Powerboats
In The Lead with Shaun Torrente of Shaun Torrente Racing
In The Lead with Trond Schou and Nils Johnsen of Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats
In The Lead with Grant Bruggemann of Grant’s Signature Racing