Phil coming away from this with the feeling like he finally crossed the hurdle, had no idea what was in store. The boat was laid up solid red, with beautiful wooden floors, and was immediately capped. Now all that was left was to put to pick the power and begin the process of rigging it. There are few on the planet then or now, that were as talented as Grier Rush when it came to custom machining and fabrication in the application of high performance boats. With those kind of talents, they often times come with certain personality "quirks." Phil being a purist and wanting to keep the deck clean elected to ask Grier to rig the fuel fills on the inside of the boat, a thought that he believed Grier would've liked as it helps to preserve the lines of the boat. You can imagine his surprise, and the awkward silence immediately after Grier said "No. I really don't think this is the boat for you."
Phil was now more or less left with a choice, he could let his brand new hull go down the road, or learn the absolute true meaning of the word "compromise." Not something you would normally equate with buying a true custom boat. As the build progressed and more rigging and money went into the boat, Phil could ultimately end up leveraging Grier a little to get what he wanted. Grier originally told him he couldn't have back seats, and wanted to push the motor way forward ultimately building a true "Marathon" race boat. Phil wanted a family HotRod, that could could run near a true Marathon boat, or become one with minimal changes. By the end of the build, they both had learned the meaning of the word compromise.
With negotiations taking place on every aspect of the build from having back seats, to motor placement a hybrid of two visions came together to create what you see here. Once finished rigging, the boat was torn back down so all the parts could be annodized, and the Hull was sent over to Dick Vale for paint.
She was born in 2000 making her relatively young as far as featured V-Drives go, but while being fairly new she was born with a rich heritage of racing in her blood. You see the Rush hull is no stranger to the race course, and even less of a stranger to Checkered Flags. This boat was built with long distance and high speed in mind, a true marathon thoroughbred.
Grier incorporated a very special down pedal in this boat, that works on a hinge system that actually comes off the underside of the deck! You push the pedal like a clutch pedal in a car, and it utilizes the larger muscles in your leg greatly reducing driver fatigue. Because the throw of the pedal is greater there is also less resistance against the return springs reducing fatigue even more. As the last bonus the longer throw of the pedal allows the driver to take a more precise and consistent set on the plates even in rough water conditions.