公司简介
Steve Stepp是佛罗里达州Sanford的Initial Marine Corp.的所有者和总裁，他是第一个在1978年为近海船只设计垫底和台阶(或缺口式Transom)的人。速度汽艇以速度快——滑——快而闻名。考虑到涉案男子的汽艇比赛背景，这是有道理的。斯特普在他14岁的时候，在他的第一艘船上尝到了水上速度的滋味，那是一艘14英尺长的快艇，舷外装有斯科特·阿特沃特(Scott Atwater)。斯特普斯一家住在俄亥俄州的南角，他们家是俄亥俄河上一个划船俱乐部的成员。史蒂夫看着俱乐部成员米尔特·弗里曼(Milt Freeman)测试他的14英尺克罗斯比(Crosby)赛车，他开始在比赛中为弗里曼工作。1962年夏天，18岁的斯特普刚从高中毕业，他开始驾驶自己的克罗斯比赛车。与此同时，他和合伙人吉姆·莱斯特(Jim Lester)在俄亥俄河上买下了一家名为水星海洋(Mercury Marine)的船行。斯特普白天在建筑工地工作，晚上在海运公司工作。在20世纪60年代中后期，在田纳西州诺克斯维尔的国家舷外板协会比赛，Stepp运行Glastrons, Critchfield隧道和Allison Craft跑道。 He quickly developed a solid reputation. Stepp continued to race through the mid-1970’s, but there was one small problem with South Point-winters were brutal. He wanted to boat year round, so in 1976 he bought a house in Pompano, Fl. By July of the following year, he sold the dealership in South Point and moved to Pompano. He bought boats, refurbishing and selling them. Then, like so many entrepreneurs, he decided he could build a better product than he was peddling. He built a 30-footer that borrowed some of the best design elements from the OPC boast he had raced, namely a pad bottom and notched transom. He built the first one out of wood. As he continued to build boats, word got out, and a pair of racers, Gene Whipp and Mike Poppa, told Stepp they wanted to buy five bare hulls. Whipp then decided to buy a marina in Florida and start rigging Velocitys' for Stepp. Whipp found the marina, and the two seemed on their way. Although the business partnership never took off, Whipp and Stepp became fast friends and started racing together. Whipp and his wife Chris are the godparents of Stepp’s daughter, Amada. In 1981, Stepp, Whipp and the 30’ Velocity made history as the first offshore V-bottom to break 100 mph in the annual kilo trials at Sarasota, Fl. Later that year, Stepp built what would become on of his most famous and enduring race boat, the 40-footer, BIG RED, which he raced with Whipp. They traded driving and throttling chores. Today the company builds 80 boats per year in their 20 000 square foot factory, that accounts for $4 Million to $5 million in annual sales.
