Grant Goldbeck has always had a knack for gravitating toward angling advancements in the industry. His affinity for well-engineered lures, for example, never rests. This time he may have out did himself. “What I fell upon last season was mind blowing. I acquired a bass hull with great fuel economy. The performance numbers are shocking,” said the excited Goldbeck.
Goldbeck claims with his Yamaha SHO 225 4-stroke mated to Allison’s Bassport Pro Elite XB21, he will have the most fuel-efficient hull- of four-stroke combos on the Elite tour. Goldbeck sponsored by Yamaha Motors, believes the SHO’s 4-stroke technology is the future in outboards. “This 4-stroke technology is the direction outboard manufactures are heading,” he said. “Yamaha’s SHO is leading this technology by having the lightest weight four stroke in the industry. Attached to the tail of an Allison, the SHO will out run most bass boats and attain better fuel economy.” When asked why he wasn’t running the big 250’s like everyone else on the Elite tour Goldbeck replied, “Simple I don’t need to…” Goldbeck was referring to the hulls efficiency with just a 225.
His newest adventure is historic in more ways then one. Goldbeck entered a partnership with a group of industry friends and Allison Ultra Performance Boats to run Allison’s Bassport Pro Elite XB21. It is the company’s answer to fuel efficiency and rough water handling. Allison’s 50 years of racing R&D led to the creation of the XB21 Bassport Pro Elite.
In addition, this is the first ever partnership between Allison and another entity. “There is no real need for Allison to align in a venture as the company holds more world records, and championships then all bass boat companies combined. In fact, their racing blood-line holds more wins and championships than an other boat company,” said Goldbeck.
A spokesperson for Allison reported, “We decided to partner with Grant and his additional partners because of their genuine interest in our hull efficiency and performance ride in rough conditions. Grant articulated data in performance milestones he was wanting to achieve and we assured them, our hull would dramatically exceed his expectations.”
Goldbeck went on to acknowledge Allison, “We were astounded to know an Allison bass boat going 70 plus mph can get twice the gas mileage of some 20 to 21 footers. That’s like taking a Lamborghini being able to run 200 mph, yet at 100 mph have it netting 40 mpgs. When we began looking at more data we found that Allison’s 21-ft Bassport with a 225 outboard got better fuel economy then 18 and 19-ft boats with 150s and 175s.”
Referring to Allison’s achievements Goldbeck said, “There was so much I never knew about this 50 plus year old company. For example, did you know they created the cupped prop, torque tab on lower units, the flipping deck, hydraulic engine trim, the foot throttle, the center mounted livewells, and the first all-composite bass boats? Did you know Allison invented the mod-vee hull now used on most bass boats? And Allison Boats has won more races and set more speed records than all other manufacturers combined. Hundreds of straightaway and track records and thousands of races won (circle, drag and marathon). Allison’s Research and Development data banks is probably the largest in the world.”
Goldbeck says it wasn’t speed that attracted him to the company. “It was the amazing quality, strength, fuel efficiency of the hull and rough water ride. Speaking of durability, did you know since the mid 80’s Allison has not had a transom fail? That’s over 30 years of no transom failures.”
To find out more about Allison’s XB21 rough water hull go to www.allisonboats.com or look them up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/allisonboats.