Long Beach to Catalina Offshore Power Festival

Take a few small-but-impressive shows and combine them into one two-day extravaganza—that’s what you’ll get at the Long Beach to Catalina Power Festival July 19-22 in Long Beach, Calif. Sponsored by Powerboat magazine, the festival starts on Thursday with a party at the Yardhouse restaurant, followed by “Kids’ Day” on Friday. On Saturday, there’s the Catalina Water Ski Race, which always lives up to its billing as “the world’s greatest water ski race.” Come Sunday, personal watercraft will race from Long Beach to Catalina Island and back. Later that day, offshore performance boats will tackle the same roundtrip course in the Rum Run offshore race. The full story, as well as links to the event website and Powerboat magazine, is on boats.com at www.boats.com/news-reviews/article/powerboat-magazine-catalina-festival.

New Mercury Marine Outboards

You’d think that Mercury Marine could take a break from releasing new models this year. After all, the outboard engine manufacturer unveiled a couple of new offerings in February, most notably the 300-hp Verado supercharged four-stroke model. But it’s the middle of the model year, and Mercury Marine is at it again with 175- and 250-hp outboards in its two-stroke OptiMax line and performance enhancements in the Verado and lower-output, naturally aspirated four-stroke series. Check it out in the latest installment of “The Outboard Expert” on boats.com at www.boats.com/news-reviews/article/outboard-expert-mercury-model-updates